Elgato Facecam Neo review: A promising webcam with some limitations

Whether you’re streaming a work call or a popular video game, you’re going to need a webcam that makes you look good. The Facecam Neo, the latest offering from Elgato, is designed to make professional streaming as easy as possible.

The Elgato Facecam Neo is sold as either as a standalone product or in a kit that includes other gadgets such as a microphone, a light panel, and so on. As a standalone product, it costs $99.99. For that price, you get a sturdy little camera that can be angled vertically and swiveled sideways. It’s a nice camera, but it definitely has its limitations, which we’ll dive into below.

Further reading: Best webcams 2024: Top picks and expert buying advice

Elgato Facecam Neo: Easy to hook onto your screen

You get a bracket to hook the webcam onto a screen and it sits firmly. It can also be used to stand it on a table, slightly elevated. Otherwise, you can also attach it to a stand of your choice, there are standard threads for it at the bottom.

The camera has a USB-C cable attached, so that’s the only way to connect it to a computer unless you buy your own adapter for USB-A. Elgato doesn’t specify whether it’s a USB 2.0 or 3.0. However, according to the stated system requirements, a USB 2.0 port on the computer should be sufficient and there shouldn’t be any compromise on image quality.

The camera delivers 1920×1080 pixels at 60 Hz at best, with a signal that does not seem to contain too much compression. I don’t see any otherwise typical jpeg artefacts in video recorded with it, just some banding in tinted areas.

Whether it can do that with a USB 2.0 connection I don’t know, I didn’t actually have a port to plug it into and test. But most Type C ports today are USB 3 model, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

The Facecam Neo has no built-in microphone. For audio, you’ll need to connect to an external microphone or use a headset.

Elgato Facecam Neo: Looks good, but only in the right light

The image quality is good thanks to a CMOS sensor and large aperture, autofocus, and optics with a 26 millimeter focal length that gives it a 77 degree angle of view. In 60 Hz image mode, the response is instantaneous and the image is completely free of blur and the image shows crisp details.

It can be really good with the right lighting, with studio light, or incident daylight, but the image can also be annoyingly dark. I get harsh contrast and excessive color saturation when testing with just indoor lighting late at night in my home office.

Skin tones become mottled and shades are unflatteringly emphasized. I don’t usually like the beauty filters found in many smartphone cameras, but here I actually started longing for something similar. Or at least better automatic light compensation. Other webcams are better this. The camera can deliver the right image, but the only thing that works with plug and play auto is the excellent white balance.

Elgato Facecam Neo: Competent software works best with GeForce

Let’s talk about the Camera Hub program real quick. It gives you control over digital zoom and crop with face tracking, contrast, light level, sharpening filters, saturation, and color temperature control as well as various HDR, noise reduction, and anti-flicker options.

If you want to have good control over your image, this program is a must. It’s not as difficult as it may seem, though. I needed to adjust the light and contrast sliders to add more natural-looking skin colors to my face. With more light in a room, the quality increases dramatically.

Camera Hub also includes AI-supported image effects in collaboration with Nvidia Broadcast, if you have a compatible graphics card for it. It can provide unmasking for green screen effect or blurred background and there are a bunch of presets for backgrounds. You also get an eye contact effect, which is very effective. However, these only work if you have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 or better.

Elgato Facecam Neo: Needs more support

Elgato specifies Windows 10, Mac OS 13, iPad OS 17, or later as system requirements for the camera. For Windows computers, the specifications require an Intel and AMD processor. However, it complies with the UVC standard and should work with other systems such as Chromebooks and new Windows computers with Snapdragon processors. I tried it on a Snapdragon X laptop and can confirm that plug and play installation works there, too.

What limits compatibility is that Elgato doesn’t have Camera Hub for systems other than Windows and macOS. Trying to install the existing Windows version on a new Snapdragon X laptop will not work.

The way around this is running the Camera Hub on a computer that supports it. Just plug the camera in, save locally to the camera’s built-in flash memory, and then plug it into your Snapdragon laptop.

Let’s hope they fix the Arm-compatible Windows version of Camera Hub (and their other applications) soon. It would be a shame if Elgato gets left behind on that point. If you don’t have it, you’ll have to rely on better lighting and manual greenscreen.

Elgato Facecam Neo: Conclusion

I do wonder if the Facecam Neo is worth the investment. There are plenty of other Arm-compatible webcams out there that come with built-in microphones. If you’re willing to get the kit that includes a small microphone and a light panel, it might be a good fit. However, as standalone camera for the video meeting, it’s questionable.