Your Phone Is Probably a Better Webcam Than the One You're About to Buy

The Webcam You Already Own

Before you spend that money on a dedicated webcam, hear me out. The phone already sitting in your pocket is probably better than whatever you're looking at buying.

I've been using mine for streams and video calls for a while now, and after compression does its thing, I honestly can't notice much difference compared to a dedicated webcam. The image quality is there. The convenience is definitely there. And the setup takes less than two minutes.

It also works on both iPhone and Android, so this one isn't an Apple-only trick.

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What You Need

You'll need to install only two apps:

• Camo Camera — install this on your phone
• Camo Studio — install this on your computer

Once both are installed, make sure your phone and computer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network and you're basically already halfway there.

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Setting It Up

1. Open Camo Studio on your computer and click the dropdown under Device
2. Select Pair Device, a QR code should appear on screen
3. On your phone, open Camo Camera and tap the Wi-Fi icon
4. Scan the QR code

And that's pretty much it. Your phone is now a webcam.

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The Customization Is Actually Really Good

One thing that really surprises me about Camo is how much control it gives you. Framing, image settings, zoom, focus, colour controls, there's a lot to play with which makes it feel closure to an actual camera pipeline instead of a basic phone mirror app.

The only real limitation worth knowing about is the free version. You're capped at 720p at 30fps for landscape and 1280p at 30fps for portrait. For TikTok or general video calls, that's honestly fine because after platforms compression, the difference between 720p and 1080p is barely visible to your audience anyway.

If you need higher resolution for professional streaming or recording, the paid version unlocks that. But most people won't need to go there right away.

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See you in the next one.