Loads of mechanical keyboards battle with aesthetics. It’s exhausting to get proper! If the styling is overdone, you would possibly inhibit performance or simply have an excessive amount of happening visually. For those who stick 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 flawed 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 out there in the present day. With most of those keyboards, keycaps take a backseat—even when they appear good, they’re often pretty commonplace 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 appear actually good and handle to enliven 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 inner meeting that makes it each enjoyable to sort on and straightforward to change. It is out there 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 corresponding 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 analogous, as are the sound profiles. The largest distinction is the swap choices: Razer’s 75% keyboard is just out there with tactile switches, whereas Asus gives linear and clicky switches.
The unit I obtained got here with Asus’s Snow linear switches. These are a reasonably mild linear swap with a deeper typing sound and a constant smoothness all through all the 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 fulfilling. These switches even have minimal stem wobble, that means keypresses really feel steady and assured when typing. They require much less pressure than a Cherry MX Crimson swap, requiring 53 grams of pressure to completely 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 mixture between a gasket mount and an o-ring mount, because the rubber gaskets are pressed tightly into the within of the case. This implies the typing really feel is constant throughout all the keyboard, and feels extra related 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 commonplace plate-mounted, lubed from the manufacturing facility. 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 lots of issues I like in regards to the design. The keycaps are barely flatter than the typical keycap and have a two-piece meeting with a clear again for RGB diffusion. The case has a smooth and angular design that appears fashionable and space-age with out taking on lots of room.
