After acquiring Loupedeck in July 2023, Logitech announced its first advanced control console for creative professionals, the Logitech MX Creative Console.
Channeling Loupedeck’s spirit — and leveraging the expertise of its employees who were brought into Logitech’s fold following the acquisition — the MX Creative Console comprises a customizable keypad unit and a tactile dialpad, promising direct control over app-specific functions and shortcuts.
Much like Loupedeck’s various products worked natively with Adobe Creative software, so does the MX Creative Console. The console has deep native integration with popular Adobe Creative Cloud applications, including Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, and more.
Using the nine customizable full-color LCD visual display keys, which are sharp and bright (adjustable up to 600 nits), photographers and videographers can quickly access specific shortcuts, tools, and functions with the press of a button.
For example, in Photoshop, it’s easy to assign user-created Photoshop actions to individual keys, adjust layer properties, access tools like crop, select subject, spot heal, and so much more. In Lightroom, potential use cases include culling tools (like rating), access to different editing tools, and selecting presets. The display keys also include pages so that users can create more than nine direct access keys.
The high-precision dialpad, which is a separate but accompanying unit, includes four customizable buttons, a roller, and a large rotating dial. This is well-suited to scrolling through images, zooming in, swiping through a video timeline, or controlling specific photo editing sliders.
The dial also works with a customizable on-screen user interface called the Logi Actions Ring. This function is customized using the accompanying new Logi Options+ app, and the ring is accessed via a button on the MX Creative Dialpad. Users can rotate the dial to select a function, such as a specific Lightroom image editing adjustment, and then quickly adjust the setting by rotating the dial.
As for connectivity, the MX Creative Dialpad exclusively works wirelessly via Bluetooth, while the MX Creative Keypad must be connected via USB-C. The included 1.5-meter USB-C cable is detachable, so users can swap it out for a shorter or longer one if needed. The dialpad is powered via a pair of AAA batteries, which Logitech says should power the unit for up to 18 months, while the keypad is powered over USB-C.
Although Logitech explains that its new MX Creative Console products are designed with Adobe software in mind, including robust native support at launch, creators can download tailored plugins for other applications via a marketplace. However, native support will require software makers to develop plugins.
Users can also create custom actions for their favorite apps by mapping keyboard shortcuts to specific buttons on the dialpad. The functionality extends beyond particular apps, too, as users can map operating system-level controls to the Creative Console.
Pricing and Availability
The Logitech MX Creative Console comes in Pale Grey and Graphite colorways and includes both the MX Creative Keypad and the MX Creative Dialpad. Both colors will begin shipping next month for $199.99. The MX Creative Console also comes with a three-month subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, valid for new and existing customers.
Image credits: Logitech
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