This all-in-one streaming tool is a promising alternative to Elgato's Stream Deck

(Image credit: Loupedeck)

Finnish manufacturer Loupedeck just put out a new addition to the company’s family of hardware consoles for streamers and content creators. The new Loupedeck Live is a much more portable evolution of its predecessor, the Loupedeck CT, and hopes to take on the Elgato Stream Deck for the coveted role of streamer's best friend.

Loupedeck founder and CEO Mikko Kesti says "the Loupedeck Live was a natural next step in our line of consoles, offering streamers that same customization without sacrificing the quality their viewers have come to expect."

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With various dials and programmable buttons, it offers exceptionally customisable control over creative apps. A single swift movement could edit the contrast or colour warmth levels of a photograph, or control the lighting or audio levels for your streaming setup. Custom actions can factor in all sorts of inputs: Key presses and shortcuts, delays, macros, text, links, launching applications, even mouse movements. The LCD screen buttons also mean it’s possible to add your own icons and gifs, so you can personalise it to your heart's content.

Loupedeck calls it a 'power console', and is much akin to the Elgato Stream Deck or Touch Portal, only it seems to be a lot more versatile. What really sets this deck apart from its competitors is its compatibility with such a wide range of apps. Not only does it work with Twitch, OBS and Streamlabs, there's support for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, and even Final Cut Pro X. Spotify also made it onto the list, so you can jam to your favourite tunes whatever kind of work you're doing.

There’s a lot of potential with the Loupedeck Profile Creator, which allows you to make individual profiles for pretty much any app you could possibly need, including Microsoft Excel, Google Chrome, and loads of others. There are plenty of default profiles to get you started, too.

Here are the features you can expect from the Loupedeck Live:

Loads of native software integrations, and it’s content aware so it switches automatically between programs as you do
Control your desktop audio mixer directly from the deck
Custom profiles
Smaller footprint and lighter 8oz frame than the almost 13oz Loupedeck CT

Those who purchase before the end of 2020 will have access to a limited run of test support for all their favourite creative software, but there's a catch with this hardware: After the trial, you'll have to pick your favourite two pieces of software to control. For more, you have to buy individual plugins with monthly fees, or pay for a lifetime license for each piece of software.

Loupedeck Live owners will have continued support for all streaming apps and Spotify, along with two pieces of creative software of their choice, no matter what, but if you plan to use the hardware to control every piece of the Adobe creative suite, for example, that'll cost extra—"up to $1.99 USD/EUR per month" or $29.99 USD/EUR for a lifetime subscription.

Just controlling Twitch, OBS, and Streamlabs thankfully doesn't tap into that extra cost. And at $269, the Loupedeck Live is already a lot more affordable than the $549 Loupedeck CT.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.