I've found my star Black Friday deal and it's the Razer Kiyo Pro USB webcam for $100

The Razer Kiyo Pro Webcam looms in a teal void bordered in white. Its stand mount is partially unfolded downwards. The top right corner of the entire image has a 'Black Friday Deals' banner. — (Image credit: Razer)

Not too long ago, a great darkness enshrouded my humble flat. It swept through like a wave; one by one, each lightbulb in my home office would begin to flicker before being totally extinguished. As the light fixtures were recessed into the ceiling, there wasn't anything I could do myself beyond sending a polite email and waiting—the joys of rented accommodation.

For a time, I brought a bit of a XCOM shadow council vibe to work videocalls, making sure to throw out the occasional "Do not disappoint us," for effect (What can I say? I'm a team player). The inbuilt laptop webcam I was using at the time simply didn't have a clue what to do with such low-light conditions, beyond offering, "Hey, do you want some image with all of that grain?" My home office lighting situation has long since been remedied, but my top deal today would've perhaps ensured my shadow council bit never got the chance to outstay its welcome. Besides that, it's not hard to see why the Razer Kiyo Pro USB webcam deserves this spotlight—especially since you can get it for less than $100 at Amazon.

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Just for a start, the webcam's high-performance, Sony Starvis adaptive light-sensor makes the most of whatever amount of illumination you're working with, as Jorge highlighted in his review a while back. It's just as well because unlike the similar model, base Kiyo webcam, the Kiyo Pro does not come with an inbuilt ringlight.

The Pro instead prioritises a crisp image, boasting an output of FHD 1080p video at 60 fps. If you make a lot of videocalls (looking at you long distance tabletop nerds), or you're thinking about getting into streaming, this would be a fantastic shout.

If you'd rather obfuscate the massive pile of clothes steadily building up behind you while on work calls, you'll need to mess around with the Razer Kiyo Pro's adjustable FOV which offers options for a 103°, 90°, or 80° field of view. Otherwise, streamer hopefuls with an already carefully curated, very aesthetic backdrop are going to love this webcam's wide angle lens.

Add to that the Razer Kiyo Pro's HDR capabilities, and your subtle, tasteful shrine to Miku Hatsune will really pop. However, be advised that this webcam can only capture HDR video at 30 fps, so it may be best to avoid any highspeed Hatsune action.

The only thing I don't necessarily love right off the bat is the webcam's fold-out base mount. Ideally, this means you can perch it on top of your monitor and you're off to the races. However, in practice I always find these bendy-wendy mounts a bit fiddly for placing at eye-level. In my experience, a USB cable trailing out the back of a webcam can throw off the device's centre of gravity too, and require frequent readjustment—though hopefully your cable management and general desk situation is slightly less chaotic than mine. After all, I've got to put my Miku shrine somewhere.

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Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending the last seven working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not writing about all things hardware here, she’s getting cosy with a horror classic, ranting about a cult hit to a captive audience, or tinkering with some tabletop nonsense.