# Elgato Stream Deck (original, pre-MK2)

- Source: https://stierproducts.com/products/elgato-stream-deck-original-pre-mk2
- Category board: https://stierproducts.com/categories/stream-decks
- Placement: #13 of 14 in Stream Decks, F tier
- Brand: Elgato
- LP on this board: 0
- Last researched: 2026-08-24T13:36:37.158Z
- Method: https://stierproducts.com/methodology
- Reuse: Text, rankings, tier assignments, LP values and verdicts are free to quote and reuse with attribution to stierproducts and a link to the source URL (CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence.

## Verdict

Outdated firmware and declining support make it a risky long-term investment.

## For

- Durable design
- Minimal failures
- Long-term firmware support
- Lowest cost option
- Functional

## Against

- key failures
- no firmware updates
- Less responsive keys
- no rotary dials
- Soft, mushy key presses

## Flagged as one to avoid

This product entered 8 of 10 runs as one buyers cross-shop but should not buy, rather than as a pick. It is published here rather than dropped.

## Evidence

Consolidated from 6 independent outlets

| Outlet | Said by | Stance | Link | Link status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PCGamesN | Aaron Down | B | https://www.pcgamesn.com/best-stream-deck | fetched and confirmed |
| greiginsydney.com | greiginsydney.com | B | https://greiginsydney.com/stream-deck-loses-powershell-executable/ | fetched and confirmed |
| Buckworm | Buckworm | B | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0KvW78SN8 | fetched and confirmed |
| Tagmond Tech | Tagmond Tech | B | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT2eiBaFYJU | fetched and confirmed |
| Luminous Matrix | Luminous Matrix | B | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orNs_bGp538 | fetched and confirmed |
| Danny Lightning Audio and Reviews | Danny Lightning Audio and Reviews | C | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwKZiH-H2b8 | fetched and confirmed |

## Nearest alternatives on this board

| Rank | Product | Tier | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Elgato Stream Deck XL | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/elgato-stream-deck-xl |
| 2 | Elgato Stream Deck Plus | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/elgato-stream-deck-plus |
| 3 | Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 | A | https://stierproducts.com/products/elgato-stream-deck-mk2 |
| 4 | VSDInside Stream Dock N4 Pro | B | https://stierproducts.com/products/vsdinside-stream-dock-n4-pro |
| 8 | Elgato Stream Deck Mini | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/elgato-stream-deck-mini |
| 9 | VSDInside Stream Dock N1 | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/vsdinside-stream-dock-n1 |
| 10 | VSDInside Stream Dock M18 | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/vsdinside-m18-stream-dock |
| 11 | Ulanzi D200H | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/ulanzi-d200h |
| 12 | Ulanzi D200X | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/ulanzi-d200x |
| 14 | Steam Deck OLED | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/steam-deck-oled-stream-decks |

The full board is at https://stierproducts.com/categories/stream-decks.

## What this tier means

- F: Avoid. The evidence points you elsewhere.

## How to read this

- Each category is researched in four independent runs, one per lens (expert consensus, value, reliability, community pulse). Every run ranks a board of candidates that deliberately includes products buyers cross-shop but should avoid. Placements score on a ranked ladder (LP), and tiers are derived from LP, so no tier is ever assigned by hand.
- LP is this product's points on its own category ladder. It is comparable within a category and not across categories.
- Link status reports what our pre-publication link check found when it fetched the cited URL. It says nothing about the quality of the review.
- A citation with no usable link is listed rather than dropped, and is excluded from the counted total above.

## Image

https://stierproducts.com/images/products/elgato-stream-deck-original-pre-mk2.webp

Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence.