Elgato Key Light Air Review

Manufacturer: Elgato

UK Price: £129.99

US Price: $129.99

The full review is contained in the video, above, so I urge you to take a look at that. This companion piece offers my brief thoughts in written format.

This product range from Elgato provides us with high-end studio lighting, which replaces messy broadcaster setups and is better suited for smaller, confined areas. The Elgato Key Light Air is one of the new additions to this range. It is smaller in size, power and in comparison to the original Elgato Key Light, is considerably cheaper, too. 

Personally, I own a lot of Elgato's products, where Key Lights are the majority. So today, I have my hands on this smaller alternative light for review. 

Specifications: 

• Brightness: Adjustable. Up to 1400 Lumens
• Colour Adjustable. Range: 2900K - 7000K
• Power Consumption: Up to 25W
• Dimensions: 205 x 205 x 35 mm / 8.07 x 8.07 x 1.37 "
• Telescopic Pole Mount Length: Minimum: 23.6"/ 60cm, Maximum 34.6" / 88cm 
• Total Weight: 1.55 kg / 3.41 lbs
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi (WPA/WPA 2) , can be controlled Via Mobile App, Stream Deck or PC/Mac Elgato Control Center
• Compatibility: Windows 10(64-bit), Android 6.0+/iOS 12.1+, Elgato Stream Deck and Elgato Multi Mount

Box Contents: 

• Key Light Air
• Weighted Base
• Ball-Head Mount & Telescopic Pole
• Power Supply - 4 AC Adapters (Type A/B, Type I, Type G and Type C)
• Quick Start Guide

The setup of the Key Light Air is very simple and is all very self-explanatory. The only issue I really stumbled across was securing the light panel to the telescopic pole mount. This is mainly down to the Key Light Air having a new design for the ball-head mount clamp. It all was very fiddly and, unfortunately, I ended up dropping the clamp parts many times whilst trying to install, resulting in little marks being scored into the base. I think once you finally manage to attach the light panel, it isn't really going to be something that you should be dismantling again. However, this is my only negative experience.

One of the main positive features is the freestanding base., whereas the original has a mounted clamp for desks. In my setup, I have two different desks. One for my PC setup and the other is to record my bit-tech videos and photograph products. I find that the original attaches perfectly to my PC desk due to it being free from the desk frame underneath. However, with the recording desk I found that the desks' frame restricts and completely blocks the mounted clamps, making it impossible to use that specific mount type with that desk. This could be a huge issue for people if they don't have the compatible equipment.

Key Light Air Vs. Key Light

Whilst there is a difference in size and price between the Key Light Air and the original Key Light, there are also some other notable differences, too. 

As you will see in video, it's a decent product that's more versatile than its bigger brother, is cheaper, and useful for those that cannot fit the regular Key Light into their streaming or video setups.

The Good:

• Brilliant light diffusion
• Smaller in size, lower in power but still the same high light quality
• Adjustable colour ranges, brightness levels and ability to turn the light on/off using your PC/iOS/MacOS with the Control Center software. 
• Stream Deck integration
• Printed height scale on the telescopic pole
• Hidden cable rail helping reduce mess of wires
• Freestanding base for use with awkwardly-designed desks

The Not So Good:

• Poorly-designed ball-head mount clamp

Overall, the Elgato Key Light Air outweighs the one negative with the many positives it has to offer. Offering new options with positioning in setups and giving you complete control with how you want lighting to look, there's a decent amount of adjustment. The halving of illumination power may deter some - there's the original model for those punters - but this represents a good addition to broadcasters wanting to have professional-looking light quality with their streams/videos.