Flashygamingkeyboardsarealltherage,butwhat if you just want a solid typing
experience?EdwardChestertestssomeof the non-gaming options
Typing tools
LABS TEST
Howwe test
T
echnically speaking, there’s little that truly makes a keyboard
stand out as being designed for gaming these days. A multitude
of extra gaming keys is no longer a requirement for the most
part, and many of them use proper mechanical switches too.
Most keyboards from popular gaming peripheral brands, such as
Corsair, Razer and SteelSeries, have standard 105-key layouts, with
maybe a small cluster of multimedia buttons. Regardless, there’s a
general aesthetic to such keyboards. They tend to be bulky, aggressively
styled and festooned with RGB lighting. They also tend to be wired, rather
than wireless.
For this test, we wanted to explore some of the other options, whether
it’s wireless convenience, a super-low profile, a tiny footprint or an
ergonomic design. This range of options means we’ll largely be assessing
each keyboard on its own merits: if it’s meant to be lightweight and
portable, it wouldn’t be very fair to judge it for lacking lots of extra buttons,
for instance.
However, there are some basic criteria that we’ll be looking for in all the
boards. First and foremost is the quality of the typing experience. The keys
should offer a reliable, responsive and stable action, with an intuitive – or
easy-to-learn – layout.
Build quality is also important, both in terms of the look and feel of the
keyboard as a whole, and the quality of the keyswitches. You may prefer
the shorter action and softer landing of rubber membrane switches,
but they very noticeably wear out quicker than so-called mechanical
switches, while low-profile scissor switches tend to sit somewhere in the
middle. Styling is also a factor, as are any extra features, plus the price.Contents
Filco Majestouch Convertible 2 Tenkeyless / p55
HP K2500 / p56
KBParadise V60 / p57
Logitech K780 / p58
Logitech MX Craft/ p59
Matias RGB Backlit WiredAluminium Keyboard for PC / p60
Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard / p61LABS TEST / KEYBOARDS