If you want to look your best during video calls or when creating content, check out the Key Light Mini. We will discuss everything you need to know about it here in our Elgato Key Light Mini review.
The Key Light Mini is a new and versatile choice that you can go for, for good key lighting. The release of this product is considered a defining moment for the company. It’s because this is the first time Elgato launched a product that isn’t just limited to a gamer’s setup.
The Key Light Mini is one of the cheapest key lights available today, but it’s more than just that. It has a lot to offer and we’re sharing these with you in our Elgato Key Light Mini review.
Elgato Key Light Mini Packaging
The Key Light Mini arrived in a typical-looking cardboard box that sports a cool blue theme. The front displays an image of the product with its name, as well as Elgato’s branding.
Under the image, you’ll find “Illuminate on Command” written, while “Elgato” is seen on the lower-right corner.
Flipping the box, you’ll find the product being utilised to light up an area. Other than this, you’ll also find more details about the product written on the rear. Mostly, these are its main features and a few other specifications about the Key Light Mini.
Of course, we also looked inside the box for this Elgato Key Light Mini review. So after getting everything out of the box, we found the product packed nicely and securely in place.
Elgato also included several items in the package. These are the quick start guide and a USB-C to A cable. To note, the cable measures 200cm long.
Elgato Key Light Mini Review – Design and Functionality
As the name states, the Key Light Mini is a smaller version of the original Key Light. Although smaller, it’s a portable LED panel that’s edge-lit with all the essential technology present in the original Key Light.
But with the Key Light Mini, it has rechargeable batteries so you won’t have to plug it in every time. Plus, it has a smaller form factor too.
Continuing our Elgato Key Light Mini review, it sports an understated and sleek design. All its light panels are on the front, it has a nice all-black colour, and is textured on the back.
The unit is compact and feels like a solid metallic block. It’s durable and there’s no spot of hollowness on it even if you knock on its panel.
It only weighs 300g, so it’s light enough to mount on a camera. Plus, it’s only a centimetre or two wider than the iPhone 13, making it perfectly sized even for your back pocket.
You’ll even find a regular 1/4″ mounting point along the bottom. Thus, making the Key Light Mini compatible with a lot of tripods today, and also Elgato’s Multi Mount range. Additionally, the product has a collection of concealed magnets along its rear, and we think these are smart solutions too.
Compared to its bigger sibling, the Key Light Mini’s ports and controls are all on the sides. And, it includes an integrated brightness dial which we find pretty convenient.
You can control it via WiFi using the company’s Control Centre app for macOS, Android, Windows, and iOS.
Key Features of the Elgato Key Light Mini
This part of our Elgato Key Light Mini review shares all the key elements that make the product extremely notable. Let’s find out what makes it a great item to have.
Lush Illumination
The Key Light Mini is powered by battery or mains. This will make you look amazing whether you’re in the studio or on the street.
Compact and Efficient
The flicker-free LEDs keep cool while multiple diffusion layers and edge-lit architecture provide indirect soft lighting.
Onboard Controls
With onboard controls, you can easily adjust the colour temperature and brightness of the Key Light Mini. This will help you get the best shots in any environment.
USB Studio Mode
For longer battery health, you can bypass the Key Light Mini’s battery when plugged into an outlet. If you’re using the battery, activate Energy Saver Mode to extend its runtime.
Wireless Control
Whether you’re using an iPhone, Android, Mac, or PC, you can set the perfect mood. When connected to your WiFi network, you can just dial the settings using the onboard controls.
Powerful Battery of the Elgato Key Light Mini
At 50% brightness, the Key Light Mini can last up to four hours and you can give it a 60-minute quick charge.
Magnetic Back Panel
With the magnetic back panel, you can stick the Key Light Mini onto metal surfaces and easily illuminate overhead shots.
When we tested the product for our Elgato Key Light Mini review, we no longer needed a tripod. Its magnetic back panel helped us achieve the ideal lighting conveniently.
1/4-inch Thread
The 1/4-inch thread allows you to secure the Key Light Mini to a tripod, camera, or Elgato’s Multi Mount. You can also attach any device with a compatible adapter or screw.
Metal Chassis
With its metal chassis, the Key Light Mini’s durability is superior. Plus, it looks and feels premium.
Create Anywhere with the Elgato Key Light Mini
The Key Light Mini is designed for photography and filming locations. It features a rechargeable battery and a standard mounting thread. With these, you can whip it out when you need to shoot a selfie or video for Tiktok or Instagram.
You can also use it to look your best on Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Discord. That’s because the Key Light Mini lets you achieve proper lighting for professional environments.
With the Key Light MIni, you can set up good lighting for your content creation no matter where you are.
Specifications
This is another important section of our Elgato Key Light Mini review that shows the different aspects of the product.
It has a brightness of 800 lumens, but the nice thing is that it’s adjustable. The Key Light Mini’s colour ranges from 2,900-7000K with over 94% adjustable CRI.
The product uses a 3.7V, 4,000 mAh LiPo battery, and it charges via USB-C. We’re glad it can go for fast charging up to 3A, 5V. Then, the maximum power the product consumes is 15W.
The Key Light Mini measures 147 x 100 x 17mm and weighs 300g. WiFi connectivity is 2.4 GHz/ 5 GHz, 802.11 a|b|g|n.
The Key Light Mini supports WPA2 + AES and WPA + TKIP / AES encryption. And lastly, it’s compatible with Elgato’s Multi Mount, and any mount that has a 1/4″ screw/adapter/
Hands-on with the Elgato Key Light Mini
Our Elgato Key Light Mini review won’t be complete without us talking about our experience with the product. We used it for a week to see if it’s as good as claims. Plus, we had to determine if it’s a really smart LED panel to invest in.
Before we discuss our hands-on experience with the Key Light Mini, we’ll talk about its Control Centre app.
The first thing you have to do is properly configure the Key Light Mini with your WiFi network. From there, you can start controlling it via the Control Centre app.
With this, you can control its colour temperature and brightness settings with user-friendly sliders. However, you don’t necessarily require the app if you don’t want to install it.
Why? Because you can readily utilise the integrated controls directly on the Key Light Mini.
Despite it being small, the Key Light Mini packs quite a punch. When we switched it on the first time, we were surprised by how bright and how much light it released.
Its edge-lit panel was able to give us around 800 lumens as claimed. And to be honest, that’s a bit too much for most. But when we tried it, we got excellent indoor results even when the light was as low as 20%.
Using it instantly gave us a brighter and more vibrant look. This is compared to how we’d normally look when sitting in front of the webcam.
The colour of our eyes, clothes, and skin looked way better and more accurate when using the light panel. Plus, the finer details on hair were clearer and more obvious.
At 100% brightness, the Key Light Mini lasted for around two hours on a single charge. From our tests, we didn’t have to use it at maximum brightness except when we were taking shots from afar. So if we used it with lower brightness, the Key Light MIni might have lasted for more than five hours.
We loved that we could plug it using the USB-C cable if we didn’t want to bother with the battery. Though it would’ve been nice if Elgato included a power brick in the box, but this isn’t a huge deal. We just plugged it using our PC and everything was good to go.
Elgato Key Light Mini Review Summary
The Key Light Mini from Elgato is a premium-quality portable LED panel. It’s highly versatile since you can use it anywhere and mount it on a standard tripod mount and various accessories. If you create content on-the-go, you’ll need high-quality portable lighting like this product provides.
Aside from bright lights, it has a durable build and long battery life, making it great for outdoor use. Plus, if you already own other Elgato lighting kits, you can use them with the Key Light MIni. And with all its notable features, this product will perfectly complement your workflow.
For more information about the Key Light Mini, you can visit Elgato’s official product page.
