A 49-key semi-weighted Fatar MIDI keyboard controller, around $749, built around deep integration with Native Instruments' Kontakt and the NKS 2 standard: a large glass colour screen, eight touch-sensitive encoders, a 4D navigation encoder, RGB pitch/mod wheels and Light Guide key lighting, with two USB-C ports, 5-pin DIN MIDI and four assignable pedal inputs. Reviewers broadly agree on its strengths: the semi-weighted Fatar keybed with polyphonic aftertouch is one of the best in the class; NKS 2 lets you browse, auto-map and tweak NI and partner instruments from the hardware, with a direct connection to Kontakt; the screen and unibody aluminium build feel premium; connectivity is strong; and the Komplete 14 Select bundle adds real value. Opinion splits on two axes. The control surface divides people — editors accept the streamlined 'less-is-more' layout, but many buyers want the faders, extra knobs, drum pads and dedicated buttons it does without (the MK2 had far more physical controls). And value is contested: a flagship that earns its price for NI/NKS users, or an expensive keyboard with no pads whose S49 sits awkwardly close in price to the larger S61. The remaining caveats are consistent rather than contested: third-party/non-NKS plugin control is weaker than the seamless NI experience; Maschine integration was removed; the launch was buggy before firmware largely fixed it; and while build is premium, a few owners report the soft-touch coating wearing and long-term key noise.
About this product
The 49-key model (Kontrol S49 Mk3) — NI dropped 'Komplete' from the MK3 hardware name, so it's marketed simply as 'Kontrol S49', though retailers still list it as 'Komplete Kontrol S49 MK3'. It shares its semi-weighted Fatar keybed, eight-encoder control surface and glass screen with the 61-key S61 Mk3, differing mainly in key count and footprint. Not the 88-key S88 Mk3 (hammer-action keybed), and not the older Komplete Kontrol S-Series MK1/MK2.
Native Instruments' Kontrol S49 Mk3 is the 49-key model in the third generation of the company's flagship 'smart keyboard' controllers, launched in September 2023. It pairs a 49-note semi-weighted Fatar keybed — now with polyphonic aftertouch — with a large 1280×480 glass colour screen, eight touch-sensitive encoders, a 4D push encoder, RGB pitch and mod wheels and NI's Light Guide key lighting. The pitch is a controller that puts Kontakt and the whole Komplete/NKS world under your fingers, so you can browse, play and tweak instruments without reaching for the mouse.
The MK3 is widely admired for its keybed and its deep NKS 2 software integration, but it is also one of NI's more debated releases. It shed physical controls versus the MK2 — there are no faders and no drum pads, only eight knobs, and several dedicated buttons are gone — and it dropped Maschine hardware integration. Its launch was rough, with driver and DAW glitches and even a pre-release hardware recall, though a run of firmware updates through 2024 and 2025 resolved much of it. At around $749 for the S49, the arguments tend to gather around its control set, its price, and how much of its value depends on living inside the Native Instruments ecosystem.
