Loads of mechanical keyboards wrestle with aesthetics. It’s laborious to get proper! If the styling is overdone, you would possibly inhibit performance or simply have an excessive amount of happening visually. If you happen to keep on with the fundamentals, you would possibly find yourself with a bland keyboard. Whichever approach 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 Special Edition is a superb instance, together with the Mchose GX87 Ultra, to not point out the numerous high-end customized keyboard kits accessible right this moment. With most of those keyboards, keycaps take a backseat—even when they appear good, they’re often pretty customary and minimal.
Asus takes the alternative method with the ROG Azoth X: A easy white case, however colourful and stylized keycaps. It’s not probably the most standard design, however they appear actually good and handle to brighten up a desk with out taking on 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 inside meeting that makes it each enjoyable to kind on and simple 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 reasonably penny, although, at $300.
Deep and Snappy Typing
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
This keyboard is most corresponding to Razer’s BlackWidow V4 75% in typing expertise. Each use a steel prime case and a plastic backside case with a gasket mount system and a plastic plate. The stiffness is analogous, as are the sound profiles. The largest distinction is the change choices: Razer’s 75% keyboard is barely accessible with tactile switches, whereas Asus gives linear and clicky switches.
The unit I acquired got here with Asus’s Snow linear switches. These are a reasonably mild linear change with a deeper typing sound and a constant smoothness all through the complete keypress. They aren’t the smoothest switches I’ve tested, 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 steady and assured when typing. They require much less power than a Cherry MX Red switch, 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 really light-weight (sub-50g) spring.
The gasket-mounting system that holds the keyboard in place looks 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 the complete keyboard, and feels extra linked to the case in comparison with an ordinary foam gasket. It nonetheless has a few of the bounce and softness anticipated from a gasket mount, however it’s lower than many comparable keyboards.
The stabilizers within the Azoth X are customary plate-mounted, lubed from the manufacturing unit. Whereas plate-mount stabilizers are sometimes going to really feel much less steady than PCB-mount, those used right here nonetheless really feel good and haven’t any rattle out of the field.
Area-Age Aesthetics
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
There are quite a lot 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 glossy and angular design that appears fashionable and space-age with out taking over quite a lot of room.
