I hate passwords. This cheap webcam helps me get rid of them

By now, you’re probably used to logging on to your bank or email via your phone, letting it recognize your face or finger. What you probably don’t know is that feature is marching into your PC — and if you own just a plain-Jane webcam, you’re out of the loop.

The NexiGo HelloCam ($56 at Amazon) solves that problem. Let me explain why.

Laptops often come with decent webcams, and most of those include Windows Hello capabilities that can recognize your face. Desktops come with no webcam at all, and if you bought a top webcam to improve your appearance on a video call, you may still be missing out.

Windows Hello has been a basic part of Windows since Windows 10. It simply recognizes your face and unlocks your PC, even if a recent change adjusts how that happens. That enables you to log yourself into your PC quickly and securely, without needing to type in a password.

But there’s a new trend that’s taking hold, too: passkeys. You can read our deep dive on passkeys if you want, but the message is quite simple: Windows Hello used to unlock your PC. Now it can unlock websites that used to make you remember a complex password, too. It’s simple and secure.

Setting up a passkey is as easy as logging on to a site with your traditional password, then basically telling the site to use your face as an authentication device, via Windows Hello. (You can still use your password if something glitches.) What’s nice about a passkey is that you can use a complex password to access Amazon, your email, or another site on the web, then use your face to log you in in a split second.

What you need: A Windows Hello webcam

For this, however, you’ll need a webcam with Windows Hello capabilities. A couple of years ago, you’d pay over $100 for the privilege. Now, there are numerous, cheap webcam options that include Windows Hello capabilities.

For Prime Day, I’d recommend you buy the NexiGo HelloCam, which is 20 percent off at Amazon for $56. It’s a standard 1080p webcam, but with a privacy shutter, facial and audio enhancement, and a couple of other small features like autofocus and a ring light. I don’t consider it to be the best Windows Hello webcam, but it’s one of my budget picks. Not that it matters, but it’s also the most popular Windows Hello webcam by far on Amazon, too.

Toallin’s Windows Hello webcam is cheaper at about $30, but even at a higher resolution the picture quality seems to be a step down.

(Don’t buy anything you don’t need. If you own a laptop, go to the Windows Settings menu and type in “set up face sign-in” in the box. Your laptop’s webcam may already have Windows Hello capabilities, and if it does Windows will tell you.)

A lot of Amazon reviewers will tell you that the NexiGo offers excellent picture quality. I’m telling you to use Prime Day to pick up an extremely convenient security feature on the cheap.