Best Gear for Online Classes or Meetings in 2024: Webcams, Lights, Mics, Tripods and More – CNET [CNET]

January 2, 2024 James Bricknell technology

Updated Jan. 1, 2024 5:52 p.m. PT

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James Bricknell

Justin Jaffe

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James Bricknell Senior Editor

James has been writing about technology for years but has loved it since the early 90s. While his main areas of expertise are maker tools — 3D printers, vinyl cutters, paper printers, and laser cutters — he also loves to play board games and tabletop RPGs.

Expertise 3D printers, maker tools such as Cricut style vinyl cutters and laser cutters, traditional paper printers Credentials

6 years working professionally in the 3D printing space / 4 years testing consumer electronics for large websites.

Justin Jaffe Managing editor

Justin Jaffe is the Managing Editor for CNET Money. He has more than 20 years of experience publishing books, articles and research on finance and technology for Wired, IDC and others. He is the coauthor of Uninvested (Random House, 2015), which reveals how financial services companies take advantage of customers — and how to protect yourself. He graduated from Skidmore College with a B.A. in English Literature, spent 10 years in San Francisco and now lives in Portland, Maine.

Expertise Credit cards, Loans, Banking, Mortgages, Taxes, Cryptocurrency, Insurance, Investing. Credentials

Coauthor of Uninvested (Random House, 2015)

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Videoconferencing on Zoom, Google Meet and the like is no longer novel. Many jobs, whether you work from home or in an office, require daily videoconferencing. And if you’re learning online, having a good videoconference setup can make your life much easier.

Upgrading your audio and video tech is fairly easy from a technical perspective, however, and relatively affordable — and it will dramatically improve your production values in virtual meetings. Here at CNET, we’ve been in a hybrid workplace for many years, and taking video calls, engaging in online learning, and presenting to our teams are a daily part of life. We’ve become experts on what gadgets and gear make life easier.

We’ve compiled a short list of the best gear for video chats: home webcams, lights, mics and more that’ll enhance your video chatting. This list has plenty of input from CNET’s on-camera video team, all of whom have worked from home.

Best gear for online classes or meetings

A webcam attached to a monitor with a pink background

James Bricknell / CNET

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Learn more about the Yeti from Blue Microphones.

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The front of the Yeti includes a large plastic (somewhat wobbly) headphone volume knob and a mute button, which is perfect for dropping out audio for coughs or sneezes.

Learn more about the Yeti from Blue Microphones.

“,”credits”:”Donald Bell/CNET”,”imageData”:{“id”:”b4123b6f-f0fd-11e2-8c7c-d4ae52e62bcc”,”filename”:”IMG_2676.JPG”,”path”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/ee1e775f6911ce7b7c382f08227b9bbb60d56685/hub/2009/12/08/b4123b6f-f0fd-11e2-8c7c-d4ae52e62bcc/IMG_2676.JPG?auto=webp&height=500″,”dateCreated”:{“date”:”2009-12-08 11:20:12.000000″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”primeColor”:null,”hasWarning”:false},”size”:””,”float”:””,”lightbox”:false,”imageUrl”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/ee1e775f6911ce7b7c382f08227b9bbb60d56685/hub/2009/12/08/b4123b6f-f0fd-11e2-8c7c-d4ae52e62bcc/IMG_2676.JPG?auto=webp&height=500″,”imageCaption”:”

The front of the Yeti includes a large plastic (somewhat wobbly) headphone volume knob and a mute button, which is perfect for dropping out audio for coughs or sneezes.

Learn more about the Yeti from Blue Microphones.

“,”imageCredit”:”Donald Bell/CNET”,”imageAltText”:”Blue yeti microphone”,”imageFilename”:”IMG_2676.JPG”,”imageWidth”:640,”imageHeight”:480,”imageDoNotCrop”:false,”imageDoNotResize”:false,”imageWatermark”:false,”imageDateCreated”:”2009-12-08″,”imageParallax”:””,”imageCrop”:””,”imageEnlarge”:false}” usepricing=”true” ng-block=”{“id”:”lzbw615fiwjvezi”,”type”:”listicle”}” edition=”us” data-key=”cnetlisticle__f3061f44-4df2-46a2-901e-29e9c96a731f” index=”2″ imagecredit=”Blue Microphones” tagslugs=”logitech” contenttype=”Best List – Precap” isbestlistredesign=”true” filtershortcodetypes totalfilteritems=”0″ pagelayout=”Default – Article Page” showdetails=”true” tocheadlineitem=”[object Object]”>

Nothing can torpedo an online meeting quicker than background noise and audio that’s cutting in and out, and your laptop’s lousy built-in microphone may be the culprit. Once you’ve added a decent webcam to your setup, you’ll be in better shape — but a standalone microphone will make you sound clear, rich and full. This Blue Yeti model has long been a staple of podcasters and streamers, and it’s what I use when I record audio or participate in a high-stakes video chat.

Yes, it looks like something you’d see in a 1940s radio station, but the audio technology is 100% modern. It has three capsule microphones, four pickup patterns (for different kinds of recording) and just enough controls to help optimize the way you sound without overloading you with super technical features.

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Here’s how to do it.)

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” imagegroup=”{“uuid”:”f575119b-6cf0-423f-884b-f1da1039057b”,”alt”:”A red and black metal tripod”,”caption”:”

“,”credits”:”SmartRig”,”imageData”:{“id”:”f575119b-6cf0-423f-884b-f1da1039057b”,”filename”:”smartrig-tripod.jpg”,”path”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/11ec1e29bffd5d25dded967bfb5e791e9ad1912d/hub/2023/06/29/f575119b-6cf0-423f-884b-f1da1039057b/smartrig-tripod.jpg?auto=webp&height=500″,”dateCreated”:{“date”:”2023-06-29 18:11:32.000000″,”timezone”:”UTC”,”timezone_type”:3},”primeColor”:null,”hasWarning”:false},”size”:””,”float”:””,”lightbox”:false,”imageUrl”:”https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/11ec1e29bffd5d25dded967bfb5e791e9ad1912d/hub/2023/06/29/f575119b-6cf0-423f-884b-f1da1039057b/smartrig-tripod.jpg?auto=webp&height=500″,”imageCaption”:”

“,”imageCredit”:”SmartRig”,”imageAltText”:”A red and black metal tripod”,”imageFilename”:”smartrig-tripod.jpg”,”imageWidth”:1410,”imageHeight”:793,”imageDoNotCrop”:false,”imageDoNotResize”:false,”imageWatermark”:false,”imageDateCreated”:”2023-06-29″,”imageParallax”:””,”imageCrop”:””,”imageEnlarge”:false}” usepricing=”true” ng-block=”{“id”:”qsalhmz79vdwc03″,”type”:”listicle”}” edition=”us” data-key=”cnetlisticle__815b400e-0b04-4273-8342-71071f27b993″ index=”3″ imagecredit=”GripTight/Amazon” tagslugs=”logitech” contenttype=”Best List – Precap” isbestlistredesign=”true” filtershortcodetypes totalfilteritems=”0″ pagelayout=”Default – Article Page” showdetails=”true” tocheadlineitem=”[object Object]”>

It’s hard to multitask on a web conference: Opening and closing apps, resizing browsers and windows, all while you’re talking to your boss on your Google Hangout or Zoom call — it can all be a bit much. One solution is to offload all of your audio and video recording tasks to your phone — which may have a better camera, video quality and mic technology, anyway — freeing up your laptop to take notes, consult documents and spreadsheets or whatever else. (Here’s how to do it.)

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