Elgato Stream Deck Review - The Best A Streamer Can Get

As a former YouTuber and content creator, I may not have done as much live content as I would have liked, but I've done my fair share of live streams over the years.

While the standards and equipment available was quite simple, Elgato has made great strides in bringing more, affordable, options to the table for creators.

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Vision Quest

In my early years at Gfinity, I was brought on as a vision mixer as part of our broadcast production team. This meant I would be in charge of the live feed choices going out onto our broadcasts.

Since then, understandably, my standards for live streaming and live content have gone up. It almost seems unnatural to use a mouse and keyboard to operate a live stream; even the most basic ones.

The Elgato Stream Deck does a magnificent job of giving me that same control and a really solid price point.

The Stream Deck comes with a slick black design and a helpful stand to prop it upright.

With 15 customisable LCD keys at your command, the possibilities are almost endless and it makes everyday tasks for live streams that much simpler.

It's particularly helpful if you're a PC gamer and need to tab out or wield through multiple windows just to turn your music off or clip an epic moment.

Set Up And Go

What's great is that it works seamlessly with multiple programmes and platforms; not to mention it's incredibly easy to set up. If you have any extra Elgato gear, you're in luck as it works well with their sister products and even some Corsair equipment.

If you're not much of a streamer, you'll also find it useful with other programmes such as Nvidia Shadowplay. It is helpful to have a tool that can do more than just upgrade your streams and genuinely has practical PC uses too.

While someone like me, a hardcore and experienced user, will find great use out of this, it is for those that really want to make their streams that much slicker. You can easily argue the case that for a simple gameplay and webcam stream, it doesn't justify the £130 price tag. Even the Stream Deck mini, sitting at roughly £85, is potentially too much if you're not going to utilise the functions it comes with.

Verdict

Overall, I really love what Elgato have done with this piece of kit - it's clear so many others do too. If your streams contain many different elements and need lots of TLC, this will be worth the investment. But if you're an up and coming streamer that has a simplified stream, it's not something you will need off the bat.

5/5

Review unit supplied by the manufacturer