Although it looks exactly like Logitech's StreamCam, the Papalook PA930 does not compete with high-end Logitech or Elgato webcams. Instead, it is a more affordable cam that attempts to offer some key features to separate it from the flood of cams currently available on the market. Some of these have been realized, but others are not quite decisive.

At the very least, it has a natural advantage over the run-of-the-mill special-priced webcams. Capable of capturing images up to 1440p, Papalook offers something that many sub-$70 webcams do not: according to OBS, it is technically capable of up to 2592 x 1944, but the resulting 4:3 image is not ideal except for some edgy use cases The resulting 4:3 image may not be ideal except for some edge use cases.

When connected, the initial image quality of the PA930 impressed me. The colors are appropriately balanced and bright enough right out of the box that there is no need to put it side by side with a ring light. While not ideal, especially with a bright spotlight, color and white balance in general are respectable without further tweaking.

Nevertheless, if you want to tweak the Papalook PA930 in any way, you'll need to do it within the software of your choice; if you plan to use OBS, you're in luck; it has a webcam customization software called "OBS. The software offers plenty of options for customizing the webcam. However, if you are going to plug it in specifically for Google Meets, you will have fewer options to play with.

This is because Amcap, the included software, offers considerably fewer features and settings. This is a far cry from the customization currently available with the best webcams. The app is more or less a simplified capture software, offering a way to capture photos and videos without other third-party apps, but little else.

In fact, Papalook only recommends using Amcap on older Windows versions; on Windows 10, it recommends ditching it altogether for the native camera app.

What you can do without customization software is to press the shortcut button at the top of the camera. This is supposed to toggle between 1080p 30fps mode and 1080p 60fps mode (it even says so on the box), but it doesn't seem to do so. Instead, the frame zooms in and out.

In 1440p mode, you can quickly zoom in and out of the webcam feed, potentially getting your face in the frame in a better way. Since this webcam is fixed-focus and has no autofocus or manual focus, sitting at the proper distance from the webcam is critical for clarity. Ideally, the distance is exactly 90 cm from the webcam. However, f/2.0 lenses do not have a very deep depth of field, so you can sit closer or further away than that and still see fine.

However, the toggle shortcut buttons do not work as advertised. I assumed it was probably due to the camera running at 1440p, but when I manually changed the camera to 1080p output, the button only zoomed in on my puzzled face.

Perhaps the zoom is a byproduct of the 60fps mode; the camera looked so similar whether set to 30fps or 60fps that I showed my footage to the wider team to see if they could tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps modes. We have played enough games at lower frame rates to know there must be a big difference.

The camera firmware obviously believes it can report at 60fps at 1080p, since setting it to 1440p limits the maximum frame rate to 30fps. However, we cannot confirm that the faster the frame rate, the better it will look. With this in mind, we do not recommend purchasing this webcam based on frame rate alone.

Similarly, we do not recommend buying this webcam for the microphone. I have never had a great experience with a webcam onboard mic, but the Papalook mic has a hard time relaying what I am saying in clear tones.

Ultimately, I decided the Papalook PA930 was the webcam that worked best as a simple plug-and-play device. Take it out of the box, run it at the highest resolution in your preferred application, and leave it at that. It is not a user-customizable device, so if you buy it without expecting that, it will serve its purpose well.

At $70 (£66), it is not the most affordable webcam currently available, but it is not too much to ask for a 1440p-capable device. Indeed, it is much cheaper than the $200 Elgato Facecam. But again, the two devices are not equivalent in specs or functionality.

In other words, they are 1440p workhorses and offer everything you need. In the box, you get a small tripod, a decent monitor stand, a privacy cover, and even a cleaning cloth. Although the maximum resolution is 1080p, I would recommend the Logitech C920/C922 over the Papalook, as the latter has a much higher resolution than the C920/C922, and the C920/C922 has a much higher resolution than the Papalook.