Overall and Final Verdict
Even though my previous experiences with capture cards, haven’t always been the best. My experience with the Elgato 4K60 Pro MK2 hasn’t been just a repeat. With most of those, I had major software issues or even cutting in and out issues and I didn’t have either of those with the 4K60 Pro. Really that is all I needed, so anything beyond that is really a bonus. It’s sad that functional and reliable has to be a concern, but that is where we are. The 4K60 Pro goes above and beyond with its software. Not only does it work well, but it is also simple and easy to use. My only complaint was that I wish it had a volume control for the signal coming in as well as for the preview view. Adding in support for the 4K60 Pro with the Stream Deck as well only helps even more with keeping things easy to use. The 4K60 Pro is also going to handle any HDMI signal you throw at it. As the name implies it can handle 4K resolution at 60 FPS which in itself is huge and with the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro outputting to 4K it is useful, but it is also great for streamers using a dual PC setup. You can output the high resolution and still get the 60 FPS that people like for videos and streams. But the big addition was support for HDR and with HDR finally becoming a lot more standard on TV and more recently some monitors as well it is a nice feature to be able to capture in HDR.
The HDMI passthrough is a requirement for consoles and I was a little concerned that at those resolutions it might add some input lag but It didn’t. I do however wish that Elgato would have included a legacy dongle connection to be able to also use this one card on your older non-HDMI systems as well. Anyone who maybe wants to capture across new and old systems will still need to have another capture card. It isn’t a feature on a lot of modern capture cards, but I know when I’m shopping for one I really do want to be able to hook up my old systems as well.
The 4K60 Pro MK2 does get a little confusing when you are shopping, especially in retail. This is a new model with the addition of HDR and a completely new design that is shorter and now half-height as well. But in most ways that matter the model name is still the same, the MK2 designation isn’t used on the packaging. To make things even more confusing the older models are still for sale in some places for more because this new model also introduced a much better price with the old MSRP being $399 and the new one is $249. On Amazon, for example, you can get the MK2 for $238 right now and the original is $249.
Now the new price is much nicer than the old model. Especially with this one being more compact and adding HDR support. But the AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K is still selling for a little less and it has the same 4K60 with HDR support. You do pay a bit of a premium for the Elgato brand which at this point has proven itself to be reliable in this market, not to mention being able to tie it right in with a lot of your other streaming gear like your Stream Deck and Key Lights. But for someone who doesn’t know or care that is shopping by the specs alone the price is still a little high. That said, this is also the card I would still recommend, simply because it works and it works well. Elgato is also good with software updates, which makes me a lot less worried that a future Windows update will break something without any fix like another capture card I owned…
Live Pricing: HERE
