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Are you looking to start your own YouTube gaming channel? or stream on Twitch? or even just to upload gameplay videos on your various social media platforms? then having a game capture device or a video capture device such as Elgato HD60 S+ not only becomes an advantage but also a necessity.  

The New Normal

I have always loved playing games be it on the Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox or P.C. As I was growing up, I always wished for a way to capture my gameplay especially those “Did you see that” moments.

Sure, now days modern consoles come with a built-in capture button that enables you to take screenshots or small videos for precisely such moments.
The only small caveat of these buttons is that each console manufacturer has its own way of implementing these systems & functions with varying levels of video capturing ability.

But if you are looking for the “no compromise” approach in capturing your gameplay footage then you will need something that is called a capture device/ Game capture device/ video capture device.

It’s essentially a device that allows you to capture the input source from something like your consoles and pass the feed onto your desktop / laptop so that you can record it.

There are many types of such game capture device available in the market, but the big two names that are generally used by streamers or youtubers to capture their gameplay footage are from Elgato and Avermedia.

They both offer a multitude of solutions depending on what your actual need is and they both have guides / use cases on their website to help you find the right device. 

• Elgato Usecase
• Avermedia Usecase

Why the Elgato HD60 S+?

I personally found the Elgato’s site to be far more user friendly and it was easier to drill down to the exact options for my specific use case based on their helpful capture card selector guide. 

A little further digging into the 3 capture devices that were recommend via their guide. I initially decided to choose the Elgato HD60S since I still have a 1080p Display and both my current consoles don’t natively output to 4K (Nintendo Switch & PS4 Pro) so for the moment the Elgato HD60S would be more than enough.

Priced currently at a $159.99 it is not what I would consider a cheap investment, therefore its better to double check your hardware specs and compatibility before you pull the trigger.

But as fate would have it, there was a little twist in my choice due to the whole limited shortage of computer components, I could not find the Elgato HD60S anywhere where I live.
The only available option was HD60 S+ the 4K and HDR capture model. It currently retails at 199.99$ and as I intend to buy the next-gen consoles once they eventually become available so spending the extra 40$ on the upgraded model made sense.

The only question was that if my modest laptop could run the Elgato capture software. Based on the above listed minimum system requirements my main concern was the graphic card requirement as my current laptop isn’t what you would call a gaming beast. It’s more a casual web browsing and office productivity work from home type of laptop. 

*Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1065G7 

*8.00 GB RAM

*NVIDIA GeFORCE MX230

*Windows 10 Home

Is Elgato HD60 S+ really Plug and Play?

Well, the short answer is Yes but not without some setup that can be done ahead of time if you have done your research. Personally, it would be better to have already downloaded and installed the Elgato 4k capture utility and driver update before using the capture device. 

You could also alternatively use OBS Studio for your gameplay capture needs, in the end both softwares work fine. It just depends on what type of setup you are going after. 

The device is pretty small and shaped like a smooth black pebble having connectivity ports on either side of the device.

The setup is extremely simple, as shown in the inner box as well.

• HDMI IN: The input device you want to capture
• HDMI OUT: The external display or monitor that will display what is plugged in the HDMI IN port
• USB-C Port: Is used to connect the capture device to the laptop or desktop via the USB-C to USB-A cable provided in the block.
• Capture Software: Once everything has been connected, open the Capture software of your choice and switch on console you wish to record the gameplay off. Check your capture settings and hit record.

It is that simple.      

There is a small learning curve involved to make sure you have chosen the right settings and that the audio is correct but after a few recording sessions I was able to lock down what exactly I needed.

Is Elgato HD60+ worth the price?

At $200 it is certainly not a cheap option but for the ease and simplicity that it provides it has definitely been worth the price.
Sure, right now I am not using the 4K 60 with HDR 10 but going by many online reviews and YouTube videos of various people reviewing the product have an overall mixed feelings for it. 

Do I wish the product was cheaper? Off course but for what my current use-cases are i.e. recording at 1080 60, I am happy to report that it works without a single frame drop or hitch.

However, I would like to highlight one observation, is that the device does get warm to the touch after long capture sessions, but I guess that is understandable if you have been capturing a footage for over 4+ hours.

Verdict

In all my experience with the Elgato capture device has been nearly flawless. This product is what I mainly use to capture my gameplay footage that can be seen in my Gaming Posts.

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