Whether you're a streamer, content creator, or you simply want to record your epic gaming moments in high fidelity, Ezcap aim to get you up and running with their latest capture card, the Neo Pro.
**The Gamelink Neo Pro was reviewed using hardware provided and sent to us by Ezcap, but in no way influenced the review
The GameLink Neo Pro from Ezcap is a small white oblong pill device, that looks eerily similar to Elgato's own Neo capture card.
At 120 x 64 x 20 mm the Neo Pro takes up very little space on your desk, and weighing only 70g means it's exceptionally lightweight - I personally feel it's a little too light, and depending on your cable placement you might find the weight of the cable from your connected device moving the Neo Pro from it's position.
At the front of the device you'll find only the LED indicator, whereas heading to the back you'll find a HDMI-In to connect your device, USB-C for power, and a HDMI-out to use the pass-through function.
In the box you'll find a card with a link to download the Ezcap Link software, as well as a serial number to register your product, along with a USB-A to USB-C cable in order to connect the Neo Pro to your PC/Laptop/Mac and a USB receptacle to USB-C adapter.
The Ezcap Link is quite a feature packed program, giving you settings for both the capture device and audio, as well as the ability to stream directly from the program or record. Delving a little deeper lets you tinker with the bitrate, video format and codec as well as setting up hotkeys.
Quality from the Neo Pro is excellent, and it offers a wide variety of features, including HDR and both a pass-through and max recording resolution of 3840 x 2160 - 60fps, which is a huge leap over Elgato's Neo, which caps out at 1080p 60fps for recording. Obviously, to take full advantage of the 4K HDR passthrough/recording you'll need to have at least a 2.1 HDMI cable at hand.
Something to note, however, is 3840x2160 60fps is only available via the MJPG setting - this format has very high compression resulting in a higher frame rate but at the cost of a lower quality recording. Changing the codec to NV12 3840x2160 at 30fps shows much better results, but obviously at 30fps instead of 60fps.
The low quality isn't present when viewing the MJPG codec through the Link software or pass-through, only in the recording, so make sure you do tests before commiting to a full recording session.
If you're planning on using the Neo Pro with OBS, it's as simple as selecting the Neo Pro on your sources list under video capture card - however, the Link software needs to be running in the background, otherwise you'll be greeted with a "server program" error message, launching the program solves this instantly.
Click to see full specs and features for the GameLink Neo Pro
4Kp60, 1080p120 and 1440p60 HDMI input and pass-through.
4Kp60, 1080p120, and 1440p60 recording.
Supports HDR and VRR input and pass-through.
RGB real color video format up to 1080p60.
Latency less than 50ms.
UVC, plug and play.
Supports most of third party video capture softwares.
USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C super fast speed.
Interface: USB 3.2 (Gen 1) Type-C
Video Input / Output (Pass-Through): HDMI® 2.0, 2160p60fps specification enabled
Audio Input: HDMI
Audio Output (Pass-Through): HDMI
Max. HDR Pass-Through Resolution: 2160p60 HDR, 1440p60, 1080p120
Max. VRR Pass-Through Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - VRR(48 - 60 Hz), 1920 x 1080 - VRR(48 - 120 Hz)
Max Record Resolution:
3840 x 2160 - 60fps/MJPG, 30fps/NV12/I420.
2560 x 1440 - 60fps/NV12/I420/YUY2.
2560 x 1080 - 60fps/NV12/I420/YUY2/MJPG.
1920 x 1080 - 120fps/NV12/I420, 60fps/YUY2/RGB24.
1280 x 720 - 60fps/NV12/I420/YUY2/RGB24/MJPG.
LED status indicator: RED-power on, GREEN-device running.
Connecting a device to the Neo Pro is as easy as connecting your HDMI device via the HDMI-In port, then inside the Link application, you'll see your connected device appear; it's as easy as that. For the review, I tested a Playstation 5 with Spider-Man 2 and a Sony A5100 camera, and used a mixture of different codec options for the Playstation 5 capture, and 'default' for the Sony A5100, given that it's a 1080p camera.
For recording Spider-Man 2 on the Playstation 5, I tested the below codecs and resolutions:
YUY2 | 1920x1080 | 60fps
YUY2 | 2160x1440 | 60fps
NV12 | 1920x1080 | 120fps
NV12 | 2160x1440 | 60fps
NV12 | 3840x2160 | 30fps
MJPG | 3840x2160 | 60fps
The MJPG was byleast impressive of the testing, the heavy compression is really noticeable, with the recorded video showing a lot of artifacting and because of this I wouldn't suggest using the MJPG codec option.
To get 4K, the NV12 3840x2160 30fps is a much better option - I just wish there was a YUY2 option for 3840x2160, as YUY2 has a slightly better colour performance using 4:2:2 colour, compared to NV12's 4:2:0.
Still, NV12 3840x2160 30fps or YUY2 2160x1440 60fps are fantastic options for recording your footage at 4K or 1440p respectively.
All captured footage is shown in the video review, but below are a few screenshots, with the codec and resolution information for each.
Now, we have to discuss the obvious similarities with the Gamelink Neo Pro and the Elgato Neo - aesthetically they look very similar with the only difference being the logos. The Elgato Neo is also 20g heavier, but the main difference is in the capture performance, namely that the Elgato caps out at 1080p 60fps, whereas the Ezcap Neo Pro goes all the way to 4K 60fps.
Just remember, however, that whilst the Gamelink Neo Pro can achieve 4K 60FPS, it's only via the MJPEG codec at the cost of high compression - so I would recommend using either the NV12 3840x2160 at 30FPS or YUY2 2560 x 1440 at 60FPS - both of which are still higher than the Elgato Neo - just don't get sucked into the 4K 60fps talk.
Price wise, Elgato's Neo will run you £119.99, whilst Ezcap's Neo Pro is currently £56.99.
The Ezcap team will also be at CES 2025, and will be at the Gaming/Metaverse/XR area - so if you're attending, visit their booth and check out what they're previewing at the show!
★ Check out the Ezcap Neo Pro at Aliexpress
OVERALL The Gamelink Neo Pro is a great capture card, it's easy to set up and use, and the picture quality is fantastic - it isn't the most original looking or premium feeling device, but it's also not something you'll be handling a lot either. The included Ezcap Link software is feature packed, however, the 3840 x 2160 - 60fps option is a bit of a let down as it uses the old MJPG codec - but the NV12 and YUY2 codecs at 3840 x 2160 - 30fps and 2560 x 1440 - 60fps respectively, both give great options for those looking to record in great quality.
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