Over the past couple of years, the need for a great webcam has increased significantly. Many of us are now working from home, and virtual meetings have become much more common. Even spending time with family has to be done virtually sometimes, so it’s more important than ever to have a great webcam. While you can buy some great webcams today, having an external camera can be a clunky solution, so we’ve rounded up the best laptops you can buy that already have 1080p (or higher) cameras built-in so you don’t need any peripherals to look great.
Despite the increased need to work from home, many laptop brands haven’t quite caught up with the need for higher resolution cameras. The selection of laptops is still a bit sparse, but there are some great machines out there already. Without further ado, let’s get into the list.
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- Best overall: HP Elite Dragonfly Max
- Best AMD laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X13
- Best for creators: Surface Laptop Studio
- Best convertible: HP Spectre x360 16
- Best tablet: Surface Pro 8
- Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 15
- Best budget: Surface Go 3
Best overall: HP Elite Dragonfly Max
The HP Elite Dragonfly Max was one of the first business laptops designed that truly took remote work into consideration, and it’s a fantastic one across the board. It’s got a great design, performance, display, and of course, a great webcam.
Starting with its internals, the HP Elite Dragonfly Max is packing 11th-generation Intel Core processors up to Core i7-1185G7 with vPro. This is a quad-core, eight-thread processor with boost speeds up to 4.8GHz, plus it includes Intel Iris Xe graphics for some light GPU workloads. In addition to that, you can get it with up to 32GB of RAM, so performance and multitasking will be great across the board. Storage goes up to a 2TB SSD, giving you plenty of space for files.
The display on the HP Elite Dragonfly Max is also great if you’re a business user. It’s a 13.3-inch panel in the 16:9 aspect ratio, and it sports Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, which is plenty sharp for this size. What makes it more interesting is that it features HP Sure View Reflect, a privacy filter that prevents people around you from seeing what’s on your screen, and along with that, the maximum brightness goes up to 1000 nits, so you can use it outdoors without a problem. This is also a convertible laptop, so the screen supports touch and Wacom AES pen inputs (with the option to get a pen included).
The webcam is easily one of the ebst you’ll find on any laptop today. It’s a 5MP sensor, and while other laptops on this list have 1080p webcams, this one actually goes up to 1440p, so it’s really good for video calls. It supports Windows Hello facial recognition, too, though you can always use the fingerprint reader if you prefer that.
Business laptops almost always have to look a certain way because they’re designed to fit in a formal setting, but the Elite Dragonfly Max manages to look subdued without being boring. The “sparkling black” finish looks like normal black at a glance, but when you look closely, it has some sparkles that give it a bit more life. This is also a very thin and light laptop, weghing in at 2.49lbs and measuring 16mm in thickness. For a convertible, that’s not bad at all.
One thing you’ll commonly find on business laptops is a lot of connectivity options, and the Elite Dragonfly Max is no exception. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1), HDMI 2.0, and a headphone jack, so all your bases are covered. Plus, you have the option to add cellular connectivity, whether it’s LTE or 5G, so you can stay connected even when you’re away from Wi-Fi networks.
Overall, the HP Elite Dragonfly Max is one of the best business laptops you can buy today, and if you care about how you look in video call and meetings, it has a fantastic webcam that’s even better than 1080p.
- The HP Elite Dragonfly Max is a great business laptop designed with remote work in mind and featuring a great webcam
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Best AMD laptop with a 1080p webcam: Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 2
If you prefer your laptops to have AMD processors, your choices for laptops with 1080p webcams are slimmer, but the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 is a great one. It’s also one of the uncommon business laptops to use AMD Ryzen Pro processors, which is AMD’s equivalent to Intel’s vPro products.
The AMD variant of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 is powered by AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors, up to a Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U, a processor with 8 cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.4GHz. That’s a very powerful processor, featuring double the cores and threads of Intel’s competitors in the 15W range, which makes this a great choice for multitasking. Some models of the ThinkPad X13 go up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, but if you want the 1080p webcam, you’ll need to stop at 16GB and 512GB, respectively. That’s not to say this is bad, though, that’s still a very capable setup.
The display is one of the highlights of the ThinkPad X13, too. It comes in a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, which is great for productivity thanks to the extra vertical space. It may not sound like much, but it requires less scrolling while reading and writing, and it can make a big difference. The models with a 1080p webcam feature Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) resolution and up to 500 nits of brightness, so you shouldn’t have a problem using this laptop outdoors. There’s also a privacy guard built-in so you can keep your screen safe from peeking when there are people around you.
As you’d expect, the ThinkPad X13 does come with a 1080p camera, but it depends on the configuration you choose. At writing time, there are two configurations available with this camera, as we’ve explained above. Most models have 720p cameras, but you just have to look at the specs and get the right one. The laptop also supports Windows Hello facial recognition in the 1080p models. There’s a fingerprint reader built into the power button, too.
The design of the ThinkPad X13 will no doubt feel familiar if you’ve used a ThinkPad before. From the classic black chassis with red accents to the slightly rounded keyboard keys, and even the pointing stick smack in the middle of the keyboard. It’s the iconic ThinkPad design, but with more modern specs. It’s not a super thin or light laptop, coming in at 2.78lbs and measuring 18.19mm in thickness. It’s not going to be hard to carry around, but there are lighter laptops out there, too.
One thing that Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptops almost always get right is a generous supply of ports, and that’s definitely the case here, too. You get two USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2) ports, two USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1) ports, HDMI 2.0, a headphone jack, and an Ethernet extension port that supports gigabit speeds with an adapter. Because this is an AMD-powered laptop, there’s no Thunderbolt support, but you still get plenty of ports for all kinds of peripherals.
If you want the iconic ThinkPad design with modern features like a taller screen, a 1080p webcam, and high-end performance, the ThinkPad X13 is one of the best laptops you can buy right now.
- The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 is a great business laptop powered by AMD Ryzen processors. It includes a 1080p webcam and other modern specs.
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Best for creators: Surface Laptop Studio
Most of Microsoft’s Surface devices have shipped with 1080p cameras for a while, but the Surface Laptop family was an exception until the Laptop Studio. And not only does this laptop pack a great webcam, it’s got one of the most interesting form factors you can find on a laptop, making this my personal favorite laptop on this list.
There’s more to it than that, though. The Surface Laptop Studio comes packing Intel’s H35 series processors, up to a Core i7-11370H. These are 35W processors with four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 4.8GHz, plus Intel Iris Xe graphics. Because of the higher power rating, it can run faster for longer than a 15W processor can, so it’s more suited for demanding creative workloads. If that’s not enough, the Core i7 model also includes an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. It also comes with up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, so you’ll have plenty of power for all kinds of tasks.
The display on the Surface Laptop Studio is also great. It’s a 14.4-inch panel, and just like every other Surface, it has a 3:2 aspect ratio. It’s also a very sharp display with a resolution of 2400 x 1600, and it’s one of the only non-gaming laptops out there with a 120Hz refresh rate. It also supports pen and touch input, and if you have a Surface Slim Pen 2, it even supports tactile signals, or haptic feedback, simulating the feeling of writing with a real pen on paper.
Above that display is the aforementioned 1080p camera, which also comes with support for Windows Hello. Microsoft uses even better cameras in its tablets, but to get a 1080p camera on a laptop is already great, and you should have a good time taking calls on it.
What truly makes the Surface Laptop Studio unique is its design. This is a convertible laptop, yes, but it’s not a typical one. In addition to the hinge n the base of the laptop, the display has a secondary hinge that lets you pull the screen closer to you (as seen above), or go all the way and lay it over the keyboard base, turning it into a tablet and a great canvas for drawing and sketching. Aside from that, it looks and feels as premium as other Surface devices, and it’s fairly compact for what it offers. It starts at 3.87lbs (4lbs for the Core i7 models), and it measures 18.94mm thick. Considering the relatively powerful components and the extra components required for the display, this makes sense.
The number of ports on Surface devices is never very high, but the Surface Laptop Studio makes up for it by including Thunderbolt 4 support, which means you can use a Thunderbolt dock to connect just about anything you want. You get two of those ports, a Surface Connect port for charging, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, so there’s not a lot of variety out of the box.
While some might see its port selection as a downfall, the rest of the Surface Laptop Studio makes for a phenomenal laptop. From the versatile form factor to the powerful components and the 1080p webcam, this is one of the best laptops out there.
- The Surface Laptop Studio's form factor single-handedly makes it one of the coolest laptops around, but it's also powerful and it has a great camera.
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Also great for creators: MacBook Pro 14-inch
If you care less about the bells and whistles of the form factor and more about performance, the new 2021 MacBook Pro models are some of the best creator laptops out there. It’s a very powerful laptop but it’s also incredibly efficient, making this one of the best laptops to use when you can’t reach for an outlet.
The internals on the MacBook Pro are very different from anything else out there because Apple is making its own processors now. The Apple M1 Pro and M1 Max are based on ARM technology, and they have up to 10 CPU cores (eight high-performance cores and two efficiency cores), which already makes them some of the fastest PCs out there. Additionally, the M1 Max can have up to 32 GPU cores, with performance nearly equivalent to that of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (laptop) at 100W of power. That’s a fantastic amount of power, but it’s made even better by the efficiency. Apple’s processors achieve this level of performance while using far less power than its competitors, so you can still get that high performance without plugging into an outlet and without killing your battery in less than two hours. That’s truly game-changing if you work on the move.
Aside from that, you can configure the laptop with up to a massive 64GB of unified memory — shared between the CPU and GPU for equal access — as well as 8TB of SSD storage. These configurations are expensive, but it’s great to have the option.
The display on the 2021 MacBook Pro is also phenomenal. Apple is one of (if not the) first company to use a mini-LED panel in its laptops, offering local dimming with 10,000 mini LEDs behind the screen. This allows for a very high contrast ratio, pure blacks, and an incredible 1,600 nits of peak brightness, or 1,000 of sustained full-screen brightness. It’s also an incredibly sharp display, with the 14-inch model sporting a 3024 x 1964 resolution for an aspect ratio that’s slightly taller than 16:10.
Arguably the biggest downfall of this display is that it has a notch at the top, borrowed from the iPhone. At least the notch makes room for a fantastic 1080p camera, which is powered by Apple’s image signal processor to deliver great quality video. However, there’s no Face ID here like there is on the iPhone – you have to use Touch ID built into the power button.
The design of the MacBook Pro is very much in line with what you’d expect from a MacBook. It comes in a plain silver or space grey color, and there’s really nothing too special about the way it looks. The MacBook Pro 14-inch is also not a light laptop for its size, coming in at 3.5lbs. It’s fairly thin, measuring 15.5mm, but it’s not the most portable laptop you can find.
Back to the positives, though, Apple has given the MacBook Pro 14-inch a much better port setup than its predecessors. It now comes with three Thunderbolt 4 ports – despite not having Intel processors anymore – HDMI, a full-size SD card reader, and a headphone jack with improved support for high-impedance headphones. Plus, it brought MagSafe back with support for high-speed charging. The lack of USB Type-A ports may be a bummer if you’ve been using Windows laptops, but considering MacBooks haven’t had them in years, it’s easier to accept.
Whether the MacBook Pro 14-inch is worth it to you depends entirely on how much performance you need from your laptop. It’s not a cheap laptop at all, but it’s incredibly fast, efficient, it has a fantastic screen, and one of the best 1080p cameras around. The model below has an M1 Pro processor, but you can find the M1 Max variant at Adorama.
- The 2021 MacBook Pro 14 is one of the most impressive laptops around, offering fantastic performance at home or on the go, while also having great batter life.
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Best convertible with a 1080p webcam: HP Spectre x360 16
For as good as HP’s Spectre laptops are, the webcams on them have been one of their major flaws in the latest models. That was until the SPectre x360 16 came around, packing not only a bigger screen, but a great webcam and powerful specs, too.
First off, the Spectre x360 16 comes with Intel’s 35W processors instead of the 15W models inside the smaller Spectre laptops. You can get up to a Core i7-11390H, with four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 5GHz, plus Iris Xe graphics built-in. That’s already plenty fast, but if you need more power for something like gaming or video editing, the Spectre x360 16 also offers NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics as an optional upgrade. Aside from that, it comes with up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD for storage, so you won’t be lacking in power or space for your files.
One of the more remarkable aspects of the Spectre x360 16 is the display, which is a 16-inch panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Even in the base model, this is a very sharp screen, coming in an unusual resolution of 3072 x 1920. But if you want an even better screen, there’s an option to upgrade to an Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) OLED panel. That’s one of the biggest OLED panels in a laptop right now, so that’s very good to see. Of course, this is a convertible, so it supports both touch and pen input.
Equally noteworthy is the webcam above that display. While the other Spectre models make do with a tiny 720p camera, the Spectre x360 16 goes all out with a 5MP “GlamCam” camera. In addition to high-resolution video, the camera includes smart features like beauty enhancements, light corrections, and the ability to track you and keep you in the frame as you move around. It’s potentially one of the best 1080p webcams you’ll find in any laptop.
The design of the 16-inch Spectre is also pretty unique compared to its siblings. It still has a dual-tone look of sorts, but the chassis itself has more rounded edges so it should be more comfortable to hold and carry around in your hands. The accent color is also less prevalent, so it looks a bit more subdued than the smaller models, especially on the Nocturne Blue model. For a 16-inch convertible with some powerful specs inside, the Spectre x360 16 is not overly heavy, but the 4.45lb starting weight isn’t exactly light, either. It measures 19.81mm in thickness, too.
You get a solid supply of ports with the Spectre x360 16, too. It comes with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 2), HDMI 2.0b, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader, so it covers pretty much all the basics you might need. There isn’t much more you say except that it’s a good, versatile setup.
The Spectre x360 16 is a great convertible, and there aren’t a ton of flaws we can point with it except maybe for its weight. It gets almost everything right, and while the starting price is a bit high, it’s worth remembering the base model already includes a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. For around $1,600, that’s not bad at all.
- The HP Spectre x360 16 is a convertible with powerful specs and a sleek design, plus a fantastic 5MP camera.
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Best tablet with a 1080p webcam: Surface Pro 8
As we’ve already mentioned, the Surface line of products has always had some of the best 1080p webcams in a laptop, and that’s never been more true than with the Surface Pro 8. And that’s not the only thing that makes this a great device.
Performance-wise, the Surface Pro 8 is just like a typical ultrabook, featuring 11th-generation processors up to a Core i7-1185G7. It has four cores and eight threads, it can boost up to 4.8GHz, and it includes Intel’s Iris Xe graphics for some light GPU workloads. You can also configure it with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, which is impressive for a tablet of this size. It truly has as much power as a standard laptop, so you’re not missing out this way.
The display is one of the highlights of the Surface Pro 8. It’s a 13-inch panel, and as usual, it has a 3:2 aspect ratio. Because it’s bigger than its predecessor, the display also has higher resolution, 2880 x 1920, but the same pixel density. What’s definitely improved is the inclusion of a 120Hz display (set to 60Hz by default), a feature you wouldn’t normally find on any non-gaming laptop, as well as Dolby Vision. The display obviously supports touch and the Surface Pen, and just like the Surface Laptop Studio, if you use the Surface Slim Pen 2, you also get support for tactile signals.
Above that display you’ll find a 5MP camera with support for 1080p video, something we’ve been seeing for a while in the Surface Pro line. Naturally, it also comes with Windows Hello facial recognition. Because it’s a tablet, the Surface Pro 8 actually includes a second camera, and it’s now a 10MP sensor with support for 4K video.
The Surface Pro 8 has a different design from its predecessors, with the larger screen making for smaller bezels, and rounded corners make it a bit more comfortable to hold. It’s also now an aluminum tablet instead of magnesium, so it’s noticeably heavier, coming in at 1.9lbs. Still, it’s one of the lightest devices on this list, and the 9.3mm thickness makes it one of the thinnest, too. That’s all without the keyboard, which is sold separately, but it doesn’t make much of a difference.
As is usual for Surface devices, the supply of ports is not extensive here. You do get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, so you can connect just about anything you want here, but aside from that, there’s only a Surface Connect port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That’s something you’ll see often in laptops this thin, though, so it’s not as egregious as the Surface Laptop Studio.
If you want the power of a laptop in an extra portable device, plus a 1080p camera, the Surface Pro 8 is one of the best options around. Plus, it’s very portable, so you can use it anywhere you go.
- With a bigger and smoother display, a new design, and more powerful specs, the Surface Pro 8 is one of the most exciting tablets Microsoft has made in a while.
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Best gaming laptop with a 1080p webcam: Razer Blade 15 Advanced
A 1080p webcam is great for video meetings and calls, but it can also be good for streaming if you don’t want to spend money on one of the best webcams out there. And if you’re streaming your gaming sessions, why not get a laptop that can do it all?
The Razer Blade 15 is one of the most powerful laptops on this list, packing a 45W Intel Core i7-11800H with 8 cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.6GHz. In addition to that, you can get this laptop with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU with 8GB of memory and 105W of power, so all your games will run just fine, and you should be able to stream them with no issues, too. Rounding out the specs, you get up to 16GB of RAM (though you can upgrade it yourself after the fact), and a 1TB SSD, plus an extra M.2 slot for storage expansion.
The display on the Razer Blade 15 comes in a few variants, but the form factor is always the same — a 15.6-inch panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio. From there, you can choose a Full HD display with a 360Hz refresh rate, a Quad HD display with either a 240Hz or a 165Hz refresh rate, or a 4K OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate. All of these are great options depending on your needs, though I’d personally say the Quad HD panels strike the right balance of smoothness and image quality.
Webcams are often overlooked in gaming laptops, but the Razer Blade 15 uses a 1080p camera above the display, so you’re pretty well served here. Not just that, there’s also support for Windows Hello facial recognition, something else that’s also overlooked frequently on gaming laptops. It’s great to see that Razer didn’t ignore these details.
Gaming laptops can sometimes have garish designs, but the Razer Blade also does a good job of being subdued enough to use in public. It’s an all-black laptop aside from the green Razer logo on the lid, and it looks great. The only RGB lighting is on the keyboard, but it only shines through the labels, so it’s very subtle and you can just change the light to white for a completely clean look. For all the power inside, the Razer Blade 15 weighs 4.4lbs, which isn’t bad at all for the internal specs here. It’s also under 17mm thin, an impressive feat for sure.
Connectivity is another one of the strengths of the Blade 15 Advanced. It comes with two Thunderbolt ports, three USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 2) ports, HDMI 2.1, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. There really isn’t much more you can ask for here.
The Razer Blade 15 is a great powerful laptop that doesn’t overlook features like the 1080p webcam or the design, something that tends to happen with other gaming laptops. You can find most configurations at Amazon below.
- The Razer Blade 15 Advanced is a powerful gaming laptop with a 1080p webcam and sleek design.
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Best budget tablet: Surface Go 3
Finally, if you want a laptop that’s affordable and still has a 1080p webcam, the Surface Go 3 is your go-to (even if it’s technically a tablet). Webcams are usually one of the first things to cut back on with budget devices, but the Surface Go 3 has cameras almost as good as the premium Surface tablets.
Where the Surface Go 3 makes some compromises compared to other budget laptops is the performance. It comes with up to an Intel Core i3-10100Y, which is a dual-core, four-thread processor with boost speeds up to 3.9GHz. The base model comes with an Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y, which runs at up to 3.4GHz instead. Both are low-power processors, so while performance should be ok, it will definitely fall behind the premium laptops on this list. It also includes up to 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, which is the configuration we recommend if you can afford it. The base model has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, which isn’t going to give you a great experience.
On the other hand, the display on the Surface Go 3 is very good for a Windows PC in this price range. It’s a 10.5-inch panel, and it comes in the 3:2 aspect ratio found in the more premium Surface devices, making this one of the very few budget laptops that don’t have a 16:9 screen. It’s also a Full HD+ (1920 x 1280) display, so it’s very sharp for its size, and definitely sharper than most other laptops at this price. Being a tablet, support for touch and the Surface Pen is also a given.
As we said above, the webcam also wasn’t sacrificed on the Surface Go 3. Like the Surface Pro 8, the Surface Go 3 has a 5MP/1080p webcam, something you won’t find on any other laptop at this price, and it also supports Windows Hello facial recognition. On the back, there’s another camera, this time an 8MP sensor that also records 1080p video.
The design of the Surface Go 3 follows what we’ve known from Surface tablets in the post (prior to the Pro 8). It’s a thin and light magnesium tablet with flat edges, allowing the Surface Pen to attach magnetically to the side. Thanks to the small size and the magnesium build, the Surface Go 3 weighs just 1.2lbs, and it’s also 8.3mm thin, making it very easy to carry anywhere you want to take it. Of course, you might want to add a keyboard, which is sold separately, but that doesn’t change the fact this is one of the most portable laptops around.
Finally, the Surface Go 3 has a limited supply of ports, as per usual of Surface devices. You get one USB Type-C port, a Surface Connect port for charging (and optional docking), a 3,5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. There’s no Thunderbolt support here, either, which is what you’d expect from a budget laptop. While this isn’t a terrible setup for a tablet, it’s underwhelming for a Windows PC, so you might need some adapters if you want to connect wired peripherals to this PC.
Despite that, the Surface Go 3 is a great budget device, and if you want a 1080p webcam on the cheap, you won’t find another laptop that can do that. However, you have to keep in mind that the keyboard is sold separately, so that’s a cost you’re going to have to add if you want a proper laptop experience.
- The Surface Go 3 is a budget tablet that makes some smart choices to offer a premium experience where other laptops in this price range tend to fall apart.
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And that’s about it for what we’d consider the best laptops with 1080p webcams you can find right now. If webcam quality is the most important to you, the HP Elite Dragonfly Max is our top choice because it goes beyond Full HD and includes 1440p video, plus the laptop itself is thin, light, and great across the board. However, every laptop on this list is great for someone different, so you can look around and see what interests you the most. Personally, I’d always choose the Surface Laptop Studio for its form factor, but everyone has different tastes.
If you’re not committed to a 1080p webcam and you’re considering other options, check out our round-up of the best 15-inch laptops, too. There are many great devices in there.
The post These are the best 1080p webcam laptops in 2021 appeared first on xda-developers.
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