They're quite comfortable for typing too, with a good amount of feedback despite not having a tactile bump or click like Brown or Blue switches. The bright RGB backlighting looks great too, especially as you can control all of the effects on the keyboard with no software required. As well as backlighting controls, you can also adjust the volume, access media controls or launch common programs using the Function Fn layer.
Xtrfy's attention to detail is also impressive. For example, rather than using expensive but trendy PBT keycaps that would raise the price, the Swedish company has found a middle ground with thicker-than-normal ABS keycaps that provide more durability and a nicer feel than standard ABS caps.
Each stabiliser is oiled to reduce noise, and combined with foam padding in the bottom of the chassis, the K4 TKL is actually reasonably quiet for a mechanical keyboard. The key legends are also neat and tidy, with even the secondary functions clearly visible. These small details are often ignored, so it's great to see them taken care of here. There are three colour schemes available for the K4 TKL: black, white and "retro".
We tested the latter, and the off-white, grey and red keycaps provide a unique look that we really dig. If you're after a well-made keyboard for gaming that doesn't cost the earth, then the Xtrfy K4 TKL comes highly recommended.
A full-size model, simply titled the Xtrfy K4, is also available. Das Keyboard was one of the first companies to popularise mechanical keyboards among nerds, and their Model S Ultimate with completely blank keycaps remains one of my all-time favourites. Using the 'Q' app, you can add applets to your keyboard, which change the colour of specific keys in response to various triggers. For example, you can dedicate four keys to showing upcoming weather, a row of ten keys to reflect your CPU utilisation or individual keys to show whether a stock has gone up or down.
Clearly programmers and office workers are a focus here, as there are quite a lot of widgets that display notifications or other information from the likes of Asana, Monday, BaseCamp, Stack Overflow, Trello, GitHub, Jenkins, Mojo Helpdesk and many other corporate apps. Being able to see at a glance that, for example, a server has gone down, a parcel has shipped out or your network connection has gone bad, is pretty handy.
However, the marketplace isn't limitless, so if your favourite app isn't covered you'll likely need to code it yourself. In addition, you really need to train yourself to actually look at your keyboard to make use of this information! If you want a solid mechanical keyboard for typing and programming and don't think the Q software will be useful, Das Keyboard also make a range of simpler keyboards at around half the price. All are great keyboards with rock-solid reliability, a choice of several mechanical switches and a professional appearance.
Given the very affordable price, I'm very impressed with the little touches here - the font choice for the key legends, the brightness and effect options for the RGB backlighting and the additional LED strips around the bottom of the keyboard.
Though this is a full-size board, it still manages to have a reasonably small footprint thanks to its "floating key" bezel-free design. If you don't need advanced software like that offered by Corsair or Razer, then this attractively-priced keyboard makes a lot of sense. Alternatively, if you have a lot of desk space and want extra features, the Aukey KM-G17 is also worth considering.
It too comes with clicky Blue switches, but has a much larger footprint thanks to its integrated palm rest, extra macro keys above the F-key row and a chunky volume knob in the upper right corner. The keyboards are available in a variety of switch configurations, from clicky Blues to tactile Browns and soft linear Reds, with the K being a full-size board and the K being the more compact TKL variant. Despite its low price, the keyboard feels reasonably well built, with an aluminium frame, plate-mounted switches and decent backlit ABS keycaps.
There are few advanced features here; this is just a simple keyboard that delivers a great typing and gaming experience for the money. The best compact keyboard I've tested is the Keychron K2.
Originally on Kickstarter, this key mechanical keyboard comes with a choice with Brown, Blue or Red switches and - unusually - both macOS and Windows keycaps in the box.
This keyboard has an 80 percent layout, so it misses out the numpad but still has arrow keys on the bottom right, F keys at the top of the keyboard and a single column of navigational keys on the right side.
That provides considerable space savings compared to a standard or tenkeyless design, while still keeping the most important keys within easy reach.
As you'd hope for such a portable keyboard, the K2 supports both Bluetooth and USB-C connections, so it can be used in both wired and wireless modes with a range of devices.
The Keychron K2 performed excellently in my testing, with a satisfying feel from the Brown Gateron switches, while the aluminium frame looks great and ensures this keyboard can survive quite a bit. This model also comes with full RGB backlighting, including a number of different effects.
Given this keyboard's long feature list and great build quality, it's a surprise to find that it's also among the most affordable keyboards in its category.
Okay, okay, so this isn't really a retro keyboard. Instead, it's a modern keyboard with a retro aesthetic, with colourways and design language that evoke memories of the 80s. The Durgod Fusion is a compact keyboard - a 65 percent, if you want to be specific - with both wired USB-C and wireless functionality, accessible via a chunky switch in the upper right. A built-in battery provides up to 40 days of use, thanks to the lack of LEDs on the keyboard, and you have the choice of standard Bluetooth 5 or lower-latency 2.
That makes it a good choice for a wide range of mobiles, tablets and computers. I did have some issues connecting via the wireless dongle in my testing, but that was solved by a firmware update to the keyboard and shouldn't affect retail units.
The typing experience is generally excellent and the compact layout makes sense - although it may require some mental effort if you're used to a larger keyboard with F keys or a numpad. The build quality is impressive too, given the reasonable price, but the small frame means that the keyboard is still portable if you want to put it in a backpack or simply carry it into another room.
Another nice 65 percent keyboard with retro sensibilities is the Epomaker B I don't think these are necessary more helpful than F keys, depending on the workload, but they certainly contribute to a unique design.
There are round corners and soft colours everywhere here, and if you like the look this Bluetooth and USB-C combo keyboard certainly does the job. That's an interesting prospect for gaming, as their pressure-sensitive keys allow you to steer into corners or creep around a level with the same fine-grained control you only normally only get with a wheel or controller.
The material of the body is the main thing to look for on the store page. Aluminum and plastic are the two most common materials, with the former being the more premium and durable option. But plastic keyboards, when done right, can still be surprisingly nice, given that the plastic has the right finish to it and is thick enough.
Keycaps are the plastic shells placed on top of every switch and are what your fingers actually make contact with when typing.
They have printed legends to tell you what the key does, to protect the switches, and to make the keyboard look better. When it comes to the legends, what you really want to see is double-shotting. Standard keycaps just have the legends printed on, which can lead to fading over time.
Double-shotting uses another piece of plastic inside the keycap to display the legend, so it can never fade. This is far better for longevity, and fortunately, most premium boards offer it nowadays.
While mechanical keyboards mainly gain their appeal from the satisfying typing experience they offer, the level of customization you can get out of them is also really cool.
For normal use, there are some general customizations that most mechanical keyboards can offer. Switches are usually installed onto the PCB through soldering , which can make replacing switches a time-intensive effort. Hot-swapping aims to be an alternative to this, however.
Hot-swapping means there are tiny modules on the PCB that allow switches to be slotted into them. Fortunately, hot-swapping is only becoming more commonplace as time goes on. This is a simple way to make a keyboard look cool, and it also allows for some personalization on the user side of things. Most RGB keyboards will allow you to choose what colors the lights are and how they animate, and you can get really creative with it if you put the effort in. Many keyboard manufacturers develop companion pieces of software for their boards that allow their keyboards to be fully programmable—this is typically where you adjust RGB lighting, for example.
One 2 SF. Shine 7. Mecha Mini V2. MIYA Pro. One 2 Mini V2. Alloy Origins. Alloy Core RGB. Alloy Elite 2. Alloy FPS Pro. Alloy Origins Vulcan AIMO. Vulcan Pro. Vulcan TKL. View all keyboard reviews. Latest Keyboard Activity. View all keyboard activity.
How We Test We purchase our own keyboards and put them under the same test bench, so that you can compare the results easily. Guide Mechanical Switches. View all keyboard articles. Keyboard Tools Compare keyboards. Having trouble deciding between two keyboards?
This tool will clearly show you the differences. Table tool. Vote for the next keyboard we buy. Want to see us review a specific keyboard? Here you can vote for our next review. Graph tool. Compare graphs from our keyboard test results in order to make a clearer and more informed decision. Home Keyboard Best Mechanical. Connectivity Wired. Connectivity Wireless. However, it doesn't let you adjust the actuation force and the pre-travel distance like the SteelSeries Apex Pro.
Where other keyboards use small volume rollers, the Das includes a large tactile volume knob decorated with eye-catching red chrome accents. But aesthetics aren't what put Das on the list. Performance did. Cherry MX Brown is especially favored as a superb all-around switch for typing and gaming, thanks to its silent actuation and tactile bump. The elevator feet are especially irritating since they don't grip as well as they should—otherwise, the Das Keyboard 4 blends essential features and excellent typing performance into a stylish package.
Fujitsu is one of the few manufacturers with a catalog of Topre keyboards. Revered by ardent keyboard fans as the ultimate typing switch, the Topre switch pronounced toe-prey, as it stands for Tokyo Press rarely appears in gaming keyboards due to its high cost.
Fujitsu even reserved a key to cycle through them on the fly. Moreover, you can individually set the actuation distance for every key through the optional driver software. The keycaps are paired with Cherry MX stems instead of Topre stems, a vital feature for keycap swapping. Unfortunately, Topre's prestige and novelty have a matching price tag. For die-hard fans, that's a fair price to pay for their favorite switch. Everyone else should try it in person before swiping their credit card.
Primarily in the market for a keyboard to fulfil your WASD needs? Look no further than our best gaming keyboard guide. Virtually nothing has changed here, with a small exception, that you can now swap key switches. Logitech has fully embraced hot-swappable PCB designs, allowing you to change the types of switches you use on their keyboard with relative ease.
Because of their general uniformity, you can use just about any aftermarket key switch you'd like on the G Pro X. However, due to small differences in switch manufacturing sizes, it's recommended that you use Logitech's switches, which are offered in linear, tactile, and clicky varieties to avoid any compatibility issues.
The Pro X is the first time we've seen this feature outside of the DIY market for mechanical keyboards and is undoubtedly a welcome and exciting way to shake things up with a tried and tested design. It's entirely up to personal preference with keyboard switches. If you love a noisy keyboard, go for the clicky kind. If you like a spongier feel go for linear switches. Or, if you prefer some feedback with your keypresses, go for a tactile switch.
It's possible to order keyboard switch tester packs from some suppliers, so if you want to try some out before you fork out, it might be a good idea to grab one of those. Check out our mechanical keyboard switch guide for a more in depth look. Actuation Point The height to which a key needs to be pressed before it actuates and sends an input signal to a device.
Clicky A switch that delivers an audible click every time it's pressed, generally right around the point of actuation.
0コメント