From the X-Series to the Ace Pro, Insta360 has made a name for itself by producing unique and innovative camera designs. Shifting from the great outdoors to the conference room Insta360 has even developed the Link series webcam to offer an AI-powered solution for professionals and streamers alike.
With years of experience and refinement, Insta360 is reinventing the link and aiming to offer a solid update to its webcam lineup in the Link 2 and Link 2C. Inspired by the original design and influenced by the latest AI technology, the Link 2 and 2C boast an impressive line-up of features and functions to accommodate your webcam needs regardless of setting. With AI technology on the rise and influencing every aspect of the technology, it's time to see if Insta360’s latest offerings are enough to push past other cameras on the market. Grab that coffee and let's find out in our review of the Insta360 Link 2 and Link 2C.
Specifications
- Current Price: Link 2: $199; Link 2C $149 (Insta360)
- Sensor Size: 1/2” Sensor
- ISO: 100-3200Shutter Speed: 1/8000 - 1/30s
- White balance: 2000 - 10000k
- Aperture: 1.8
- 35mm Equivalent Focal Length: 26mm
- Resolution: 4K30fps, 1080p60fps
- FOV: 79.5°
- Built In Mic: Yes
- Audio: AI Noise Cancelling
- Audio Modes: 1. Voice Focus 2. Voice Suppression 3. Music Balance
- Desk View: Link 2: Gimbal auto tilts down; Link 2C: Manually adjust via controller
- Tracking: AI Auto Tracking & Auto Framing
- HDR Support: Yes
- Gesture Control: Yes, three gesture support
- Mount: Magnetic monitor clip mount with ¼ screw for tripod mounting
- Portrait Mode Support: Yes
Streamlined Design
Both the Link 2 and Link 2 C offer a functional and streamlined construction aimed at easy setup and use. In the case of Link 2, the two-axle gimbal supports the camera head as a single unit and offers an impressive amount of range both in tilt and swivel. A single touch sensor is located on the base of the camera to allow for activation of active tracking, removing the need to access the software during a recording or stream.
At its base is a magnetic monitor mounting bracket that securely holds the camera in place once attached. For those wanting to leverage the Insta360 Link’s portrait mode the mount can easily be attached to a separate tripod via a ¼” mounting point. This allows creators who want to leverage a portrait-style shot for social media to easily set up and leverage the power of the 4K lens with ease.
As for the Link 2C, it benefits from the same magnetic mounting system, the same lens and microphone and a single touch sensor for active tracking. The largest distinction is the lack of gimble support. While this means it lacks the full tracking of its big brother, thanks to its AI driving lens, there is still limited face tracking within the context of the lens range by leveraging its zoom capabilities. With its more compact form factor though, the Link 2C becomes the ideal candidate for travel as it still possesses the same internal components as the Link 2 simply in a smaller form factor. Both cameras offer a sleek, compact design making them ideal for a variety of applications.
Set Up, Function, and Features
Setting up either camera is a simple affair. After downloading the Insta360 Link Controller for PC or Mac, simply plugging either webcam into your system automatically activates and syncs up the camera. Once enabled the Link 2 and Link 2C offer an impressive host of customization and features.
Your standard brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness are all present and adjustable. HDR and anti-flicker are also present and work quite well, with the latter offering auto, 60 or 50 Hz settings to accommodate your needs. Any settings adjusted for color or lighting can be saved as presets allowing for quick adjustments based on lighting and situations.
Both cameras feature Smart Composition with three presets for a headshot, half body and full body shot. While the Link 2C does provide a decent amount of distinction between shots, it's the Link 2 that shines here. With its AI-powered 2-axle gimbal, the Link 2 does an incredible job at tracking and following movement with auto tracking. When coupled with Smart Composition it feels like having a camera operator tracking your movement setting up and adjusting for the desired shot. For those capturing more action-oriented content, the auto-tracking speed can be adjusted with the quick mode having no issues keeping up in testing.
Both cameras offer a portrait mode that works well. Insta360 provided a small tripod for testing out the feature, and the results were solid. Each camera quickly adjusted for portrait mode (though a restart of the camera is required to enable the resolution and higher frame rate) when the switch was toggled in the software and in the case of the Link 2 the gimbal still managed to keep up with quick and sudden movements.
Gesture controls weren’t quite as impressive as many of the other features, however. With three gestures to choose from, one for activating tracking, one for zoom, and one for whiteboard mode, there was a bit of a mixed set of results. Activating tracking worked almost every time with only a couple of exceptions. Whiteboard mode (when gestured the camera looks for a whiteboard and focuses on that space) worked decently but did struggle a few times to switch back to normal tracking.
As for the Zoom gesture, it struggled frequently to zoom in accurately to the point I was indicating. Often it would start to zoom and then stop, even when I was in range to allow for a tighter zoom (this was smart composition off). Other times it would simply fail to register the gesture which was a bit disappointing. This is a minor issue when compared to how well the AI managed auto tracking, however.
Having tested a few different AI-driven gimbal webcams, I can say the Link 2 has one of the quickest and most accurate tracking systems I’ve seen in a webcam. Even on the rare occasions where I moved out of its sightline it immediately tracked again when I stepped back in frame. Its speed and accuracy are seriously impressive. It works well, is easy to activate and deactivate, and runs incredibly well.
While the Link 2C lacks the gimbal features highlighted it still provides some of that auto-tracking thanks to the AI-driven lens and sensor in the camera. This allows it to actively accommodate for head movement within its lens view making it still feel like it's actively tracking and monitoring always working to keep you in focus and composed well in the shot. It likewise does this incredibly fast and often time makes the adjustments without my even noticing. It works well and is a great option for those looking to get a bit more out of their camera shot.
The Shot and Audio Capture
While the features on the Insta360 Link 2 and Link 2C are impressive it's the lens that’s the highlight on both cameras. Aside from the aforementioned gimbal on the Link 2, both cameras are otherwise identical from lens to microphone. The former offers a solid ½” sensor with an impressive IOS range of 100 - 3200. His coupled with a white balance range of 2000 - 10000 allows both cameras to compose a well-balanced shot in a wide range of settings. In the images below the first was shot on the Link 2 with no warm white fill while the second was shot on the Link 2C with no warm light fill. In both cases, the lens was able to still provide a fairly clean well-balanced shot.
Able to capture 4K30 the Link 2 cameras work great for both content streamers and professionals. In the video tests below, the tests show that not only does the camera capture 4K30 it handles autofocus exceptionally well. In both tests, the Link 2/c was able to quickly adjust between focal points. Especially in the case of Link 2C, there was never a test where it didn’t perform perfectly.
While there were a couple of occasions where the Link 2 struggled to unlock from my face during the autofocus test, by and large, it performed almost as well as a Link 2C. I attribute this difference to Link 2’s gimbal system which, due to the nature of its wider range of motion, is working to stay locked onto the subject at hand to provide the quickest response to movement. When auto-tracking was switched off, however, the Link 2 performed just as exceptionally as the Link 2C.
Overall I was quite impressed with the quality of the video capture. When running in streaming software, for example, all of the settings configured within Insta360 Link Controller are transferred over without issue to the streaming software. One note for streamers is that if you intend to stream with the camera set to 4K be sure to adjust your canvas size and output to accommodate this resolution. Otherwise, the final product will be scaled down to your default output settings.
As for the onboard microphone, the overall clarity was impressive mostly. It did a solid job of capturing and presenting my audio well. When coupled with the Noise suppression built into the microphone the result was a profile that was clear for the most part. The low end struggled a bit offering a bit of muddiness in the result. However, this is a small critique when compared to how well the noise suppression software worked. As noted in the video I tested the microphone beside my utility room with both the furnace and dryer running as well as my computer fans. In the final video, the audio captured was impressively quiet. While there was some slight artifacting in my voice as noted above, the fact that the Insta360 was able to filter out all of the other noise is a welcome feature.
Final Thoughts
The Link 2 and Link 2C are excellent offerings from Insta360. They offer an impressive feature set and solid picture and audio quality. The auto-tracking, Smart composition and snappy autofocus help them stand above the crowd and the noise suppression is some of the best I’ve heard out of a webcam. While there are a couple of minor critiques such as lacklustre gesture controls and slight artifacts in voices due to the noise suppression, the overall quality and production level of the Link 2 and Link 2C make them worth while considerations for those looking to up their streaming game. Priced at 199.99 (Link 2) and 149.99 (Link 2C), the Link 2 series cameras are an impressive update to the Link series webcams.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
