Their one-stop-shop solution delivers world-class mechanical keyboard replacements, DIY parts, HDMI expansion equipment, USB expansion equipment, Type-C chargers, and other all-in-one mechanical keyboard integrators.

The keyboard enthusiasts folks at 3inuS were tired of keyboards sharing similar features and functions, with little innovation. Thus, they put their heads together along with WhatGeek to make a USB hub and keyboard become one, to create the perfect keyboard for a more efficient and convenient working and gaming experience.

Speaking of combining efficiency and convenience, 3inus has sent me their latest creation for pre-release testing and evaluation, the KEBOHUB EE01 keyboard USB C hub with hot-swappable (Red dragon red mechanical switches).

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Packaging and unboxing the KEBOHUB EE01

What arrived in the post was a rather unassuming plain white box. Being a pre-release thing, I just guessed I was getting a nonretail package. Opening that up revealed a tidy transparent plastic box with the branding and the keyboard visible inside another wrapping that looked a lot more like a retail package.

Information is very limited on the box, with the company branding, along with the name and a photo of the keyboard on the box front.

On the rear of the box, we have the sticker with the keyboard’s basic spec such as dimensions and weight, along with the barcode and serial numbers.

Popping open the plastic box, we have a cardboard insert containing the keyboard and accessories which includes a keycap and switch puller, alternative keycaps for Apple Mac layout, a full set of grey keycaps to switch from the white ones fitted by default, and 4 spare red switches. This keyboard is compatible with 3 and 5-pin switches.

Time to get it out and set up!

Design and first impression

My first impression of this keyboard is that it certainly is a chunky one, it feels very robust and does have some weight to it (920 grams) The material used to make the frame feels very tough indeed. I feel I could launch it across a room and it would just bounce right back and laugh in my face!

Being light grey almost white and fully matte, this looks very clean and simple. The combination of the white and grey keycaps breaks up the solid colour.

We have the 3inus branding above the arrow keys, the keyboard name on the front left, and the WhatGeek branding on the rear.

I have been sent the US layout model, but other regional layouts will be available. The layout is pretty standard. The default keycaps have the main letters, numbers, and punctuation keys all in white, with everything else in grey. Function keys are nicely grouped in 4s along the top which don’t get in the way of other keys. These also double up as media control keys. On the right of the keyboard, ins/home/del/end/pgup/pgdn all in grey, and also double up as the RGB led control keys when used with the FN key.

Moving around to the rear of the keyboard is where it gets interesting. We have the expected USB cable, which is a dual-type C rather than a standard single type A and is 165cm in length. Next to this, we have an HDMI 2.0 port, 3 x USB 3.0 type A, and 1 x USB 3.1 type C.

On the base of the keyboard, there are extendable rubber feet which raise the height of the keyboard by another 1.2cm

KEBOHUB lighting

Turning on the PC brings this keyboard to life with a bright colourful rainbow effect. Different lighting effects can be used by simply holding the FN key and hitting the ins/home/del/pgup/pgdn keys. Each of these keys will cycle through 3 different lighting modes for a total of 18 different pre-set effects. Sadly, there isn’t any software available to control this. Something along the lines of iCue (Corsair’s RGB software) would be ideal. No extra drivers are required for this keyboard to work, it is fully plug-and-play. Both grey and white keys are very clearly marked allowing the LEDs to shine through brightly.

                `The keyboard shortcuts for lighting.

FN+up arrow/down arrow = increase/decrease brightness in 5 steps

FN+left arrow = change led flow direction

FN+right arrow = change colour (8 different colours)

FN+ -/+ = adjust led flow speed

Customising a backlight. Press FN+~ twice, the ~ key lights on as colour pallet and breathe slowly, the caps lock and scroll lock indicators blink together. Press FN+right arrow which shows on the ~ key. Press another key to light it up. Repeat the previous 2 steps to light up more keys. Press the FN+~ one last time to save the settings.

RGB pre-sets shown in the video below

General usage and typing

Typing on the kebohub is very comfortable and little effort is needed with the red switches providing almost no resistance. These Red dragon red switches are very quiet so shouldn’t get picked up by your mic while gaming. There is also a model with Blue switches which will give a bit more resistance and make that satisfying clicky noise. For something in the middle, a brown switch model will also be available. 

The rubber feet on the base do grip the desk very well so it will stay still while in use.

The kebohub is ergonomically designed to let you type in comfort. All keycaps are designed to better fit the curvature of the human finger to reduce hand fatigue after prolonged use.

Rear USB hub

Now to the hub. This seems like such a simple thing and most people will be forgiven for thinking that it is a bit pointless. But, I personally really like this addition. Where I am constantly using multiple USB memory sticks, external drives, mobile phones etc, my life has been made so much easier with the ports on the back of the keyboard, even plugged in my USB headset! With this using a dual type C cable to connect to the PC, it can provide up to 1.5A current to each of the type C and the type A ports on the rear of the keyboard for device charging. All ports provide simultaneous data transfer. If the keyboard is connected to a type C on the PC which supports video output, the HDMI 2.0 port can also be used for an extra screen max 4K 60hz with support for HDR, HDCP1.4/2.3.

While typing out this review on the kebohub, I have my phone plugged into it for charging and data transfer, my USB headset, and another USB stick which is also transferring data. All with no speed dips or conflicts.

Conclusion

I was sceptical at first, thinking that the hub part wouldn’t get used and was totally pointless. But it really does make life easier. The keyboard itself is very well-built and feels solid. Typing is very comfortable. The LEDs are bright and vibrant (they can also be turned off if you’re not a fan of RGB) The early bird price of $84.99 seems about right for a keyboard of this quality. It won’t disappoint. After the early bird event, the price will be around $109.99 which is still reasonable compared to some others. I can see this keyboard becoming one of my personal favorites very quickly!

A Kickstarter campaign is due to begin on 4th April. For more information, visit here.

3inus KEBOHUB EE01 mechanical keyboard and USB hub

Simple addition making life easier

Pros

• Solid and very well built
• Very useful USB hub
• Comfortable typing
• Hot swappable switches
• Vibrant RGB lighting

Cons

• Rather heavy for a TKL keyboard
• Lack of RGB software

Keycaps: ABS | Form Factor: TKL | Backlight: 18 pre-sets with customisation  | Cable: Dual USB Type-C, 1.65m | Switch type: Red dragon hot swappable | Dimensions: 353mm x 124mm x 44mm | Weight: - 920 grams | RGB lighting: - 18 preset effects with customisation

VERDICT:A solid keyboard that will withstand heavy usage. Tidy looking with bright, vibrant LEDs. The USB hub is massively useful and is more convenient than you would think. All thats missing is the RGB software. Overall, a great keyboard which is well worth the price.

Check Price

Price at time of review $84.99 USD early bird event. rising to $109.99

The post 3INUS KEBOHUB EE01 Mechanical keyboard and USB hub review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Compact Keyboard
Manufacture	HyperX
Available at	View at Amazon

These keyboards have only 60% of the keys that a regular 104 key full-size keyboard would have. This cuts down on the extra space and creates a compact typing experience. Enthusiasts have been building their own boards for a while now, but that’s usually quite expensive. If you want to get a feel for what these keyboards are like, going with a pre-built may be a good idea for beginners.

HyperX is a bit late to the party, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s still not a lot of competition when it comes to pre-built 60% keyboards that have a larger production. Especially at this price point. Fortunately, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 ticks a lot of boxes and will likely please many buyers and carries on the legacy of the standard HyperX Alloy Origins keyboard. Let’s get on with our comprehensive HyperX Alloy Origins 60% Review.

The Unboxing Experience

HyperX has always been about providing a premium yet comfortable experience to its customers. This ideology shines through with their packaging as well. The Alloy Origins 60 arrives in a box that has a nice red and white color theme going on.

The front of this box shows all of the logos, a few standout features, and the type of switch this board uses. Moving on, the back of the box has a few pictures of the board from different angles, and some of the talking points printing in different languages.

You can crack open the box from the bottom, after slicing away at a seal. Pull up the sleeve from the top, and you’ll be greeted by the keyboard inside. The box contains some greeting cards and a quick start guide. Apart from the keyboard itself, we also get a soft and braided USB Type-C cable, along with a branded keycap puller. HyperX also includes an ESC keycap with its logo on it. They also added a shine-through spacebar, which has quite a nice look to it. Both of these extra keycaps are ABS, not double-shot PBT. These features are quite similar to other HyperX keyboards, as evident in our HyperX Alloy Core RGB Keyboard review.

Design: Sophisticated and Robust

HyperX collaborated with Ducky in the past to create a limited edition of the Ducky One 2 mini. We assumed that this keyboard was going to be a bit similar to that. However, that is not the case with this great board. The design is quite appealing for various reasons. Before we get into that, let’s talk about the feel a bit first.

All around, the keyboard has a tough and hefty feel to it. That’s likely due to the aluminum construction for the case. This case provides a nice balance and adds a premium quality to the look and feel. It also adds to the weight, as it comes in at 738g. We mention this because some people will want to travel and take this board with them. This keyboard is actually quite a good example that industrial design does not always have to be generic or boring.

The keyboard has what many enthusiasts may call a floating switch design. This effect occurs because of the thin bezels, and the fact that keys site a bit higher on top of the case. It’s an effect we’ve seen before, and it works quite well here. The top of the board’s case has a lip running around the entire outer edge. This is likely to add some uniformity to the aesthetics.

Now, let’s take a look at the bottom of the keyboard. At the back, we have quite a big HyperX logo embossed into the aluminum frame. We can also see four rubbers bars at each corner. These add some grip to the keyboard when it sits on your desk. The board also has adjustable feet, and they feature two different angles. The USB-C port is mounted on the left of the keyboard.

The USB port is recessed, but it will work with most custom keyboard cables if you are into that sort of thing. If not, the cable included in the box is soft, and it feels great because it is braided. It should serve us well for the long term. We also appreciate the inclusion of an extra ESC key and the fancy shine-through spacebar. The space bar really tends to impress when paired with the bright RGB lighting. Overall, the Alloy Origins 60 gets an A+ in terms of design.

The Layout and RGB Experience

There is a reason why full-size keyboards are still the norm. It’s not because of the num-pad or because of the function keys row. It is because of the arrow keys. A lot of people, especially writers like myself, use the arrow keys every day. It is hard to get used to a different layout because of this. Of course, you can find your way around this issue by key binding, but it still takes some getting used to.

HyperX does this in both a clever and obvious way. The Fn key can be found at the bottom right of the keyboard. While holding this key, press the CTRL, Menu, Alt, and Question Mark key. You’ll see that they function just as regular arrow keys. The legends printed on the side of these keycaps also indicate which key is bound to which direction. Other keys such as the function row and navigation keys also work with the same idea. The legends will indicate what the factory key bindings are.

Now, let’s about the lighting. RGB is a common appearance in many 60% keyboards, and this one is no different. HyperX has done a phenomenal job here with the lighting. It is very smooth and consistent. The switches have raised dip-style LEDs that provide a nice soft glow to the characters. Every key is lit brightly. Furthermore, the black metal plate adds a soft and reserved glow on the bed of the keys. This is what makes the lighting stand out on this keyboard. Credit where credit is due, the RGB experience is one of the best we have seen yet.

What Is It Like To Type On? – Performance

So far, we’ve talked about the design, the aesthetics, and the RGB lighting on this keyboard. However, none of that matters if the typing experience isn’t good. While a lot of keyboards are similar these days, it’s easy for a good typing experience to stand out from the crowd. So, where does the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 land in this situation?

Well, we’re glad to say that the switches themselves are quite good. HyperX is using their own brand of Red linear switches here, and they work quite well. They are smooth and fast to actuate and are one of the better linear switches we’ve seen so far. HyperX is known to be one of the few brands to have actually decent switches that are produced in a large number. For people who like linear switches, these are great for gaming and typing. If you are interested in more TKL Compact keyboards, check out our Velocifire TKL71WS Wireless Keyboard Review.

We could leave it there, but for our enthusiasts, let us dive a bit deeper. While the switches themselves are great, the stabilizers could use some work here. Well-lubed and sturdy stabilizers can make a world of a difference, especially if you know what to look out for. The stabilizers here are similar to the basic cherry-style stabilizers, and they sound and feel like it too.

We doubt there is any factory lube on these stabilizers, and if it is, then it must be very thin or minimal. Fortunately, the switches themselves are great, but if rattling of stabilizers bothers you, this is something to look out for. The case also produces a bit of ping, which is something you’ll need to put up with along with the stabilizer rattle. The feel of the stabilizers is still decent, they don’t feel too scratchy, it’s just that the sound may some people.

To be perfectly clear, this is one of those things that you won’t notice coming from a pre-built keyboard from a big brand. However, if you’re interested in improving your typing experience, or already have some experience with good switches and stabilizers, you might not be too pleased here.

For the masses who don’t care, the performance here is quite decent. Red linear switches are great for gaming, so if you have some experience with that, you’ll feel right at home.

Ngenuity Software

The HyperX Ngenuity software is quite intuitive and might be the best piece of software when it comes to peripherals. A lot of manufacturers just don’t get it right, and that leads to bugs, crashes, and other issues. We’ve had our fair share of those problems with a lot of the big brands out there. Due to this, we’re happy to report that Ngenuity is definitely better than the norm.

You get detailed lighting control and remapping options with this software. The only problem is that you’ll need to download this app via the Microsoft Store, which we know many resent using. However, for the ease of use this app offers, it’s worth the slight hassle. By default, the keyboard has three profiles that you can switch to or save to. You can close the app whenever you like, and the effects will stay saved. All of your key bindings and lighting effects will work even with the software turned on. This is what every peripheral software should be like, easy to use and out of your way when you don’t need it.

Rebinding or remapping keys is quite easy, and Ngenuity lays out the options in a clear and concise manner. Per-Key RGB lighting is also available, and this one actually works intuitively unlike many of the competitors out there.

Final Thoughts

Our in-depth HyperX Alloy Origins 60% Review concludes that, overall, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is one of the better pre-built compact gaming keyboards out there. The robust and sturdy build quality is something a lot of people will definitely appreciate. Despite what many people think, there is still a market for these boards at this price. While some are moving towards custom keyboards, not everyone is willing to put up with the hassle.

So, this keyboard is for the folks who already like HyperX as a brand, trust the build quality, and want a decent pre-built experience that they don’t want to mess around with too much. Considering this board offers all of that and at an affordable price, we reckon a lot of people are going to enjoy using it.

HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Compact Keyboard

Compact Keyboard, Done Right

Pros

• Extremely reliable and well built
• Alluring design language
• Top-notch RGB lighting
• Phenomenal software to pair it with

Cons

• No switch options
• Stabilizer have a bit of rattle

Keycaps: Double-shot PBT | Form Factor: 60-percent | Backlight: Per-key RGB  | Cable: USB Type-C, 1.8m | Switch type: HyperX Red Linear

VERDICT:The HyperX Alloy Origins is a no-nonsense all business compact gaming keyboard. Thanks to the sleek design and graceful RGB lighting, it will find a place anywhere from a gaming setup to an office workspace.

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The post HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Percent Review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
Hyper X Alloy Elite 2
Manufacture	Hyper X
Available at	View at Amazon CA

Gamers are attracted to flashy and bright products like bees are to honey. This is where a company like HyperX comes in. HyperX has been making some of the most noticeable gaming products. Most of their products are gaming targeted as well. The Hyper X Elite Alloy 2 is another such product. This is a product the company released with their own mechanical switches as to the usual CherryMX ones and they hoped to achieve similar success as the previous HyperX keyboard.

HyperX Elite Alloy 2 is one of Hyper X’s recent products. This was released after the Hyper X Elite Alloy, but it is a very similar model. Hence, it carries the same name. While it is nearly similar to its predecessor, there are certain features that are improved in the newer keyboard. Features they worked on were the RGB lighting, the keycaps, and the further improvement to their software. These new additions among others make The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 a really good pick at this time. Especially since its price is much lower than the previous version of the same keyboard. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of this keyboard and see if it’s worth it or not!

Unboxing

The Hyper X Elite Alloy 2 is packaged in a white box that has a red stripe going across it on its bottom on the front and backside of the box. The rest of the box is full red in color. The front of the box proudly displays the Elite Alloy 2 in all of its RGB glory. While the back of the box gives a few pictures of the keyboard through various angles. There is a plethora of specifications and information regarding the Elite on the back of the box.

Upon opening the box, the extra WASD keycaps set and a wrist rest were missing, For a long time Hyper X has been bundling up these extra set of goodies with their keyboards and this was quite unexpected because the Elite 2 is their top of the line keyboard. But that was not the case in this time. Anyways, the keyboard rests safely in the middle of a protective cardboard border.

The contents of the box are:

• The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 Mechanical Keyboard
• A user manual
• A warranty card

Design and First Look

First things first, you will definitely be impressed by the look and feel of this keyboard when you first see it. The keyboard looks like a very luxurious item; it gives off a very outstanding and pleasing aura. The main selling point and the strongest suit of this keyboard are its design and look. This is one of the most aesthetically pleasing products on the market right now.

The keyboard is built around high-quality plastic, which issued for its base on the bottom side of the keyboard. The top plate or top side of the keyboard is built with a very solid and high-quality steel frame. We call it a steel frame because it literally is a steel frame that is resting on the top side of the structure of the keyboard. On the top of the keyboard, there goes a slim panel that contains the multimedia buttons on the right corner and the brightness, color modes, and game mode buttons on the left top corner. The top panel and the main panel are separated by a thin RGB line. This is a trademark of HyperX and no other company till now has integrated this cool RGB line in its keyboard models.

The product uses ABC pudding keycaps or keys instead of the normal keycaps. The keycaps are different in the fact that they are what is called Doubleshot keycaps; meaning a set of two different colors makes up the keycap. The keys are black colored on the top and are of a sort of transparent material on the bottom. This combination allows for much better RGB lighting and the ABS Doubleshot keys allow for fantastic durability. The keyboard has a USB 2.0 slot on the far side besides its connectivity wire. The USB 2.0 slot can be used to connect peripherals or even use it for mobile charging, it is known as a USB pass-through feature. The product has two input USB wires which have to be connected to the PC, one for the keyboards data and the other for the USB 2.0 slot.

The RGB line adds immense aesthetic and lighting value as its effects and colors can be made different or the same as the ones used elsewhere on the keyboard. The RGB lighting behind the keys of the keyboard is also very vibrant; the added ability of the Doubleshot pudding keycaps to further amplify the lighting power is exceptional. The RGB and its various lighting modes and effects can be controlled via software. The software is called Ngenuity and it takes on the task of controlling the keyboard and its various other lighting features. The RGB lighting of this keyboard is extremely well spread out, making it one of the most vibrant and vivid RGB keyboards.

What we liked about the design of the keyboard was the exceptional build materials used and the excellent top quality RGB lighting power the keyboard possesses. For sheer RGB and its quality, this may be one of the top choices in the market. We also liked the fact that this keyboard is relatively thin and is not bulky in any way. What we did not like about the design of this product is that it has no armrest, its steel frame material makes it very prone to marks and dashes left by fingers and those extra keycaps would have been nice.

Features & Software

Hyper X has gone with their Hyper X Red switches instead of the widely used Cherry MX switches. The Hyper X Red switches are the alternative to Cherry MX Red switches. They require less force to be pushed down. This results in the switches being pushed down much more easily than the Cherry MX switches. These Hyper X switches are Hyper X’s self-made counterparts to the widely popular Cherry MX switches that dominate the mechanical keyboards market.

The Hyper X Elite Alloy 2 can be customized to one’s liking via the Ngenuity software. You can choose what type of RGB lighting you want. The hoards of different color combinations along with the different modes of lighting all can be utilized via the Ngenuity software. However, RGB settings are not all they can do. The Ngenuity software gives you the ability to bind specific keys to specific tasks. You can set up gaming profiles and modes. There are a total of 3 on-board memory profiles that you can make. These are all setup through the Ngenuity software. You can also set up the 7.1 virtual sound settings through this software. Once you have made these onboard memory profiles you can switch between them just by pressing the button on the top left of your keyboard.

The Ngenuity software is smooth and has many features. Its shortcomings are in its rather complicated setup. It does not have an easy to access the menu. And on top of that, we noticed the Ngenuity crash quite a few times. It certainly became a thorn in our overall great experience with this keyboard. If you are not nitpicky about that stuff than you will not really find any problem with it.

Besides, a small firmware update can easily fix that issue. Hyper X has recently updated their software and the Elite Alloy 2 does come with the new version software. It has all the features and functions to help you customize your keyboard to your liking. But it could have been made simpler and more straightforward.  Also, there are no macro keys that you can bind for easy access to different functions that you need to use at a moment’s notice in intense gaming situations.

The Hyper X Elite Alloy 2 has an extra USB slot present on it. This is for the USB pass-through feature that this gaming keyboard supports. The USB pass-through feature can be used as just another USB slot would be on the PC. You can plug in your mouse, or any other USB connection and it will work like you have plugged it in the computer directly. Obviously, the keyboard does need to be connected to the PC before you can use the USB pass-through. This is another excellent feature, designed and enforced by the HyperX company in most of their keyboards.

Performance and HyperX Red Switches

There are some subtle differences that set the Hyper X Red switches apart from the Cherry MX Red switches. The Hyper X Red switches have to travel a slightly lesser distance than the Cherry MX Red switches downwards before the key registers. They also require slightly lesser force to press down than the Cherry MX Red switches. There is a noticeable difference in the readiness with which the Hyper X Red switches press downwards as compared to the Cherry MX Red switches.

If you are new to the Hyper X Red switch and have been using Cherry MX switches, you might need some getting used to the lesser force requirement of these switches. Although the switches have to cross a lesser distance before the click registers, it does not translate into giving the HyperX Elite any increased typing speed over the Cherry MX Red keys. The noise of the Hyper X Red is less clicky than most mechanical keyboards. The switches give a nice feel, even under extended gaming sessions. But they do not quite match the best gaming keyboards.

The Elite Alloy 2 also has the N key rollover capability. Due to this the keyboard is able to register all keys that are pressed at the same time. This N key rollover feature counteracts ghosting quite effectively. Ghosting is basically when you press a lot of keys at the same time, and some of the keys are not registered on the keyboard. The N key rollover gives the Elite Alloy 2 anti-ghosting qualities. On the top right of the keyboard, there are multimedia keys present. You can use these keys to pause a song or move on to the next or previous one. There is also a roller that serves to increase or decrease the volume. These multimedia keys are really, quite a nice addition. You do not have to tab out of your game to change the song or volume anymore. You do not even need to pause your game to use these multimedia keys. Just press the buttons on the top right and it’s done.

All things considered; this is a really good mechanical gaming keyboard. The N key rollover function works perfectly for anti-ghosting. The pass-through USB connectivity feature is smooth. It does not show any faults. While it definitely has its shortcomings, it has a reasonable price tag to make up for that. Most of the features involved in this keyboard are designed to bring the best out of your gaming sessions. The overall, features included in this keyboard are top tier, but having said all that we would have liked an armrest and the extra keycaps.

Who can use the Hyper X Alloy Elite 2?

The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 keyboard is a product built specifically for gamers. This product has no job or uses in an office or a formal environment due to its aggressive design. The keyboard has a very gamer-oriented look about it and for that reason, it should only be used for such purposes. This will probably appeal to coders, professionals as well, well at least those professionals who like to have a cool product to use in their work environment. The keyboard contains all the necessary features required by gamers, it has RGB, mechanical switches for that tactile feel and multimedia buttons.

All in all, this keyboard is probably best suited to be used by gamers who can afford it, or want a product sort of unique in some ways. This might also be a suitable option for editors, graphic designers, or coders who want an enjoyable and exciting product to use.

Conclusion

The Hyper X Elite Alloy 2 is a product aimed at the gaming market. It has a very striking and eye-catching design. The Elite Alloy 2 is overloaded with RGB. You have every sort of RGB feature you could wish for. The lights are well spread out so it does not seem like some areas are duller than others. Then there are the multimedia keys. This is a really nice addition to any keyboard. You are able to just control the music without even having to pause your game. The 3 on-board memory profiles allow you to customize for different games and even for other people if the keyboard is used by more than one person.

There certainly could have been improvements, however, such as the addition of macro keys or a wrist rest and even simpler software. The Hyper X Elite Alloy 2 did take a recent price drop as compared to its previous model. That might be the reason for some of its lacking features. That helps to make up for a lot of its shortcomings. Overall, this is a really good gaming keyboard, especially in its price range.

Hyper X Alloy Elite 2

The Revamped Elite

Pros

• Has pudding keycaps
• RGB lighting
• Dedicated media buttons
• Profile and game mode buttons
• USB passthrough
• Top plate is made of solid steel

Cons

• Does not have wrist rest
• Software could be better
• No dedicated macro keys

Dimensions: 17.5 x 7.0 x 1.5 inches | Weight: 3.4 lbs | Switches: Hyper X Red | On-Board Profiles: 3 | RGB: Yes | Type of Keycaps: ABS Keycaps | Connectivity: Wired with USB type A | Key Type: Mechanical | Cable Length: 1.8 m

VERDICT:The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 is a great keyboard that compromises on neither look and aesthetics nor on the performance. Packed with HyperX Red mechanical keys and media buttons on top, the Alloy Elite 2 gives you just about everything you could need from a high end gaming keyboard. There are a few things where HyperX could have done a better job, but there's no denying that this keyboard is surely going to make its mark in your peripheral collection.

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The post HyperX Alloy Elite 2 Gaming Keyboard Review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
CORSAIR K63 Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard
Manufacture	CORSAIR
Available at	View at Amazon

When it comes to keyboards, CORSAIR is at the top and there is no denying the fact that the company designs some of the most popular mechanical keyboards in the world. Their high-end products like CORSAIR K95 Platinum and CORSAIR K70 LUX RGB were greatly received by the masses.

CORSAIR K63 is a mid-range keyboard from the company and it feels like a very attractive product for the budget-users, thanks to the low price and nice features. The K63 and the K65 are the tenkeyless mechanical keyboards and are similar to K68 and K70 respectively in terms of features. There is a wireless variant of the keyboard as well, which goes slightly expensive than the wired one. The K63 wired keyboard comes with Red LED backlighting and the switches are also Cherry MX Red. So, let’s have a deep look at this spectacular keyboard.

Pricing

So, let’s talk about the price tag of the CORSAIR K63. The keyboard has an MSRP of $79.99, although the keyboard often goes for sale at around $59.99. This makes it a very interesting product because there are not a lot of tenkeyless keyboards with Cherry switches that cost around sixty bucks. Even more so, the features like CORSAIR iCUE support and unique keycaps are a nice addition, making this keyboard more attractive.

Unboxing

The box of the CORSAIR K63 is pretty similar to other keyboards from the company. At the front, you can notice the picture of the keyboard, with the switch type at the top right.

At the back, you can see some technical details like per-key lighting, CORSAIR iCUE software, Windows key lock mode, dedicated media controls, 100% anti-ghosting, and tenkeyless design.

The box contents are as follow:

Design & Closer Look

CORSAIR K63 is a spectacular keyboard when it comes to the design and one can tell from the first sight of it that it is a high-quality keyboard. It gives a solid feel which shows that it is going to last decades. First of all, the size of the keyboard is smaller than the full-sized keyboards thanks to the tenkeyless design, although the width of the keyboard is more than most of the keyboards in the market and that is due to the presence of the dedicated media buttons.

One of the biggest difference between this and the K65 is that the K63 has the plastic top while the K65 has a floating-switch design where the backplate is directly exposed. Moreover, the backplate in the K63 is red in colour, which in combination with the red LED backlighting looks really nice and evenly spread. CORSAIR has used a plastic backplate in the K63, which is why it feels significantly different from the K65 or K70. The keyboard has a matte texture all over it, which means that you won’t have to deal with fingerprints or oil marks.

As you can see, we have the dedicated buttons at the top of the keyboard and two LED indicators as well. The volume buttons are located at the top right while the other media buttons are located at the top left. There are also two buttons for the Winlock and brightness functions. The CORSAIR logo at the top centre is not LED-lit like the higher-end keyboards from the company.

There are rubber pieces at the bottom of the keyboard, which means that the keyboard will not slip during intense gaming sessions. Moreover, you can elevate the keyboard with the help of the keyboard feet, which is highly recommended for typing sessions.

CORSAIR does not use detachable cables with their keyboards, which seems a bit dated, although this gives the keyboard higher durability. The cable of the keyboard is not braided but it is quite thick and we don’t think that it could get broken with even rough use.

Switches

CORSAIR has used genuine Cherry MX Red switches in the K63, which means that these switches have a linear action and they don’t have tactility in them. The switch housing is black in colour, which is why the LED lighting is not able to spread within the switch, leaving the secondary legends a bit darker.

CORSAIR has used genuine Cherry MX Red switches in the K63, which means that these switches have a linear action and they don’t have tactility in them.

The switch housing is black in colour, which is why the LED lighting is not able to spread within the switch, leaving the secondary legends a bit darker.

The switch housing is black in colour, which is why the LED lighting is not able to spread within the switch, leaving the secondary legends a bit darker.

An important thing to note here is that these switches seem considerably smoother than the old CORSAIR keyboards, which is why these switches are from the batch which is probably manufactured after the retooling by Cherry.

Cherry MX Red switches have a travel distance of 4mm and have an actuation distance of 2mm. The actuation force is rated at 45 g, which is great for gaming, although these switches might feel a bit light for typing. Overall, Cherry MX Red switches are the most popular switches for gamers.

Keycaps

CORSAIR K63 uses laser-etched ABS shine-through keycaps and one of the biggest difference between them and other keycaps is that these keycaps have a round shape at the corners, making them a bit smoother than others. This also makes the keycaps look pretty cool. The thickness of the keycaps is similar to other companies like Logitech, Cooler Master, and Razer, which is why you won’t have the deep sound you could get from the aftermarket keycaps. In fact, some of the companies are already improving in this sector, for example, Razer has used thick PBT keycaps in their latest Huntsman Tournament Edition keyboard, whose detailed review can be seen here.

As for the legends are concerned, these large-font, gamer-esque keycaps are quite infamous, although we don’t dislike them at all and, in fact, prefer the large-font keycaps instead. However, CORSAIR uses non-standard bottom row in the K63, just like the other CORSAIR keyboards, which is why most of the aftermarket keycaps won’t fit on the keyboard.

The keycaps have a slightly matte texture, which is probably going to be faded in a couple of months, as ABS keycaps are not that resistant to skin oil. The spacebar, however, is another thing and the texture of the spacebar has a strong theme to it. It is usually liked by gamers, however, there are many people who would prefer to have a regular spacebar instead.

Keyboard Lighting

CORSAIR keyboards are known for their beautiful backlighting and thanks to the red-coloured backplate, CORSAIR K63 really shines in this department. The keyboard provides a lot of lighting modes which can be selected with the CORSAIR iCUE software, such as breathing mode, wave mode, or custom lighting mode. There is no RGB lighting in the K63 unlike the K68 or K70 and it allows only red LED lighting. Thankfully, the dedicated media buttons are also LED-lit and you can easily manage your media during the nights.

Corsair iCUE  Software

CORSAIR iCUE software feels a bit complex, at first sight, however, it allows a lot of customizations. There are three main tabs in the application which are present at the left pane of the screen; named Actions, Lighting Effects, and Performance. Moreover, you can make various profiles for the settings whose option is present right at the top of these tabs.

First of all, the Actions tab is where you can create macros and the applications provides a lot of actions here apart from macros, such as launching a program, timer, profile switching, etc. Moreover, you can set the details for the settings such as the delay between inputs.

When it comes to LED backlighting, the Lighting Effects is the tab that you should be looking for. CORSAIR is one of those companies which shows the realtime lighting effect on the screen that is going to be applied to the keyboard. This lets the user have a better view of the LED lighting and one can easily customize it this way. As for the lighting modes, there are many predefined lighting modes here, such as Visor, Rain, Pulse, Wave, type lighting, static colour, gradient, ripple, etc. Since this keyboard only provides red LED lighting, there is no customization of colours available, although there is still a lot of things that you can do with the keyboard. At last, in the Performance tab, you can select various options regarding the behaviour of the Winlock key, such as disabling Alt + F4, disabling Alt + Tab, etc.

Performance – Gaming & Typing

CORSAIR K63 is a budget mechanical keyboard from the company so let’s have a look at the performance of this keyboard for gaming and typing.

Gaming Performance

First of all, CORSAIR K63 has a tenkeyless design which is a great thing for gaming, as the Numpad is not really used for gaming. It also makes the keyboard portable for LAN sessions. As for the switches and overall performance is concerned, Cherry MX Red switches are definitely one of the best switches for gaming and have very optimized actuation distance and force curve.

The response time of the switches is not as good as the latest optical switches but a difference is almost unnoticeable. The iCUE application also provides great macro customization which gets handy for various games, especially the MMO titles. The keyboard supports NKRO with 100% anti-ghosting, which means that you won’t have to suffer from keypress limitations or mistypes.

Overall, the performance of the keyboard seems unbeatable for the price and you won’t be disappointed with the gaming performance of this keyboard.

Typing Performance

When it comes to typing, Cherry MX Reds are not the most favourite switches. The linear action of the switches makes them prone to errors during typing and most of the typists prefer using tactile or clicky switches. However, this does not mean that Cherry MX Reds are bad for typing, it just means that you would have a more chance of improving your typing speed with keyboards having a tactile or clicky switch. Even then, this particular concept is true for most of the people and not all of them, which is why there is still a chance that you would like the linear switches for typing. The keyboard uses standard stabilizers, although these ones seem to be better than the older ones when it comes to key rattle. The spacebar still has a bit of rattle though, which is inevitable unless you want to modify the components of the keyboard.

So, if you want to buy a keyboard primarily for typing, we would recommend you to look at other options, although there is a fair chance that you adapt to the cons of CORSAIR K63 after a couple of weeks.

Conclusion

All-in-all, CORSAIR K63 is one of the best budget mechanical keyboards with a great focus on gaming performance and looks. With Cherry MX Reds, the keyboard will last you a long time before you feel the need to change it, as these switches are very durable. Moreover, the red switches are inherently great for gaming. The laser-etched keycaps make sure that the legends do not fade away, although you might start to notice the shine on the keycaps after a few months. The non-standard bottom row takes away the choice of custom keycaps unless specifically designed for these keyboards. The iCUE application allows lots of customizations and you can make powerful macros with it while also managing the LED lighting customization.

Corsair K63 Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard

The Best Budget Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard

Pros

• Small Form Factor
• The quality of stabilizers is impressive
• Uses smooth Cherry MX red switches
• Evenly spread lighting

Cons

• Subpar performance for typists
• No RGB lighting

Weight: 2.47 lbs | Actuation Force: 45 g | Key Switches: Cherry MX Red | Switch Lifespan: 50 million strokes | Actuation Point: 2.0 mm | Media Controls: Yes | Keyboard Rollover: N-key rollover with anti-ghosting | Cable Type: Non-braided

VERDICT:A fine choice for budget users who want to enhance their gaming performance by elevating themselves to the world of mechanical keyboards; CORSAIR K63 seems to be providing the best value when it comes to gaming performance.

Check Price

Price at the time of the review: US $70.99 / UK £62.99

The post Corsair K63 Compact Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
HyperX Alloy Core RGB Gaming Keyboard
Manufacture	HyperX
Available at	View at Amazon

Sure, you can even a find a great cheap mechanical keyboard at times. But that will require a lot of research, and even then we can’t comment on the long-term durability aspect. If you’re on a tight budget, a good robust membrane keyboard could be a good choice. Don’t worry, not all membrane keyboards are created equal. The HyperX Alloy Core RGB is a prime example of that.

Hyper X is a brand that, in all honesty, does not need any sort of introduction at this point in time. They have definitely cemented their legacy as one of the most dignified brands respected by almost every gamer out there. So all things considered, the Alloy Core RGB shouldn’t disappoint.

This new budget membrane keyboard from HyperX stands out from the crowd. it rocks a unique design aesthetic not seen in this price range, along with a lot of other premium features. But is it really the conquerer of budget keyboards? Let’s find out.

The Unboxing Experience

As I’ve already mentioned above, the HyperX Alloy Core RGB is a budget or entry-level membrane keyboard. Due to which there’s nothing out of the ordinary for the unboxing experience itself. Despite that, a clean and frustration-free unboxing experience is always good, and HyperX delivers on that part.

The keyboard arrives in the usual packaging we’ve grown to admire from HyperX. They use the same red and white cardboard box seen on many of their other products. It’s not much, but it’s definitely refreshing from the usual boring brown box ordeal.

The front of the box has an image of the keyboard itself, the branding on the bottom right, and a bit of text describing the keyboard’s features. There’s also a colourful RGB logo on the box, and it’s already a major plus seeing RGB backlighting on a budget keyboard. The box includes just the keyboard itself, with the cable tucked behind a small compartment. There’s also a card and some paperwork from HyperX.

Design and Build Quality

Right off the bat, the first impression is definitely quite strong. While it’s nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to gaming keyboards, it definitely doesn’t look like a boring membrane keyboard you’d find in an office or in schools. It’s definitely got a bit of flair to it and it doesn’t feel cheap in any way either.

While the keys are housed inside a basic plastic frame, it’s actually put together quite well and doesn’t feel flimsy in any way. I wouldn’t say it’s the most robust keyboard out there, but it does appear to be durable. As for the design, it definitely has a bit of personality to it.

Compared to other membrane gaming keyboards, such as the Razer Cynosa Chroma, it looks a bit more sleek and polished. The matte finish definitely looks clean, and the bright RGB lighting accentuates it quite well. There’s also a very subtle ridge pattern on the lower part of the keyboard, where you would put your wrists.

Even though the design is a bit flashier than your normal membrane keyboard, I think it can fit in just fine in an office environment as well, with the RGB turned off obviously. On the back, we have the usual feet which you can use to prop up the keyboard at an angle. On the far left side, we also have dedicated buttons to control the lighting and a button that locks the Windows key.

Before I move on, it’s important to mention the inclusion of dedicated media keys as well. We have individual buttons for volume control and skipping, pausing, and playing tracks. It’s a small gesture, but something I always appreciate on any keyboard. It’s annoying when high-end keyboards skip this simple addition, so seeing this on an entry-level option is definitely pleasing.

I wouldn’t expect a lower-end keyboard like this to have water resistance, but this one surprisingly has that attribute. Any keyboard that can sustain any sort of water spill deserves a huge plus in my book. This budget keyboard can withstand a splash of up to 120ml of liquid. That’s definitely a sizeable volume, and it’s good to see that HyperX is not just all talk. It can definitely withstand an accidental spill.

RGB Backlighting

The target demographic for this keyboard definitely includes people new to gaming. A lot of those people might be looking to show off their new setup and their flashy RGB peripherals. Good backlighting does not come cheap, but this keyboard is an appealing exception to that.

Truth be told, even if you’re not a fan of RGB, it’s hard not to appreciate what HyperX has done here. The RGB backlighting here is very bright and shines quite well through the keycaps. There’s even a small light bar running across the top of the keyboard, which actually gives it a unique look. As for the effects, there’s not a whole lot here but you can cycle through them with the dedicated backlight control buttons. You can switch between breathing, wave and pulsing effects.

If you want to change the speed of the lighting effects, hold down the Fn Key and use the left/right arrow keys to speed up or slow down the effect. The same rule applies for the brightness control, hold down the Fn key and use the up/down arrow keys to tune the brightness.

Although the lighting here is quite delightful, some people are going to want that extra control which can only be provided through software. Sadly, you can’t change the backlighting on every single key, as the keyboard offers 5 zone illumination rather than per-key backlighting. Honestly, that’s not a major deal for a lot of people. In my opinion, most people will be pleased with the backlighting here.

How Do The Switches Feel?

If we’re going to get technical, I wouldn’t exactly say a membrane keyboard has “switches”. Instead, a membrane keyboard uses a rubber dome membrane, which should feel quite familiar to most people. It’s quiet, doesn’t have a tactile bump, and can be defined as “mushy” overall.

This membrane keyboard definitely feels a bit spongey overall. But that’s coming from someone who is used to mechanical switches. If you’re coming from an absolutely basic keyboard, this should still feel comfortable. However, if you are typing or gaming on this keyboard for an extended period, you are going to start and feel fatigue in your fingers, which is common with all the membrane keyboards.

The keycaps are smooth and each individual key is easy to distinguish. They actually feel very similar to the keycaps used on other HyperX keyboards, like the Alloy FPS. A major problem you might notice on cheaper keyboards is that fingers can easily slide off from one key to another. This is not an issue on this keyboard, so it does stand out from the budget crowd.

Typing Experience

You might be wondering how it feels for long sessions of typing. Well, it’s going to feel very familiar to a lot of people. I prefer mechanical switches at this point, so it took a while getting used to the membrane feel. But once I got the feel of it, it didn’t feel uncomfortable in any way. I definitely wasn’t expecting this. Sure, I still prefer mechanical switches, but most people won’t have a problem here.

Now if you’re purely looking at the best typing experience you can possibly have, this is definitely not it. Then again, you won’t be doing this keyboard justice asking that sort of performance at this price. It uses the usual layout, and nothing is out of the ordinary here. As I mentioned before, I didn’t notice my fingers slipping from one key to another. As I kept up with my usual fast typing speed, the keyboard remained responsive to my touch.

Overall, this keyboard is decent enough for typing. It’s not exactly the most mind-blowing experience but it gets the job done. For the price, I really couldn’t ask for more.

Gaming Experience

The gaming experience is about as good as you can expect from a membrane keyboard. Again, it’s going to feel very familiar to a lot of people who are used to membrane keyboards. Gaming on this keyboard is not exactly something mind-blowing, but it feels decent enough that most people really won’t have a problem in-game.

If you’re the type of person who plays casual games, that don’t require fast and accurate movements, this keyboard should be fine for you. However, if you play competitive games where every single second count and every button press has to be accurate, this is definitely not that keyboard. For the price, it’s not even aiming to be that sort of keyboard.

If you absolutely need that sort of performance, you’re going to be forking over a decent amount of cash. That could be double or even triple the cost of this keyboard. So considering how this keyboard performs well for the price, I don’t think a lot of people will have many complaints.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the HyperX Alloy Core RGB is definitely a solid entry-level keyboard. For $50, it definitely brings a lot to the table. A unique design aesthetic, RGB lighting, dedicated media buttons and even spill resistance. These are definitely enticing features for a keyboard at this price range.

I’m fully aware that a lot of people do not like membrane keyboards, but there are some out there who don’t like mechanical keyboards as well. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t like the loud sound mechanical switches produce, this is a great budget option. Or maybe you’re just getting into PC gaming, and don’t have a lot to spend on peripherals. In that scenario, this is a great keyboard to get you started.

However, keep in mind that there are a few mechanical keyboards out there at this price range as well. They’re not really the best quality, and definitely won’t last you a long while, but they will scratch your itch for a mechanical feel. It all really comes down to preference. For people who want a great entry-level membrane keyboard, this one deserves a strong recommendation.

HyperX Alloy Core RGB

Best Membrane Gaming Keyboard

Pros

• Eye-catching design
• Dedicated media buttons
• Spill-resistance

Cons

• Membrane isn't for everyone
• No software control

Weight: 1130g | Backlighting: RGB | Key Switches: Rubber Dome Membrane | Spill Resistant: Yes | Media Controls: Dedicated buttons | Keyboard Rollover: N-Key Rollover

VERDICT:The HyperX Alloy Core RGB definitely isn't a keyboard for everyone. If you prefer mechanical switches, its hard getting used to a membrane keyboard. However, for newcomers to gaming, this keyboard is an incredibly great value with tons of premium features

Check Price

The post HyperX Alloy Core RGB Membrane Gaming Keyboard Review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Manufacture	Razer
Available at	View at Amazon

Razer released the Huntsman and the Huntsman Elite gaming keyboards back in 2018, which revolutionized the gaming community. The keyboards came with brand-new clicky optomechanical switches which were praised a lot due to their fast response times and high durability.

Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is another addition to the Huntsman lineup, providing a TKL (tenkeyless) form-factor along with linear optomechanical switches and a few other new features. This form-factor is great for esports gaming, as it is a lot more portable and people can easily take them along in their LAN parties. The overall design of the keyboard might seem similar to the Razer Huntsman but there is a lot going on apart from the design. First of all, the keyboard is available in only a single colour, Matte Black, unlike the Huntsman which was available in Mercury White and Quartz Pink as well. We will be reviewing the Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition in detail today, so let’s have a look.

Pricing

The Razer Huntsman was originally priced at $149.99 while the Elite variant was priced at $199.99. The Razer has set the price of the Hunstman Tournament Edition at $129.99, which seems like a great price for a keyboard of this level. Most of the keyboards used Kailh switches in the past and now that Razer is using their own switches, which are not just better but also durable, these prices seem quite much justified.

Unboxing

Razer puts a lot of effort in designing the box of the products and the same is the case with the Huntsman Tournament Edition. The box has a matte-like texture and the picture of the keyboard can be seen at the front of the box, with slight details about the switch, keycaps and the cable.

Even the text with which the name of the keyboard is written seems to be providing a colourful pattern. On the rest of the sides, one can notice the details about the keyboard such as dimensions, weight, etc. However, Razer did not include a window for the arrow keys this time around, which has been the staple of countless Razer keyboards in the past.

The box contents are as follow:

Design & Closer Look

The Huntsman Tournament Edition features a plastic body with an aluminium top plate, this gives a very rigid and durable feel to the keyboard; Razer has gone with a matte texture, which is great. The body of the keyboard is slightly larger than the region of the keys but not large enough to make it feel like a full-sized keyboard.

There is text all over the back of the keyboard, stating “FOR GAMERS. BY GAMERS.”. The feet at the back of the keyboard provide two adjustments, one at a 6-degree angle and the other at a 9-degree angle from the surface. The provided cable is a braided USB Type-C to USB Type-A cable, which seems like a nice advancement. At the front, there is the name of the company “RAZER” written just above the arrow keys.

We received the Razer Huntsman TE in ISO-layout, i.e., the one with the big Enter button. It is to be noted that there are no indicator LEDs in the keyboard for Capslock, Scroll-Lock, and of course, the Numpad. Razer has used a standard bottom row for the first time in their gaming keyboards and that is a piece of great news for a lot of keyboard enthusiasts.

The reason for this is that there are a lot of 3rd party keycaps available in the market but due to the non-standard layout of the keyboards, those keycaps could not be placed on the keys in the bottom row. However, now you can easily replace all the keycaps for whatever reason, whether you want to change the colour of keycaps, want keycaps with different legends, etc.

Overall, the design seems great for a TKL keyboard, especially due to keeping the market standards of the keyboard world in mind.

Switches

The Huntsman Tournament Edition comes with all-new red optomechanical switches and the result is quite amazing. First of all, the actuation point is reduced to 1.0mm from the 1.5mm point found in the purple optomechanical switches while Cherry MX switches have an actuation point of 2.0mm (MX Speed switch has 1.2mm). This results in an ultra-fast response to the finger-movements and the overall performance are improved. Moreover, the Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition supports N-key rollover instead of the 10-key rollover found in the Huntsman and the Huntsman Elite.

Another difference from the purple optomechanical switches is that these red switches are linear while those purple switches are clicky. This reduces the noise you would feel from the Huntsman and Huntsman Elite keyboard, although this keyboard is still somewhat noisy which is due to the switch striking the backplate of the keyboard. These red switches are perfectly fine for gaming, although some people might find the switches to be too sensitive with the 1mm actuation point. Apart from that, linear switches are not the best switches out there for extensive typing, although this keyboard was never portrayed as a keyboard for typists.

Overall, the Huntsman Tournament Edition seems to provide excellent switches that are both durable and fast.

Keycaps

The keycaps of Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition are not those which were present in the Huntsman or the Huntsman Elite. The new keyboard provides much more durable double shot PBT keycaps, with a slightly matte texture on the top. This is a great improvement from the ABS keycaps you would find in most of the mechanical keyboards in the market. These double shot PBT-keycaps are still, not as thick as the ones you could get in the market but still, for gaming needs, the thickness of the keycaps does not matter so much as it matters in the typing.

Previously, PBT keycaps were only used by keyboard enthusiasts and they are a lot pricier than the ABS keycaps as well. Other than that, the profile of the keycaps is similar to the Huntsman and one cannot find the difference in keycap-profiles from just looking at both keyboards. Razer has insisted on using a very thin font on the keycaps, which looks very stylish and sleek. As for the stabilizers are concerned, they seem good enough to hold the big keycaps and the wobble is barely there, however, one can still hear the rattling sometimes.

Overall, the keycaps of the keyboard are not just durable but they feel a lot nicer than the keycaps from the competitors.

Razer Chroma Lighting

The Chroma RGB lighting is very popular and is found in most of the products from Razer. There are different presents to choose from, which means you can select from the software while the RGB lighting itself is quite bright and looks promising. Personally, we liked the RGB lighting on the Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2 more than the Huntsman models, as the lighting seemed to glow very nicely behind the keycaps, however, the RGB lighting of Huntsman models is still giving a tough competition to the competitors.

There are no lighting bars on the edges of the keyboard although, which were present in the Razer Huntsman Elite. The RGB LEDs are present on the upper side of the switches, which is why the legends are at the top of the keycaps. All these lighting styles look pleasing, although you might be better setting the lights to a single colour if you want to enhance your gaming performance, so as to not get distracted.

Overall, there is nothing new when it comes to the RGB lighting of the keyboard but what’s already there, seems more than enough if you want a keyboard with pleasing aesthetics.

Razer Synapse 3

Razer Synapse 3 is a comprehensive piece of software, providing compatibility with tons of products by Razer. First of all, the Huntsman Tournament Edition comes with five onboard profiles but to gain the advantage of those profiles, you will have to log-in to the Synapse 3 whenever you are using the keyboard from a new computer. This is slightly disappointing, as the plug-and-play capability is not there completely.

After setting the keyboard with Synapse, you can change the profiles by pressing the Fn key along with the Context-menu key, which is present right next to it. The white colour of the context-menu key indicates active profile while the Red, Green, Blue, and Cyan colours indicate profiles 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Anyway, with Synapse 3, you can completely customize the RGB lighting of the keyboard, even set the colours of the keys individually or use styles like Ripple, Wave, Reactive, Fire, etc. Other than that, you can use various features that are associated with RGB lighting such as Chroma Connect, Chroma Visualizer, and Hue, etc.

There are lots of functionalities in Synapse 3 Customize tab that is Keyboard Function, Mouse Function, Inter-Device, Switch Profile, Razer Hypershift, Launch Program, Multimedia, Windows Shortcuts, Text Function, and Disable. The macros can be recorded on the fly as well by pressing the Fn + F9 keys. When pressed, the Macro-recording key (F9) lights up and you can record the macros. You can also go into game mode by pressing Fn + F10, which causes the Window key to be disabled.

Speaking of the Fn key, this key cannot be reprogrammed, as it is used to various functionalities. Fn + F1 results in mute, while with the F2 and F3, the volume can be controlled. The F5, F6, F7 keys along with the Fn key can be used to play/pause, skip backwards, and skip forwards the media respectively. The backlight can also be controlled by the combination of Fn + F11 or F12 keys.

Overall, the capabilities of the Razer Synapse 3 are beyond imagination and one can take advantage of tons of features of the Synapse 3.

Performance – Gaming & Typing

Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is a keyboard that is designed for top-notch performance in the esports gaming, although, the need for typing cannot be ignored whether that be for social media, web browsing or even a boring essay. So, let’s have a view of the performance details of the keyboard.

Gaming Performance

When it comes to gaming, Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition seems to be at the top. During FPS gaming sessions, the ultra-fast responsiveness of the switches provides instant reaction to the keys resulting in swift movements. Moreover, the linear switches seem quite faster in actuation of the keys than the previously used clicky switches of the Huntsman keyboards. There was sometimes this feeling that such sensitive switches might result in unwanted character movements, however, we barely felt it during the gaming. An additional advantage of the keyboard against competitors was that the fingers did not slip on the keycaps due to the rough texture of the keycaps. The Hypershift function of the Razer keyboards is definitely useful and results in very easy use of various functionalities. Ultimately, the Hunstman Tournament Edition seems to be lacking nothing when it comes to gaming.

Typing Performance

Typing on a mechanical keyboard is a very nice experience, of course, but there are tons of variants of the mechanical switches these days and the linear switches were never considered good for typing. The reason is the absence of tactile feedback which feels like quite a necessary component for typing. Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition lacks that tactile feedback, although the “clack” sound of the keyboard is present very vividly. Since the switches are rated at 40g, there needs to be a lower force to bottom them out, comparing to Cherry MX switches. Bottoming out the switches feels good and acts as a good alternative to the tactile feedback. We also performed a quick typing test and the results were above our expectations.

However, there is yet another problem, the high actuation point. The actuation point of 1.0mm is really low and would be a hindrance for many people, as slight press on the keyboard would result in actuation. Other than these things, Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition provides a wonderful experience.

Overall, we wouldn’t call it the best keyboard for typing as the elder brothers do a greater job at that, but if you happen to be a budding writer, and a professional gamer, then this is definitely what you should be looking at.

Conclusion

Razer has really done it with this keyboard; the design is amazing, the switches are innovative and ultra-fast, RGB lighting is amazing and small form-factor results in greater portability. Not just that, with the Huntsman TE enthusiasts can now use 3rd party keycaps which was being demanded for a long time now, as Razer has just implemented the standard-bottom-row design in the keyboard. As for the durability, the PBT keycaps will now take care of all your worries and you can mash the keys without worrying about the keyboard. Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is the perfect combination of enthusiastic features and top-notch performance.

Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition

The New TKL Flagship

Pros

• Comes with Doubleshot PBT keycaps
• The actuation point of 1.0mm feels ultra-responsive
• Programmable macro functionality
• Uses a detachable USB Type-C cable
• Uses a standard bottom-row

Cons

• The actuation point might seem too high to some people
• Not so great for typists

No products found.

No products found.

Weight: 1.66 lbs | Actuation Force: 40g | Key Switches: Optomechanical switches | Switch Lifespan: 100 million strokes | Actuation Point: 1.0mm | Media Controls: No | Keyboard Rollover: N-key rollover with anti-ghosting | Cable Type: Braided

VERDICT:A great TKL keyboard from Razer, providing stunning RGB lighting, a brand new linear optomechanical switch, long-lasting PBT keycaps, and a lot more for just $130; a must-buy for esports gamers

Check Price

Price at the time of the review: US $129.99 / UK £149.99

The post Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition Review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
Velocifire TKL71WS MK Wireless Mechanical Keyboard
Manufacture	Velocifire
Available at	View at Amazon

Well for most people, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the big names up there, especially for gamers. Most people prefer brands such as Corsair, HyperX, Logitech, and Razer for keyboards. We don’t blame them, all of these companies have tried and true products.

But sometimes, completely out of the blue, a wildcard appears. It’s a very rare occurrence that products like this would blow you away.

The keyboard I’m having a look at today is one of those rare occurrences. For someone who’s been using the same big-name brands for his keyboard choices for a while now, I was a bit sceptical, to say the least.

But Velocifire has left me pleasantly surprised. They sent out their beautiful TKL71WS wireless mechanical keyboard, and I took it for a spin. The keyboard is a compact TKL (tenkeyless) keyboard as most people call it.

Now, I know some people might be a bit reluctant to use a wireless mechanical keyboard, especially most gamers. But stay with me for a while and read this review before you completely write that option off.

Unboxing and Closer Look

I know I’ve already raved about the keyboard in the intro a bit, and maybe rightfully so. But in all honesty, when the box came into my hands, I wasn’t all that excited. Even though I knew the keyboard inside is a good one, I just couldn’t get over the boring box.

It comes in a simple brown cardboard box, without any flashy designs or logos. But the front prominently says “Make Typing Better” which is Velocifire’s slogan. There is also a prominent Velocifire logo at the bottom right. The back of the box just states the model number and their website. I can’t hate on the box too much, it does get the job done.

As movies will tell you, the real stuff that matters is on the inside (cheesy, I know). If you go to the product page, you’ll find a few different options when checking out. The base option is just the keyboard itself. If you want, you can get a pair of blue K37 PBT keycaps, and a keyboard bag for carrying it around. Velocifire was nice enough to send us the K37 PBT keycaps, which I really love (more on that later).

Back to the contents. So inside the box itself, our K37 gradient blue PBT keycaps are sitting inside a nice white cardboard sleeve. It also has the keycap puller inside. Then we have the keyboard itself, a USB Type-C to USB A for charging, a pair of magnetic feet to provide some elevation, and a user manual.

Design and Build Quality

Before I received the keyboard, I knew it was going to be a TKL keyboard and that it’s very compact. But after pulling it out of the box I was definitely surprised for a bit, in a good way. The weight is what immediately caught my attention. It’s light enough that you can play a game of catch with it, which you obviously shouldn’t do. It weighs only 630g and that makes it insanely portable.

Just to show you how small this Velocifire keyboard is, we put it side by side with the Corsair K68. The K68 is a full-sized Cherry MX Red keyboard, and it absolutely dwarfs the TKL71WS. This goes to show just how portable this little thing is.

Out of the box, the keyboard does a look a bit boring. Although it is a small and sleek keyboard, the all-black keycaps were pretty generic. But that issue quickly went away once I installed the K37 PBT keycaps. These look and feel absolutely amazing. It’s a shade of gradient blue, meaning the edges are a darker and the middle keys fade away to a lighter colour. Pair that with the icy blue backlighting, and we have a winner.

Although the keyboard does look pretty unique this way. We decided to add even more flair to the design. We thought white keycaps would look great with the gradient blue ones. So we found this keycap set on amazon. They are double-shot white PBT keycaps from Monoprice, and they match the feel of our blue keycaps very well. Overall, we think this look turned out really well, and it definitely draws some attention.

Okay, I’ve gushed over the design for long enough. Let’s have a look around the chassis. The frame of this keyboard is built out of hard plastic, but it doesn’t feel cheap in any way. Near the bottom right, we have the Velocifire logo. At the back, we have the on/off switch, rubber feet to prevent scratching and a place near the top to tuck in the USB dongle. After removing the dongle from this position a couple of times, I realized the slot is magnetic, so it doesn’t fall off. This is definitely a nice touch.

Apart from that, there is a USB Type-C port near the upper right of the chassis. I love the fact that they opted to go this route for the connection. Honestly, the big-name keyboard brands should use USB Type-C at this point. Sadly, there is no USB passthrough, something I miss from my previous keyboard.

Backlighting

Velocifire has gone for a clean and simplistic look here, so there is no crazy RGB lighting. Instead, they have gone with blue backlighting. I’d say the exact shade is a bit similar to an Icy blue colour.

The backlighting shines through really well between the fonts of the keys. It has a glow to it which I really like. There are a lot of modes, like the wave, pulse, and other popular modes. Personally, the static blue colour is the most appealing to me and the breathing effect comes after that. FN+Home cycles between the modes and FN+Up or FN+Down are used to adjust the brightness. Fn+Right or Fn+Left is used to adjust the speed, depending on the mode.

There are lighting zones at both sides of the chassis as well. Both the left side and right side have these small diagonal slits from where the light shines through. You can cycle between different colours by pressing FN+Ins or completely turn it off.

Although it does look good, I don’t really see the point of it. It’s not bright enough to provide an actual decent glow, but then again that can be distracting. Still, you won’t see this lighting unless you completely dim the lights. Plus, I’m not a fan of the red accents surrounding this lighting area, it throws off the look a bit. I’m honestly nitpicking here since you can’t see it most of the time, but it’s important to mention.

Lighting Effects

The Layout and Switches

Before we move on to talk about the switches, there are a few things I want to mention about the layout first. Now, this is a tenkeyless keyboard (and a very compact one at that), so the layout will be different than your standard full-sized keyboard. It does take a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s fine.

There’s nothing too unusual here, except for the navigation keys being too close together. I would have liked to see a bit of spacing between the main typing area and the navigation keys, but that’s a minor annoyance more than anything.

Let’s talk about the switches now. Velocifire’s website states that these use Brown switches. But don’t confuse that with Cherry MX switches. If you scroll down on the product page a bit, you’ll find out these are CONTENT switches (a Chinese brand of switches). But they are nearly identical to the real thing. Unless you put them side by side, the difference is negligible.

Since they are brown switches, they have a nice tactile bump when you press down on the key. The actuation point is somewhere between Red and Blue switches. These are a bit louder than Reds, but not as clicky or loud as Blues. The switches on this keyboard are a good mix for both typing and gaming.

Typing Experience

This review was written on the Velocifire TKL71WS, and I enjoyed my time typing on it. As I mentioned before, the switches have a bit of tactile bump to them, which I like. Previously coming from Cherry MX Red switches, I noticed fewer accidental presses because of that actuation point and travel difference. It’s not a huge shift and adjusting was very easy.

Typing for long sessions feels very comfortable. If you are coming from a full-sized keyboard like me, it will feel a bit cramped at first. But spend an hour or so with and you’ll get used to it. Once you get into the flow of it, typing on it is really fun. If you prefer a subtle response with every key as you type, you’ll love this keyboard for writing up essays, scripts or even reviews like this one.

Typing Sound Test

Gaming Experience

Gaming on this keyboard is not exactly something mind-blowing. It’s not the fastest switch in the world, nor is it the lightest one. It’s about as good as you’d expect. The keys feel good enough that most gamers won’t have a real problem in games. However, if you are expecting to have super quick fluid movements in games like competitive shooters this isn’t the best experience.

Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad by any means. But if you are the type of person that need super quick movements, like if you’re strafing in CS: GO and need that speed and accuracy, brown switches aren’t going be the best for you. One thing to note here is that the keyboards with super fast switches can cost twice or triple the cost of this one.

And if you’re worried about input lag because of the wireless connectivity, I didn’t notice any difference at all between this keyboard and my wired one.

Latency

Speaking of input lag and latency, you’re probably wondering how this wireless wonder performs. Just to make sure, we fired up an intuitive software test to check that out. Latency remained identical in both wired and wireless modes during our test. We didn’t actually notice any type of delay when the keys were pressed. This is a pretty generic test (which we did for the sake of people worrying about it) but still, latency is nothing to worry about.

Battery Life

Since this is a wireless mechanical keyboard, a lot of people will be worrying about the battery life of this one. It uses a USB dongle to connect to your PC. If you need to juice up, plug in the USB Type-C cable into the keyboard and connect it to your PC. Don’t worry, you can use it while it’s charging up as well. A red light on the spacebar will indicate that it’s charging.

Charging up takes about 4-5 hours if the battery is completely dead. With the lighting off, Velocifire claims the keyboard can last up to a week. Well, I’ve been using it with lighting on for a few days, and only needed to charge it once. It easily gives me 3-4 days of use with all the lighting on at max brightness. Not too shabby.

Final Thoughts

I didn’t even mention the price at this point. The Velocifire TKL71WS at only $45.99 and if you get the K37 PBT keycaps, that brings it up to $62.98. This is an amazing value proposition. If you absolutely need a wireless keyboard, with mechanical switches, this is the best option out there on a tight budget. Sure a lot will say Cherry MX switches are better, but there aren’t a lot of wireless Cherry MX keyboards out there. Not for a good price anyway. All in all, Velocifire TKL71WS is a solid recommendation.

Velocifire TKL71WS Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

A Surprise Hit

Pros

• Eye-catching design
• Compact and Portable
• Great for avid typists

Cons

• No USB pass-through

Weight: 629g | Backlighting: Blue | Key Switches: CONTENT Brown | Spill/Dust Resistant: None | Media Controls: None | Keyboard Rollover: N-Key Rollover

VERDICT:The Velocfire TKL71WS is a surprisingly impressive keyboard. The switches might not be as good as Cherry MX ones, but they are pretty close. Considering the price, this is one of the best wireless mechanical keyboards, and a compact one at that.

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The post VELOCIFIRE TKL71WS Wireless MK Mechanical Keyboard Review appeared first on Appuals.

PRODUCT INFO
Corsair K68 Gaming Keyboard
Manufacture	Corsair
Available at	View at Amazon

But personally, after using the K70 (Rapidfire & Lux) K63 and the K95 Platinum from CORSAIR, I never had to face any type of key-chatter issues.

However, today we have a very unique iteration of the infamous K series from CORSAIR. The K68 Spill-Resistant Keyboard. The keyboard comes with an IP32 rating for dust and water resistance. This is a very interesting approach from CORSAIR. It shows that the brand is focused on what happens outside the test labs; if you have ever seen a gamer’s desk, you might find yourself wondering why there are bottles of water or energy drinks sitting there. In order to ensure that the keyboard does survive such environments, the K68 packs’ water resistance capabilities under the hood.

On paper, the K68 looks solid, with 100% anti-ghosting, full key rollover, genuine Cherry MX Red Switches, per-key backlighting, and the spill-resistance being the cherry on top. By the way, we plan to go all out on the water spill test in our review of the K68, so buckle up and read on!

Unboxing

The overall unboxing experience of the K68 is enjoyable because the box is colourful and I personally like the yellow and black colour scheme of CORSAIR’s boxes, to be honest.

The front right side of the box shows a 3D image of the keyboard itself with the usual highlighting features on the left. On the top right, we can see that the keyboard comes incorporated with Cherry MX Red switches.

The backside of the box is interesting and detailed. It boasts a full overhead image of the K68 with all of the details and features that come packed in the keyboard itself. The details are long and boring, so feel free to take a look at the image attached above.

The keyboard comes wrapped in a plastic bag along with the following documentation and accessories:

• CORSAIR K68 Keyboard
• Detachable wrist rest
• Warranty Guide
• Manuals

Design and Closer Look

The design of the K68 is similar to the ‘K’ line up of keyboards from CORSAIR. But there are some small noticeable improvements implemented in this one over its supposed predecessor (CORSAIR Strafe). The first and the most important feature you are going to notice are the Dedicated Media keys. As an avid music listener, I find these media keys to be highly usable during work, gaming, and almost anything. Without these keys, any keyboard I use feels incomplete. Anyways, below is the detailed list of all of the media keys you’re going to find on the K68.

• Play/Pause
• Stop
• Previous/Rewind
• Next/Forward
• Volume Up
• Volume Down
• Mute

There’s also a backlight brightness control and gaming mode key which disables the Windows key.

Coming at the heart of the keyboard, the keypad itself. We can see that the keys have adapted the floating design once again, which we all love. The second unique thing I found on the K68 is the rubber casing/mould to help with the keyboard’s spill resistance. This is a nice addition as you might be more confident in spilling your drinks on the K68 now that you’ve seen the measures CORSAIR took to make this keyboard spill-resistant. But it has hindered the overall feel of the keys drastically, we’ll get to that later. I also noticed the textured space bar that I don’t like, to be honest, I don’t see any point of a textured space bar key. It only affects the uniformity of the keys in reality.

One flaw in the design I’ve been noticing is the borderline below the CORSAIR logo, I don’t understand why it is there and it just collects dust, nothing else. I’ve been using this keyboard for a month and I have to clean and blow air in that area every time I clean my PC setup.

Personally, I’ve been criticizing the keycaps of almost all consumer-level mechanical keyboards since forever but the one’s that the K68 rocks, seem acceptable but not the best by any means. The text on the keycaps is what you’d expect, the bold capital wide text which to be honest I’m not a fan of but they aren’t too bad. The keycaps feel smooth and solid. The larger keycaps also have built-in cherry stabilizers which is a mandatory factor and is present in the K68 as well. One thing I can say that CORSAIR didn’t cheap out on the keycaps but still they aren’t perfect, I doubt their longevity, I’ll surely update this review If I find anything upsetting about the durability of these caps in the near future.

However, there are some design flaws or confusion to be exact, that are to be discussed here. First of all, I don’t understand why CORSAIR named this as a part of the “K” series, as the K68 looks more like an improved variant of the “Strafe” series. The K series keyboards usually come with a metal top plate and a physical volume rocker. It would’ve been better if this was named as the Strafe 2 or Strafe V2. But anyways, looking at the price tag, I won’t be complaining about a metal top plate and the volume rocker. Taking an example of the Logitech G413 carbon, it comes under the same price tag but doesn’t offer any dedicated media keys whatsoever.

The 1.8meter USB wire is not braided, but the connecter feels durable. And unlike its bigger brothers, the K68 only requires one USB connection in order to work properly. Talking about USB ports, the only thing I miss in the K68 is a USB pass-through. But again, at this price point, we can’t complain about it.

As a package, the K68 feels very durable and because of the full plastic body, the background of the keys is less prone to smudges. The plastic used in the manufacturing of this keyboard is not cheap and overall exhibits a premium and solid feeling. I could never see my self liking an all-plastic keyboard but here I am.

Coming towards the lower side of the keyboard we have an option to attach the included wrist rest. The wrist rest is small and can be attached with the available hinges below the keyboard, I’ve been comparing it with the Hyper X Alloy Elite’s wrist rest and the material is better on the Hyper X as well as the size. But overall, the wrist rest isn’t bad, but acceptable. It is mostly made out of rubberized plastic, and it looks like cleaning it would be an easy job.

Lastly, on the backside, we have four rubber pads/grips on each corner of the keyboard for additional grip. However, the height adjustment hinges aren’t rubberized but it doesn’t hinder the grip of the keyboard.

Performance

The CORSAIR K68 is a solid performer, and this is not a surprise since performance is the main factor of any expensive product, and a $50+ PC peripheral is considered as expensive still to this day.

Anyways, the red switches from Cherry are linear and require an actuation force of 45g to be registered, along with a key travel of 2mm (Actuation) – 4mm (to bottom).

In daily tasks such as typing and gaming, the K68 had zero issues whatsoever. Even after our crucial water spill test the K68 worked flawlessly without breaking a sweat (More details on the test below).

We fired up a quick generic software to test out and get an idea of the response times, the keyboard did great and we could not see any sort of delays, we’ve had same results out of all gaming keyboards except the cheap wireless ones where the key depress and lag times were immensely high even though the keys were hit in the same manner during the test.

Note: The above-attached test is by no means an accurate and exact benchmark. Real-life results/benchmarks may differ.

I can safely say that the K68’s overall typing feel is great. Most gamers are going to enjoy the linear switch and low travel distance. But for typists, I wouldn’t recommend this keyboard in any way since the rubberized casing which is there for water resistance, hinders the overall feel of the keys as they are being hit on a rubberized surface rather than plastic or metal, making it feel mushy ultimately.

We also tested the keyboard in some FPS games like CSGO to get an idea of real-life gaming benefits of the supposed fast switches. And as a CS: GO veteran myself, I saw noticeable improvements in terms of strafing in-game and overall movement. In comparison with a Cherry MX brown switch, the red’s are much better for gaming. But I’d recommend the brown switches for typists any day because of their balanced feel and perfect actuation force, and tactile bump.

Typing Sound Test

In a nutshell, the K68 is a top-grade performer and we didn’t experience any sort of performance issues whatsoever.

Spill & Dust Resistance Testing

When our review unit was in transit, I checked a bunch of water test videos of the K68 and planned that unlike everyone else,  I’ll be going on all out with this test. So, we dropped a lot of water on the keyboard directly. This was by no means a “Spill” test but rather a water drop test. We threw almost 300ml of water in a duration of 20-30 seconds, directly on the keyboard while the keyboard was plugged in as you can see in the video below.

While I was testing this, I was convinced that the K68 won’t survive. But amazingly, after drying up the keyboard with a towel the K68 survived. I fired up a key quick key test to see if any key failed on us and the numeric key “7” that is right above the textual keys failed on us. Except for the “7” key, all keys were working fine and registering pretty well.

Anyways, I was still impressed. I didn’t turn off the keyboard and didn’t even leave it disconnected for one second and kept on working with the damp keyboard for about an hour two then went to sleep. After I woke up the next day and turned on my PC, the “7” was back to life. The 7 key was not registering because the water did go through the rubber casing, after drying up overnight everything was fine. I can testify that the K68 is more than just a “Spill-Resistant” keyboard. It can handle much more than just a spill.

Software and lighting

The K68 can be controlled through CORSAIR iCUE software. The software itself is not the most user-friendly initially but after fiddling with it for a while, I got the gist of it. The first tab you’ll get to the see in iCUE is the “Actions” tab and it contains all of the macro and key binding features which is a plus for certain MMO gamers and some content creators as well. The setup is basic, you can record, bind a key to another and play around as much as you would require.

The second tab is the lighting feature and since the K68 comes with only red backlighting, I didn’t test it much, but we do have a video attached below which showcases all of the lighting effects. We can customize the lighting too which was complex and again I didn’t find it interesting enough, so I didn’t play around with it.

Here’s a quick video that shows the different lighting effects

The last tab is very minimal and contains some basic “Win Lock” functioning, which is highly appreciable as well.

Overall the lighting of the K68 is very impressive. The per-key backlights exhibit crisp and clean aesthetics. The keycaps are hardly bleed any light, just a tad bit. I really admire the lighting implementation of the K68, to be honest.

Conclusion

To conclude, the K68 is an amazing keyboard if we keep the $89.99 price tag in our mind. The keyboard boasts an amazing build despite being plastic, with the dedicated media keys. The Cherry MX Red switches are the real cherries on top of this package and the water/dust resistance makes this keyboard a dream for the messy and hungry PC gamers who tend to spend most of their day working or playing while eating at the same time. Not only did the K68 survive our crucial water drop testing but it proved that the brand itself is not just joking around with the IP32 rating. We missed the USB passthrough and RGB backlighting but again the price tag makes it up for these missing features. Anyways, The K68 is a no-brainer for those who are looking to upgrade to the mechanical realm of keyboards under a $100 price tag. You won’t be disappointed in any way.

CORSAIR K68 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Flawless

Pros

• Solid Build Quality
• Water & Dust Resistant
• Linear and fast Cherry MX Red keys

Cons

• No USB pass-through

Weight: 1.12kg | Backlighting: Per-key RED | Report Rate: 1000Hz | Key Switches: CHERRY® MX Red | Spill/Dust Resistant: IP32 | Media Controls: Yes | Keyboard Rollover: Full Key (NKRO) with 100% Anti-Ghosting

VERDICT:The K68 comes with per-key red backlighting, 100% anti-ghosting and full key rollover along with Cherry MX Red keys topped off with proven Dust & Water resistance capabilities making it the most innovative and recommended keyboard under the $100 price point.

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The post CORSAIR K68 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review appeared first on Appuals.

Velocifire VM02WS Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

Typists-Solace

Pros

• 104-Key Wireless
• Exceptional comfort
• Comes with noise dampening O-rings
• Default Key Layout

Cons

• None

Weight: 2.64 pounds | Dimensions: 17.5 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches | Connector Type: USB 2.0 (Wireless 2.4 GHz) | Battery: Built-in Lithium Battery, 1850 mAh | Cable Length: 150Cm

VERDICT:The Velocifire VM02WS is a 104-key wireless mechanical keyboard aimed at typists and programmers. It has dual operation modes; wireless and wired. This keyboard comes with CONTENT brown switches and White LED-backlit. It bears an ergonomic design though without palm rest. This keyboard at its very core serves the main function of almost silent typing experience without fatigue or stress. The price of their wireless keyboard makes it a killer deal and comes recommended by us.

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Today we have a typical Velocifire product on our hands, the VM02WS. This is a 104-key keyboard measuring 1200gm weight with a dimension of 44.4x14x4 CM. It has USB 2.0 wireless connector operating at 2.4GHz. It has a built-in Lithium battery of 1850mAh charging capacity. It is rated for 25 hours of full use on a single charge with backlit on and 90 hours with backlit off. Charging time is 4 hours depending upon the charging cycle. The polling rate of the keyboard is 1000Hz. The Velocifire VM02WS features ABS double shot keycaps. The company is also offering a set of PBT 9 key-caps in the red color which is optional.

The Velocifire VM02WS comes with customization options available directly on the Velocifire web site. Each customization has its own price tag. This unit ranges from $59.99 to $72.97 depending upon the selection of the optional O-rings and PBT keycaps set. The main ingredient of the Velocifire VM02WS is the CONTENT Brown Switches.

Also, It is obvious that the company is not using Cherry MX switches from the price consideration and Chinese version of the Brown switches have been employed. They are similar to Outemo switches. I have had a good experience with Outemo, Gateron switches as they are being used by multiple keyboard manufacturers and they offer comparable quality at a lesser price. The Velocifire VM02WS also features white LED-backlit. Our sample comes with the O-Rings and the PBT keycaps set. Rest of the details will be covered in the closer look section. Let’s start.

Pricing

Packaging and Unboxing

The keyboard is shipped inside a cardboard box without any theme printing on it. The box is in its original brown color which is understandable since their target market is the office use where such gimmick packing does not apply.

The top side of the main packing box has the Velocifire brand logo printed on the top left side. Wireless Mechanical Keyboard is printed below the logo.

The bottom side of the packing box has Velocifire VM02WS Mechanical Keyboard printed in the center. The keyboard is made in China. The website address of the manufacturer is printed at the bottom left side.

The left and right sides have identical printing (almost). The company’s logo is printed in the center. Compliance to various specifications is printed at the bottom right side.

The rear side of the packing box has Velocifire brand logo printed on the left side. A serial no sticker is pasted on the right side.

Opening the box will show that the keyboard is wrapped inside white color, non-transparent protective sheet. The keyboard is tucked between two white colors Styrofoam pads. The optional sets of O-Rings and PBT keycaps are placed towards the upper side and the cable along with keycap puller is placed at the bottom side. The user manual is placed under the keyboard.

Content

The following are included in the box:

• 1x Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
• 1x User Manual
• 1x Key puller
• 1x PBT Keycap set [Optional]
• 1x O-Ring Set [Optional]

Closer Look

Now comes a time where we get to take a closer look at the overall design of the keyboard. Velocifire is offering this keyboard for the typists, writers, and programmers and it comes in two formats, 104 keyed version, and the TKL version. TKL stands for Ten Keyless. It is a compact form gaining more popularity these days.

Taking a peek at the main layout of the keyboard, it seems to be following the US International layout. The keycaps are in the black color and are made of ABS material in double-shot. The printing on the keycaps is dim and without backlit, the user can find it hard to type on the keyboard particularly for those users who are tuned to look at the keyboard while typing. The overall finishing resembles the sandblasted. The housing of the keyboard is in all black color. The keyboard is heavier than many other keyboards that I have used. Keep that in mind. The keycaps are not following the suspended design which again makes sense as there is no RGB backlit on this keyboard. In my opinion, the backlit is provided for the two reasons:

• To use the keyboard in the environment with the darkness
• To make the letter printing on the keycaps more legible.

The Velocifire VM02WS features 1000Hz polling rate which is fixed and can’t be changed since there is no software or dedicated button combination provided for that. The keyboard is designed to be plug-n-play and it does not need any driver. It is compatible with the Windows/Linux/IBM PC. The keyboard features the Anti-Ghosting though it lacks N-Key rollover function.

In terms of the design flow of the Velocifire VM02WS, it has curvature design which makes it the ergonomic design intended for the longer use without causing fatigue or stress. Though, there is no rest palm provided with this keyboard which, in my opinion, would have been a nice touch but could cost high. I will cover this aspect in the personal experience section.

Taking a look at the keyboard from the right side, we can see a fully functional Numpad. Certain keycaps on the Numpad have double printing. The primary functionality of the keycap can be activated with a single keypress whereas the second functionality can be activated using the combination of the Shift key and the desired key. Right above the Numpad, there are 4 LED indicators. Starting from the left to the right these are in that order:

• Num Lock
• Caps Lock
• Scroll Lock
• Windows Start key Lock

The LED will light in the white color if the corresponding lock is activated. It will go off if the lock is disabled.

There are 4 arrow keys at the bottom on the left side of the num pad. Above them, we have a group of 6 keys in two rows of 3s. The top row has Insert, Home, and Page Up keys. The second row has Delete, End, and Page Down keys. These are single-function keys. On top of this group, we have Print Screen, Scroll Lock and Pause keys.

The top row of the Velocifire VM02WS has a standard design and layout. It starts with the Escape key followed by the keys in 4 groups. The Function keys are labeled from F1 to F12. These all are dual function keys. The second on these can be activated using the combination of the Fn and the desired function key.

Rest of the keyboard has a standard layout. There are Ctrl, Start, and Alt keys on the left side of the Spacebar key whereas there are 4 more keys on the right side of the spacebar key. The spacebar has a horizontal line printing on its top which lights up. The Fn key is the function key which can be used in combination with other keys to achieving the desired outcome.

Let’s take a look at what key combinations have an effect on the keyboard form and function.

Macros

Up to three macros can be defined on the Velocifire VM02WS. In order to record a macro, press Fn+Ctrl and either of Q, W, or E keys for a second. This will turn off the backlight of the keyboard and selected key and the Indicator LEDs will start to blink. Record the Macro and press again the combination of Fn+Ctrl and selected key from Q/W/E. This will complete the Macro recording. To activate the recorded macro, simply press the Fn+Q/W/E keys.

Switch

The main element of the mechanical keyboard is the switch at its core. All the magic is coming from those switches. Velocifire is using CONTENT Brown Switches. CONTENT is not a new name as they have been in the business since 1999. Their switches are almost alike the Outemo switches.

The Velocifire VM02WS is using the CONTENT’s brown switches. Unfortunately, I could not gather the specifications of the CONTENT brown switches like actuation force, actuation point, keystroke, etc.

Wireless Action and Energy Saving

Since the Velocifire VM02WS is a wireless mechanical keyboard, it has a built-in Lithium battery with a charge capacity of 1850mAh. A single charge is supposed to last for:

• 25 hours with backlit on
• 90 hours with backlit off

The Velocifire has bundled a USB charging cable having a Type-C interface. The length of the cable is 150cm. When this cable is plugged in, the charging of the keyboard starts. This is indicated by a red LED under the spacebar which continues to light until the charging is completed at which point, it turns off. The Velocifire VM02WS has dual modes. It can be used wirelessly and wired with charging as well. This is definitely a handy feature that allows the user to avoid the downtime and use the keyboard while it is being charged. Kudos to Velocifire design team for this. There is an important aspect of using the cable. When the cable is connected and the keyboard needs charging, it will automatically enter the wired mode. As soon as the charging is completed, it will enter into the wireless mode even if the cable is connected.

The backlit turns off after 1 minute of the inactivity and the keyboard enters the sleep mode after the inactivity of 3 minutes. The backlit can be turned back on by pressing any key. Similarly, the unit can be brought to life from sleep mode by pressing any key. This behavior is activated only in the wireless mode. The charging time is 4 hours.

As shown in the picture above, the USB 2.0 based Wireless device is provided which operates at 2.4GHz spectrum. I have tested the keyboard with the distance of approximately 55 feet away from the PC and it was still registering the keys press without a miss. This is a spectacular range.

There is a Velocifire brand logo printed in the white and red colors on the near user side. There is no mechanism, provided to attach rest palm with this unit.

The left and the right sides of the main housing are identical. From the far end side, they have more height which gradually decreases when coming towards the user end side.

There is a USB Type-C port located on this side of the keyboard. The rest of the surface area is plain and black.

Taking a look at the bottom side of the keyboard, we can find a sticker pasted in the center. It has information like model of the keyboard, its serial no, power rating printed on it. The power rating is 5V with 200mA. There are two supporting brackets (feet) to raise the height of the keyboard for the convenience of typing. There are 4 rubber pads to avoid scratching the surface on which the keyboard is placed and to firmly hold the position of the keyboard on the surface.

There is an On/Off slider button. Sliding it towards On will turn the wireless mode on and vice versa.

Velocifire is offering an optional accessory with this keyboard which is a set of O-Rings. These are used on the keycaps and their purpose is to further reduce the noise from keypress. With O-Rings on, the actuation will be different. These are compatible with Cherry MX, Kailh, Outemo and CONTENT switches. A single pack as 120 o-rings in it and cost $9.99 stand-alone or at $5.99 in a combo deal with the VM02WS. Velocifire is offering free shipping in 30 countries.

Velocifire is offering K9 PBT set of 9 keycaps as an optional accessory. The keys are Esc, W, A, S, D, Arrow keys. They are:-

• PBT Double Shot
• OEM Profile
• Shine Through
• Red Color

They are compatible with the Cherry MX, Kailh, Outemo and CONTENT switches. A single set costs $9.99 stand-alone or at $6.99 in a combo deal with the VM02WS. Velocifire is offering free shipping in 30 countries.

The above picture shows the backlight on the Velocifire VM02WS wireless mechanical keyboard.

Personal Experience

My personal experience with this keyboard has been nothing but buttery smooth typing. My line of work includes typing, gaming primarily. Though this keyboard has been aimed at the typists, writers, programmers, this does not stop me from using it while gaming. I have been busy benching multiple graphics cards and I was using this keyboard for the benching which involves actual gaming with multiple sessions. I have no complaint at all with this keyboard from any perspective. I never had any missed keypress during gaming which is important. Typing experience was good overall. If there is any lacking from my point of view, it is no palm rest. Maybe this is due to the fact that I have been using a mechanical keyboard with dedicated palm rest with and I was used to it. The actuation is similar across the entire board and there is no wobbling in the keycaps. The overall sound level is low. These CONTENT brown switches are quiet and can be further made by using o-rings.

Conclusion

Velocifire has sent us their VM02WS along with two optional accessories that can be bought directly from them at a reduced price in a combo deal. Please, check our pricing section for more details and Amazon link of the product. These accessories are a set of 120 o-rings and 9 keycaps finished in PBT double-shot. As the name indicates, the Velocifire VM02WS is a wireless mechanical keyboard. It has 104 keys. The keycaps are made of ABS double-shot and finished in the black color. The keyboard has white LED-backlit on it. The weight of the keyboard is 1200gm and has a dimension of 44.4x14x4cm. There is no RGB lighting which is understandable given the target market of office setups. The keyboard has a built-in 1850mAh Lithium battery with up to 25 hours of backup time with backlit on and 90 hours of backup time with backlit off. The battery is charged using the bundled 150cm long USB cable having a Type-C interface. The charging time is 4 hours give or take. The charging is visually indicated by using a red color LED under the spacebar which continues to light till the battery is fully charged. The keyboard has wireless and wired modes. In wired mode, the user can continue using the keyboard with its full functionality while the battery is charged. The wired mode will only be available till the battery is not fully charged after which the wireless mode will be activated automatically regardless of USB cable still connected.

The Velocifire VM02WS is using CONTENT brown switches. I was not able to find specifications of these switches though it is mentioned that these are almost alike the Outemo switches. A comparable performance at affordable pricing! The lifetime of the Velocifire VM02WS is rated at 16.5M keystrokes. There are no dedicated multimedia keys but this functionality has been provided using a combination of Fn key and functions keys. The user can record up to 3 macros on Q, W, and E keys using a combination of Fn+Ctrl and either of the mentioned keys. There is no N-Key rollover but anti-ghosting is provided. The Velocifire VM02WS is listed at $ 59.99 at the time of the review and this is definitely a good value for your bucks. This keyboard comes with a 1-year warranty from Velocifire. Lastly, if you are still confused and want to check out other options in the market as well.

We are thankful to Velocifire for giving us the opportunity to review their VM02WS wireless mechanical keyboard.

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