For digital photographers, videographers, and content creators, the editing process is often a double-edged sword. While the act of refining visual art is deeply rewarding, the physical reality of doing so is frequently defined by repetitive strain, complex keyboard shortcuts, and the clumsy limitations of a standard mouse and keyboard. Creative editing consoles aim to bridge this gap, transforming a highly technical digital process into something far more tactile, intuitive, and fluid. At the absolute forefront of this product category is the TourBox Elite Plus, a flagship input device engineered to put complete, single-handed control directly into the hands of digital artists.
Designed to streamline workflows and reduce the cognitive load of editing, the TourBox Elite Plus is built to allow creators to spend less time memorizing hotkeys and more time focusing on their artistic vision. With an intricate layout of multi-dimensional inputs, advanced haptic feedback, and extensive wireless connectivity, it positions itself as the ultimate tool for serious creative professionals. However, as the most premium offering in the TourBox lineup, it carries a price tag to match, making it a serious investment that demands close evaluation.
Form & Function
At first glance, the TourBox Elite Plus establishes itself as a highly specialized, premium piece of hardware. It features a solid, weighty build that anchors itself firmly to your desk, ensuring it does not slide around during intense editing sessions. One of its most striking design choices is the semi-transparent plastic casing. This aesthetic decision allows users to peer directly into the internal circuitry of the device, offering a visual connection to the hardware that tech enthusiasts and modern designers will undoubtedly appreciate.
Despite its premium feel, the choice of materials raises some practical considerations. While the thick plastic housing feels robust enough for daily desk use, there are reasonable concerns about how well it would survive an accidental drop onto a hard studio floor. A rubberized outer casing, similar to the material utilized on the older TourBox NEO, would arguably provide a more durable solution. A rubber finish would not only enhance the device’s physical longevity and drop resistance but would also deliver a more tactile, secure grip during use. Additionally, reducing the overall weight of the device slightly would make it an even more attractive option for creators who frequently travel between studios.
Getting the TourBox Elite Plus up and running is an remarkably swift process, thanks to the well-designed TourBox Console software. Users simply need to download the companion application and connect the hardware. While a standard USB cable connection is available and completely reliable, the true power of the Elite Plus is realized through its wireless capabilities. Utilizing a stable Bluetooth connection, the console can operate entirely untethered, which is essential for maintaining a clean, clutter-free workspace.
This wireless functionality also opens up new avenues for mobile creators. Through Bluetooth, the Elite Plus can seamlessly pair with portable devices, including iPads and Android tablets. This makes it an incredibly versatile companion for mobile illustrators and video editors who prefer working on location. During testing, the Bluetooth connection proved highly reliable for the vast majority of the time, though there were occasional instances where the host computer failed to recognize the device, requiring a quick system restart to restore the connection. Once connected, however, the latency is virtually imperceptible, delivering a highly responsive user experience.
The physical interface of the TourBox Elite Plus is a masterclass in ergonomic layout. It features a carefully curated selection of knobs, dials, scroll wheels, and buttons, all differing in shape and texture so that they can be easily identified by touch alone. This layout allows for over 150 unique button combinations, giving users the ability to assign more than 400 distinct functions per software preset. The buttons themselves feel premium, offering a crisp, tactile click and high-end performance that reassures the user of the device’s build quality.
A standout feature that elevates the Elite Plus above its more affordable siblings, such as the TourBox NEO and TourBox Lite, is its advanced haptic feedback system. Powered by an integrated wide-band vibration motor, this system delivers physical, tactile pulses as you rotate the dials and scroll wheels. This feedback is incredibly useful when making precise adjustments, such as micro-stepping through a video timeline or incrementally adjusting exposure sliders in a photo editor. It grounds the digital editing experience in physical reality, making virtual tools feel like real, mechanical instruments. The only minor drawback to this system is the auditory profile of the vibration motor; the sound it produces can feel a bit loud in a quiet room, and it would benefit from being slightly dampened in future hardware revisions to match the premium, silent operation of other high-end studio peripherals.
Price, Value, and Competition
The TourBox Elite Plus sits at the absolute pinnacle of the TourBox product catalog, positioned above the standard TourBox Elite, the mid-range TourBox NEO, and the entry-level TourBox Lite. This flagship status is reflected in its pricing, with the device retailing at £297 / $297. While it is frequently subject to promotional discounts of around £30 / $30, it remains a major financial commitment. For this premium price, buyers are investing in top-tier build quality, unparalleled customization options, dual-channel Bluetooth connectivity, and a highly immersive haptic feedback system that cheaper alternatives simply do not offer.
For creators who find the price of the Elite Plus difficult to justify, the market currently offers some highly compelling alternatives. Chief among them is the Logitech MX Creative Console, which retails for a significantly lower price of £189.99 / $189.99. This compact, highly praised device takes a slightly different design approach, utilizing two independent physical units that split the control layout. It features a highly customizable dial, a scroll wheel, and a set of dynamic display keys that change based on the active application. While the Logitech console is simpler in its physical layout and lacks the sheer number of simultaneous inputs found on the Elite Plus, its lower price point and seamless integration with the Adobe Creative Cloud make it an incredibly attractive option for mainstream creators.
Another noteworthy competitor is the XPPen Pilot Pro. Priced even lower than both the TourBox and Logitech offerings, the Pilot Pro is tailored specifically toward video editors. Its physical layout is optimized for rapid tool switching, allowing editors to jump instantly between essential timeline functions like the Razor tool, Ripple Edit, and Selection tool in applications like DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro. While it lacks the broad, multi-disciplinary versatility of the TourBox Elite Plus, it serves as a highly efficient, budget-friendly tool for video-centric workflows.
Should I Buy the TourBox Elite Plus?
Deciding whether to purchase the TourBox Elite Plus ultimately comes down to the frequency and intensity of your creative work. This device is unapologetically designed for professional photographers, retouchers, and videographers who find themselves editing visual media on a daily basis. For these high-volume users, the Elite Plus is nothing short of a revelation. It drastically accelerates almost every stage of the creative workflow, from color grading and detailed photo retouching to multi-track video editing and audio mixing.
The true magic of the device lies in its deep integration with the TourBox Console software. The software features an incredibly smart automatic profile-switching capability. As you navigate between different applications on your computer—moving, for example, from a photo editing session in Photoshop to a video color-grading session in DaVinci Resolve—the Elite Plus instantly and silently remaps its physical controls to match the active software. This transition is entirely seamless, allowing you to maintain your creative momentum without having to manually select profiles.
Furthermore, the inclusion of robust software presets means that the learning curve is remarkably gentle. Right out of the box, users can import pre-configured control schemes for major design suites, allowing them to become productive with the console in less than ten minutes. Over time, as you become familiar with the physical layout, you can customize every single button, dial, and combination to align perfectly with your unique muscle memory.
Conversely, for hobbyists, casual creators, or those who only use applications like Photoshop or Premiere Pro on an occasional basis, the high cost of the TourBox Elite Plus is unlikely to yield a justifiable return on investment. If you only spend a few hours a week editing, standard keyboard shortcuts and a traditional mouse will remain perfectly adequate, and the time required to master a highly complex physical console may outweigh the immediate workflow benefits.
Additionally, certain creative disciplines may find less utility in this style of hardware. For instance, 3D artists, modelers, and animators—who rely heavily on complex spatial navigation and different input paradigms—are unlikely to benefit from the Elite Plus in the same way that 2D image and video editors do.
Ultimately, the TourBox Elite Plus is an expertly engineered, high-performance tool that successfully redefines how creators interact with their software. By replacing abstract keyboard shortcuts with intuitive, tactile, and highly responsive physical controls, it removes the technical barriers between the artist and their medium. If you are a dedicated creative professional looking to maximize your efficiency, eliminate workflow bottlenecks, and inject a sense of tactile joy back into your editing process, the TourBox Elite Plus stands out as an exceptional, game-changing investment.
