Cheap Camera/Speaker/Mic for Videoconference
 

Hey folks, a non profit I’m involved with needs a camera + speaker + mic device to plug into a laptop and allow hybrid in-person / Zoom meetings. These are meetings where half the attendees are sitting around a conference table and the other half are on Zoom.

Right now they prop a laptop at one end of the table and use the laptop’s own webcam, mic, and speakers - which doesn’t work well at all. The laptop webcam is low resolution and narrow field of view, the speakers are tinny, and the mic + speakers are far away from the in-person attendees.

I want to buy an appropriate device and donate it to them, in time for a meeting next Wednesday. So I’m hoping there is a good one on Amazon that I can get quickly. Can anyone suggest a brand or model, at under $500?

Pretty much any brand of mic will work that plugs into a USB. Logitech is a solid bet, but there are others out there.

I've got a Polycomm Bluetooth speaker I carry around with me when I don't want to use a headset, it's a great combo speaker/mic and connects via Bluetooth or has a dongle that ships with it.

Jabra also makes extremely good speaker/mic.

Polycomm:


Jabra:

Rooms need dedicated devices unfortunately. And they're not cheap. It's because it needs to pick up voices from multiple locations and distances. Those devices linked above only have one mic. I have the Jabra and it only works if the mic is facing the current speaker. (We did attempt to use it during a power outage. It works in a pinch for a group.)

This one, for example, is $1,249: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/logitech-group-videoconferencing-kit-with-expansion-mics/apd/a8767389/collaboration-solutions

I'm sure with a little bit more Google searching you'd find a similar no-name device from China.

I’m finding two basic types.

One sits in the middle of the table, has multiple cameras, mics, and speaker. For the Zoom, the software stitches together the cameras’ images into a panoramic image of the whole table (like if you were sitting there and turned around in a circle), or isolates the person who is talking.

https://a.co/d/0spl0I8

Another has a single fisheye lens pointing up, the software pulls out images of the people (presumably by cropping to just the periphery of the image), and either sends Zoom (or other videoconf device) a panorama or a single person’s image.

https://a.co/d/4dI0rO4

There are cheap versions of either type, down to $200 or so.

Maybe I’ll just roll the dice on one - I can always return it if the non profit says it’s no good.

There’s pan tilt zoom (PTZ) cameras too, you use a remote to aim at the person talking. That seems really distracting to me.

Skip ones with required software. You only need one camera at the end of the room, and then multiple mics. When people start discussing something, they rarely look at the video feed, especially if there are slides being shared.

No help with the camera, but I use this in my home office:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1708264950.jpg

https://pssav.com/shop/jabra-speak-usb-bluetooth-speakerphone/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PSSAV %20Product%20Catalog&utm_term=4581527522124701&utm _content=Ad%20group%20%231

Check into the Insta360 X3. 360 degree view with 4 microphones can do Video Conferencing.

$400 at Costco.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaE8ysqxviY