Cubed3 gives Elgato’s eight-key controller 9/10, praising its tactile dials and touch strip for production tasks that demand frequent, precise adjustments , though its smaller button count and software caveats may not suit everyone.
Cubed3’s review casts Elgato’s Stream Deck+ as a more specialised alternative to the company’s key-only control pads, praising it as a desktop controller that trades shortcut density for finer, hands-on control. The publication awarded it 9/10 and said its dials and touch strip make it especially well suited to production work, where frequent small adjustments matter more than a large bank of one-tap buttons.
Elgato’s published specifications confirm the hardware layout: eight customisable LCD keys, four 360-degree multifunction encoders with push action, and an LCD touch strip with 800 x 100-pixel resolution. The company also lists USB 2.0 Type-C connectivity, dimensions of 140 x 138 x 110 mm, a weight of 465 g, and a USB-C to USB-C cable in the box. Elgato’s comparison materials place the Stream Deck+ alongside the Neo as one of the models with eight configurable keys, while distinguishing it from larger-key-count versions such as the Stream Deck MK.2 and Stream Deck XL.
The review’s strongest praise focused on the dials. Cubed3 described them as precise and satisfying to use, noting that their stepped feel makes it easier to make exact changes without overshooting. The push function also adds another layer of control. The touch strip was presented as more than a decorative display: it can show widgets and live data, including system temperatures or weather, while also allowing page navigation without relying on separate left and right keys. That combination makes the device more adaptable for creative work, live streaming and other tasks built around ongoing adjustment rather than simple macro execution.
Cubed3 also highlighted the value of profiles that change with the active application, so the same hardware can present different controls in software such as Photoshop. Elgato’s own documentation supports that broader concept, saying profiles are tied to both the operating system and the device type, and that some dial actions only work on compatible hardware. The company also warns that shared profiles do not carry plugins with them and that major updates to connected software can affect how a layout behaves. In practice, that means the Stream Deck+ is flexible, but not entirely plug-and-play.
The review did note compromises. The keys were said to feel slightly soft at first, and eight buttons may seem limited at this price level, particularly when compared with more conventional Stream Deck models that offer far more shortcuts in a smaller footprint. That makes the Stream Deck+ a deliberately asymmetric product: it is not the best choice for users who mainly want a dense grid of programmable keys, but it is a stronger fit for anyone who values tactile dials for audio, video, lighting and other continuous controls. Elgato’s current software requirements also point buyers to Windows 11 64-bit on Intel or AMD hardware, with a warning that Windows on ARM may not behave as expected.
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