Elgato 4K60 S+

amazon Elgato 4K60 S+ reviews

Elgato 4K60 S+ can be said to be the best external game capture device for streamers, allowing you to record highlights in the heart of people in HDR 2160p60 (4K @ 60Hz). The Elgato 4K60 S+’s compact and extremely easy-to-use design allows independent recording to SD memory cards, ushering in a modern generation of mobile streamers beyond the limits of tiny studios.

Specifications

Maximum capture resolution: 2160p60 HDR

Passthrough: yes, lag-free

HDR: 10bit

Max bitrate: 196 Mbps

Encoding: HEVC/H.265 HDR, AVC/H264

SD memory card: up to 256 GB, V30 required for 4K. recording

Connectors: 1x HDMI (input), 1 x HDMI (output), 1 x USB-C (PC), 1 x USB-C (power), 1 x 3.5mm mic

Dimensions: 142 x 111 x 32 mm

Weight: 345 g

Elgato 4K60 S+ is an optimized signal capture device for streamers, allowing you to capture real-time gameplay signals on your PC or console (PS4, Xbox One, Switch), thereby saving or using specialized software like Streamlab OBS/OBS Studio to stream to your audience. Actually, on PC, you can still stream without a capture device, such as Nvidia’s ShadowPlay, but it is limited in features and takes up a part of system resources, making the game not as smooth as usual.

The 4K60 S+ series that Biareview experienced in this article is Elgato’s most advanced line, with the ability to receive 4K60 HDR signals with bitrates up to 196 Mbps. The signal must be encoded (compressed) by the Elgato 4K60 S+’s hardware, which means absolutely no system resources to ensure your gameplay is smooth. Especially, not only supporting signal reception through PC, but the 4K60 S+ can also work as a standalone receiver and save video directly to an SD card.

Elgato 4K60 S+ and the trend of modern mobile streamer

To be able to record 4K gameplay before, streamers often need huge PCs, which leads to being confined to a small studio corner from day to day. Elgato 4K60 S+ is the key to freeing yourself from this limitation, so that no matter where you play, you can easily capture the gameplay moments that promise to go into the audience’s hearts.

Elgato products, like parent company Corsair, are extremely well finished with an extremely sturdy metal case. Streamers can confidently bring with them to friends’ houses, and travel to be able to record their memorable gameplay moments.

The minimalist style of the Elgato 4K60 S+ is also the perfect choice to help this device blend into PC or console corners, striking enough to draw your attention but not overshadowing the main character

In the front, we only have a single button to start and stop recording, a 3.5mm mic jack for you to add commentary to the gameplay (separate from the gameplay sound, you can rest assured), and a card slot. SD.

The rear includes 1 UBS-C port for connecting to a PC, 1 USB-C port for power (with charger), 1 HDMI port for receiving signals, and 1 HDMI port for outputting (passthrough).

If you are a fan of Corsair/Elgato, the perfection of the Elgato 4K60 S+ will not disappoint you. Elgato’s very professional quality brings a sense of peace of mind to streamers. You have all the features you need at your fingertips, the rest is focused on delivering quality content to your audience.

Elgato 4K60 S+ is extremely simple to use, supports 4K60 HDR signals, and can be saved directly to an SD card

At $399, the Elgato 4K60 S+ is one of the most expensive streamer capture devices at the moment. Besides basic features such as signal reception, saving gameplay, etc. When cost is not an issue, Biareview finds these are the points that make you can’t ignore Elgato 4K60 S+:

– Extremely easy to use

– Extremely compatible with all platforms from YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, …

– Standalone operation mode saves directly to the SD card

– Support 4K60 HDR signal, save with maximum bitrate 196 Mbps (86 GB/hr)

where can you get a Elgato 4K60 S+ online

It must be said that among the countless brands of streaming equipment on the market today, Elgato is always one of the top choices of streamers. Yes, the price is a bit high, but the optimization and simplicity in use are almost unmatched. As a content creator, the last thing you want is to “fight” with the device to get the product you want. With Elgato, compatibility is always a top priority and every feature is extremely simple to use.

Elgato 4K60 S+ continues this style, you just need to plug it into your PC and Windows immediately recognizes the device. You can choose your favorite software to record gameplay (4K Capture Utility) or stream (OBS). In terms of features, there is no difference compared to other capture cards, but the most expensive is the support for quality up to 4K60 HDR.

Not just 4K60 HDR, Elgato 4K60 S+ allows saving gameplay with bitrate quality up to 196 Mbps. Simply put, the higher the same resolution and bitrate, the better the image quality will be. 196 Mbps is currently the highest bitrate of Elgato’s game capture devices, for reference, most of the remaining lines stop at 60 Mbps while the notorious 4K60 PRO capture card line also reaches 140 Mbps.

That said, you should also note that the higher the bitrate, the more hard drive space is consumed, with the lowest 70 Mbps eating about 30.8 GB / hour while 196 Mbps swallowing up to 86 GB / hour. HDR content is encoded according to HEVC/H.265 standard, while regular content is encoded according to AVC/H.264 standard, generally all common codecs, so it can be edited easily.

Saving it on a PC is not too stressful, the hard drive is now with a high capacity and the price is also soft. However, if you intend to use the Elgato 4K60 S+ as a standalone receiver for the memory card, be aware that the SD card capacity is quite limited. In addition, Elgato also requires a minimum of SD card UHS Class Speed 3 / V30 to ensure 4K60 HDR content recording speed. In standalone mode, no matter how the signal source is, the Elgato 4K60 S+ will save according to that quality, for example, PS4 outputs 4K60 HDR images, and you will have 4K60 HDR gameplay. To adjust the bitrate, the device will create a setting.txt file in the card, which you can open with a PC to set it from 70 to 196 Mbps.

The point that Biareview appreciates in Elgato 4K60 S+ is its consideration to ensure compatibility with streamers. Streamers are content creators and most use dedicated cameras that support SD memory cards with FAT32 or exFAT format.

This allows streamers to take advantage of the camera memory card for the Elgato 4K60 S+ without having to buy an extra, extremely convenient one. A small note is that for FAT32 formatted cards, the gameplay video will automatically be cut into 4 GB files, and exFAT is not subject to this limitation.

For those of you who intend to use Elgato 4K60 S+ as a signal receiver to stream, the HDMI out port supports passthrough lag free so you won’t be late when playing. However, when compressing the signal to bring the stream to the audience, there will be a delay of about 200 ms, you should note to set the appropriate delay in OBS.

Who is Elgato 4K60 S+ for?

The Elgato 4K60 S+ is the game capture device for streamers who want high mobility, full features, and most importantly, the best image quality that current capture technology can achieve: 4K60 HDR. You can record your gameplay wherever you are, via your PC or directly to a memory card.

The price of 399 USD is of course not for everyone, but basically, the quality and high finish like the Elgato 4K60 S + is hard to come by. An equally important factor is that Elgato’s device ecosystem is extremely good, although the price is a bit high, it is complete and easy to use. You know that in a time when “content is king”, buying good equipment to unleash content creation is also an expensive but very effective tactic for streamers.