According to a study by Nielsen, 70% of consumers trust the opinions of others online. Think about the last time you spent more than $100 on an online purchase. Did you use a recommendation from a friend? Did you buy the first listing you saw on Amazon, or did you read through the reviews first? When it comes to office equipment, having to submit expense reports or prove the value of a purchase makes it so that you are even more conscious of the product you are buying.

Owl Labs created the Meeting Owl, a piece of audiovisual equipment. Specifically, the Meeting Owl is a 360° smart video conferencing camera made for teams.

The Meeting Owl has the ability to automatically focus on the person speaking, blocks out background noise, and shows a panoramic view of the entire room. It was designed by two engineers from iRobot and helps remote team members feel like a part of the conversation rather than an afterthought or a voice on the phone.

To save you some trouble, we found 16 honest Amazon reviews of the Meeting Owl, which has 4.5 out of 5 stars from more than 100 customers. Here, you can see for yourself what people thought, which teams benefit the most from the AV technology provided, and the product's best features. If you want to read more, check out the full listing of the Meeting Owl on Amazon. To visualize and experience how the product works, see it in action here.

16 Meeting Owl Reviews to Read on Amazon

1. "I have tried a variety of wide angle lens cameras to work with smaller huddle rooms with no success. This crazy camera is awesome and does a great job with small huddle rooms!" - Charles W.

2. "Audio is better than a speaker phone...or tv, and the views rock...The simplicity is *great* (just plug it in and it works…)" - Brian M

3. "All can fully participate without frustration." - Jean H.

4. "Will help when you have 20+ team members and majority being remote dialing in." - Timmy

5. "It is transformational to meet with a group of people and be able to see each one of them face to face" - Jason W.

6. "...As a remote worker, with the Owl, I feel like I am right there in the room...Great for getting a full perspective on what is happening in the room...I get a better view of the team's body language and what they really think of the conversation…" - Shannon S.

7. "My team loves...being able to be eye to eye with the team on the other side instead of looking down at the back of people's heads." - Richard

8. "Being able to have the main video automatically focus in on the speaker was extremely helpful." - Christoper M.

9. "The Owl does a great job of...making remote viewers feel like they are in the same room. The microphone does a great job of picking up individuals sitting within ~6 feet of the table...The speakers in the Owl are loud and clear…" - S. Sundaram

10. "It makes remote meetings nearly as productive as when we're in the same location." - Chris

11. "When used properly, the Owl creates a truly unique experience for remote participants." - David M.

12. "It's hard to describe how much better a dynamic meeting video can be using the Owl, it's as if you have a multiple camera tv studio in your conference room." - David P.

13. "The Owl...has been a big hit at our company and really improved meetings on both sides of the wire. For those on the remote side, it's been a huge improvement to make us feel more connected and more a part of the room. Those on the Owl side love that there's no more fussing to get devices set up or adjusted. Use a good conferencing platform." - Momhingham

14. "We have received a ton of great feedback from our remote employees...simple, easy-to-use, and better quality than any of our previous conference room cameras." - JB

15. "Love everything about this camera, I have been researching conference room cameras for a long time and could not find one that would have the audio quality we need because of the echo in our conference room is so bad. This camera is perfect! The sound quality is great and the receiving end is also solid sound quality. I will be adding two more to our other conference rooms as soon as we get the chance." - Ed K.

16. "We have regular video conference calls with team members around the globe and have been needing an easy (we're not all tech savvy around here) yet high quality solution to our calls. The little owl on the table did an impressive job and we were all surprised by the quality it created." - Jimmy!

The next time you go to purchase new audiovisual equipment, check user reviews on sites like Amazon, or ask the company if you can speak with a current customer.

You can also ask questions of current users on the Amazon listing page. Many companies have user groups where prospective buyers can ask questions, get honest feedback, and find out if the product is right for their use case.