Plenty of businesses use Hangouts Meet for person-to-person video calls and conferencing, especially since the company recently made it free for G Suite customers as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. If you're using it at home and struggling with your laptop's built-in webcam or a mediocre microphone, Google just published a list of approved hardware upgrades that have passed the Hangouts Meet hardware peripheral and qualification program.

In short, that means they tested as not terrible, use open-source firmware for ChromeOS compatibility, and the companies behind them have agreed to provide hardware support for a long enough time to make it worth your while.

Two categories of approved hardware have been published: Cameras and Headsets. Not all of them are brands that most consumers would be aware of, but they all have Google's explicit blessing:

Cameras

Headsets

Desktop and small meeting room devices are also recommended, though neither will be much help these days, with offices closed.

If your boss can't hear you the next time you need to chime in during a Hangouts Meet conference, maybe it's time to pick up a new headset.

Source: Google