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

IF IT WERE up to my laptop’s webcam, I’d look like a potato on video calls. To make sure I don’t, I often spend the better part of an hour setting up for a 15-minute check-in. I’ll use floor lamps to offset harsh fluorescents and stack my laptop on books to meet my colleague’s gaze. In dire straits, I’ve even set my laptop on the narrow windowsill in my bedroom. It isn’t comfortable, but the light is great.

Yet, I still never look really sharp. It is a classic hardware problem—manufacturers usually outfit a laptop’s slim lid with mediocre, low-res webcams. Some, like Apple, let you use your phone as your computer’s webcam. (If both your devices are on the same iCloud account, your iPhone will automatically show up as a webcam option.) But that can be unreliable and a battery drain. 

IF IT WERE up to my laptop’s webcam, I’d look like a potato on video calls. To make sure I don’t, I often spend the better part of an hour setting up for a 15-minute check-in. I’ll use floor lamps to offset harsh fluorescents and stack my laptop on books to meet my colleague’s gaze. In dire straits, I’ve even set my laptop on the narrow windowsill in my bedroom. It isn’t comfortable, but the light is great.

Yet, I still never look really sharp. It is a classic hardware problem—manufacturers usually outfit a laptop’s slim lid with mediocre, low-res webcams. Some, like Apple, let you use your phone as your computer’s webcam. (If both your devices are on the same iCloud account, your iPhone will automatically show up as a webcam option.) But that can be unreliable and a battery drain.