Obsbot Tiny 3 4K Webcams Assessment: Merely the Greatest

Execs

• The one pan-tilt-zoom webcam sized nicely for a laptop computer
• Excellent monitoring and autofocus, voice and gesture controls
• Above-average video high quality, plus assist for 1080/120fps
• Good object-tracking implementation, which might be helpful for presenters, how-to movies and the like
• Glorious audio choices, together with uncompressed and omnidirectional, with better-than-usual efficiency

Cons

• Actually costly
• Hand monitoring not supported in desk mode (for overhead demonstrations)

Execs

• Excellent monitoring and autofocus, voice and gesture controls
• Above-average video high quality, plus assist for 1080/120fps
• Good object-tracking implementation, which might be helpful for presenters, how-to movies and the like
• Glorious audio choices, together with uncompressed and omnidirectional, with better-than-usual efficiency

Cons

• Costly, although not overpriced for what you get
• The mount does not tilt, so you possibly can’t counterbalance for stability in instances the place it is too slim to suit a show

Obsbot has develop into a jack-of-all-trades with the Tiny 3 collection of robotic webcams, geared towards podcasters, streamers, and musicians, in addition to the extra conventional single-purpose or dual-purpose person. And whereas the expensive $349 Tiny 3 is the very best webcam I’ve examined, you will additionally get wonderful audio and video high quality with the Lite, plus about 90% of the options, for $199. That is much more to your cash than equally priced opponents, and it is a a lot better worth than the absolutely loaded Tiny 3, making the Tiny 3 Lite a transparent Editors’ Selection candidate.

The corporate has vastly upgraded the weakest side of the Tiny 2: audio. It is also improved nearly every part else, together with 1080p 120fps streaming assist, expanded and considerably up to date monitoring, and higher video high quality. Obsbot additionally added some helpful new instruments in its digital digicam since I final used it, reminiscent of background alternative and a fundamental teleprompter, although different new capabilities aren’t absolutely baked but. 

The highest-end Tiny 3 has been getting smaller with each era, and now it actually does qualify as “tiny” (1.5×1.5×1.9 inches and a pair of.2 ounces, with out the also-shrunken mount). It isn’t solely the smallest robotic webcam out there that matches comfortably on a laptop computer show; it is also smaller than many nonrobotic fashions, regardless of incorporating a bigger sensor and a number of microphone pickups. 

Obsbot’s skill to cram class-leading efficiency and options into a tool of its measurement is kind of a technical achievement in my thoughts. Nevertheless it additionally hits that painful $349. 

The lower-end Tiny 3 Lite makes some sacrifices in comparison with the premium Tiny 3: The Lite model has a much less versatile mount, a considerably smaller sensor, it lacks the overhead desktop and whiteboard views, and is a bit bigger. 

They usually each work with the Nintendo Swap 2, for what it is price.

Nice sound

Each Tiny 3 webcams incorporate a MEMS solid-state mic array with omnidirectional and two directional pickups. MEMS expertise allows mics which can be extra compact, carry out extra constantly, are much less liable to distortion and customarily supply a broader frequency response. 

The Obsbot Heart software program affords 5 totally different modes, most notably Pure Audio Mode, which transmits unprocessed audio for makes use of reminiscent of music recording. It sounds fuller and a bit flatter, and I might see the variations (utilizing Adobe Audition‘s spectral frequency show and evaluation) between it and the opposite modes — visibly much less filtering, particularly within the lowest frequencies, and fewer quantization. 

Whereas the mic is sweet, needless to say it does not have the frequency response vary of a professional mic (within the lows, since its vary begins at 50Hz fairly than the same old 20Hz), nor are you able to be as near the mic as you’d need. Concurrently it launched the Tiny 3, Obsbot introduced a brand new wi-fi mic, the $59 Vox SE, which connects to the cameras through GFSK (fairly than Bluetooth). 

My normal favourite for speech (and the default) is the Spatial Audio Mode, optimized for stereo seize, which I believe delivers probably the most natural-sounding speech and a small quantity of noise cancellation.

The 2 directional modes (one front-only and one front-and-back) sound similar to a gaming headset mic, optimized for voice readability by boosting greater frequencies and incorporating noise cancellation. The Twin-Directional Mode is for purposes reminiscent of podcasting. As a result of they’re robotic, the Tiny 3 fashions can flip or rotate to concentrate on a number of topics, and might be bolstered by the stable new voice monitoring. 

My least favourite is the Sensible Omni Mode, which makes use of AI to course of audio from everybody and in every single place in a room throughout a typical convention session. To me, the outcome sounds muffled, like there is not any acquire (or detrimental acquire). When you plan to stream or file in 120fps 1080p mode, Sensible Omni is the one choice, which is disappointing.

Nonetheless, I actually would love an equalizer, principally as a result of I hate my voice and have a tendency to cut back the excessive frequencies the place attainable. The extra you get, the extra you need, after all. 

Prime-flight video

Regardless of the totally different sensors, the video high quality of the 2 webcams is fairly related, and so they’re each fairly good: wonderful computerized white stability so long as the lighting is not too heat, first-rate autoexposure, and fairly low noise and coloration desaturation in low mild. 

The largest distinction between the 2 is the way in which their sensors deal with HDR. The upper-end Tiny 3 can concurrently enhance acquire in darkish areas and reduce it in vivid areas, offering a extra even publicity throughout the body fairly than blowing out highlights and crushing shadows. In follow, the impact was extra refined than I anticipated; it wasn’t as aggressive as I wished on vivid backlights, each white and RGB, although it did a greater job than traditional at exposing the colours in opposition to my again wall. The lights themselves remained too blown out. 

The Tiny 3 Lite carried out equally to opponents, successfully decreasing vivid areas whereas leaving shadows and midtones comparatively untouched.

When you want the velocity, the 120fps 1080p video is exclusive for the second, and positively captures movement extra distinctly than a 60fps mode, however 4K at 60fps would possibly ship higher perceived sharpness if the movement falls someplace between the 2.

It tracks

Autofocus is quick and correct, although if you happen to’re utilizing a monitoring mode, each have a tendency to regulate focus just a little too usually; the cameras haven’t got sufficient depth-of-field management to throw you out of focus that usually. Whereas the phase-detection focus does not hunt iteratively like typical contrast-detection, I discover the temporary pulse annoying sufficient that I nonetheless flip AF off more often than not.

Monitoring and autoframing are the place pan-tilt-zoom webcams distinguish themselves from fastened cameras. Since a PTZ can rotate and tilt, you do not face the identical limitations on the world it may possibly cowl, and when framing, the topic is at all times within the middle of the lens and sensor. Obsbot has improved the already wonderful monitoring accuracy noticeably — the brand new sound-assistance choice, which dietary supplements digicam monitoring, in all probability helps (it is exhausting to isolate the consequences). It did not want any enchancment in monitoring velocity.

My favourite addition is object monitoring, which works very nicely and could also be helpful for how-to movies. You simply draw the bounding field for an object within the preview window, and also you’re set. And the thing might be comparatively small. 

Voice monitoring is good, too, particularly you probably have a number of audio system or if the opposite monitoring choices do not reply shortly sufficient. It solely works within the directional modes, which is smart.

Hand monitoring is just a little higher, however, fairly bafflingly, continues to have hassle figuring out left and proper when it has a alternative. I nonetheless need to put the related hand in entrance of the digicam to orient it. Disappointingly, although the Tiny 3 helps desktop mode, it may possibly’t hand observe in that mode, which is for correctly oriented top-down video.

Digital digicam methods

When a webcam characteristic requires processing by the system it is linked to, it makes use of a digital digicam for issues like background elimination, filters and so forth. I are likely to separate them from the hardware-based options as a result of they’re much less dependable than these based mostly on the digicam {hardware} and may degrade video high quality. However, it is quite a bit simpler so as to add options in software program than in firmware.

Obsbot added background alternative, which performs quite a bit higher than what you sometimes get from conferencing software program as a result of its superior background elimination works nicely (the essential does not). 

However, Obsbot’s new Avatar and Digital Voice are fairly undercooked in the intervening time. You possibly can create movement seize profiles, which you then map to considered one of 4 related characters with some voice results. If the webcam will get supported by different software program, that will be nice. Nevertheless it’s clear that the avatar and voice are extra proof-of-concept options than actual ones in the intervening time, given the restricted choices. And when you can assign props to the avatars, the software program does not perceive that the props mustn’t go by way of the characters. You additionally need to create an account to make use of the options, which seemingly observe licensing charges (Obsbot makes use of third-party software program), and it solely runs on Home windows.

There’s additionally a brand new eye contact characteristic, the newest fad in videoconferencing, which makes it seem to be you are wanting on the digicam while you’re not. It makes use of Nvidia’s Maxine, so it solely works on methods with a GeForce RTX 3050 or higher. I did not discover it as off-putting as many of the eye contact implementations I’ve seen, however I did get some random weirdness, like my eyes peering over my glasses once they weren’t.

It is all in regards to the $$

This barely scratches the floor of the capabilities of the Tiny 3 webcams, like the nice gesture and voice controls — although I disable gestures as a result of I flail my arms after I discuss and find yourself turning one thing on or off. There’s additionally Obsbot Heart’s skill to handle a number of cameras, myriad monitoring choices and extra. I coated lots of the core options within the Tiny 2 review.

The Tiny 3 Lite’s built-in mount, in contrast to the magnetic attachment on the Tiny 3 that permits you to elevate and tilt the digicam, is its greatest downside. Even on a PTZ, the power to lift the digicam’s top so you are not wanting down into it’s actually helpful. 

I additionally discovered I wanted to stability these smaller webcams on my gaming monitor, which was too thick for the small mounts. With the ability to modify the digicam’s place allowed it to stability extra securely. The Lite simply fell off. Time to go OLED, I suppose. It has a tripod mount, in order that’s not an insurmountable drawback.

The Tiny 3 is pricey, nevertheless it’s designed for journey and features a case (Insta360 consists of one as nicely, too), if these are necessary to you. It is an ideal little webcam, however $349 is de facto steep. The step-down mannequin for $199 is pricey, nevertheless it’s much more justifiable, and the Tiny 3 Lite delivers for that worth. As an incentive, Obsbot is providing trade-in reductions of $20 to $100 by way of the tip of February for fashions from all manufacturers.