Elgato’s Stream Deck has come full circle. Almost eight years after the company picked up the pieces of Art Lebedev’s ambitious Optimus keyboard and went in a different, cheaper direction with the idea, we’re going back to keyboards. Corsair’s Galleon 100 SD, announced at CES 2026, is a wired mechanical keyboard that effectively has a full Stream Deck Plus built into it and then some: 12 customizable buttons, a multi-purpose 5-inch 720 x 1280 IPS screen, and two rotary dials.
This isn’t the first time Elgato’s Stream Deck DNA has appeared in a Corsair product. I reviewed the Corsair Voyager gaming laptop in 2022, which had uninspiring touch-sensitive buttons that could be configured using Elgato’s software. It was underbaked, but it felt like the start of something that was long overdue, given Corsair acquired Elgato in 2018. The Galleon seems like a remarkable improvement, mostly due to the fact that it’s the full Stream Deck experience, not a distillation. It’s launching January 29th, and you can preorder one now for $349.99.
Image: Corsair
Not to dismiss the Galleon’s chops as a gaming keyboard (it has an 8,000Hz polling rate, hot-swappable PCB that comes with MLX Pulse switches, gasket mounting, and FlashTap simultaneous opposing cardinal direction support, to name a few specs), the marquee feature here is most definitely its Stream Deck integration. Elgato general manager Julian Fest tells The Verge that it uses a bigger, higher-resolution screen behind the keys than Stream Decks that are currently available, and its viewing angles are supposedly better, too.
As you might have predicted — and perhaps feared — the Galleon is technically two different devices controlled by different software. The left side is controlled by Corsair’s web hub browser tool, while the right side requires Elgato’s Stream Deck software. That won’t always be the case for tweaking some settings, Fest tells me. They’re still working on firmware that will let the Stream Deck side control the keyboard for things like LED color profiles and polling rate. It’s also working with publishers to build native Stream Deck integration into more games beyond Star Citizen and other hardcore simulators, although Corsair sees the Galleon as being the best fit for players of those genres over others.
The Stream Deck has become a tool that’s ubiquitous among streamers, and it’s increasingly a popular tool for everyday users who simply need to mute or turn off their webcams. Its programmable buttons offer a vast array of use cases thanks to a vibrant marketplace of plug-ins, from launching files or macros to simply popping bubble wrap with former Verge writer Mitchell Clark’s free Stream Deck plug-in.
Fest is a power user, unsurprisingly, swiftly using the buttons to queue some Christmas music, swapping to different webcams via OBS, adjusting the brightness of his room’s lighting, then dialing down the volume all while barely moving his fingers. The Stream Deck’s screen is showing the weather and Spotify cover art. It’s a supercharged multifunction station that’s also a keyboard. And, of course, the Stream Deck’s buttons can turn into a numpad, too.
Image: Corsair
During the demo, it became clear that this isn’t something that most companies could achieve; the Galleon is a keyboard with an overflowing level of customization, where the software has already been honed for going on eight years. It also may not have happened right now if Corsair didn’t hire Tobias Brinkmann, who founded Mountain keyboards.
One of that company’s big swings was the Everest Max, a full-size mechanical keyboard that had a detachable numpad complete with four programmable buttons with screens behind them, its own spin on Stream Deck functionality. We liked it in our 2022 review. Fest tells me that he bought one, took it apart, and had it checked for patent infringement. “At that point, I had no idea who Tobias was. Now, a few years later, he’s heading up our gaming business.”
“I’m personally grateful that it took Corsair so long, and they couldn’t get it together,” Brinkmann jokes. “It helps that Julian and I both have German backgrounds, and we kind of like each other. So that makes it easier to do it.”
“I’d still do it if you were an asshole,” Fest adds with a smirk.
