It was announced today that Logitech, the giant maker of many different hardware products, has acquired Loupedeck, the small maker of a few hardware products.
I have made no secret of my love for the Loupedeck CT. I wrote a multi-part, very deep review, of the product when it shipped a few years ago. I’ve even worked with the Loupedeck Live. I believe that, when setup correctly, a control surface like the Loupedeck can speed up your editing.
This image was supposed to accompany that tweet above. Thanks Twitter app for not uploading the image. Ok, maybe it was poster error. pic.twitter.com/hJA5KriHMK
— Scott Simmons (@editblog) July 18, 2023
On the surface, it seems like this should be a good thing. Logitech is a much bigger company with a big range of products ranging from cameras to mics to speakers to keyboards and many things beyond. Loupedeck just makes four control surfaces. Logitech would have a lot more resources to continue to develop the Loupedeck hardware as well as what would be maybe a more important thing, development of the Loupedeck software.
The Loupedeck software has long been a source of contention for Loupedeck owners. While it works, it’s not the easiest thing to setup. Early versions were quiet buggy and if you think the current Loupedeck software is difficult to use you should have seen the early ones. Loupedeck is a small company and software development is expensive so the Logitech resources would be a good thing, right?
Well, this is only one person’s opinion but I have always found the Logitech software to be clunky and not very full featured, at least on the Mac. I’ve had a few of their prodcuts over the years, most recently the Craft keyboard. While the Craft hardware is amazing the supporting software leaves a lot of functionlity on the table. I’ve actually gotten frustrated with it a couple of times over the years and stopped using it. On’y to return later as it’s really a nice keyboard to type on.
What’s really behind the acqusition probably a strong desire to compete with Stream Deck. Because when you surf around internet forums or chat on social media the conversion is usually, Stream Deck, Stream Deck, Stream Deck. And while the Stream Deck is a nice tool (they comes in several different sizes) I’ve always thought the Loupedeck products are much better. Couple much more functional hardware (dials baby!) with native software that supports a whole lot more of the video tools we use and I think the Loupedeck prodcuts are better. Yes, I know Stream Deck now makes the Stream Deck + with dials but it isn’t as good and I laid that argument out in my review of the Stream Deck +.
Of course you can always bypass a lot of the native Loupedeck or Stream Deck software when it comes to interfacing with your NLE by using Command Post as the control surface support is extensive and really, really good.
Time will tell how this Logitech acquisition affects Loupedeck. According the The Verge it will be business as usual for Loupedeck and its customers. Who knows how this will affect the Razer Stream controller which is just a Loupedeck rebranded. Let’s hope it is for the better and they continue with good support for the creative community and don’t focus all of their attention on streamers. Heck, with Logitech’s resources maybe they’ll build my dream piece of hardware: a good keyboard with Loupedeck dials built into the top.
