Custom PC – October 2019

T

heLogitechG513Carbon is a

departure from the company’s

previous gaming keyboards.

The angular, plasticky, gimmicky feel

of the G910 is gone, and instead we have

a sleek, almost minimalist keyboard that

oozes quality.

The fanciest feature is the aluminium

top plate. It’s not an original addition,

with Corsair long being associated with

the look, but it’s a tried and tested route

towards a more premium-feeling product.

In fact, it works better than with many

other keyboards, as Logitech’s in-house

Romer-G keyswitches don’t spill their

backlighting out all over the aluminium

plate, making for a tidy overall look.

On the flipside, the metal used isn’t

as thick as on Corsair’s keyboards, and

the G513 feels relatively lightweight and

flexible for a mechanical keyboard. The

minimalist feel also impacts on some

practical aspects though. You miss out on

any extra gaming keys, for example, and

there are no dedicated multimedia controls.

Meanwhile, several of the F keys have

secondary functions that are activated via

the right Fn key, but they aren’t much use

for gaming. F5-F12 are pre-programmed,

while F1-F4 can be given extra functions via

Logitech’s software. You can also use this

software to assign macros to these keys,

but you can’t program any other keys. Tap

Fn+F8 and the keyboard will enter a game

mode that deactivates the Windows keys,

plus you can set it to deactivate other keys.

A welcome addition is a pleather-covered

memory foam wrist rest. Oddly, it doesn’t

attach to the keyboard, but just rests on its

own six rubber feet, although that makes it

versatile too, plus it feels great. The lengthy

1.8m cable is braided and quite thick, so it

should stand the test of time, although it’s

rather stiff and arrives rather kinked. A USB

passthrough can be found on the rear.

As for the overall typing/gaming

experience, the clear labelling and RGB

backlighting makes it easy to see what’s

going on, and Logitech’s Romer-G keys feel

essentially as good as Cherry MX equivalent

in action. A unique keycaps fitting means

you can’t easily replace keycaps though.

Conclusion

The G513 Carbon is a stylish keyboard

with great backlighting and a lovely,

comfortable wrist rest. However, it

lacks a few features, its configurability

is basic and its keycaps can’t easily

be replaced with generic ones.

PERFORMANCE

22 / 30

DESIGN

16 / 20

VALUE

24 / 30

FEATURES

12 / 20

OVERALLSCORE

74

VERDICT
Withitslow-ridingstyleandgreatfeatureset,
theK70Mk.2isourtopkeyboardpick.

VERDICT

A stylish, quality keyboard for a

competitive price, although it’s lacking

some notable features.

VERDICT

Top build quality sets this keyboard apart, but

it’s not good enough to justify its price.

and the company’s extensive range of other

RGB components means it’s easy to manage

all your PC’s lighting from one place.

Conclusion

It’s not cheap, but the K70 Mk.2 Low

Profile is fantastic. It looks amazing, it’s

well built, the low-profile design feels

lovely and it has a wide range of features.

Assuming the problematic keyswitch we

experienced is an isolated incident, we can’t

recommend this keyboard highly enough.

which means the labelling on each key isn’t just

printed but runs throughout the depth of the key,

making them very durable. However, the clarity

of the labelling, particularly on keys with finer

writing, such as Home and PgUp, isn’t great.

Conclusion

The Shine 7 is a fantastic premium

mechanical keyboard with a smart design,

top-notch build quality and a good balance

of features. However, the overly bright lock

key lights are surprisingly distracting, and

the lack of software programmability is

a shame, especially for the high price.

DESIGN

20 / 20

PERFORMANCE

24 / 30

FEATURES

18 / 20

VALUE

22 / 30

OVERALLSCORE

84

DESIGN

16 / 20

PERFORMANCE

24 / 30

FEATURES

16 / 20

VALUE

20 / 30

OVERALLSCORE

76

LOGITECH G513 CARBON

/£105incVAT

SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk