Image quality is quite goodAI features feel well thought-outVery good noise cancellationInnovative solution for group settings
Cons
4K turns to 1080p when AI is enabledUtility app is buggyHard to find in storesA bit overpriced
Our Verdict
The Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite is a unique, laptop-mounted webcam that can be used either for individual use or a small group. It largely delivers what it promises, with one significant exception.
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Best Prices Today: Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite
RetailerPrice$219.99View DealCoolpo$220View DealPrice comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwideProductPricePrice comparison from Backmarket
Coolpo’s AI Huddle Mini Lite does double duty as an individual webcam and one that can show off a number of participants in the same room, in a pinch. It’s a smartly designed “4K” camera, which foregoes frills for a simple, easy-to-use interface.
Coolpo is one of those hundreds of little startups in Shenzhen, China, whose products come and go quickly. At press time, Amazon was out of stock, but the manufacturer still had availability. Keep in mind, though, that the MSRP, about $220, is way, way more than many of the webcams in our list of recommended webcams. For the price, it might have been nice if the Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite offered Windows Hello capabilities. Alas, it does not. You may have to tap your department’s IT budget to get it approved.
Is it worth it? Not quite. One of the features this webcam offers is automatic panning and zooming, a value-add feature that was much more impressive before Microsoft added it to some of its Copilot+ devices armed with an NPU. Coolpo’s webcam intelligently crops and zooms to achieve the same effect.
A webcam that can be used for both individual use as well as for small groups adds a lot of value. Unfortunately, it leaves a bit to be desired as a personal webcam.
Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite: Build quality
Coolpo’s AI Huddle Mini Lite is rather impressively chunky for a modern webcam, spanning 4.5 inches across the top of your monitor or display, extending 3.2 inches back, and measuring 2.5 inches from top to bottom. A cord stretching about 6.25 feet plugs into a USB-C slot on the back of the webcam, and to a USB-A port on your laptop or hub. It includes a physical shutter, which slides across.
The Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite will grip a laptop, but it works better on a monitor.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Like most webcams, the Mini Lite’s mount includes a “tooth” that extends down from the “jaw” of the webcam’s mount. The tooth hooks over the edge of the display, while the flexible “jaw” opens and closes to support the webcam at a given angle. Some webcams include an additional “tongue” to support the webcam as it leans against your display; this webcam does not. Is it a problem? Not that I can see. The weight of the webcam helps hold it steady, and the webcam itself swivels up and down to line up your face. The AI software takes care of the rest.
Coolpo’s camera appears to work right out of the box, as a generic USB camera. But if you want to use the added features, you’ll need to read the manual closer to unearth the download link. You’ll then need to download a small utility file to allow the value-added features to work. (I confirmed that the software will run on Windows on Arm PCs.)
Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite: Image quality
As a webcam, Coolpo’s AI Huddle Mini Lite does a pretty good job. As I explain in my webcam testing methodology, I do not try to take an “ideal” photo or screenshot, as I like to see how the webcam does in average to poor conditions. Downstairs in my cave-like office with artificial lighting, my blue shirt looked a bit grainy but the colors were otherwise on point.
The screenshot looks a little soft though, for reasons I’ll explain below.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Upstairs, my go-to shot is in full, natural light, but with the light coming from one side. I thought the camera did a nice job processing the fall sun, as well as picking out the details of my face and hair. There’s only one problem with the color, and that’s that I’m wearing a green sweater. It looks about the same color as the dark gray couch.
This camera doesn’t indicate that it has HDR, and I see no signs of it here.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Coolpo’s AI features: What do they do?
The Coolpo utility software is somewhat hit or miss. For one, it had a persistent bug that caused the utility to disappear when the screen was moved from one display to the other, forcing me to detach and re-insert the webcam. The app also left a dialog box at the bottom of the app that wouldn’t go away, asking whether I wanted to save a custom configuration of various settings.
Once you download the software, however, the “Meeting flex AI,” if enabled, goes to work. But, there’s a catch.
Though this camera does go up to 4K (2160p) resolution, it only does so with AI off. The camera has an adjustable field of view (60/90/120 degrees) that can be adjusted manually or by letting the AI do the work. The AI software can be set up either in “Frame Master” (in group or individual mode) as well as “Division Master.”
Coolpo’s software is simple yet functional.
Mark Hachman / IDG
In Frame Master mode, the webcam crops and zooms to fit one or a group, up to seven people. In individual mode, however, the webcam can’t crop in at 4K resolution (which is 30Hz, maximum). Instead, it crops down to 1080p resolution. The camera will maintain 4K resolution, but without panning or zooming, in a 120-degree field of view. That’s not ideal.
Otherwise, the pan and zoom is very good, responsive without being twitchy — some cameras will refocus or recenter you at the smallest movement, which is distracting to an audience.
Division Master is a very interesting mode, and helps justify this webcam as a business expense. When Division Master is on, the screen subdivides itself into four separate vertical video windows that somehow individually focus and lock in on the four faces. It’s a neat trick.
(I tested this using the preview mode of the Coolpo app with my family, who asked me not to take a screenshot to preserve their privacy.) If the number of people in the room is between five and seven, the camera simply shows static images of their faces instead.
The noise cancelation capabilities of the Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite aren’t bad. I typically play back rock music and a separate white noise track on a phone, and move them around while I record my voice using the camera mic. The Mini Lite did a decent job filtering out the music, and I could barely hear the much more neutral sounds of a recorded rainstorm. That’s what I would hope for.
Is the Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite worth it?
Coolpo is pitching this camera as an ideal solution for a “huddle room,” where a small team video chats with a remote audience. I would think that most teams would have a pricier, more complex solution, but maybe not. The Coolpro webcam seems like it could certainly work, especially in a pinch. In fact, given the price, using it for groups seems to offer the best value.
Sure, I’d much rather have a “true” 4K camera with a zoomed-in field of view, or at least the option for it. But I give credit to Coolpro’s engineers for addressing a problem with some innovative solutions. As a personal webcam, however, Coolpo’s AI Huddle Mini Lite comes up a bit short for a bit too much. There are just too many superior options for less money to settle for the Coolpo’s compromises.
Best Prices Today: Coolpo AI Huddle Mini Lite
RetailerPrice$219.99View DealCoolpo$220View DealPrice comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwideProductPricePrice comparison from Backmarket
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers’ News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.
Recent stories by Mark Hachman:
Killer new Windows feature: How to use your phone as a webcamIt’s scary when your webcam turns on and you don’t know whyAmazon’s basically giving away this top webcam for 82 percent off
Image: Mark Hachman / IDG
$219.99View DealCoolpo$220View DealPrice comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwideProductPricePrice comparison from Backmarket
