Level up your iPad productivity with the Tourbox Elite Plus

Shortcut controllers for digital painting and other creative tasks often fall short as decent replacements for a keyboard. That is until the Tourbox came along with the Elite Plus. This makes my iPad more than just digital sketchbook. Now, I can switch over from my computer and stay just as productive when I’m on the move. While it is PC-compatible as well, this review of the Tourbox Elite Plus will focus primarily on its use with iPad.

Buy the Tourbox Elite Plus for iPad here ($297)

Overall design

The Tourbox Elite Plus has a fingerprint-resistant, translucent matte plastic shell that gives you a sense of the hardware inside inside. On the top you have ten buttons plus one on the side. There is also a scroll wheel, knob, and dial which can also be pressed down. These all give good and clear feedback when pressed.

The buttons have unique shapes and location across the Tourbox that reminds me somewhat of a gaming controller. This is great for your muscle memory because, based on the feel of the buttons and pose of the hand, you know exactly what you’re pressing. It’s a noticeable difference from other controllers I’ve used that often have same-feel buttons set in a simple grid.

The overall size of the Tourbox Elite Plus is 11.5 x 10 x 4.5cm. It weighs just under 380 grams without the batteries, the same as the standard Elite model. To use it wired, there is a USB-C port around the back.

The rubber pads on the underside work well to stop the Tourbox slipping around on the wooden desk or the faux leather mat. There’s a power switch and Bluetooth button, and a chamber for the two AA batteries needed for using this wirelessly.

Buttons and dials

The buttons and dials offer more than basic presses and twists. There are multiple modes for the buttons that starts to unlock much more functionality. So, not only can you program single presses and hold buttons down to keep something active, and assign a shortcut to double presses, there are also different modes for them:

• A/B mode – one action on the down-press with another action on release;
• on-release – perform action only on the release of the button;
• loop (iPad only)- lets you cycle between up to four shortcuts or tools;
• repeat (computer only) – repeat action while holding button down;
• and assign macros (PC only) – a series of shortcuts performed on a single button press.

The dials can be set to keyboard shortcuts, some system actions, or simulate gestures such as rotate and zoom.

There’s really a lot on offer here that other digital art controllers simply can’t do. That means that you can really set this up to suit your unique preferences.

Button combinations… the true power of Tourbox

The real power of Tourbox for me lies in the ability to assign unique shortcuts to different button combinations. This obviously adds a significant number of possible shortcuts, but it makes grouping certain things together easier as well.

For example, my D pad is typically for changing between different drawing tools. But, when paired with the side button, those change to different layer actions. I could add another layer to them by pairing a different button for another set of actions, perhaps my selections.

Buy the Tourbox Elite Plus for iPad here ($297)

Customizing your Tourbox on iPad

The Console app is the brain behind the Tourbox where you can customize all the functions of the dials and buttons. The design of it is clean and easy to use. In the same way as on computer, you simply press the button after connecting to jump to in Console to assign a new shortcut.

There’s a fairly limited range of presets available on the app itself for popular options like Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, Artstudio Pro, etc. If the app that you use isn’t listed with a preset but it does have keyboard shortcuts, then you can create your own preset. In my case, drawing in Magma on Safari, I had to create my own.

All of the buttons, dials, and most of the main combination options are listed. But if you have a combination that doesn’t appear on the list when you press it, you can scroll to the bottom to add it.

The process of customizing was just as easy as what I had experienced on computer. The sharable presets though on iPad are a different file format so you can’t just export your PC preset over. You can find more presets submitted by other users on the Tourbox website.

Painting with the Tourbox Elite Plus on iPad

Using the Tourbox Elite Plus to paint in Magma on the iPad feels exactly the same as what I am used to on computer. I set all my shortcuts in the same way which means I can easily switch over devices when I need to head out for a change of scenery and need a more compact setup.

Tourbox Elite Plus vs Lite

The Tourbox Lite is an ‘entry-level’ Tourbox with a more simple set of buttons and dials, and a more playful design. It can only be used with computer, but I think it might be interesting if the Tourbox team consider an iPad-compatible version of this for those don’t need quite the high level of functionality of the Elite Plus, but want something a bit more than what controllers like the 8Bitdo Micro offer.

Tourbox Elite Plus versus other controllers

I’ve tested out a few different controllers for iPad including those from XPPEN and Huion. The main thing that sets the Tourbox apart (aside from the price) is the ability to program combinations and use various input modes. No other controllers, as far as I know, give this level of functionality. But not everyone needs that.

For most people, I recommend the 8Bitdo Micro for iPad because of it’s price and how much it offers for that (16 buttons). Huion’s Keydial Mini K20 and XPPEN’s ACK05 cost slightly more than that but they have a dial which is nice to use for things like changing your brush size. The buttons cannot be paired to create unique shortcuts though.

Android compatibility

The Tourbox Elite Plus is not officially compatible with Android and there is no app for customizing it on the Google Play store. BUT, it can work in specific cases.

After customizing the buttons on iPad, the settings get synced to the device itself. This means that if the buttons and dials are set to keyboard keys, any device that will recognize the Tourbox as a keyboard, like Android does, then the device will work. I tested this over on Magma with my usual settings and it was fine. But, if I found something I wanted to change, I would have to pair it with the iPad again to access Console.

Who is the Tourbox Elite Plus for?

With the wide range of shortcut possibilities and input options, and considering the price, the Tourbox Elite Plus is aimed at the professional user. If your iPad is your primary creation tool for digital painting, animation, or video editing, then this will certainly level up your workflow and help you to get stuff done much faster.

I love using this, and honestly, I find it strange not to use a Tourbox now when testing other device. What I appreciate with the Elite Plus specifically is that I can now keep the same workflow that I am used to on computer over on iPad. I think this is another important thing to consider if you bounce between iPad and computer using the same applications.

Buy the Tourbox Elite Plus for iPad here ($297)

For younger or more casual iPad-users that still want an affordable remote, I would recommend the 8Bitdo Micro instead.