A gimbal-mounted webcam with a good mic but a noisy picture
The Insta360 Link 2 is a feature-rich webcam with a built-in gimbal that lets it pivot to automatically follow you around the room. Its auto-framing functionality is joined by a surprisingly capable built-in microphone. At $199.99, it sits squarely between our two gimbal-equipped Editors’ Choice winners, the Obsbot Tiny SE ($99) and Tiny 2 ($329), with the same 4K resolution as the latter model. The plethora of pixels can’t overcome a noise-prone sensor, though, and its picture tends to be soft. Ultimately, both Osbot models offer sharper video and auto-framing capabilities, so they remain our top picks.Design: Black Box, Spinning Base
The Link 2 is a rectangular block with two large circles on its face. The left circle encompasses the lens, while the right circle is a large, easily identifiable status light that glows green when active. A pinhole microphone sits between the circles. The camera is mounted on a swiveling gimbal that sits on a small, cylindrical base with a USB-C port on the back. A strong magnet attaches the camera to the included clip, which has a separate hinge for tilting the camera forward and a standard tripod screw mount on the bottom.Software: Lots of Options for Backgrounds and Exposure
Insta360’s Link Controller app for macOS and Windows provides plenty of features to control the Link 2. You can employ multiple tracking modes, including AI tracking for single users and groups with smart composition options to frame your head, upper body, or (single person only) full body. There are also separate modes for both standard whiteboards and smart whiteboards and a DeskView mode that tilts the camera forward and flips the view to show what’s on your desk, similar to the $199.99 Logitech MX Brio’s Show mode. Insta360’s DeskView is much easier to use than Logitech’s Show mode because the gimbal lets the camera automatically tilt forward to frame the desk rather than requiring you to precariously angle the webcam yourself. You can also control the gimbal and digital zoom manually with an on-screen joystick.
If you want to tweak how your video looks, the Link Controller app also provides manual exposure and white balance controls, including an adjustable exposure curve.
