Elgato HD60 X review

The Elgato HD60 X is a pretty nice little capture card. It's not a massive upgrade from the HD60 S+ that came before it, but it's better suited for high-end gaming monitors with VRR support. Fortunately, it is also offered at the same price.

The rates and feeds, like with any capture card, might be difficult to process. So let’s get this $200/£19 alternative down to its bare essentials. With the HD60 X, your main options for capture resolutions are 4K at 30 frames per second, 1440p at 60 frames per second, and 1080p at 60 frames per second. Then, for your passthrough resolution, you can run up to 4K at 60 frames per second or 1440p at 120 frames per second, and there is support for HDR and variable refresh rate technologies (VRR).

So in theory, the HD60 X may be used well with a 4K gaming PC, but there are some restrictions to be aware of. Chroma subsampling, a technique of compression meant to help maintain available bandwidth, is accessible to capture. If you aren’t already know, it is a method for compressing color information in a signal, ideally with the least amount of effect on the overall image.

Your results may vary depending on the time frame. Without chroma subsampling, uncompressed data is listed as 4:4:4; as a result, if you run the entire uncompressed signal, you will receive all the information as intended. The HD60 X by default delivers 4:2:0 to conserve bandwidth. It will function at 1080p at 60 frames per second or 1440p at 30 frames per second, according to Corsair, but don’t expect that out of the box.

Elgato HD60 X review: Design

The fact that Elgato has finally chosen to position all of the connector ports in the back may seem like a minor point, but we genuinely appreciate it. For positioning on a desk when recording, older capture cards featured an odd technique of dividing ports on the left and right sides of the device. For connecting to your PC or Mac, there is a USB Type-C hubs and an HDMI in and out port (HDMI 2.0). One HDMI cable and a USB Type-C to Type-A cable are provided in the box.

However, there is a drawback to the rear ports as well. Due to the HD60 X’s small weight, if you place it next to a desk edge, HDMI cables have a tendency to raise the device up at an angle. While we appreciate the HD60 X’s slim design and portability, we wish it had a little more weight to help keep cables in place.

A 3.5mm jack and a small LED light are located on the front of the device, respectively. The purpose of this jack is not to connect a headset, thus refrain from doing so before you feel tempted. It’s actually a Line In port that you may use to add voice over gameplay by connecting to a mixer’s Line Out port. Though it sort of defies the purpose of having the Line In port in the first place, for some reason you can only choose to record either HDMI audio or the audio coming from the Line In. And no, a microphone cannot be plugged directly into the Line In port.

Elgato HD60 X review: Performance

Overall, the HD60 X offers stunning pictures with almost no setup needed – as long as you stay away from Elgato’s software. Don’t waste your time installing Elgato’s 4K Capture Utility if you want to get the most out of your HD60 X experience; I found it to be incredibly cumbersome and aggravating.

The passthrough and captured content had observable delay, there were inconsistencies between settings and output, and the video game it did record had problems with blank screens and jerky frame rates. The passthrough video on my TV was consistently reliable and of such high quality that you wouldn’t know there had been an intermediary in between.

Thanks to the transition to OBS, where everything was buttery smooth and the HD60 X sparkled, things couldn’t have been more different. Windows produced a high-quality, latency-free feed right away after it was promptly recognised as a video capture source. Playing Far Cry 6 from a Series X looked fantastic on both my LG CX through passthrough and on my laptop through the USB cord, offering a beautiful visual even during fast-motion gunfights. In fact, I would have been content to play through that alone, even while recording, because the feed to OBS was that solid.

The Elgato Cam Link 4K is less expensive, but the HD60 X is a different class altogether. There was a noticeable improvement in clarity, colour, and frame rates, although the Cam Link 4K occasionally coughed during intense action scenes and there was no passthrough option.

Elgato HD60 X review: Software

The Elgato HD60 X has a wide range of input options and functions flawlessly with input from the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X games, and GeForce RTX. Elgato 4K Capture Utility, a user-friendly tool that provides a rapid display of the signal detected and how much capture storage space is left, is the official software included with the Elgato HD60 X, just like it is with the 4K-capable Elgato 4K60 S+.

You may change the recording bitrate and decide whether to capture HDR content under the settings, which are very simple to understand. In light of the fact that this functionality is only available in Windows 10 and Windows 11, it’s likely that few people will use it given the paucity of HDR streams and movies on YouTube about gaming. Additionally, Elgato 4K Capture Utility has a function called Flashback Recording that enables you to record a few hours that you can stop and edit at any moment.

Although it’s a cute little feature, the lack of keyboard shortcut controls (despite the interaction with Stream Deck) highlights some of the app’s drawbacks. The record button is incredibly small, and there isn’t any visual evidence that it is functioning.

The good news is that there is no lag when viewing footage on the Elgato HD60 X, so you can play games on your Xbox one game or PlayStation even when it is linked to a 4K display by utilising the Elgato 4K Capture Utility window on your capture PC. The Instant Gameview that Elgato refers to is exactly.

Elgato HD60 X review: Price and availability

At $200, the Elgato HD60 X is currently on sale. If you already own this device and plan to stick with 1080p recording, it probably won’t be worth the upgrading as it is priced exactly the same as Elgato’s prior product, the HD60 S+. But if you’ve yet to buy your first capture card or if you want to enjoy 4K passthrough, this upgrade may be what you need. you can purchase this product from Elgato official store.

Final Words

The majority of gaming displays and TVs can passthrough 4K60 and 1440p120 with VRR, even if HDMI 2.1 resolutions and refresh rates are not supported. The Elgato HD60 X is the kind of capture card ideal for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox streaming device and capture because its standard capture and streaming is lag-free 1080p60. with the intention of streaming on Twitch or uploading some videos to YouTube.

Elgato’s straightforward software and excellent recording quality make capturing a snap. When you consider that it doesn’t interfere with 4K or rapid triple-digit 1440p and 1080p gaming, even the price of USD 200 and AUD 320 becomes more attractive. In the end, sacrificing visual fidelity or your own experience in order to record for others is a penalty you don’t have to incur when it comes to 1080p capture. At least in the case of the Elgato HD60 X, a compact external capture card that offers superb 1080p capture without sacrificing quality.

Amy Hinckley
Amy Hinckley
The Dell Inspiron 15 that her father purchased from QVC sparked the beginning of her interest in technology. At Bollyinside, Amy Hinckley is in charge of content editing and reviewing products. Amy's interests outside of working include going for bike rides, playing video games, and watching football when she's not at her laptop.

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The Elgato HD60 X is the kind of capture card ideal for PC, PlayStation and Xbox streaming device and capture because its default capture and streaming is lag-free 1080p60.Elgato HD60 X review