The C922 simply gives up if I’m more than the standard two or three feet away, which is annoying if I’m (for instance) using a gamepad and sitting a bit further back. Razer’s offering also works at longer ranges, keeping me separated from the background even if I move four or five feet away from my monitor. The Stargazer brings RealSense to the Twitch/YouTube crowd. Most RealSense cameras are still found in all-in-ones and laptops, and Intel’s desktop models are marketed at developers.

Performance matters more than looks though, and the Stargazer’s importance lies mainly in the fact that it brings Intel’s RealSense technology to the masses. While bulkier and stiffer than the C922’s, it also feels more durable-perfect if you plan to transport it anywhere. I’m also a fan of the Stargazer’s fabric-sheathed USB cable. Just enough to irritate.Īside from these quibbles, though, it’s stunning-what you’d expect a webcam to look like in 2016, or maybe what you’d expect a webcam to look like if the field had come of age in the era of YouTube and Twitch instead of in dusty conference halls and corporate meeting rooms. If you’ve got overhead lighting (as I do), you might find that the device casts a small shadow on your monitor.

And while I love that the Stargazer’s front-facing presence is minimal, with a tiny lip that would sit unobtrusively on even the smallest of monitor bezels, the chassis itself hangs out over the monitor.

Razer gamecaster