Review: Tourbox Elite Plus shortcut remote

Review unit provided by Tourbox Tech

The TourBox Elite Plus is a shortcut remote released in early 2025. Price is USD 297.

Tourbox Elite Plus is the fourth shortcut remote from Tourbox Tech, and this has the most features. The main upgrade from the previous model TourBox Elite is the additional support for iPadOS.

You can read the full list of differences among the TourBox models on their website, and see this checklist to help decide which model to get. The main differences between the models are connection mode (wired or wireless), OS and whether there's haptic feedback.

Things included

• Shortcut remote
• Removeable AA batteries
• User manual and safety card

No charger and no charging cable are included.

On their website, you can purchase the charging cable for USD 2 and a storage case for USD 3. The pricing is very reasonable so you should order them together if you want them.

Specs

• OS support: macOS 10.13, Windows 10 or newer, iPadOS
• Connection: Bluetooth connection, 3V DC, 50mA , Cable connection, 5V DC, 100mA
• Controls: 11 buttons, 3 wheels/knobs with clicks
• Body: Translucent, matte plastic
• Size: 116 × 101 × 44mm
• Weight: 376g without batteries; batteries weigh 48g

Design

The TourBox Elite Plus is shortcut remote with a rather unique design and you can tell at a glance that this was designed with productivity in mind, more specifically for digital painting, graphic design, music production, video and photo editing. This device looks and feels well made, and the build quality is solid.

There are 11 buttons with audible clicks, three knobs or wheels with clicks. These controls can be used in combination too. E.g. You can use a wheel to adjust brush size, and hold down the button and use the same wheel to adjust brush opacity.

The placement of the controls are well thought out. The controls are always at where your fingers would go to. You can always have a finger on a button, another finger on the wheel. Getting used to the controls is easy.

Main downside is the design is for use with the left hand for right handers.

Even though the shortcut remote looks compact, the weight of 424g with two AA batteries included makes it much heavier than other shortcut remotes I've tested. This shortcut remote is meant to sit on the table and it will not move due to its weight and the four rubber feet with good grip.

Underneath the device is where you can find the cover for the two AA batteries, the Bluetooth pairing toggle, and the Bluetooth device switch button.

To pair with Bluetooth, just press and hold the Bluetooth pairing button. To pair with a second device, quick press the button to get into the second mode, and press and hold to pair again. After pairing, you can switch between two devices easily with the press of the button.

This shortcut remote can work with Windows, macOS and iPadOS. You can maintain the same workflow when switching between different OS.

Software

That's the TourBox Console (Mac driver) version 5.8.4.

The driver is preloaded with preset shortcuts for the following apps:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Lightroom Classic Advanced
• Adobe Premiere Editing
• Adobe Premiere Color Grading
• Capture One
• Clip Studio Paint
• Final Cut Pro
• DaVinci Resolve
• Capcut
• Toon Boom Harmony

Use an app that's not listed? Just create a new preset with your customised shortcuts.

Creating shortcuts is fast and easy. Just press a button, use the wheel or knob, and the driver will automatically highlight the control that was activated, and just set the shortcut.

Shortcuts can be customised into single click, double click or combo keys. You can also set shortcuts to activate on Up state, or repeatedly.

Certain shortcuts will have haptic feedback, e,g, wheels and knobs. This lets you know you've the shortcut activated. Strength of the haptic feedback can be adjusted.

Shortcuts are stored onboard on the device. You can use the shortcut remote with other devices using existing shortcuts.

Speed for the wheel/knob can be adjusted. E.g. When scrolling timeline in Final Cut Pro, you turn the knob fast to pan fast, and slow to pan slow.

Macros can be programmed.

On the iPad

On the iPad, presets are created for Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, Final Cut Pro, LumaFusion, ArtStudio Pro.

Customising shortcuts with the software is easy. You activate the physical controls, and the software will show you which controls were activated, then you create your shortcut.

iPad quirks

The iPad recognises the TourBox Elite Plus as a physical keyboard, so the onscreen keyboard will not show when you tap into a text box. To show the onscreen keyboard, go to Accessiblity -> Touch -> Assistive Touch -> Show Onscreen Keyboard.

With Procreate, you have to relocate the anchor point (cursor) so that the canvas can zoom and rotate from the anchor point. So to that, go to Accessiblity -> Touch -> Enable Assistive Touch -> Enable Virtual Trackpad. The the same page, set a custom action (one of three) to show/hide the Virtual Trackpad.

Not that the Assistive Touch button on the display may sometimes interfere with finger gestures or keyboard.

User experience

According to the company, this shortcut remote is designed for digital painting, photo editing, video editing, graphic design and music production.

I've tested this with Procreate for drawing and Final Cut Pro for video editing.

The placement of the buttons, wheels and knob makes this a tool that's intuitive to use. After using it for a few days, and forming new muscle memory, my workflow was smooth and without issues.

My main drawing app is actually Concepts app and there's no way to set shortcuts to select the tools on the tool wheel which are programmed to keys 1 to 8. So Concepts app actually works better with the Huion K20 KeyDial Mini.

I have no idea how long the two AA batteries can last but you can always have spare batteries or use rechargeable batteries. The shortcut remote can still be used with cable in case you do not have powered batteries.

Battery life

The unit uses two 1.5V AA batteries. According to the company, battery life should last 1 to 2 months depending on usage. The unit should go into standby mode when not in use.

I'm not sure how effective the auto-sleep is though because I can feel the haptic instantly each time I use the controls after a long period of inactivity, and my computer or iPad display would just power on because of the controls.

Conclusion

The TourBox Elite Plus is an extremely versatile shortcut remote that opens up many possibilities of workflow. The layout of the buttons and controls is intuitive and easy to learn. Once you're set up the shortcuts, you can expect to work more productively.

This shortcut remote works great with tablets, e.g. Windows tablets and iPads, because tablets don't have physical shortcut buttons. When used with a tablet, it's extremely convenient especially for digital painting because you can have one hand always for drawing, and the other hand always on the controls.

If you're using the shortcut remote with a Mac or Windows computer, this will complement rather than replace your keyboard. A shortcut remote can only be configured with a limited number of shortcuts while you can access all keyboard shortcuts with a keyboard.

This shortcut remote is great for those who use certain set of shortcuts regularly and hence may not need a full keyboard. But since the shortcut remote is small, you can also set it by the side of a full keyboard.

The TourBox Elite Plus is a productivity tool that's well made and works well. I can recommend this quite easily.

Pros and cons at a glance:
+ Unique functional design
+ Designed to be used without having to look at the device
+ Heavy, will not move on the table
+ Bluetooth or wired connection supported
+ Body surface resists fingerprints
+ Bluetooth can be paired to two devices
+ Software is easy to use and has a lot of customisability
+ Comes with preset shortcuts for popular apps
+ Multiple button (or knob) shortcut combination supported
+ Scroll action useful for adjusting numbers quickly
- Software takes time to learn
- No Android tablet software

Availability

The TourBox Elite Plus can be purchased from the company online store and Amazon US.