What you need to know
- Elgato's latest creator-focused product is the Key Light Mini.
- Joining the Air and the regular-sized Key Light, the Mini is a portable LED light panel with all the same smarts as its siblings.
- Available now for $100.
Corsair-owned Elgato continues to build out its creator-focused product family and the latest arrival is a case of when big things come in small packages. The newest addition to its lighting family, the Key Light Mini, takes everything great about the existing Key Light and Key Light Air, then shrinks it down into a portable form factor.
The panel on the Key Light Mini has a temperature range between 2900K and 7000K, going between the warmest glow and the iciest white light. For something so compact the brightness is pretty solid too, going up to 800 lumens. Naturally, as with other Key Light products, the Mini is dimmable and can be controlled either on the unit itself or through the companion app for PC, Mac, and mobile.
One of the key additions is a 4,000mAh battery inside which is good for four hours of cable-free use at 50% brightness. This coupled with the size makes the Key Light Mini attractive to more than just streamers and YouTubers since it'll easily mount to the top of a camera if you want to take it on the go.
If you're in need of it for longer, "Studio mode" is another name for plugging it into the mains (though admittedly sounds much fancier). It comes with a lengthy USB-C cable in the box with an angled connector at one end to make your setup just a little neater and avoid protruding cables.
It's fairly pricey, mind, at $100, though as with the other Key Light products it is more than just an LED light panel. It would have been nice to see some form of stand included, but since it has a regular thread mount on the bottom you can at least strap it to any normal tripod.
One arrived earlier today and while I haven't had time to properly check it out ahead of its reveal, early impressions are good. Sure, it's pricey, but it's noticeably higher quality compared to the cheap LED panels I already use of this size. It's really solid without being too heavy, I like the battery indicator on the side that's easy to see at a glance and even though it's daytime as I write this, it seems really bright when cranked right up. I'll be following up soon with a more detailed look, but if you don't want to wait, you can get your order in right now.
Teeny tiny but just as smart
Elgato has shrunk the Key Light even further, slapped in a battery and made it portable. What more could you ask for?
