Numerous mechanical keyboards battle with aesthetics. It’s laborious to get proper! If the styling is overdone, you may inhibit performance or simply have an excessive amount of happening visually. When you keep on with the fundamentals, you may find yourself with a bland keyboard. Whichever means you go, there’s nonetheless an opportunity you’ll get it unsuitable and have one thing that doesn’t look good.
However there’s been an inflow of actually well-designed keyboards of late: Keychron’s K2 HE Particular Version is a superb instance, together with the Mchose GX87 Extremely, to not point out the numerous high-end customized keyboard kits accessible immediately. With most of those keyboards, keycaps take a backseat—even when they give the impression of being good, they’re normally pretty normal and minimal.
Asus takes the alternative strategy with the ROG Azoth X: A easy white case, however colourful and stylized keycaps. It’s not probably the most standard design, however they give the impression of being actually good and handle to brighten up a desk with out taking up your setup. This keyboard manages to look good with out sacrificing substance—the Azoth X has 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, 1,000-Hz polling, and an inner meeting that makes it each enjoyable to kind on and straightforward to switch. It is accessible in white with both click on or linear NX switches, and features a silicone wrist relaxation. All that prices a fairly penny, although, at $300.
Deep and Snappy Typing
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
This keyboard is most similar to Razer’s BlackWidow V4 75% in typing expertise. Each use a steel high case and a plastic backside case with a gasket mount system and a plastic plate. The stiffness is comparable, as are the sound profiles. The largest distinction is the swap choices: Razer’s 75% keyboard is just accessible with tactile switches, whereas Asus affords linear and clicky switches.
The unit I acquired got here with Asus’s Snow linear switches. These are a reasonably gentle linear swap with a deeper typing sound and a constant smoothness all through your complete keypress. They aren’t the smoothest switches I’ve examined, however the friction felt when typing is each minimal and constant, leading to a typing expertise that’s nonetheless satisfying. These switches even have minimal stem wobble, that means keypresses really feel secure and assured when typing. They require much less power than a Cherry MX Crimson swap, requiring 53 grams of power to totally backside out in comparison with the MX Crimson’s 60 grams. This distinction is noticeable and makes the switches really feel extra responsive with out as a lot threat of mis-inputs in comparison with a very light-weight (sub-50g) spring.
The gasket-mounting system that holds the keyboard in place appears like a combination between a gasket mount and an o-ring mount, for the reason that rubber gaskets are pressed tightly into the within of the case. This implies the typing really feel is constant throughout your complete keyboard, and feels extra linked to the case in comparison with a typical foam gasket. It nonetheless has among the bounce and softness anticipated from a gasket mount, however it’s lower than many comparable keyboards.
The stabilizers within the Azoth X are normal plate-mounted, lubed from the manufacturing unit. Whereas plate-mount stabilizers are usually going to really feel much less secure than PCB-mount, those used right here nonetheless really feel good and haven’t any rattle out of the field.
House-Age Aesthetics
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
There are loads of issues I like in regards to the design. The keycaps are barely flatter than the common keycap and have a two-piece meeting with a clear again for RGB diffusion. The case has a smooth and angular design that appears trendy and space-age with out taking over loads of room.
