Your laptop computer’s built-in webcam doesn’t maintain a candle to the very best Android telephones on the market in relation to video high quality, which is why many individuals use their Android telephone as a webcam for his or her PC. The one drawback with this method is that it’s not as handy to arrange, which is why most individuals accept exterior webcams which are often plug-and-play. That’s why we had been initially excited to see that Google is bringing native webcam performance to Pixel telephones with an upcoming Android 14 replace. Nonetheless, after really attempting it out for ourselves, our pleasure has waned.
These of you who’re operating Android 14 in your Pixel telephone may be a bit confused as a result of this native webcam performance is nowhere to be discovered. That’s as a result of it’s solely included within the Android 14 QPR beta releases proper now. The way in which this function works beneath the hood is kind of sophisticated, however all you actually need to know is that it turns your Android telephone into a normal USB webcam that almost all PCs operating Home windows, macOS, or Linux will acknowledge. All it’s a must to do is join your telephone to your PC by way of USB, pull down the notifications panel in your telephone, open the USB preferences web page, after which change the USB mode to “Webcam.”
You don’t must tinker with any settings or set up any further software program in your telephone or PC; your telephone will simply seem as an “Android Webcam” in video conferencing software program like Google Meet or Zoom. Android 14 does provide a preview of the video feed, allow you to modify the zoom stage, and alter which digital camera lens is used, however you don’t get any of the myriad of controls provided by third-party webcam software program like Camo.
I don’t assume there’s something unsuitable with Google conserving Android 14’s webcam function easy, as a result of most Android telephone cameras can deal with typical dwelling workplace lighting eventualities simply superb. However there does appear to be one thing unsuitable with the best way Google arrange the function within the first place, as a result of for some cause, the video high quality is considerably worse than what it may very well be.
For instance, listed below are some screenshots from a Google Meet name the place I used Android 14’s webcam function, Reincute’s Camo app, and the scrcpy software’s digital camera mirroring function on my Pixel 8 Professional. Android 14’s webcam function doesn’t allow you to select the decision or body fee, although because it maxes out at 1080p 30fps, I used that decision and body fee in Camo and scrcpy.
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Simply to ensure that neither Google Meet nor my Pixel 8 Professional had been the problems right here, I additionally examined my Pixel 6a, Pixel 6 Professional, and Pixel 7 Professional on a separate PC, with totally different cables, and in Zoom and OBS Studio as effectively. The outcomes had been constant: Android 14’s webcam function provided considerably inferior video high quality in comparison with Camo and scrcpy. I recorded a few movies regionally by OBS Studio and uploaded them to YouTube in case you need to see how dramatic the distinction in high quality actually is.
I might be mendacity if I mentioned Android 14’s webcam function is unusable — removed from it, in actual fact. After I used it on my Pixel 6 Professional to report episode 18 of the Android Trustworthy podcast, none of my co-hosts or viewers members complained about my video high quality. After I switched to utilizing scrcpy as my webcam in episode 19, nonetheless, my co-hosts might undoubtedly inform there was an enormous increase in high quality.
You would possibly assume that growing the webcam high quality to 4K30 like I did after I recorded episode 19 of Android Trustworthy would trigger my Pixel 6 Professional to overheat and lose a ton of battery even when plugged in, however that truly wasn’t the case. Earlier than the present, I ran scrcpy’s digital camera mirroring function at 4K30 for an hour and famous the battery stage and temperature of my Pixel 6 Professional.
After an hour, the battery stage solely dropped 5%, and the temperature solely reached 36°C. After I recorded this knowledge once more over the two-hour interval that the podcast was recording, the battery stage solely dropped 6%, and the temperature solely reached 37.3°C. The assessments I ran had been removed from scientific and, after all, had been depending on the machine I used and the ambient temperature in my recording atmosphere (~23°C). Nonetheless, I feel I’ve demonstrated that thermal/battery issues aren’t actually at difficulty right here.
When Google’s personal advertising tries to promote the concept that Android 14 will allow you to use “your epic Android digital camera” as a “stunning webcam,” I feel it’s honest to have excessive expectations. I feel most individuals are simply so accustomed to mid-tier webcams and video conferencing software program compression that the bar has been set so low for what makes a “good” webcam. My $1,000 Pixel 8 Professional shouldn’t simply be a good webcam; it ought to be an wonderful one.
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I’m not precisely certain what the problem is with Android 14’s webcam function, however I might be shocked if it’s one thing Google can’t repair. It’s not like Camo or scrcpy are doing something particular to enhance video high quality when utilizing your Android telephone as a webcam — they’re utilizing the identical API (Camera2) to entry the machine’s digital camera, in spite of everything. My hope is that Google simply selected reasonably aggressive compression settings in order that customers on much less secure or slower networks gained’t face points throughout video calls.
I mentioned earlier that I don’t assume there’s something unsuitable with Google conserving issues easy. Nonetheless, I feel Google ought to no less than present an possibility to make use of higher-quality settings, maybe with a warning that these settings might trigger the machine to overheat or degrade the battery longevity if used for a protracted interval. As a result of as of proper now, I can’t suggest utilizing Android 14’s webcam function over third-party options.
