OBSBOT Tiny 2 review: "Represents a very small subsection of the market"

2024-01-12

GamesRadar+ VerdictThe OBSBOT Tiny 2 is an excellent, cleverly designed camera stuck within a chassis that makes it too complicated for most users, and inflates its price tag beyond what would make this a smart purchase.TODAY’S BEST DEALS$254at Amazon$254at Amazon$254at AmazonPros+Excellent video quality+Smart, small design+AI tracking tech works almost too effectivelyCons-AI tracking isn’t very useful for meetings or streaming-Control sensitivity can lead to wild camera swings-Very expensive compared to other 4K cameras

GamesRadar+ Verdict

The OBSBOT Tiny 2 is an excellent, cleverly designed camera stuck within a chassis that makes it too complicated for most users, and inflates its price tag beyond what would make this a smart purchase.TODAY’S BEST DEALS$254at Amazon$254at Amazon$254at Amazon

TODAY’S BEST DEALS$254at Amazon$254at Amazon$254at Amazon

TODAY’S BEST DEALS

$254at Amazon$254at Amazon$254at Amazon

$254at Amazon

Pros+Excellent video quality+Smart, small design+AI tracking tech works almost too effectively

Excellent video quality

Smart, small design

AI tracking tech works almost too effectively

Cons-AI tracking isn’t very useful for meetings or streaming-Control sensitivity can lead to wild camera swings-Very expensive compared to other 4K cameras

AI tracking isn’t very useful for meetings or streaming

Control sensitivity can lead to wild camera swings

Very expensive compared to other 4K cameras

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In reaching for a unique selling point, it’s stumbled into a very narrow slice of the market. At $329 / £329, it’s far too expensive for the vast majority of buyers, even when compared to close competitors like theInsta360 Link webcam.

Design and Features

(Image credit: Future / Alistair Jones)

OBSbot Tiny 2 facing downward while not in use

It comes in a really nice little package, nestled comfortably on top of my screen and spinning silently to life as soon as I need a camera or move into a virtual meeting room. When it’s inactive, it points down towards its own stand, so I’m never worried that I’ve forgotten to turn it off. It also comes with a built-in microphone, which isn’t bad in a quiet room, but provides a slightly muffled sound. I’d definitely still recommend grabbing one of thebest microphones for streaming and gaming, whether you want to give clear callouts to teammates or keep a Twitch chat entertained.

OBSBOT’s unique selling feature from the original Tiny returns here, with AI tracking software that moves with the camera’s subject matter. It’s extremely responsive, and very smooth - leaning back and forth in my chair, the change in the display is so sleek that it can be easy to miss it happening around gradual movements. The tracking can be turned on or off, and the camera itself features voice control, hand controls, and a remote control. Via those control methods, you’re able to turn the tracking on or off, zoom the display in or out, and select pre-set, alternative camera positions. All of these methods are just as responsive as AI tracking, but that’s not always a good thing.

Performance

(Image credit: Future / Alistair Jones)

OBSbot Tiny 2 sitting on top of its box, looking up at the camera

Not long after I set the camera up for the first time, I was in a meeting in which, apparently, my hand made an approximation of the OBSBOT’s ‘Zoom In’ symbol. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my colleague do a double-take, and, puzzled, I looked towards them to see the camera smash-zooming on my face like something out of a viral TikTok. Thankfully, I’d studied the manual enough to know how to reverse the process, but my meeting had already been derailed.

Of course, OBSBOT is hoping to set the Tiny 2 entirely apart with its AI tracking, and that is undeniably good. It’s subtle enough that it’s not distracting during meetings, it’s easy to turn on and off, and it maneuvers quickly and quietly, even to the extremes of the frame as I move around in my desk chair or lean to grab something off the floor.

(Image credit: Future / Alistair Jones)

OBSbot Tiny 2 image on top of a monitor

For me, however, no matter how good the tracking remains, it’s still not the most necessary feature, and it has messed up on a couple of occasions. Once, a meeting started with the camera pointing off into empty space. Another time, it followed someone else’s face out of shot after they leaned in. It’s easy to bring the focus back to oneself, but it’s frustrating that something even as occasionally distracting as this is attached to a feature that I don’t really need.

That feeling - that I don’t need the headline feature of this webcam - is something that I’ve found hard to shake. And it goes deeper than a personal problem because I’ve struggled to work out exactly what the use case for the AI tracking is. For work meetings, it’s simply not necessary unless you’re doing some large-scale corporate video presentation on a Teams call - but even that is pretty fringe.

Should you buy the OBSBOT Tiny 2?

(Image credit: Future / Alistair Jones)

OBSbot Tiny 2 wide shot, showing the webcam’s scale

I’ve thought about it a lot, and the only situation where I could see the Tiny 2’s AI tracking being genuinely valuable is for large presentations - a demonstration where an instructor is moving around a physical space while filming for virtual attendees, for example. For that specific instance, I think this would be a great camera, but it feels to me like that represents a very small subsection of the market. The newly beefed-upOBSBOT Tail Airfeatures AI as well, but since it can be used remotely and in a multi-cam setup, that tracking makes a lot more sense.

Eventually, it’s a question of price. I’m extremely satisfied with the Tiny 2 as a webcam, but for any way I can think that I would use it in my own life, I would rather buy a stationary 4K camera, a decent microphone, and pocket the rest of the money. That’s a shame, because there are aspects of this camera that I really like, and there will be people who can genuinely push it to the limits it was designed to test, but for me - and, I think, for most - the price-to-use ratio just doesn’t make sense.

How we tested the OBSBOT Tiny 2

The OBSBOT Tiny 2 was used in a home environment and used as a replacement for a previous 1080p webcam. During that time, it was used on a daily basis, for both work meetings and private calls, in a variety of different lighting conditions.

For more on how we test the latest technology, check out ourhardware policy.

For more streaming gear, take a look at thebest capture cards, thebest green screens, and thebest ring lights.

Obsbot Tiny 2: Price Comparison

196 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆

☆☆☆☆☆

$385$254ViewDeal endsMon, Dec 30, 2024$329$254View$299$254View$301$256View$339View

$385$254ViewDeal endsMon, Dec 30, 2024

$385$254View

OBSBOT Tiny 2 Webcam 4K Voice…

Amazon

$385$254View

$385$254

$254

Deal endsMon, Dec 30, 2024

$329$254View

OBSBOT Tiny 2 AI-Powered PTZ…

Amazon

$329$254View

$329$254

$254

$299$254View

OBSBOT Tiny 2 Webcam 4K Voice…

Amazon

$299$254View

$299$254

$254

$301$256View

OBSBOT Tiny 2 AI-Powered PTZ…

Amazon

$301$256View

$301$256

$256

$339View

OBSBOT Tiny 2 AI-Powered PTZ…

Amazon

$339View

$339

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GamesRadar+ Verdict

Design and Features

Performance

Should you buy the OBSBOT Tiny 2?

How we tested the OBSBOT Tiny 2

Contents