🌟 "SHOULD I BUY AN IPHONE FOR TRACKING?" 🌟 tl;dr at bottom
I've been using a facecam and Nvidia tracking for a long time and upgrading to a used iphone 13 combined with vbridger, the difference is HUGE. Here is my take on it!
Why is Facecam > iPhone?
✅️ More affordable, esp for those using android phones
✅️ More convenient. If you launch Vtubestudio, there's a setting where your webcam automatically turns on, which is great.
✅️ Can track pretty well in the dark IF you already have a good webcam for night tracking.
❌️❌️ Stiff tracking at times
❌️ Not good at tracking specific mouth movement
Why iPhone > Facecam?
✅️✅️ You can make the most of your model, since movement along the X and Y axes are a lot more accurate and wider. Also tracks eyes and overall face better.
✅️ More EXPRESSIONS. If your rigging allows for it, things like cheek puff, and tongue are able to be tracked. As far as I know, I cannot do this on facecam.
❌️❌️ WAY more expensive or requires that you have an iPhone already.
Needs more set-up (need phone stand right in front of you, need to hook your phone up to a charger at all times, phone could possibly overheat as well if it's old, so you might need a cooler).
TL;DR
For me, if you have an extra 200 to spare for WAY better tracking, I would 1000% recommend buying a used iPhone on Amazon. iPhone X is the BARE minumum, I would recommend 12/13 so that your phone does not overheat. I do not need to use a cooler for my used iPhone 13. Being able to use my rigging to its fullest makes the model feel so so so different (in a good way).
Feel free to reply with any questions, I will try to answer them!