Elgato’s new 4K 60 S+ will make 4K gameplay capture much easier

We’re living in possibly the best era possible for sharing our finest hours in video games. With the launch of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox One, grabbing footage from a console was something that could be done with the mere tap of a button. There have been some caveats to the process though: Until the PS4 Pro came along, base model PlayStation 4s were capped at a muddy 720p resolution, whereas the process for Xbox One capture was kind of awkward.

The PS4 Pro does now allow for 1080p capture while the Xbox One X can easily do 4K HDR gameplay videos directly to a hard drive, but you still cannot beat a dedicated capture device for the highest quality footage when it comes to vanilla capture or streaming. Elgato has been king of this domain for many a year now (I’ve got one of their devices which have been instrumental in grabbing content), but setting up one of those capture devices usually requires navigating through a forest of twisted cables before you can even start the process.

Elgato’s looking to change all that with the Elgato 4K 60 S+, which functions like your usual run of the mill capture device but with a few added extras for flexibility. Aside from being able to plug into a PC or laptop so that you can keep an eye on captures or setup a livestream, the biggest feather in the 60 S+’s pimp hat is the ability to record footage directly to an SD card in addition to USB 3.0 capture to a more traditional source.

You’ll be able to grab up to 4K HDR footage at 60 fps, make use of Flashback Recording in case you missed out on a particular segment of gameplay and make use of live commentary to record a separate track of audio. Elgato and their parent company Corsair will face some stiff competition though, as the established AverMedia, who are also teasing their own updated 4K capture device for 2020:

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External 4Kp60 HDR Capture Device
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— AVerMedia Gaming (@AVerMedia) December 29, 2019

So who’s the Elgato 4K 60 S+ for then? I’d say content creators on PC and PS4 would benefit most from it, while anyone locked to an Xbox One X can still find plenty of value in the revised capture system of that console. As an example, here’s what The Division 2 looked like in raw form directly from that big black box:

If you’re still keen on grabbing the Elgato 4K 60 S+, it’ll be out later this month at an American retail price of $399.99. It should hopefully be available locally as well, later this year.

Last Updated: January 7, 2020