Being an online content creator and a drone enthusiast, I edit a lot of videos and pictures. To be honest, I am not a professional video editor or anything but I just do it as a hobby. I use three tools for content editing, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Filmora Video Editor. As you may know, the first two Softwares are super heavy and advanced while the latter is for beginners.

For me, Photoshop is fairly easy because I am used to it. But Premiere Pro is a nightmare. Audio-Video mixing, lots of random cuts, transitions, etc will take up a hell lot of my time. I always wished for a tool that would make things much easier. Luckily, Tourbox came out to be one such tool. After using the product for almost 4 months now, I am ready to write a review and share my personal experience with you all.

The following product is the exact model I am reviewing in this article

What’s in the Box

  • Tourbox Controller
  • USB C to USB cable
  • User manual
  • Quick start guide

First Impressions

This gadget looks sick. To be frank, Tourbox is one of the most aesthetically pleasing gadgets I own. The matte black design is amazing, it looks cool on any desk and is super comfortable to use. There is a USB C port and a regular USB port on the back. The USB C port lets you connect it to your PC or laptop while the USB port can be used as a typical USB port for your keyboard, mouse, etc.

There is a tiny green LED light on the surface that lits up when the device is plugged into a power source (your PC).

The USB port on the back is an addon that can be used for connecting mouse, keyboard etc to your PC

Controls

Tourbox controller has 14 control knobs 3 of those are rotating knobs while the remaining 11 are clickable buttons. The tiny button in the center, beside the knob, is a special button called tour. By default, this button is set to open HUD. What’s that? See the image below.

Every key in the console is customizable, including the tour button. You can set different shortcuts for different click combinations.

For example, you can set CTRL + A for the single click of side button and set CTRL + C for the double click of side button. Similarly, you can set scroll knob for increasing or decreasing the brush size (in photoshop) or scroll up or down (in google chrome). There are countless ways of using these control buttons. I will discuss more about it in the next section.

Tourbox Console

The console (software) is an essential part of Tourbox. Without this software, you cannot customize anything with your device. Also, before you even install Toutbox Console, you will have to install the drivers. Tourbox works on Windows as well as iOS. You can find all the software-related information and drivers here. I won’t be talking about the installation part here but when you download their zip file, the Installation Guide is included in it. It will guide you through.

 

At the time of writing this article, the latest console version was 1.1.4

While installing the console, windows threw me a security error due to the publisher being unknown. I did overwrite it but you may contact the manufacturer if you feel it is unsafe.

The software interface is super simple and easy to navigate. The console lets you configure the keys and add presets.

Configuring keys is absolutely necessary when you start using Toubox controller. It’s because different Softwares use different key combinations for different things. For example, the keyboard shortcut c activates the Razor Tool in Premiere Pro whereas c activates nothing in After Effects. In such cases, you will have to configure your Toubox accordingly. Configuring a key is easy, open the console, press any key on Tourbox controller, click on the highlighted option, press your key on your keyboard, and save it. You can even set multiple keys like Ctrl + Alt + Z.

Configuring keys like Alt + TAB can be challenging

Similar to shortcut keys, presets are super useful when you want to use the device for more than one application. As we saw above, some shortcut keys differ from applications to applications. These presets let you use a set of shortcuts for a particular application. For example. when you switch from Photoshop to AE, you can quickly switch the presets by using the console. This is a very very handy feature to have.

Also, you can import or save the preset and send it to your friend or a co-worker. The preset file will be stored in .tb extension and the other person who is using it needs to have the console to open it.

Softwares that Support Tourbox

Tourbox can support any software because it is just like a keyboard. As far as I have tried, this controller works perfectly with Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Google Chrome. You can probably use it for Paint too! In short, there is no limitation on how and where you use Tourbox. Just create a preset and configure the keys, you are good to go.

 

My Experience with Tourbox

I mainly use this gadget with Premiere Pro and Google Chrome. To be frank, I use Google Chrome more than Premiere Pro. I have created a preset for both of these apps. My chrome preset has the knob set to Ctrl + Shift + Tab (change tabs) and scroll is set to Arrow up and down. Other buttons are set to things like close tab, copy content, etc. Believe it or not, the gadget literally doubled my working speed with Chrome. Tourbox helped me edit videos faster in Premiere Pro but I use it more for my Google Chrome work because I edit videos rarely, maybe twice a month or so.

You can configure more than 25 shortcuts with Tourbox

Typically, Tourbox will be on the left side of the table, keyboard in the center and mouse on the right. This just shoots my productivity to the moon. There are occasions when I mistakenly pressed the keys on Tourbox and screwed things up.

You know what, the keys can be used for fidgeting as well….lol

Key Takeaways

  • Tourbox Controller has 14 buttons/knobs in total
  • It comes with software without which the controller won’t function
  • 43 Key combinations (as far as I know)
  • It is a wired device
  • It is small and portable but you can’t carry it in your pocket!
  • Has a USB port on the back to which you can connect your mouse, keyboard, etc
  • You can create multiple custom presets

Top 5 Reasons to Buy

  • Increases your productivity and saves a lot of time, for sure
  • Extremely portable and easy to carry
  • Works with any software and will be a good addon to your keyboard
  • Every type of button for all your needs
  • Can configure different presets for different applications

Top 3 Reasons Not to Buy

  • Tourbox is an expensive gadget
  • Requires software every time you use it
  • The buttons are best for fidgeting, you may get addicted. Caution!
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Last update on 2024-03-04 / Links / Images from Amazon PAAPI

9.2
Score

Pros

  • Increases your productivity and saves a lot of time, for sure
  • Extremely portable and easy to carry
  • Works with any software and will be a good addon to your keyboard
  • Every type of button for all your needs
  • Can configure different presets for different applications

Cons

  • Tourbox is an expensive gadget
  • Requires software every time you use it
  • The buttons are best for fidgeting, you may get addicted. Caution!
Design & Aesthetics
10
Comfort while using
9
Features
9
Customizability
9
Usefulness
10
Price
8

Final Verdict

If I were to recommend one gadget to a content creator, I would definitely choose this