What you need to know
- Elgato just announced Neo, a new range of accessories aimed at helping stream and control content at an affordable price.
- The Neo range includes a microphone, webcam, LED light, capture card, and Stream Deck.
- The accessories are made to improve video calls, live streams, and productivity easier.
Elgato expanded its accessory lineup this week with its new Neo range of products. Neo includes a microphone, webcam, LED light, capture card, and Stream Deck. While most of Elgato's products up to this point have emphasized gaming, the Neo accessories are more for productivity, though there's some overlap. Elgato also focused on making its Neo accessories affordable alternatives to its more premium, and pricey, devices.
All but one of the Neo devices are under $100. That price range places them over basic accessories that you may get from budget brands but below something like the Elgato Stream Deck+, which costs $200.
"With Neo, we began with the basic fundamentals that users value most,” said General Manager of Elgato Julian Fest. “Things like iPad capture, tap to mute, and accessible lighting controls. Then we developed hardware and software around these core needs.”
“The result is a new kind of Elgato product aimed at an emerging audience,” Fest continued. “An audience that may not want or need complex tech setups, but absolutely wants to be more professional and confident online. We’re excited to see what these individuals can do with Neo."
Stream Deck Neo
The device that will likely get the most buzz out of the lineup is the Stream Deck Neo, which costs $99.99. It's a more affordable workflow controller that can be used to control a variety of apps and devices. The Stream Deck Neo lacks some of the fancier controls of its expensive siblings, such as knobs and dials. But it has eight customizable buttons, all of which can be used in multiple ways since two additional capacitive buttons let you swap to different views. Theoretically, you could have an infinite number of controls set up, though you'd have to do a lot of tapping.
Other Elgato Neo accessories
The Wave Neo ($89.99) is a microphone featuring an extra-tall stand to help position it at the right level to record audio. It has a pop filter, headphone jack, and built-in cable management. Audio can be fine-tuned through Elgato's Wave Link app as well.
Elgato's Facecam Neo ($99.99) is an FHD webcam that records at 60 FPS. It supports HDR and has a 77-degree field of view. Similar to the Wave Neo, the Facecam Neo can be further customized through Elgato's app.
The Key Light Neo ($89.99) is an LED light that helps improve your video quality. Getting a good light is one of the quickest ways to enhance video calls and streams, and the Key Light Neo fits the bill. It also has onboard controls to adjust brightness and jump between presets. The light is powered by USB but to reach its full brightness of 1000 lumens you need to plug it into a wall outlet.
As its name suggests, the Game Capture Neo ($119.99) is for capturing games. The Game Capture Neo sends one video feed (up to 4K60) to a gaming screen and then sends a second signal (1080p 60 FPS) to a device like a PC, Mac, or iPad that's connected through USB. This setup makes it easy to stream through Twitch, YouTube, and other services at 1080p, which is a common resolution for streaming gameplay.
