INTRODUCTION

    Both because of the COVID-19 pandemic and popular demand from streamers and content creators. webcams can now deliver so much more in terms of not only picture quality but also features, even compared to just 5 years ago. Needless to say, such jumps in performance and/or almost always happen by brand new players who enter the market for that specific reason and usually enjoy the support of consumers from the get-go. In this case that player is OBSBOT and after testing their near-excellent Tiny 2 and Tail Air models for the past 2 weeks I've been using their latest Meet 2 AI Powered 4K Webcam.

    Founded in 2016, OBSBOT is an innovative imaging technology and hardware brand dedicated to using new technologies such as AI to inject new vitality into the videography market. With the artificial intelligence as the core, OBSBOT focuses on the application research of new technologies in the field of videography. It hopes to use revolutionary technology and innovative products to innovate the way of public records and image creation, and to change people's social way.

    The Meet 4 is a tiny (45x36x22.2mm) 4K webcam with a metal alloy housing currently available in 3 colors (space grey, cloud white and aurora green). Inside the tiny body of the Meet 2 OBSBOT has managed to place an 1/2-inch 48MP CMOS sensor which sports a maximum resolution of 3840x2160p (can capture video at 4k@30fps/1080p@60fps with HDR) together with an f/1.8 aperture, 79.4 degrees FOV, 4x digital zoom and a 100-6400 ISO range. The Meet 2 is also equipped with built-in dual omni-directional mics for optimal audio recording (feature noise reduction and auto gain control), universal 1/4" thread, USB-C data port and even an magnetic privacy cover. As expected, the Meet 2 also supports numerous AI features such as auto framing, tracking zones, auto portrait and landscape modes, PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus) and even a beauty mode which includes skin retouching, body parts reshaping and several filters. So, time to see just how good the Meet 2 by OBSBOT really is.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

OBSBOT is using a small box to ship the Meet 2 at the front of which they've placed all 3 available colors and of course their logo.

The bundle contents and company information are all placed at the rear.

Once you open the front of the box, you'll see two 2D barcodes related to the product page/video and product download areas.

Along with the Meet 2 inside the box you'll also find a magnetic base, magnetic privacy cover, USB-C cable, USB-A to USB-C adapter, warranty policy and the user manual.

THE MEET 2

As mentioned earlier the metal alloy body of the Meet 2 is tiny and thus measures just 45mm in length, 36mm in height and 22.2mm in width/depth.

The Meet 2 may not sport large lens but the 1/2-inch 48MP CMOS sensor with its f/1.8 aperture should be plenty for most uses.

Turning the Meet 2 around we find a sticker with its serial number and barcode and the USB-C data port.

As expected, the universal 1/4" thread is located at the base of the enclosure.

The magnetic base is very easy to use and should fit any monitor screen.

OBSBOT CENTER

As with past models to fully utilize the features of the Meet 2 you will need to download the OBSBOT center software.

Once again, the main console tab of the OBSBOT Center software allows you to access auto framing, zoom mode (wide, medium and narrow) and the manual PTZ which of course is a feature aimed towards the Tiny and Tail models.

Before you do anything I strongly recommend heading into the settings menu (from the top right) to check for firmware updates (our sample had one).

From the settings menu you can also change recording resolution, mode (landscape/portrait) bitrate and recording format (mkv, mp4, move and flv).

You can of course also change the audio input, remap global hotkeys, adjust network connection settings and of course adjust the general settings such as the language, auto startup and more.

Unlike past reviews here you can see how the zoom mode and auto framing work (also 100% zoom).

Moving to the image tab from here you can enable HDR, adjust auto focus and exposure settings, set the anti-flicker and white balance and adjust the usual image settings (contrast, saturation, sharpness and hue).

From the more tab you can set the auto-sleep timeout and background, adjust the various microphone settings, mirror the image, adjust the indicator lights, check for firmware updates and restore the software (the Meet 2 effectively) to its factory settings.

Unfortunately, even though inside the beauty tab you can even adjust the out of focus areas (bokeh) of the picture I couldn't enable advanced effects (did install the NVIDIA video effects SDK without luck however).

Since for good or bad we live in the era of filters the retouch and filters tabs will be of use to many people.

SCORE

I haven't really tested and/or used that many web cameras over the years but the ones that I have are still in the lab so it wasn't hard for me to test all of them with numerous Viber and Skype calls and make a chart based on my opinion (again, just like with all charts based on my opinion and/or findings you should take this with a grain of salt).

CONCLUSION

    Having already reviewed the Tiny 2 and Tail Air models by OBSBOT I was very interested to see just what the Meet 2 would be capable of and for the most part I was pleasantly surprised. Image quality is very good (even at low light situations), the metal alloy enclosure is light and tiny (so it fits pretty much everywhere) and the features offered by the center software are certainly not something we see with “regular” webcams. Audio quality is perhaps the only issue I had with the Meet 2 since at times it felt as if I was standing 10 meters away from it (although I was like half a meter away). Yes, this didn’t happen a lot (and it can be resolved if you disable auto gain) but still it did surprise me a bit. On the other hand, noise reduction is very effective, so you won’t have to worry about ambient noise becoming an issue (system noise included).

    The Meet 2 AI Powered 4K Webcam by OBSBOT was officially released yesterday with a very tempting price tag of USD129/129Euros directly from OBSBOT (taxes excluded). At the end of the day the Meet 2 may fall short compared to the Tiny 2 and the Tail Air models (both of which are considerably more expensive) but it’s still miles ahead compared to most 4K webcams currently in the market and that’s why it deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Metal Alloy Enclosure)
- Compact Size
- Image/Video Quality (4K @ 30fps / 1080p @ 60fps / HDR)
- Audio Quality (Dual Noise Cancelling Microphones)
- Center Software
- Beauty Mode (Streaming)
- Available In 3 Colors (Space Grey / Cloud White / Aurora Green)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Slight Auto Gain Audio Issues
- Magnetic Base (Not Very Stable)