Review: Xenx Shortcuts Companion SC-02 for iPad

Review sample provided by Xenx Tech

Xenx Shortcuts Companion SC-02 is a shortcut remote designed iPad and MacOS (M1 & M2 processor or newer) users and visual content creators. The price is USD 79 and does not include shipping cost.

This shortcut remote has physical hotkeys that allow you to work more productively, with minimal interruptions, while drawing. The companion app Xenx Shortcuts Companion is needed to customise the hotkeys. Listed below are the supported apps.

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Lightroom
• Adobe Fresco
• Adobe Premiere Rush
• Procreate
• Medibang Paint
• ibisPaint X
• DaVinci Resolve
• Toon Squid
• Shapr3D
• Callipeg

By supported, I mean there are pre-programmed shortcuts for those apps and you can assign those shortcuts to the hotkeys.

Even if the app you use is not listed or "supported", you can still add keyboard shortcuts to the remote as long as your app supports keyboard shortcuts.

Included with the purchase is the Xenx SX-02 shortcut remote and a drawstring bag.

On the front, there's a power button, a scroll wheel are six hotkeys which includes the wheel click.

The shortcut remote is powered by one single AAA battery.

At the top, there are two QShift buttons. You can think of these are modifier keys, e.g. Ctrl, Shift, Alt, for more shortcuts.

The shortcut remote is made of plastic and feels slightly plasticky but solid enough. It's designed to fit the hand and is lightweight and comfortable to hold in hand. All hotkeys on the front can be accessed easily with the thumb.

Note that when holding the remote, you obvious can't be holding the tablet so you'll probably need to put your tablet on a stand.

One potential issue is holding down the Qshift keys and hotkeys for additional shortcuts can be challenging. This will take some time to get used to.

Together with the QShift keys, you can get a total of 24 shortcuts (from four groups of 6 shortcuts).

If the main drawing app you use is Procreate, I would recommend the Aoiktye iPad shortcut remote which has 19 shortcuts and does not require holding down multiple keys.

If you use multiple apps, then the Xenx SC-02 is better since it supports more apps.

The companion app works on iPadOS and MacOS (only on M1 and M2 processors or newer). Customising the keys is straightforward and easy.

Customising the shortcuts usually involves dragging the pre-programmed shortcuts onto the hotkeys. You can input keyboard shortcuts as well.

Groups of shortcuts can be created for specific apps. You can switch between the shortcuts by pressing the power button which will light with different colours (blue, red, green, yellow) which represents different groups of shortcuts. E.g. You can have a group of shortcuts for Procreate and another group for Clip Studio Paint.

The shortcut remote works well and does speed up the drawing workflow by minimising how often you have to use your pen-holding pen to access the UI while drawing. If you draw often on your iPad, this could potentially save you time and get work done faster. As to whether this is worth your money, you can decide.

Availability

The Xenx Shortcuts Companion SC-02 is available from the Xenx Tech online store

Here's a limited time $30 off promo code: PARKAXENX

• Active from today until 31 Aug
• For Online Store
• $30.00 off Xenx SC-02 Shortcuts Companion (2 variants)
• Applies to each eligible item per order
• No minimum purchase requirement
• All customers
• No usage limits
• Can’t combine with other discounts