Tadpole is the newest and smallest member of the Opal webcam family, or rather the duo. A few years ago, Opal released its other webcam, the C1, and claims it was the “first professional webcam,” largely due to its 4K resolution, even though the C1 was released, oh, four years after the 4K. Logitech MX Briowhich is one of the best webcams you can buy.
Now, Opal is back with more grandiose claims, touting Tadpole as the “first portable webcam”, another claim whose veracity I seriously doubt, as I’m pretty sure you could fit any webcam ever made in at least one backpack, with the Most fit easily in pockets.
Grandiosity aside, the Tadpole has some interesting features. It packs a Sony 4K image sensor into an incredibly compact and sleek-looking package. However, its microphone could be better, while its slim, dedicated laptop design may prove frustrating for desktop users who want a small, stylish webcam.
So is it worth buying? Find out in our Opal Tadpole review.
Opal Tadpole Review: Cheat Sheet
- What is it? A small 4K webcam with a built-in microphone.
- For whom? Laptop users who want 4K resolution for video calls.
- Not desktop users? It will technically work with a desktop computer, but the lack of support and a narrow clip make it difficult without improvised assembly.
- How much does it cost? $129 Opal either Amazon. In the UK it costs £130 from Amazonwhich is a little cheaper than Opal’s (£135).
- Something else bad? The microphone is not great.
Opal Tadpole Review: The Advantages
The Opal Tadpole has a lot going for it, namely its beautiful looks, premium feel, and 4K image sensor. If you need to replace a broken or faulty laptop camera, it could be perfect for you.
Appearance and construction
The Opal Tadpole is attractive and features a sleek, almost Scandinavian aesthetic that won’t look out of place on high-end laptops. It looks and feels premium and is available in white and gray with black accents (tested), or a sleek black and gray, which I prefer. It comes with a braided USB-C and there is a protective rubber lens cover included in the box.
Size and weight
The Tadpole is truly tiny, measuring just 1.37 x 1.57 x 0.78 inches (35 x 40 x 20 mm) and 1.2 ounces (35 g), so it easily fits even in a narrow pocket. This, Opal says, makes it incredibly portable; in fact, the “first portable webcam.” It’s so lightweight, compact and mobile that you can use the USB cable, which also doubles as a strap, to wear the Tadpole comfortably around your wrist. Opal’s site shows photographs of the Tadpole worn as an accessory by high-functioning city dwellers.
I found this line of marketing to be quite amusing, as it makes about as much sense as a drunk Wookiee. Seriously, what lunatic walks around with a webcam hanging from his wrist? Surely, the benefit of its size and portability is mainly that it can be kept in a pocket, you know, where it won’t scare the paranoids when you pass by.
It seems that Opal has realized that hanging a webcam on your arm in everyday life is silly. To remedy that, Opal offers the Tadpole a super cool, totally relevant and extra trendy circular case that, when combined with the strap, disguises the camera as (drum roll): a yo-yo. “How are you, friends?”
Oh yeah, and the case is also completely clear, so the end result is that it looks like you’re wielding a yo-yo spy camera. Very discreet, although I admit that I like a little silliness.
Connectivity and controls
The Opal Tadpole is very easy to connect using its USB-C cable. I tried the webcam on both Microsoft Surface Laptop and a MacBook Pro. It was plug and play on both. I didn’t have to install any drivers or software, and Google Meet instantly picked up the webcam, allowing me to switch to the Tadpole for my microphone and camera.
The Tadpole features LEDs on the front to tell you when you’re using the camera or microphone, which is nice to have. There is also a touch-sensitive panel on the USB-C cable, the touch of which mutes the microphone. This mostly worked as intended, but it didn’t register my faucets on a couple of occasions.
Video performance
The Opal Tadpole uses a Sony 4K image sensor and an f/1.8 maximum aperture lens with 6 aperture blades. The webcam provided noticeably improved video performance compared to the standard camera on my 2019 MacBook Pro (16-inch) work laptop.
You can see the difference between the photos above and below, with the MacBook camera (above) blurrier, darker, and full of optical distortions due to the lighting from the ceiling behind me. The Opal Tadpole image (below) was much cleaner, sharper and brighter. The colors were more vivid and there was much better contrast. I also liked the softer background blur generated by the aperture blades.
The image quality of the Tadpole will be a big step up from most, if not all, cameras built into laptops. I’m sure many people won’t mind an extra resolution, especially those who only use their laptops for work calls or occasional family video chats, but if you’re using your laptop to create content, live stream, or want upgrade For the quality of your calls with your loved ones, the Tadpole’s excellent image could well be worth it.
The Tadpole also features face detection, which did a good job of keeping me focused during testing.
Opal Tadpole Review: The Cons
The Tadpole has a lot to offer, but it’s not perfect. Its design is laptop-only, which I think is a missed trick – many desktop owners would enjoy a nice, stylish webcam on their desk. Its microphone also leaves a little to be desired.
Laptop only
The Tadpole features a rear clip that opens to just 35 degrees, making it suitable only for clipping over laptop lids, and very thin ones at that. This laptop-only design limits Tadpole’s reach and potential user base, as webcams tend to be more of a desktop accessory. Unless the cameras or microphones on their laptops are broken or horribly bad, how many laptop users will be willing to pay $129 to add a webcam to a machine that almost certainly already has one built in?
The image quality on my laptop isn’t great, but it’s totally fine for everything I need it for. Where I really need a webcam is on my desk, and the Tadpole’s design and small size would fit nicely on my tidy desk. It’s a shame you can’t use it there without Fun Tak or roughly clamping it to a mini tripod thread.
Audio performance
The Opal Tadpole is equipped with a directional microphone that only captures audio roughly within the camera’s optical field of view. This isn’t smart, that is, it’s simply calibrated to capture from a specific area that matches the lens’s 35mm full-frame equivalent field of view, so if you have the camera turned off, the microphone will still work.
However, if you decide to go out of frame, you will most likely also go out of the pickup range of the microphone, which can affect people’s ability to hear.
I tested the Tadpole’s microphone on a video call with our review writer Nikita Achanta, and she could barely tell the difference between the Opal microphone and my MacBook ProThe built-in microphone. In fact, he even reported that the Opal’s microphone sounded more echoey than the laptop’s.
Opal Tadpole Review: Verdict
Opal Tadpole’s audience is a niche, but I certainly think she has one. I don’t think the Tadpole is worth the expense for many laptop users, whose laptop-built webcams and microphones aren’t amazing, but are totally adequate for the jobs they need to do. However, if your work or hobby demands better image quality, or your laptop’s hardware is broken, $129 seems like a reasonable price for a replacement, especially one with such excellent image quality (albeit poor microphone performance). less than stellar). It is certainly cheaper than buying one of the best laptops.
And while I previously scoffed at the marketing campaign and didn’t walk around with the Tadpole on my wrist, there’s a lot to be said for the webcam’s diminutive size. If you are replacing a broken inner tube, minimizing the space it will take up will be a big advantage.
However, I think Opal has missed a trick by making the camera laptop-only – the Tadpole would really suit the look and order of my desktop workstationand I’m sure many other desktop users would say the same. This is something that can be solved with a ball of Fun Tak, of course, but it rather undermines the whole fancy Scandinavian thing going on at Tadpole. I would very much have liked to have Tadpole on my desk, but my search must now continue; I guess I need to kiss some more frogs.
