Introduction
Recently, EVGA announced their third entry into the capture card market. The XR1 Pro seems to be a more feature-rich variant of EVGA’s XR1 capture card, but what has EVGA changed?
EVGA’s Capture Card History
EVGA currently has two capture cards on the market, the EVGA XR1 and the EVGA XR1 Lite. The XR1 Lite is a slightly cut-down version of the XR1, which does not have support for 1440p120FPS passthrough, or support for 1440p at all, and no support for HDR passthrough or capture. The XR1 Lite also lacks the control knob, addressable RGB lights, and the built-in audio mixer present in the XR1. Despite this, however, the XR1 Lite had an ace up its sleeve: its price. The EVGA XR1 Lite has consistently been priced at the ~$50 range, making it one of the cheapest 1080p60 capture cards on the market. In terms of visual integrity and quality, the XR1 Lite and XR1 are practically identical, making the XR1 Lite a much better option, if you don’t mind the lack of the features. We have a full review of the XR1 Lite here.
Addressing The Backlash And Improving
The EVGA XR1 was a great capture card, but the marketing was misleading, to say the least. The XR1 claimed up to 1440p120FPS and 4K60 HDR passthrough through its “Advanced Passthrough” mode (APT). APT was a setting that could be turned on that allowed for high refresh rate passthrough at higher resolutions at the expense of disabling the ability to capture. In Advanced Passthrough mode, the capture card essentially just turns off and allows for passthrough only. This annoyed many people, especially tech reviewers like EposVox and Richard Devine from Windows Central. While there was never an explanation given by EVGA for why APT works this way, it seems to have been fixed with the upcoming XR1 Pro. While the XR1 Pro might look strikingly similar to its non-pro counterpart, the XR1 Pro can do up to 1080p240FPS HDR, 1440p144FPS HDR, and 4K60 HDR passthrough without the need for any additional settings that limit capturing capabilities. As for the capturing capabilities, those have been upgraded as well. The XR1 Pro supports up to 1080p60FPS, 1440p60FPS, and 4K60FPS capture. This is great because 1440p capture is actually not common on many capture cards, as it’s more of a niche feature. Some capture cards like the Elgato 4K60 Pro, Avermedia Live Gamer Ultra, 4K, and Bolt, as well as many other higher end offerings, can do 1440p120FPS capture but these options are pricey. While there is no current MSRP for the EVGA XR1 Pro, assuming it’ll be the same price as the XR1, or maybe a bit more expensive, it would be competitively priced and would make for a great budget option for content creators who want a capture card that is capable of recording at higher resolutions. As for the actual performance of the capture card itself, we’ll have to wait and see how it performs against offerings from other companies, and EVGA’s own offerings.
