Skip to main content

This $33 4K webcam from Amazon is shockingly good

Amazon is flooded with cheap knock-offs and junk products, many of which have thousands of five-star reviews. It’s nearly impossible to decipher the good from the bad. This is particularly true of webcams, which everyone happens to need these days.

I found this out first-hand recently when I evaluated five popular webcams sold on Amazon, which ran the gamut of price, quality, and features. Some were downright awful, as you can imagine.

There was one that stood out, though. The GoHZQ W8A. It doesn’t have a catchy name, but this $33 webcam proves that you don’t have to spend $100 to get image quality.

Excellent 4K image quality

The GoHZQ W8A is a no-frills webcam, featuring a simple attachment that works well on either a laptop or desktop monitor. The image quality, though, is what makes it stand out. I’ll admit I was skeptical when I saw that a 4K webcam was selling for just $33. Other 4K options like the Logitech Brio go for as much as $200. And while you’ll get what you pay for, the extra sharpness of the GoHZQ’s 4K resolution really helps in video calls. Individual on-screen elements were nicely detailed, much more so than the competition. For example, it’s more obvious in the GoHZQ’s image that the subject needs a quick shave.

It also handled lighting and color quite well. As seen above, the sensor provided a pleasantly balanced image that managed to maintain color fidelity and avoid too many artifacts in both the light and dark environments. The lighting in the image was coming from the side and rather harsh in the brighter scene, which causes problems for many of the other webcams I tested, blowing out the side of the subject’s face. The GoHZQ, on the other hand, managed to evenly light the face despite the challenging conditions, and it managed to maintain the natural skin color.

Solid reliability

We didn’t have many technical issues with the webcams we tested, which was impressive in and of itself for an assembly of inexpensive products. They were all simply plug and play, and they worked with the apps that I tested — mainly Microsoft Teams and Skype. They could also be used for streaming via apps like OBS and YouTube. The GoHZQ W8A was rock-solid throughout my testing, which included several real-life Teams meetings where the webcam didn’t skip a beat. That included dual noise-canceling microphones that, according to other users polled during the meetings, sounded very good indeed.

Granted, you don’t get any special software with the GoHZQ, or with any of the other inexpensive webcams I tested. There are few special features included in general; just a privacy cover, a cheap tripod, and a handy pause button on top of the webcam. But that’s okay when you’re spending so little money.

You don’t have to spend a lot on a nice webcam

That’s the bottom line, really. Yes, if you need extra lighting, specialized background enhancement software, or the ability to fine-tune your image beyond what’s provided by the app you’re running, then you can spend $100 or more on a high-end webcam.

But you don’t have to do so if your needs are simpler, and the GoHZQ W8A is proof. Just $33 gets you a reliable webcam with better-than-average image quality and reliability you can count on during important meetings.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Is Microsoft making a 4K webcam for Windows 10 and Xbox One?
heres whats coming in windows 10 build 11099 hello

Microsoft may jump back into the webcam world in 2019 with a 4K webcam that will work with both Windows 10 PCs and the Xbox One. The device will support Windows Hello and will bring back a feature last seen in the discontinued Kinect for Xbox, Thurott.com reported, citing two separate sources.

Windows Hello, which is fast and easy to set up, allows users to sign in to their Windows 10 devices using biometric data such as fingerprints or facial recognition.

Read more
Netflix 4K streaming hits Windows 10 PCs — but only those with Intel ‘Kaby Lake’ CPUs
netflix 4k streaming windows 10 microsoft edge kaby lake requirement

Although Netflix has yet to make an official announcement, Windows Blog editor-in-chief Mollie Ruiz-Hopper said on Monday that Windows 10 customers can now stream content from the popular online media provider at a 3,840 × 2,160 (4K) resolution. This is an exclusive Microsoft Edge feature for Netflix subscribers on a Windows 10 PC or 2-in-1 device.

Ruiz-Hopper couldn't make this announcement without a little Google Chrome bashing, of course. According to the post, Windows 10 laptop and 2-in-1 owners streaming Netflix through Microsoft Edge will have the ability to watch “at least” one more episode of Gilmore Girls on a single battery charge than if they were streaming the same content through Google’s browser. Ouch.

Read more
Gears of War 4 will hit PC at 4K with unlocked framerates and super-scaling
gears of war 4 pc exclusives mikerayner gear

Over the weekend, Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry posted an interview with Mike Rayner, technical director for The Coalition, who’s currently hard at work on Gears of War 4 slated for the Xbox One and Windows 10 this October. This will be the first installment based on Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 and is expected to be a “visual showcase” on Microsoft’s current console. But what exclusive features can we expect from the PC version?

“Our focus on PC is to deliver a highly optimized, customizable experience first and foremost,” he said.

Read more