Virtual meetings have become a staple in many industries at this point. Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, Skype, Slack, and more dominate meetings. And, with that, if you aren’t ever seeing people in real life anymore, putting your best foot forward in a virtual meeting has only become more critical. In addition to the rise of virtual meetings, there is a growing movement to want flexible work, meaning that laptops are frequently used for work machines, and laptops (notoriously) have mediocre webcams at best. That’s where theOpal Tadpolewebcam comes in.
Opal Tadpole
The Opal Tadpole webcam is an innovative take on portable webcams. Its size, portability, ease of use, and quality make this camera the best in class and worth considering for anyone on many virtual meetings from a laptop.
Portable, Easy, Premium
Opal’s Tadpole webcam is something that I have yet to see anyone attempt to do. I have seen many webcams. I have even seen many portable webcams that can be brought with laptops on the go to boost those laptops with poor webcams, which—let’s face it—is most laptops. But, what I have yet to see is a webcam that is designed, first and foremost, for a laptop.
I tried hooking this to my monitor, but it would not work. Even if I could get the camera up on the monitor, I couldn’t reach the cable down and around to my computer. I tested this on multiple laptops, all of which this camera worked great on, and all hooked on and reached with ease.
Teeny Tiny, Yet Super Mighty
I have been using the Opal Tadpole webcam for a few months, and I am still amazed at its lightweight, small size, and simplicity. The packaging is minimalist, which indicates the webcam’s design. Once you remove the camera from its packaging, you will immediately notice how easy it is to carry around and use daily. It is so lightweight that you may even attach it to your backpack, and it comes with a carrying case that can be used as a lanyard for decoration.
Setting up the camera is a breeze. All you need to do is plug it in, and it will work immediately. You can download the Opal Composer app for your computer if you want more control over the camera’s settings, but it is unnecessary. While you could use this webcam on any computer setup, it is designed specifically for laptops. This is evident by the clamp mechanism used to attach to the top of the laptop lid and by the length and style of the cable. The cable is just long enough to reach around and to the side of a laptop to plug into the USB-C port. Once plugged in, the topside of the plug becomes a haptic button with an LED to quickly mute and unmute while in virtual meetings (while using the mic built into the Opal Tadpole).
Punching Above Its Weight Class
While using the Opal Tadpole, I loved how easy it was to go from the webcam stowed away in my bag to logging into a meeting. All I have to do is pull it out, put it on my laptop screen, and plug it in. It’s super easy, and the built-in mic is good enough that I don’t need to connect my headphones or an external mic to be heard clearly. I should have expected to love this webcam because of its ability to plug it into my iPad and use it there. I love my 11" M1 iPad Pro. One thing I don’t love, though, is the camera placement for virtual meetings.
The Opal tadpole solves that issue quickly by plugging directly into the USB-C port on my iPad and then taking over as the preferred camera for virtual meetings, FaceTime, and such. The haptic button on the plug is brilliant and incredibly useful in meetings. Especially in times when you may not want to mute yourself virtually, but at the same time, you need to mute yourself so that background noise does not give away your coffee shop or island remote workspace.
On that topic, the mic is surprisingly straightforward and focused. Opal utilizes their VisiMic technology only to allow audio from that which is in the camera’s field of view. This drastically helps break up background noise, making your video debut or feature at a meeting clear, crisp, and professional.
I’ve spoken about how easy the Tadpole is to use, but it is remarkable not just that this is an outstanding external virtual meeting tool with a great mic, an easy-to-use interface, and a built-in mute button but also an excellent camera. Opal has fit in an F1.8 lens that lets in as much light as a professional-grade camera. Opal themselves have tremendous photographers and videographers backing their products because they are so good at what they do. So, this upgrade is more than just one you would grab to have any camera for a video meeting. You could grab this webcam to seriously increase your virtual meeting quality in picture and sound, ease of use, and even price.
Should You Buy the Opal Tadpole?
TheOpal Tadpoleportable webcam is a one-of-a-kind webcam designed foremost for laptops on the move. The camera’s build quality is excellent, the audio is fantastic, and the picture quality is remarkable. If you are looking for a webcam or a way to boost your virtual meetings and you work from a laptop, the Opal Tadpole is something you strongly consider. For $129 (at the time of writing this review), there isn’t anything like this, and nothing is this high quality.
