XPPen Pilot Pro review: an impressively engineered editing console with one frustrating flaw

Having saturated the market with many of the best drawing tablets, drawing pads, pen displays, and pen tablets, XPPen has decided to diversify its offerings for creatives. The bold move begins with the recently released Pilot Pro Editing Console designed for photographers and video editors.

For a first foray into this market and going head-to-head with established products like TourBox Elite, XPPen has done an incredible job of creating a good-looking, fast-acting, and super-useful device for supercharging creative workflows. With 19 buttons in addition to two knobs, a dial, and a joystick, the Chinese brand has packed a whole lot of functionality into a compact device.

XPPen is not without competition, though. Blackmagic and Logitech, with its impressive MX Creative Console, have long been the go-to brands for creatives who want to maximise productivity. After all, we were given eight fingers and two thumbs, so why not use them? The Pilot Pro wants in on the action, and with it, I think XPPen might take more market share than anyone would have predicted.

XPPen Pilot Pro review: specs

Looking purely at the specs, the new XPPen Pilot Pro is a strong value alternative to the TourBox Elite and Logitech MX Creative Console, two of the leading devices, as this newcomer offers a comfortable one-handed layout, joystick control and plenty of customisable buttons for video and photo workflows.

Its also comes in at a cheaper price (see below), something XPPen excels at, and tactile controls are appealing, but its software ecosystem is less mature than TourBox’s, while Logitech’s MX Creative Console offers a more polished experience with deeper Adobe integration.

Price

• The Pilot Pro is good, but there's strong competition

The XPpen Pilot Pro costs £169.99 / $188.99, although it's often discounted by around five to ten per cent. This isn't cheap, but its performance and wide-ranging features more than justify its price tag. Included in the cost is free shipping, which takes around seven to ten working days.

Alternatives include the Logitech MX Creative Console for around £189.99 / $199.99 direct from the Logitech website or the more expensive, yet seriously good, DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor for £359 at WEX.

Unboxing

• Well built with a gorgeous aesthetic
• Left-hand side buttons are not located in a natural position

Straight out of the box, it is obvious that XPPen has created a premium product. Whenever I unbox a controller like this, before I get to pairing it with my computer, I can't help but twist every dial, push every joystick, and press every button. It was clear from even this initial interaction that the device has been engineered for precision and longevity.

The joy continues with a high level of haptic feedback delivered through all knobs and even the joystick. This helps to 'root' the controller and connect the editor's brain to the actions being performed. My only issue was with the large 'left/right' dial-style knob surrounding the base of the joystick, which offers this haptic feedback at shorter intervals than I would have liked. This became a little annoying when scrubbing through large sections of footage.

Image 1 of 5

There are 12 buttons in total: four on the palm, four on the right-hand side, and four on the left-hand side. These adequately sized buttons are responsive and reliable and can be mapped to any shortcut or tool. Unfortunately, the location of the left-hand-side buttons is out of reach even for my reasonably sized hands. I found myself having to unnaturally move my wrist and thumb in a way that felt uncomfortable and a little painful

The controller boasts solid construction that will keep its internals free from damage. It's also weighty enough to remain in position without feeling uncomfortably heavy. The two-tone white and black colour scheme creates a modern aesthetic that will look the part in any creative studio or home working setup.

In an ideal world, editors would own one of these in the studio and another one at home, but given the price, that's unlikely. That's why I was glad to see the console shipping with a solid carry case, which makes it quick, easy, and safe to transport between locations.

Performance

• Video editing is made effortless with the Pilot Pro
• Colour grading workflows are simpler with joystick control

It might just be me, but pairing the device with my MacBook Pro via Bluetooth was trickier than I expected. Not only did my computer struggle to find the device, but when it did, I couldn't establish a connection. It took several attempts before a successful connection was made.

As with any controller with this much functionality, it takes a while to integrate smoothly into a creative workflow. This is no fault of the Pilot Pro but instead evidence of how useful this tool can be across a wide range of applications and workflows.

During this learning curve, I appreciated being able to press the 'OK' button in the middle of the joystick and consult a graphic diagram of the actions and their mappings. This was invaluable prior to becoming familiar with the device.

Patience paid off because, after a few days of use, I had become fully accustomed to all the mappings and was utilising the controller to speed up my video editing workflow. I used the controller with Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, although the Pilot Pro is also compatible with other editing suites.

My favourite combo was using the large dial to scrub backwards and forwards along the timeline, and the joystick to switch between tools: Razor, Ripple Edit, Selection, and Track Select Forward. Obviously, all of these can be selected using keyboard shortcuts, but having them accessible from a simple joystick move is far quicker and simpler.

As great as the joystick is for tool switching, it really came into its own while colour grading. I specifically loved the ability to move around colour dials with speed and precision rather than having to move my mouse cursor. This enabled me to experiment more quickly and fine-tune a grade as I homed in on the finished result.

Colour adjustments were also effortless in Adobe Lightroom. Instead of using a mouse to shift sliders, I was able to move systematically through each setting (exposure, contrast, highlights) and dial in a specific amount for each. It sounds like minimal gains, but across lots of photos and projects, the time savings really do mount up, not to mention how much more enjoyable the whole process is.

One of my favourite things about the Pilot Pro is the ability to work across multiple software packages, with custom mappings for each. All you have to do is double-tap the 'OK' button, select the package you want, and the software will take care of the rest.

Who's it for?

• Primarily aimed at video editors

The Pilot Pro offers a lot to a wide range of creatives, but it is undoubtedly video editors who will benefit most from investing in this editing console. The joystick lets users move through colour wheels with ease, while the dial makes navigating a timeline easier than ever. And thanks to its software-agnostic implementation, it doesn't matter what video editing package you use.

Buy it if...

• You're a speed-hungry video editor.
• You need to put edits together quickly.
• You work with multiple video editing packages.

Don't buy it if...

• You're getting along just fine with your mouse.
• You don't like operating a console with your left hand.
• You have really small hands – this thing isn't small.