YoloLiv has created a nice little lineup of all-in-one video switcher/encoder/streamer/recorder/monitor devices, starting with the original YoloBox, the YoloBox Mini and more recently, the YoloBox Pro. Now, they’ve taken that principle and applied it to the rapidly growing world of Instagram and TikTok live streaming with the new YoloLiv Instream. The 7″ box lets you mix multiple HDMI and USB camera devices and features many of the usual features you’ve come to know from the exiting YoloBox products, such as overlays and multiviews to let you directly stream vertically to social media. And it’ll let you do it without a computer or even your smartphone.
YoloLiv says that over 75% of online video is consumed vertically these days and that 16:9 is “being replaced” by 9:16. And when it comes to social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and to a lesser extent, YouTube, that certainly seems to be the case. There’s definitely still plenty of demand out there for the more traditional landscape format, but it’s clear by now that vertical video is here to stay. And that’s where the Instream fits in. It allows you to plug up to two HDMI (up to 1080p at 60fps) and one USB inputs and mix between them during your streams. It supports both WiFi and Ethernet wired networking connections for when you have them available but also features a 4G LTE sim slot for when you don’t, letting you stream from just about anywhere you can get a signal. It doesn’t need a phone or a computer to let you do it, either.
There’s an SD card slot to let you record a local copy of your live stream, as well as both line in and mic in sockets and an audio out for monitoring. Next to the SD slot is your sim card tray and there are multiple 1/4-20″ sockets for mounting. It’s powered by an internal battery that provides continuous use for up to three hours and you can keep it topped up via USB-PD on the Type-C socket. It’s powered by Android OS running on an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. YoloLiv says it’s even more powerful than the rest of the products in the existing YoloBox lineup. Control is done through the 7″ touchscreen display with 600 nits of brightness – so you may need a shade if you’re outdoors – where you can switch sources, add overlays, transitions, split screen views, picture-in-picture, chroma key and more.
At the moment, it supports and can stream natively without a computer or smartphone to both Instagram and TikTok. Future platform support includes Facebook, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp and WeChat, although the company hasn’t yet specified when those other platforms will be coming. It’s a neat product, but I can see it upsetting a lot of YoloBox, YoloBox Mini and YoloBox Pro owners who expected vertical streaming support to come for those units in a firmware update. Whether or not that will happen at some point remains to be seen but for right now, if you want to stream vertically, Instream is the way to go. The YoloLiv Instream is available to pre-order now for $1,298 and is expected to start shipping in the next few weeks.
