Review – Elgato HD60 X – An extra capture box

Every day, more and more players are moving towards streaming, a real fact of society that continues to accelerate. This is why Elgato, acquired by Corsair in 2018, is expanding its product range to offer new equipment in line with the market and the release of the latest home consoles. The new HD60 X model complements the HD60 S+ and 4K60 S+ products already available on the market. It promises us a screen display in 4K / 60FPS HDR in Passthrough, as well as a capture of the gameplay in 1080p / 60FPS HDR or in 4K / 30FPS without HDR.

Unboxing

Regulars of the brand will be on familiar ground from the packaging with the classic little blue box, highlighting the characteristics of the capture box where it is very easy to understand what we have to do. Sober and elegant (like a top-of-the-range product), the packaging has been designed to facilitate product accessibility, like the plug and play capture box. First we find the instructions for use printed in four images on the cover to quickly understand how to make the connections. Then we unbox the HD60 X capture box along with a USB 3.0 C to A cable and an HDMI 2.0 cable.

Child’s play

As with all other models, it is still as easy to make connections. We need to connect the USB C cable from the box to a USB A 3.0 port on our computer, insert the HDMI cable from our console into the HDMI IN port of the HD60 X and finally to play in 4K/60FPS, connect the HDMI 2.0 cable between the HDMI OUT port of the box and one of the inputs of our screen/television.

So that the video stream from our console is sent to the capture box then dispatched to the PC and our screen to enjoy the game. We even have the possibility of connecting a headset via the jack port of the HD60 X to capture the audio . On the other hand, you will have to buy the “Chat link pro” cable separately to capture the sound of the other participants if you are playing in multiplayer.

Finally, in order to proceed with the recording of our games on the PC, we must download the 4K Capture Utility software in version 1.7.6.

Still the same software…

It is clear that the software remains the weak link that drags, version after version, all of the products in the Elgato range. On the other hand, not everything is to be thrown away, quite the contrary. The software offers a much appreciated ease of use and allows in a few clicks to capture our games. The settings are intuitive and allow us to manage our recordings as we wish. Unfortunately, the praise stops here. The program does not allow you to stream, only to record your games. You will have to go through third-party software, such as OBS, Xsplit, Streamlabs or others to be able to broadcast live.

Remember that the main platforms such as Facebook, Twitch and Youtube do not yet offer 4K content for streaming (although this is likely to happen in the years to come). During our tests of the box, we encountered difficulties in capturing other than 1080p / 60FPS HDR. Normally we can capture up to 2160p/30FPS without HDR, but we can’t uncheck the “HDR” box to disable it, probably a software issue that should be fixed in a future update.

Regarding performance, the HD60 X disappoints us a little since it does not go all the way. On the other hand, it offers a better alternative to the HD60 S+. For example, as shown in the table below available on the manufacturer’s website, the HD60 S+ has the same performance with a few differences. The notable difference will be in the level of the capture blocked in 1080p / 60FPS, unlike the HD60 X which is limited to a capture up to 2160p / 30 FPS without HDR (4k / 30FPS) or in 1080p / 60FPS with HDR . The fact of being blocked for capture in 4K30FPS does not really meet the standard of the latest home consoles which today tend towards 4K/60FPS. We therefore do not really understand the arrival of the HD60 X which probably replaces the HD60 S+, without much added value. It is content to meet the union minimum to offer gaming comfort in 4K / 60FPS (like the HD60 S +) when using the box for streaming and capture in 4K but blocked in 30FPS.


Performance table

In summary

If your main need is streaming content, the HD60 X, like its little brother the HD60 S+, is perfect for streaming your games on different platforms in 1080p/60FPS. On the other hand, if you want to capture your games to create video montages in 4K/60FPS, the product will not meet all your needs because of the 30FPS limitation. We advise you instead to get closer to the 4K60 S+ model, which you can find our test here: Test – Elgato 4K60S+ capture card – Next-generation streaming.