The Elgato Stream Deck has carved out its own niche over the years, but it’s about to get some competition with Logitech’s latest product.
While I don’t always like Elgato’s products, one of the products I do love the concept of is the Stream Deck. While on the surface, the Stream Deck is a glorified macro pad, the ability to visually customize the look of your buttons coupled with creating different folders and profiles for your needs puts it a step above an additional set of keys. If you play around with it a bit, a Stream Deck can be used for productivity as well as a home for all of your Twitch commands. I use my Stream Deck Mini to have a few applications available at the click of a button and to mute and unmute myself on Discord—incredibly handy, if not a basic way to use the tool.
However, I’ve never enjoyed using Elgato’s software. At best, it’s cumbersome and slow compared to competitors; at worst, you can lose settings and buttons (in the case of the Stream Deck), and that can quickly become grating. I’m also not fond of Elgato’s often hiked-up prices for its products, either.
But it looks like Logitech’s looking to get a piece of the Stream Deck pie with the company’s new Creative Console. One look at the customizable LCD buttons, and it’s hard not to think of Elgato’s macro pad. But what’s most interesting about the Creative Console is that it’s not specifically marketed towards streamers—it’s marketed towards creatives with its unique dial. Logitech provides an example of using the dial to zoom into visual work, allowing you to easily make changes. The dial also has a few buttons and a roller you can program, giving you a lot of options.
That’s not to say that streamers can’t use the Creative Console; in fact, if Logitech’s software supports it, this may even be preferable to the Stream Deck. We don’t need to wait long to find out, as the Creative Console is releasing today.
Logitech MX Creative Console
Streamline your creative workflow with the Logitech MX Creative Console, featuring a programmable keypad with 9 customizable LCD display keys and a contextual dial with tactile controls for precise adjustments.
