Want to Look Less Like a Potato on Zoom? Upgrade Your Camera.

IF IT WERE as much as my laptop computer’s webcam, I’d appear like a potato on video calls. To make certain I don’t, I usually spend the higher a part of an hour organising for a 15-minute check-in. I’ll use flooring lamps to offset harsh fluorescents and stack my laptop computer on books to satisfy my colleague’s gaze. In dire straits, I’ve even set my laptop computer on the slender windowsill in my bed room. It isn’t snug, however the mild is nice.

Yet, I nonetheless by no means look actually sharp. It is a basic {hardware} drawback—producers often outfit a laptop computer’s slim lid with mediocre, low-res webcams. Some, like Apple, allow you to use your cellphone as your laptop’s webcam. (If each your units are on the identical iCloud account, your iPhone will mechanically present up as a webcam choice.) But that may be unreliable and a battery drain.