When I first unboxed the Elgato Stream Deck I was excited to try out the product, but once it was up and running and I ran the software to customize its features, I gave it a try. immediately understood. This product offers an insane amount of customization, customization, and automation.
While most people buying this product are likely to be Twitch or YouTube streamers, I think there’s a huge opportunity to sell it to the business community as well. It often happens in business life that you repeat business processes and whether it’s email drafts, Teams messages, opening your favorite network drive location, or launching a a batch export of data for a report, this device could really help.
The Elgato store is truly impressive, with plugins providing the ability to expand functionality, icons allowing for quick and easy style updates to your 15-button grid, and the music and sound effects catalog offering more 10,000 audio files for free.
I was really surprised to search Adobe in the store and get no results. I think productivity and creative software could offer users a quick and easy way to apply favorite filters in Photoshop, or effects in Premiere, seriously, it has so many amazing potential workflow improvements.
It seems developer tools like Unity, Visual Studio, and DevOps are everywhere, as are smart home devices like Philips Hue Lighting, Nanoleaf, and more.
Some creative apps include using the screen behind the buttons to display information, such as stock prices. I might be greedy but I would actually like a dedicated display strip at the top of the device which could be used to display information such as inventory, weather, calendar reminders, needs feeds and more.
All in all, what’s on offer here is a great hardware device that’s well executed and thanks to an insane level of customization, you really feel like you can personalize it.
When I look at the 3 different sizes available, Mini (6 buttons), MK.2 (15 buttons), XL (24 buttons), I think the Stream Deck MK.2 offers the best value for money. Having 15 buttons may seem restrictive compared to 24, more is better right?
Prices range from $129 to $259 and $439 for the larger option. The reason I think most can survive with 15 buttons is abundant because the device supports folders that allow you to have an additional 14 buttons, or up to 10 app pages.
If you’re thinking of being half serious with online streaming then I highly recommend getting a Stream Deck MK.2, it will save you time and help you look more professional when changing camera, add lower thirds, etc.
