I love the ability to change the color on certain areas of the keyboard. But the anti-ghosting setup would make this near unusable for me. Thats a disappointment in comparison to other gaming keyboards that do not have that limitation.
I'm surprised at the number of keyboards being reviewed here. I'm also surprised at how few of them are split/natural. I've used a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for software development for many years now and like it. In looking for a wireless version, I recently picked up the newly redesigned version of my old favorite, the Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard. Verdict is still in progress. Compact layout of the right hand keys and different function keys is still throwing me off.
I'm curious if there's any interest in reviewing these kinds of keyboards here. I click on every keyboard review and then sigh, another straight classic keyboard. There were some of the more unusual entries like Kinesis/Ergodox/Teck, but nothing a little closer to normal with a price tag to match.
I agree 100%! I've been using Microsoft ergonomic keyboards for over 15 years (I tried a Logitech once and it failed prematurely, and I don't like any classic keyboards). It would be nice to see reviews of other ergonomic keyboards. They may be a niche, but so are gaming keyboards.
Most sites only review gaming equipment (keyboard, mouse, etc) rather than everyday/professional use. It's a shame more companies don't go for ergonomic keyboards, but in this day of chiclet keyboards with near zero travel there isn't much benefit for companies to make good keyboards.
That and ergonomic keyboards are bad for gaming, since they tend to take up a bit more room and have more distance between the movement keys and use/items/management keys
I'd love to see a mechanical version of one of those MS Natural boards, I had like three of them between high school and college (90s thru 2010)... Left then behind in favor of mechanicals, took a bit to adjust but I'm not sure I really miss the layout. Would have to go back to it and see how much better it feels.
Because for other than typing they are horrible devices, they are pretty much useless when gaming and to many of us are actually painful to use, the so called "ergonomic" layout is not really do for a lot of users
anandtech.... you know I really love you. i do sweatheart i do.... but why are your articles really terrible in the past months.... get your hands on more quality equipment and stuff... :/ things are going a bit south i think everyone can agree.
I recently found myself shopping for a new keyboard, and was really agonizing over what the locally available options were. I wound up buying the Apex first, but wound up returning it in just a couple of hours. The "s" and "a" keys had really nasty habit of double-typing or alternatively not registering at all, and I wasn't the only one to notice that issue.
The feel of it was really quite good for a rubber dome keyboard, so I didn't have much of a complaint there. The layout of the keys honestly had a *serious* appeal to me as a left-handed gamer that desperately wants more keys over at the arrow key cluster. And to top it off, my AS/400 and vintage computing hobby really made the prospect of those additional function keys a dream come true.
I was really disappointed to have it turn out this poorly.
I returned it and picked up a shockingly good ThermalTake Poseidon Z mechanical with Kailh blue switches and static blue backlighting, and as much as I really appreciated that keyboard I spotted a chance to order the ridiculously hard to find Corsair K70 with Cherry's RGB blues and jumped at it. It hasn't been perfect, and there are definitely issues Corsair needs to work on, but I'm comfortable with the choice.
That said, if someone comes out with a keyboard like the Apex (24 F-keys, 12 F-keys on the side, extra arrows) with mechanical switches and full RGB lighting, I'm going to be twitching again.
i also gsettled on the k70 rgb however i have the red switch version. i also still have and love the poseidon. for the moeny the poseidon is a fantastic keyboard and can be had for $70 even in some retail box stores, hard to beat it for value for money...
however the k70 rgb is more than just about backlighting each key whatever color or color change you like. the macro programmability is truly the best out there so far. you can program mouse events and edit the timing down to 1 millisecond if you desire.
and for your desire there's the k95 rgb no extra arrow keys but a massive array of macro keys on the left
I've had an original K90 for a couple years (membrane F keys and all), no major complaints. I think I wanna try a Ducky TKL board next tho, specially now that there's a speaker and headphone amp on my desk (so the volume control feels less necessary).
If I don't end up loving the compact TKL I'll probably jump on a K95 RGB... I wish Corsair had a more high end TKL board with backlight etc. I actually use my K90 macro keys outside of gaming more than anything (Lightroom, coding shortcuts, etc), but I could live without them.
You might want to check your nearest Best Buy location, as they have an exclusive TKL model there, the K65 RGB. Not sure what switch options they'll have though. I think it's browns.
Unfortunately, the K95 with RGB blues doesn't appear to be shipping in quantity any time soon, people are pretty upset about it. I decided to go with the K70 after my time with the Poseidon, as I really liked how compact it is on my desk. As to the macro programming, that's a great feature to have sometimes. My previous keyboard was a Razer black widow ultimate, and I used the macro feature there too.
I've been using this keyboard for a few months for work. I got it on sale from BestBuy for $30 which i think is a good price for it.
One thing the review doesn't mention, is that the keys on this keyboard are VERY tightly spaced. Probably a consequence of trying to cram so many keys on one platform. If you have big hands I would not recommend it. My hands are moderate size and I have some discomfort after long periods of typing.
I'm a programmer and use a lot of shortcuts. I have the macro keys configured to various text macros and that works reasonably well. The config "engine" is somewhat sluggish, but it has a lot of options.
Long story short, i would be much happier with it if the keys were further apart.
I have one of these. I just got it recently to go along with a new gaming machine.
I'm still not sure what to think about it. It types fine. It has a LOT of macro buttons. The lights are very pretty.
I am sort of wishing that I had got a third Das Keyboard instead though. The Das Keyboard lets me hold down W and also press Shift-X, something I've gotten used to doing while playing SWTOR. The Apex just ignores the X. I hadn't even realized I was using this key combination until it stopped working on the Apex.
I assigned some macros but I don't really use them. I've also been so used to going without macro keys that my game key maps all assume the use of 12345, qwert, asdf, zxcv and Shift, Alt, Control. Using the macro keys actually takes my hand off that left-hand keyboard position.
I guess my review would say to get a Das Keyboard instead. It doesn't need lights because mine has the unlabelled key caps. :-)
This is the nicest keyboard I've ever had. I sold my Blackwidow Ultimate and Corsair K90 and got this Apex. Mechanical keys for gaming is obviously just a placebo effect if it actually improves someone's gaming. The customisability of the Apex is fantastic. It even allows you to record media functions, like volume up/down, play/pause/mute to the macro keys, which means I can use my left hand to raise/lower volume without needing to let go of my mouse with my right hand. That's something I've always hated: needing to lift my mouse hand to adjust volume, as the media keys are usually on the right of a keyboard.
The only complaint I have with this keyboard is that the LEDs are very weak. You have to be in a dark room to actually be able to see them. If any kind of light is on, they will be invisible. The reason for this is partially because, unlike the Black Widow, each key does not have its own individual LED bulb, but instead there is a light conducting fabric that spreads the light coming from a few strategically placed LEDs across all the keys.
TL;DR: This is a great keyboard if you don't suffer from the mechanical key obsession. Try not to have your decision to buy this be influenced by those here who clearly shouldn't even be looking at the review of a rubber dome keyboard.
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19 Comments
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Antronman - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
I'll take the K70 any day.the aluminum body makes for an easy to clean board, and I can drop it without worrying about a damaged membrane.
I also find macros to be very distracting, and the K70 is cheaper too.
I'm not sold.
Stuka87 - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
I love the ability to change the color on certain areas of the keyboard. But the anti-ghosting setup would make this near unusable for me. Thats a disappointment in comparison to other gaming keyboards that do not have that limitation.icrf - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
I'm surprised at the number of keyboards being reviewed here. I'm also surprised at how few of them are split/natural. I've used a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for software development for many years now and like it. In looking for a wireless version, I recently picked up the newly redesigned version of my old favorite, the Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard. Verdict is still in progress. Compact layout of the right hand keys and different function keys is still throwing me off.I'm curious if there's any interest in reviewing these kinds of keyboards here. I click on every keyboard review and then sigh, another straight classic keyboard. There were some of the more unusual entries like Kinesis/Ergodox/Teck, but nothing a little closer to normal with a price tag to match.
TheTechSmith - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
I agree 100%! I've been using Microsoft ergonomic keyboards for over 15 years (I tried a Logitech once and it failed prematurely, and I don't like any classic keyboards). It would be nice to see reviews of other ergonomic keyboards. They may be a niche, but so are gaming keyboards.basroil - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
Most sites only review gaming equipment (keyboard, mouse, etc) rather than everyday/professional use. It's a shame more companies don't go for ergonomic keyboards, but in this day of chiclet keyboards with near zero travel there isn't much benefit for companies to make good keyboards.That and ergonomic keyboards are bad for gaming, since they tend to take up a bit more room and have more distance between the movement keys and use/items/management keys
Impulses - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
I'd love to see a mechanical version of one of those MS Natural boards, I had like three of them between high school and college (90s thru 2010)... Left then behind in favor of mechanicals, took a bit to adjust but I'm not sure I really miss the layout. Would have to go back to it and see how much better it feels.z0phi3l - Sunday, November 2, 2014 - link
Because for other than typing they are horrible devices, they are pretty much useless when gaming and to many of us are actually painful to use, the so called "ergonomic" layout is not really do for a lot of usersaustinsguitar - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
anandtech.... you know I really love you. i do sweatheart i do.... but why are your articles really terrible in the past months.... get your hands on more quality equipment and stuff... :/ things are going a bit south i think everyone can agree.NotLupus - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
i agreeTellarHK - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
I recently found myself shopping for a new keyboard, and was really agonizing over what the locally available options were. I wound up buying the Apex first, but wound up returning it in just a couple of hours. The "s" and "a" keys had really nasty habit of double-typing or alternatively not registering at all, and I wasn't the only one to notice that issue.The feel of it was really quite good for a rubber dome keyboard, so I didn't have much of a complaint there. The layout of the keys honestly had a *serious* appeal to me as a left-handed gamer that desperately wants more keys over at the arrow key cluster. And to top it off, my AS/400 and vintage computing hobby really made the prospect of those additional function keys a dream come true.
I was really disappointed to have it turn out this poorly.
I returned it and picked up a shockingly good ThermalTake Poseidon Z mechanical with Kailh blue switches and static blue backlighting, and as much as I really appreciated that keyboard I spotted a chance to order the ridiculously hard to find Corsair K70 with Cherry's RGB blues and jumped at it. It hasn't been perfect, and there are definitely issues Corsair needs to work on, but I'm comfortable with the choice.
That said, if someone comes out with a keyboard like the Apex (24 F-keys, 12 F-keys on the side, extra arrows) with mechanical switches and full RGB lighting, I'm going to be twitching again.
wetwareinterface - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
i also gsettled on the k70 rgb however i have the red switch version. i also still have and love the poseidon. for the moeny the poseidon is a fantastic keyboard and can be had for $70 even in some retail box stores, hard to beat it for value for money...however the k70 rgb is more than just about backlighting each key whatever color or color change you like. the macro programmability is truly the best out there so far. you can program mouse events and edit the timing down to 1 millisecond if you desire.
and for your desire there's the k95 rgb no extra arrow keys but a massive array of macro keys on the left
Impulses - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
I've had an original K90 for a couple years (membrane F keys and all), no major complaints. I think I wanna try a Ducky TKL board next tho, specially now that there's a speaker and headphone amp on my desk (so the volume control feels less necessary).If I don't end up loving the compact TKL I'll probably jump on a K95 RGB... I wish Corsair had a more high end TKL board with backlight etc. I actually use my K90 macro keys outside of gaming more than anything (Lightroom, coding shortcuts, etc), but I could live without them.
TellarHK - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
You might want to check your nearest Best Buy location, as they have an exclusive TKL model there, the K65 RGB. Not sure what switch options they'll have though. I think it's browns.piiman - Sunday, November 16, 2014 - link
They have a K65 RGB which is just like the K70 but TKLTellarHK - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - link
Unfortunately, the K95 with RGB blues doesn't appear to be shipping in quantity any time soon, people are pretty upset about it. I decided to go with the K70 after my time with the Poseidon, as I really liked how compact it is on my desk. As to the macro programming, that's a great feature to have sometimes. My previous keyboard was a Razer black widow ultimate, and I used the macro feature there too.editorsorgtfo - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - link
I've been using this keyboard for a few months for work. I got it on sale from BestBuy for $30 which i think is a good price for it.One thing the review doesn't mention, is that the keys on this keyboard are VERY tightly spaced. Probably a consequence of trying to cram so many keys on one platform. If you have big hands I would not recommend it. My hands are moderate size and I have some discomfort after long periods of typing.
I'm a programmer and use a lot of shortcuts. I have the macro keys configured to various text macros and that works reasonably well. The config "engine" is somewhat sluggish, but it has a lot of options.
Long story short, i would be much happier with it if the keys were further apart.
Zan Lynx - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - link
I have one of these. I just got it recently to go along with a new gaming machine.I'm still not sure what to think about it. It types fine. It has a LOT of macro buttons. The lights are very pretty.
I am sort of wishing that I had got a third Das Keyboard instead though. The Das Keyboard lets me hold down W and also press Shift-X, something I've gotten used to doing while playing SWTOR. The Apex just ignores the X. I hadn't even realized I was using this key combination until it stopped working on the Apex.
I assigned some macros but I don't really use them. I've also been so used to going without macro keys that my game key maps all assume the use of 12345, qwert, asdf, zxcv and Shift, Alt, Control. Using the macro keys actually takes my hand off that left-hand keyboard position.
I guess my review would say to get a Das Keyboard instead. It doesn't need lights because mine has the unlabelled key caps. :-)
SeanJ76 - Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - link
I'll keep my G15aksiram - Sunday, November 30, 2014 - link
This is the nicest keyboard I've ever had. I sold my Blackwidow Ultimate and Corsair K90 and got this Apex. Mechanical keys for gaming is obviously just a placebo effect if it actually improves someone's gaming. The customisability of the Apex is fantastic. It even allows you to record media functions, like volume up/down, play/pause/mute to the macro keys, which means I can use my left hand to raise/lower volume without needing to let go of my mouse with my right hand. That's something I've always hated: needing to lift my mouse hand to adjust volume, as the media keys are usually on the right of a keyboard.The only complaint I have with this keyboard is that the LEDs are very weak. You have to be in a dark room to actually be able to see them. If any kind of light is on, they will be invisible. The reason for this is partially because, unlike the Black Widow, each key does not have its own individual LED bulb, but instead there is a light conducting fabric that spreads the light coming from a few strategically placed LEDs across all the keys.
TL;DR: This is a great keyboard if you don't suffer from the mechanical key obsession. Try not to have your decision to buy this be influenced by those here who clearly shouldn't even be looking at the review of a rubber dome keyboard.