Different Keyboards We Like
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
Logitech Professional X TKL for $200: Logitech makes nice keyboards, and the G Professional X TKL is among the many finest gaming keyboards. It has vibrant RGB LED-backlit keys, a alternative of clicky, tactile, or linear switches, and it makes use of Logitech’s Lightspeed wi-fi adapter for aggressive gaming-level response time. The construct high quality of this keyboard is slick and classy. It is minimal and does not take up a lot area in your desk, and it has a delicate metallic rim across the edge that offers it a little bit aptitude that the majority plain keyboards lack. The quantity wheel within the higher proper is clean and straightforward to achieve, and alongside the highest are useful media controls so you possibly can pause your music once you lastly get right into a sport after an extended queue. For my tastes, the extra clicky-clacky a keyboard, the higher, and the Black Clicky switches have served me effectively. Every keypress seems like I am sending tiny thunder all the way down to my sport. Nonetheless, in the event you desire one thing softer, you possibly can select one other swap kind. The one factor I dislike is the dearth of a numpad—sure, I am a kind of weirdos preferring having a numpad.
Logitech Professional X 60 for $180: The Professional X 60 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has nearly all the advantages of the Professional X TKL in a smaller, extra compact package deal. It retains the quantity wheel, Recreation mode swap, and Bluetooth/Lightspeed buttons by shifting them to the perimeters of the keyboard, whereas slimming the entire thing all the way down to a 60 % structure.
Logitech Pop Keys for $100: The Pop Keys (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is a vibrant line of wi-fi keyboards that are available in all kinds of shade palettes which can be pleasant. It additionally makes use of Logitech’s system for pairing with as much as three units, making it easy to take it between your PC and laptop computer, or from house to work and again.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
Logitech MX Keys S for $128: The MX Keys S can pair with three units, making it straightforward to swap between computer systems. Its low-profile chiclet-style keys are comfy, and it makes use of proximity sensors to activate the important thing backlight when your fingers get close to, so it is simpler to see at nighttime with out losing battery once you’re not utilizing it. It helps each Mac and Home windows layouts, and the keys are tastefully labeled in a method that it is clear irrespective of which one you are utilizing on the time. Battery life can also be unbelievable, lasting effectively over every week with regular use, although it will get fairly a bit longer in the event you disable the backlight.
Logitech MX Mechanical for $170: With an understated, low-profile design, you possibly can pair the MX Mechanical with as much as three units without delay and swap with the push of a button. There are even a couple of handy additional buttons simply above the numpad to launch a calculator or lock your desktop.
Turtle Seashore Vulcan II TKL Professional for $150: The Vulcan II TKL Professional has two LEDs per key, giving it a greater decision for lighting results. It options Corridor impact switches, which ought to minimize down on put on and tear. They’re nonetheless satisfyingly clicky, and the quantity knob has a comfortably grippy texture. I desire any keyboard with a quantity wheel to 1 with out.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
Corsair K65 for $160: This 75 % keyboard has a few of the softest, most comfy keys of any board I’ve examined. It is light-weight sufficient to toss in a bag, however sturdy sufficient to be your desktop keyboard. It may join through USB-C, Bluetooth, or a wi-fi dongle that may be saved in a slot on the rear. A trendy metallic quantity knob adorns the top-right nook, and each keycap and swap could be swapped out utilizing the included removing software.
Razer Huntsman Mini for $89: A 60 % keyboard has 60 % of the keys usually discovered on a regular-sized keyboard. The numpad and arrow keys are chopped off, and also you’re left with the necessities. The Razer Huntsman Mini is considered one of my favorites of this measurement for gaming. It feels each bit as responsive and fast as a full-size keyboard, but it surely takes up so much much less desk area. There’s simply one thing neat and orderly about it. Plus, just like the bigger Huntsman Elite, the Mini is suitable with Razer’s keycap kits, so you possibly can customise your shade scheme.
Keychron Q1 HE for $240: The Keychron Q1 HE (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is among the finest boards we have examined that makes use of Corridor impact switches. You’ll be able to customise the actuation level to both make keys extra delicate—so you do not have to press all of them the way in which down for keystrokes to register—or much less delicate, to keep away from these fat-finger moments that may destroy aggressive video games. Keychron even has rapid-trigger settings that mean you can press a key a number of occasions with out the important thing having to return totally to its resting place. Even exterior the advantages of the Corridor impact switches, that is one other nice keyboard consistent with the type that Keychron is understood for, so it is value a glance even in the event you do not need to pay that a lot consideration to each side of your keys.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
NZXT Perform 2 for $140: The unique NZXT Perform was an effective way for anybody serious about mechanical keyboards to leap in with out getting overwhelmed. The follow-up Perform 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) improves on it in nearly each method. It upgrades the keys to optical switches and comes with a spare set of switches which have a little bit extra (or rather less) resistance, so you possibly can customise particular keys based mostly in your wants. I discovered this significantly helpful for video games like Overwatch 2, the place I would like to chop down on these fat-finger ultimates which can be so embarrassing. The Perform 2 retains lots of my favourite options from the primary mannequin. It has the identical left-side quantity curler, tremendous tender keycaps, and handy buttons alongside the aspect of the keyboard. In case you’re serious about mechanical keyboards however are intimidated by phrases like “actuation drive,” it is a nice board to get began with.
Razer Huntsman V3 Professional TKL for $200: The Huntsman V3 Professional TKL is a sturdy keyboard for many who prefer to tweak their gaming setup. It makes use of Razer’s analog optical switches, that are satisfyingly clicky. On the highest proper, there is a media knob that controls the quantity, which you can too click on to mute. Nonetheless, it is the buttons round it which can be most fascinating. To the left, there are two programmable macro keys you need to use to customise totally different instructions on your video games (or your work). Beneath, on the navigation keys, are six profile shortcuts. Maintain Fn and press considered one of them, and you may swap between a number of preset profiles, tailor-made to particular gaming wants like FPS mode, Racing mode, or Excessive-Sensitivity mode when you might want to pull off that hair set off. All of this may be custom-made within the Razer Synapse app. We have examined quite a lot of keyboards with totally different customization choices, however this one is especially good for avid gamers who swap profiles so much. The keyboard connects utilizing a USB-C cable, included with the machine, and it additionally comes with a magnetic wrist relaxation.
Razer BlackWidow V4 75% for $190: The Razer BlackWidow V4 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has a sturdy metallic casing, hot-swappable switches, and Razer’s sturdy Synapse software program for customizing your keyboard. It is also earned our prime marks in the event you’re on the lookout for a mechanical keyboard particularly for gaming. The 75 % structure is sufficiently small you could go away loads of room on your mouse, making these flicks to land a headshot that a lot simpler in aggressive video games. The 8,000-Hz polling price additionally helps minimize down on the occasions that you simply miss activating a capability by that nearly imperceptible fraction of a second.
SteelSeries Apex Professional for $200: Slightly than select one swap for the Apex Professional keyboard, SteelSeries determined to permit all of them. Not solely is it a colourful gaming keyboard with a lot of bells and whistles, but it surely additionally options mechanical switches that may be custom-made per key to offer you a typing expertise distinctive to you. Plus, it has a little bit LED show for system alerts, quantity, and different enjoyable stuff you possibly can toy with utilizing SteelSeries’ included software program.
Corsair K100 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for $284: In most methods, the Corsair K100 RGB is a reasonably customary keyboard, with RGB backlights, a couple of programmable macro keys, and a quantity curler. What units it aside, nevertheless, is the management wheel within the top-left nook. This dial can scrub via media, management the lighting on the keyboard, and management a number of different built-in features. The dial will also be custom-made. In my testing, this may very well be a little bit finicky in sure purposes—I could not get it to correctly scrub via the timeline in Premiere Professional, for instance—but it surely’s nonetheless a useful software you hardly ever get on different boards.