Elgato Stream Deck+ Review: Potential for Increasing Productivity

Elgato's line of customizable Stream Deck controllers have been popular options, but they lacked something. The Stream Deck+ solves this void with rotary dials or knobs. It turns out that these continuously rotating controls are a perfect complement to the LCD buttons.

That said, you might find yourself pushing past the buttons in search of more buttons. While there aren't an abundance of use cases for the dials yet, you do get a decent touch response for the plugins and the functions they control.

Features: Dials and buttons, Oh My!

The four dials, which rotate 360 ​​degrees, are the main feature of the Stream Deck+ and stand out the most from previous models. With them comes a slightly revamped physical appearance and a touchscreen strip above the dials. The LCD buttons are also slightly larger than those of other models. Increasing the button size may improve the readability of small text, but will likely go unnoticed.

You can configure these new hardware dials the same way you modify buttons in Elgato software (available for Windows and Mac). The difference is that Stream Deck plugins must specifically support twist dials, so at launch you may not have access to the same plugins you had before with an older Stream Deck. I noticed that the apps available were much more limited compared to the selection you get with button-only Stream Decks, although it can be hard to tell which plugins support new hardware until you download them. .

The dials are nice to adjust and rotate. They have a touch and feel touch. You can also press it to trigger an action, which was also stable and nice. The smart display above the dials shows what each of the four controls is doing. The area is also touch sensitive, so you can tap it to do the same thing as tapping the physical dial.

I usually didn't find myself touching the screen, but you could. You can also swipe left to go to a second page, then swipe right to go back. I preferred to add a "next page" button instead of swipe because I didn't want to smudge the screen. The swipe option, for those who want it, is automatically available right out of the box.

The Stream Deck+ comes with a detachable USB-C to USB-A cable. I wish it was a USB-C to USB-C cable instead. Without offending those involved, this is a bit of a cheesy product. It should be future-oriented in its connectivity. If someone needs the old port connector, they can swap the cable. The included cord is by no means a dealbreaker as it's detachable, but that's a shame as my computer doesn't have USB-A ports.

Beyond the cable, the Stream Deck+ looks decidedly modern and ready to complement workstations for years to come. He could have used a little more weight in his base to keep him fully planted, no matter how hard he pressed a button; it's the smallest of details, though, and the unit I used barely budged steadily.

A blank slate looking for stains

Part of the appeal of the Stream Deck range of controllers is that they can be anything you want them to be, or at least pretty close to anything. They can open websites, chain together multiple editing commands, and save you time in all sorts of ways. So for those jumping into the Stream Deck+ without a specific use case, the possibilities can be either too daunting or too unimaginative. Either way, the result of underutilization is the same.

Is it worth spending $200 just to find yourself adding media controls already accessible on your keyboard? This doesn't seem like an ideal solution. You should probably try to separate the general Stream Deck functionality of customizable buttons from what the new Stream Deck+ offers with its dials. A 2-button MK.15 model is on sale for $130 and might make more sense for specific use cases, instead of this new model.

Dial programming is slightly limiting

As I started setting up the Stream Deck+, I started by setting up a dial for system volume and one to skip media forward and backward when turned right or left. Skipping tracks isn't a particularly good use for a dial, but at first the choices available for using dials were limited. At one point I set a dial to scroll left and right depending on the twist direction. It could be used to scroll text and place a cursor, but it felt contrived. Other scrolling apps might be more useful.

Eventually the Philips Hue plugin added support and I was able to adjust the brightness and temperature of different lights or lighting groups. It was convenient and worked better than using buttons for the same function. It was still less convincing overall.

Another use was using the dials to zoom, pan, and adjust camera settings. If you've used MIDI controllers, you should find comfort and familiarity with the knobs. Usage will really depend on individual needs.

Although availability is limited at the moment, more plugins will add support in the future. However, after a few weeks with the Stream Deck+, I found that I personally didn't need four dials as much as more buttons. Sacrificing the MK.2's seven buttons for the Plus's four dials didn't make sense for my tasks. It will be if you want to adjust settings with a twist of your fingers, but don't fall into the trap of thinking dials are better than knobs just because they're new and innovative.

As a tangentially related thought, part of the perceived scarcity of numbering-aware plugins is due to how these are highlighted, or not, in the Stream Deck Store. Difficult to see and find them!

Searching for 'Dial', 'Knob' or 'Deck+' yielded no results. I only found out that Philips Hue had added support for new hardware because I kept checking the setup part of the app. Unceremoniously, he introduced himself as available. I wish there was a section or spotlight dedicated to showing which plugins support watch faces.

In general, the dials responded to the actions for which they were programmed. The Philips Hue was sometimes slow to respond when twisting the brightness of the lights lower and lower. The lights also wouldn't turn on and off occasionally when the dial was pressed, but I suspect all of these issues were due to the lights or the Hue connection, rather than the Stream Deck+ itself. same.

Hotkeys, volume, and brightness, for example, all responded instantly every time. I can't remember a time when these settings were lagging or didn't feel like direct manipulation. The actual implementation of the dials and touchscreen is excellent.

Should you buy the Elgato Stream Deck+?

The Elgato Stream Deck+ is a great tool. I found the hardware well designed and very functional. The product, however, is a bit unique in that just because its hardware and software are well-executed doesn't mean everyone should be rushing to buy one.

People who can use what this tool offers will find a wealth of productivity. On the other hand, you may be stuck looking for uses to give away the spinning dials and clickable buttons and find yourself a bit disappointed with an expensive fidget toy.

And because this tool is such a blank slate, it's hard to really pin down and recommend who should consider buying it. It still works great for video streamers and content creators, as long as they don't need the extra buttons available at the same time. For now, the dials will probably only be a deciding factor for people who want to constantly fine-tune their gear and settings.

I found the Stream Deck+ a solid addition to my desk, but no more than another Stream Deck model or macro pad would have been in the same place. There aren't enough general purpose plugins and reasons for watch faces to justify this new plus model being the default choice – yet. There are better values ​​from Elgato.

If you have the money, however, and want the dials in hopes of future uses, that's understandable. But just be aware that these uses may not come or happen the way you hope.