Keyboards are something we easily forget can impact our entire PC experience! This video aims to educate new buyers on what keyboard specs are and how to pick their next keyboard! Thank you to NZXT for sponsoring todays video and providing the NZXT Function 2 Keyboards for this video! Check it out the Function Series keyboards at nzxt.com/collection/keyboard
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Hey man! There are a lot of Keyboard creators out there, feel free to reach out to any of us if you need additional info on them! There's a lot of keyboards out there and NZXT is a start, but definitely not the end!
Nice to see you here! And it's great to provide additional info to Jayz on the topic! I am buying my first mechanical hot-swappable keyboard, not the most expensive one and your channel helped me with it. I am going for Akko Monsgeek MG108B with Akko V3 Pro Cream Yellow switches, but I had a hard time (and partially still have) to decide if I should not order Akko V3 Pro Cream Blue switches instead... Have you got some recommendation out of your rich experiences when it comes to deciding between these two switches?
They’re not even scratching the surface, keyboard king! (By the way, Hipyo, your arms are really skinny!)
@@geeker9545I was going to buy the cream yellows, BUT ACCIDENTALLY ORDERED the blues and turned out LOVING them. People say the sound isn’t too different between them, but the tactility does change the sound profile. They’re pretty loud compared to the yellows, but I guess neither are classified as silent switches…
@@geeker9545The blues force you to press down the key all the way down with every press (or at least, as deep as the tactile bump is noticeable), thus making subtle typing quite difficult whereas on the yellows you would have an easier time, since they don’t have that bump.
@@geeker9545If you’re uncertain about which you would enjoy the most, you purchase them and then return them if you don’t like them…?
I think its pretty good to do videos like this every couple years. Refresher for veterans (who can chime in) and gets newer folks informed on what to look for in their peripherals. Tech changes so fast that if you aren't an enthusiast you just fall out of touch with what you might actually be looking for but get something that sounds familiar. Appreciate the vid to give me something to jump off of and look into getting a keyboard to suit my preferences.
I’ve been into PC gaming for 30 years now. Never understood all the keyboard lingo. This was much appreciated. Thanks Jay!
as a person who is buying expensive keyboards they are not worth the price a membrane keyboard can do the job. i just like them for the keycaps look
@@Rayu25Demon this is probably true for most people, but for me to type my max 140+WPM i have to use linear switch keys, membrane or laptop keyboards just cant keep up with me it seems. also having a keyboard that you personally enjoy the feel and sound of, is a pretty nice addition.
@@Rayu25Demon I feel differently. A membrane key works well enough, but I personally prefer a mechanical because of the way it feels while typing. And having specific actuation points means my sloppy hands (and typing) can actually hit a letter I normally would have missed be cause I barely tapped it. It's enough to actuate a mechanical, but wouldn't be enough to depress a membrane. Unless it's a very soft membrane... I know some make them softer for easier depresses. Now, "worth the price"? That's a whole other convo, as most probably are not. So I agree with you there, for the most part. I have a K70 RGB MK.2, and I love this keyboard. But it was not worth the $150 I spent at the time.
@@Rayu25Demon TBH I buy them for typing. The only advantage they confer for gaming is really that they'll reliably last 10 years. a membrane board if it ever happens to hit the dew point in your room has weeks to live. Humidity will end a membrane. A mechanical gaming keyboard is more likely to fail because you broke a solder joint with brute force lol
@@cooleyzz after buying and reselling many keyboards, i ended up with fullsize ANSI keyboard that has cherry MX silent red, is basically a mechanical switch with Rubber 🤣i realy missed the rubber feeling of my old cheap keyboards and controllers now its hard for to switch for another one
So, just to help out a little, the Cherry Profile actually refers to the height and shape of the keycaps, the "cross" is the MX Style of keycap. You were really close on this, but I didn't want people to get confused. The "doing" noise can be fixed if you pop the switch itself open and use some lube on the sides and a little on the ends of the spring (or a lighter lube on the whole spring). There's also Hall Effect switch keyboards and this is the real gamer keyboard. It has even more adjustability on the actuation. The famous one is the Wooting60 and the new comer with a great HE keyboard is the Zoom75 HE keyboard. You may wanna look into that in comparison to Optical.
I was just wondering about it, thanks. I remember the praise by competitive FPS players for Wooting, and was wondering if anyone else came out with another good HE / analogue keyboard, especially would be nice if it was closer to 100 EUR than to 200 like Wooting and Zoom are.
There are several more options at varying proces, look at the Akko MOD007b HE which is a less costly alternative.@@_APV_
Keychron is also working on a Hall Effect keyboard. Still only has a mailing list for updates at the moment.
They already ran a Kickstarter for the Q1 HE, but that's going to be over that 200 dollar mark... the Akko MOD007b HE is only 139 for the PC edition. Now that they're starting to release Akko compatible HE switches (which are different from the Wooting and some other keyboards, like the Keychron for instance) they're also going to be making a NEO HE PCB for the NEO65 (which I am waiting on since i have the keybaord already)@@SelecaoOfMidas
Reminder that hall effect keyboards have been around since the 1960s as well (Micro Switch [now owned by Honeywell I think] was a massive producer of such switches). They generally have lifetimes that far exceed that of mechanical switch (sometimes in the billions, vs 50-100 million for cherry style switches). Hence, hall effect keyboards have traditionally been used in areas where it is mission critical that the switch will work.
Wait till Jay finds out about HE boards like Wooting, Arbiter & Boog75 lol
Wait till Jay finds out about custom keyboard kits like KBDfans and Keycult.
Keycult, I think that he's going to need a time machine for that one, LOL@@QoraxAudio
@@ChrisJames024 Yeah... the heydays of keycult are more less over... still good keyboards though. But KBDfans, Wind, Keychron and alike are still pretty active designers of keyboards.
Well, as far as Wind, Daring Running is their sub company (Like NEO is to Qwertykeys, which is in turn to OwlLabs, LOL) and I am waiting for my DR-70F which looks pretty good.@@QoraxAudio
@@ChrisJames024I been out of the game for the last year or so, what happened to Keycult?
I got into the keyboard hobby a few months ago and I have learned so much. To the point where I have built three custom keyboards so far. There is an endless combination of switches, keycaps, stabilizers and so on. What I really love about this hobby is that no two keyboards are the same, since we all combine different switches, keycaps, keyboard cases ect. Not only do they all look different, they all sound and feel different as well. And that is very satisfying. They are kinda like custom PCs. Sure they all have the same basic components, but you will never see two custom PCs that are exactly alike. I used to be like Jay and thought that I could never use anything but a full size keyboard. But when I got into the hobby, I built a 65% keyboard (no F row and no number pad on the right side), but it still has the arrow keys and I loved it. I realized that I never, ever use the F keys and I only use the number pad when I have to word in Excel. So when I am not working, the 65% board works just fine for me. I hope that more people look into custom keyboards. There are so a many other boards out there that are better and even cheaper than the traditional pre-built keybords from gaming companies.
Have you built a split columnar one yet? Or just try something like a Dygma Rise, Moonlander, Zsa Voyager,.... for another thing to customize.
Get to the point you can see the FEEL of a switch by looking at it's graph? There is a switch I would love to use made by KAILH: Box Royal Navy. It's B-shaped rather than P-shape tactile feel. Problem? The switch wears out quickly - like months or weeks and turns into a liner. :( I find AKKO switches to be quite good. Not as scratchy as Kailah, good price and packaging. About $16 for 45 switches.
Good video, pretty good info for beginners. Something to note, with mechanical keyboards, if you want to adjust your actuation point you can, you just have to swap out different switches. "Speed" switches generally have a 1-1.2 mm actuation point, standard switches have actuation at 2 mm, and there are various in betweens. You can also get switches with shorter or longer travel, the standard is 4mm while there are short-travel switches with around 3mm travel, and again all types in between. If being able to change actuation point is truly important to someone, though, I'd suggest Hall-effect magnetic switches.
I love my G915, as well. The low profile switches and keycaps are a massive plus for me personally as I have early onset arthritis and it allows for a much more comfortable feel as opposed to full size switches and keycaps with less inclination in the wrist and less bending of the knuckles.
Literally was looking for an explained video for keyboards! Thanks Jay
Coming from years deep in the custom keyboard hobby i can only say a few things: 1. Inform yourself well, don't buy these "gamer" oriented brands and boards. You will not get the value and quality you'd want. 2. It's all preference and you will only know by trying and testing yourself - Don't let anyone talk down on your likes. 3. Don't be surprised by prices, it's a luxury goods hobby
Gotta especially agree with #2, and also add a fourth. 🙂 If you're looking around online, a lot of people don't think much of the more "clicky" switches (like MX Blues, for example). They immediately became my favorite when actually trying them, though. With a catch (here's my #4 🙂 ): I have a computer completely setup for writing, from the ground up. For that, clicky switches were my absolute favorite. But I also have a gaming machine. On that one, I still love the more tactile switches (with a "bump" in the feel as you press down), but I don't want the clicking as I'm talking through my mic. So I'd say a 4th point is that depending on your use-case, you might find one thing works great for one thing you do, but a different thing is best for something else.
Well, 1 is not entirely true there are some good brands that make good products for gamers such as Corsair or the mouse I have from MSI, good products come at a higher price point but my K100 is worth the price, my MSI mouse wasn't that expensive but it is the most comfortable mouse that I had since I can remember using mice, and I have been a gamer since the age of 5.
@@leagueaddict8357to be that guy, just because the K100 isn't bad, doesn't mean it's good. If it's been a bit since you last looked into keyboards you can get pretty good keyboards with hot-swappable switches for under $100. That means for the price of the K100 you can also get a different set of keycaps and switches to suit your preferences (and probably still have money left over). Mice are a different story and is not what we're talking about.
@@BelacDarkstorm Well, I got it a while ago and it is working well the K100 is a good keyboard, you don't want it to be I don't know why but it is that is just a fact, even after 3 years it still is a good keyboard. I have no intend on swapping them out they feel good, they are responsive they are fast I get feedback, not a single key is damaged after 3 years of being used a lot, and it has a polling rate of 8000hz which is 8 times faster than most keyboards out there.
@@leagueaddict8357As I said, it's not necessarily a bad keyboard, but $250 is A LOT for a keyboard in today's market. I can say with a decent amount of confidence that a lot of $100 boards on Amazon have more features that matter (hot-swap; 2.4ghz wireless) and feel better to type on (most mechanical keyboard switches come pre-lubed anymore). Unless you are a very high level professional gamer, 8khz is doing nothing but eating your CPU cycles.
What a great video to lay out the basics of Keyboards as a single place to get a good idea what all of the different 'specs' are for getting a new keyboard. Thanks.
Excellent explanations for all this stuff as always. I have delved into the keyboard stuff and did a handful of mods to keyboards that I like using for different things but it definitely gets complex.
Given that Jay mentioned the Logitech G915, I just wanted to say my job requires me to literally type ALL day, and my keyboard for close to 3 years now has been a refurbished G915. I absolutely love the feel of it and it doesn't hurt my hands at all to type. In fact, it's the opposite and has been the best keyboard I've ever used in terms of hand cramps. 10/10 would recommend!
Only problem is the keycaps, they stain and look greasy after a while
I have the G815 and it is a phenomenal keyboard, with only one issue in that the SHIFT key functions are not lit, such as @#$ etc.
@@Gnrnrvids I have a k845. It is fine and has through key lights for the secondary's on the numbers and main keys, but is missing that for the 'F' keys. Compared to my last keyboard I miss the dedicated macro keys, per key rgb, context based lighting, usb hub, detachable cable, and enough structure and mass to double as an emergency defense weapon.
@@barongerhardt Yeah I love the heft of of the G815. Nice and beefy.
I used Logitech for years, loved them, but I bought a SteelSeries Apex Pro a couple years ago and the key feel has been a life changer. The magnetic key switches are smooth and you can adjust the activation distance can be adjusted on a per key basis. Basically, analog keys. The LCD screen built in has been fun as well.
Thanks jay for being practical rather than what ever is most expensive.
Howdy from Texas! I enjoy your tech videos!
Something I’ve learned is that stabilizers make a huge difference! I’ve only used a couple different mechanical keyboards: I started with a ducky one 2 SF, and ended with a Dygma raise, and both have been phenomenal (but don’t get me started on the Raise not coming with the tenting kit, and being sold out on their website… It’s literally the reason for the name of the product). In the middle, I built my own GMMK Pro. I absolutely love the switch and keycap combo that I came up with, and the board is overall amazing… Except for the fact that the stock stabilizers literally make it garbage. When the keys are depressed, they stick, and sometimes take a few seconds to release. I know it’s just a matter of stock lube, being too heavy, but it seriously destroys the entire typing experience. I can’t believe that they would’ve even shipped boards like that, or not had a recall. Took such an amazing product, and now I just hang it on my wall because I can’t stand using it.
very informative i have heard all kinds of terms on gaming keyboards and mice had no clue
Great video, keep them coming along!
Good video, i like seeing the more informational videos from time to time
You make the computer rabbit hole not as deep and give me alot of knowledge with your explanations on all your videos. Thank you!!
This was great to watch, I've been wanting to get a new keyboard and mouse for a few months now as they are pretty basic and starting to wear down after a few years. So NZXTs entries make me consider them now for a 100% full keyboard, probably an optical one.
I love my G915, which I bought when you talked about it a couple of years back.
Same! They are very pricy here in India because they’re imported (they don’t even sell them here) so I had my cousin get it for me from Canada. I’m no keyboard expert but I wanted a premium mainstream keyboard and I really love it ❤
I grabbed a steel series pro Tkl. I love that I can customize the key sensitivity individually. Down to .1mm or up to 4mm. Very nice to play around with.
sounds like a toy.
@@kaimojepaslt oh it absolutely is
Some good information. Thanks Jay.
I have a Royal Kludge mechanical typewriter-style keyboard with circular keys I got off Amazon and I love it :)
Royal Kludge makes awesome boards for the money.
@@802Garage Their RK-100 is very nice. Compact, with a Numpad for about $70.
I just bought my Royal yesterday! RK100. I can't wait it's my first new keyboard in years.
I just bought a RK M75 to use for my media pc thinking it would be average. I like it so much I kind of want to use it for my main
I bought a RK87 with brown switches and it's pretty decent. Perfect sized TKL and it's kinda heavy but that's perfect for me cause its main purpose is on my lap while gaming on the couch.
You are awesome Jay! Thank you for this great video. Perfect idea for a vid. I learned a lot as always. Your presence on camera is amazing! Wishing you and your family and crew the very best. Cheers
thanks jay and crew good video learn some new every day lot i did not know and thank you again
took my kid to best buy to try out as many as he could. of course he picked out the steelseries apex pro tkl, lol. it's crazy how you can program the actuation of the keys, the color of each individual key. it's nice, but i think he just liked the way it felt in the store and the rgb, he's 12. i have an old cherry mx brown logitech with white lights on the keys that can be turned off entirely, love the way the browns feel.
These types of videos from Jay are what made me subscribe to the channel initially when I was putting together my first build.
20 minute ads for overpriced plastic/ABS keyboards?
Nice coincidence seeing this release today. A friend and I were talking about keyboards; they were completely in the dark about various attributes and I was able to point her toward this. Conversation came up because I started talking about how I'm keyboard shopping. My Roccat Vulcan 100 is dying, so I'm looking for something similar with better longevity.
Must love the acoustic after it all comes together😊. 12 custom keyboards in my collection.
Nice video, very informative and fun.
Thanks for the info. Learned quite a bit.
Yes, please do more. Thanks again for great Videos.
I'd definitely be up for more of this kind of content. I built a PC about a year ago for the first time (with a lot of help from this channel!) and a friend helped me with what to buy as time was an issue, so I'm always finding I'm a little bit lost when it comes to this type of stuff. When it comes time to upgrade/replace stuff, this kind of content is invaluable. I've also been wanting to write you an email to ask if you'd do a noobs video about best practices with storage set ups. I've got two 1TB NVME drives on the motherboard but I'm actually a digital artist more than a gamer, so storing all my .psd's and .blend files along with Steam eating up all my space meant I had to move steam onto an external SSD (it's all I had available - pretty broke RN). Works fine for now, but should I just get a cheap massive HDD for storage, or are they now totally obsolete, and would it make more sense to put games or art stuff on it or an SSD equivalent? Also my OS is on the slower of the two NVME's because that was the one I had originally, but does it matter, is it movable, is that a risk just not worth taking for the performance gains it may or may not bring... All the questions haha! Love your content. You are my go to for all things computer related. Hope things are going ok with your health stuff also.
Great information to know for my next purchase
More videos like this one would be much appreciated!
I still use an old Steelseries Merc Stealth gaming keyboard. Bought one in 2009, and bought a spare in 2010...still have both and will never replace until they both no longer work.
I just found an old but newer keyboard that allows for all the custom keys, so this is perfect timing, love the break downs from a consumer point of view.
If you have doubleshot keycaps, then shinethrough will not be an issue. And doubleshot does not mean thicker necessarily. Doubleshot means that 2 different colors of plastic are used (one for the legend, and one for the rest of the keycap. The letters go through the keycaps entirely so it is not possible to wear off the legends unless you wear through the entire keycap (which you will not do). You might be confusing it with shine, which is when you slightly wear the texture of the keycap off so the keycaps become shiny, but the legend is still clearly visible with no light bleed. Keycaps that have lightbleed are not doubleshot. They are transparent keycaps that are painted (black usually) except for where the letter is. once you wear through the paint layer, then it will have lightbleed.
I just wanted to shoutout all you pc building/ gaming KZhead channels for inspiring me to take a leap and build my own rig. It is one of the most satisfying things I've ever done and this year was the year to be able to afford it. So thank you 😌
I have an EVGA Z12. It was $20 on sale and is perfect for me. I am also the last person to talk to for special keyboards. I am a light-touch typist and learned on actual typewriters. I don't wear out keyboards, I have a nearly 20-year-old Microsoft Internet keyboard in the closet that is still 100% and I only had to replace it because of size and space issues on the desk.
You know, the EVGA Z15 is an awesome gateway keyboard, it's a full sized keyboard with hot-swappable Kailh Speed Silver (Linear) or Kailh Speed Bronze. It's got a 10,000Hz polling rate, per key RGB (which is compatible with SignalRGB out of the box), a magnetic wrist rest, and can often be found on sale for around 50 to 75 dollars (or less on eBay). It has some flaws, like an integrated aluminum plate and those weird non-hot swap switch media keys. But I recommend it to someone who just wants something more mainstream that won't break the bank and gets you int he door of the keyboard hobby.
@@ChrisJames024 I got my Z15 for $40 bucks and I would daresay it is comparable to alot of the corsair, etc $100+ gaming keyboards and has pretty much all of the same features as those pricey-er gaming keyboards. I'm a big fanboy for EVGA, and am deeply saddened that there will be no more video cards from them. Guess my next video card will be Intel....amd is out of the question
YES! A keyboard Video! I am here for this!
Thank you for explaining all this.
Cool like to see more reviews as his for sure!
I barely looked down the custom keyboard rabbit hole but have been tempted to build one recently. This video was a fun coincidence.
Very useful info! Thanks!
Really liked this video Jay. Have seen your content for many, many, years and have always enjoyed your content. Your skunkworks videos inspired me to build my first watercooled pc in a TT Tower 900 case and two loops. It took me three years to build it, between 2017 and 2020. It was so much fun, 😅. Thanks for your inspiration.
Hello @jayztwocents another important parameter for a keyboard is the max number of simultaneous key pressed: the PCB can, sometime, be unable to handle some combinations, or more than a specific number of simultaneously pressed keys (usually noticed using Alt + shift + ctrl) Some IDE use such combinations, I think for programmers and enthusiast this information might be usefull. Love from Italy
Love the video. The explanations were great
Awesome that this exists, I've just completed my first PC build, and right now I'm looking at peripherals. I've got a nice Logitech MX Anywhere 3 for Mac mouse, that I've been using for the last 4 years, and I know what kind of extra monitor that I would like to purchase, but I'm still debating on what kind of mechanical keyboard I want for my daily driver. I do a lot of programming and writing for my job but I also use my computer for gaming. Right now, I'm using a borrowed Apple membrane keyboard, from the mid 2000s, and I find that I often create typos. This is because I really need to slam the keys down, otherwise it doesn't register the key press and I'm starting to notice that it's causing me some typing fatigue. Before this, I was using the built in keyboard for my Lenovo Ideapad 5, but those keys bottom out so easily it's like I'm just slamming my fingers on the desktop, and I really don't like how small the arrow keys are. I was looking at a Keychron K10 Pro, or K4 Pro, but then I learned that apparently Keychron have terrible customer service, they don't sell the K10 Pro or K4 Pro keyboards in any Canadian retail stores, and I refuse to buy anything from Amazon, so that's kind of a deal breaker for me. But, given I've heard some good things about Logitech's mechanical keyboards, and now the NZXT Function, I'll definitely be considering those options. I definitely wouldn't be opposed to seeing you make some videos about different peripherals, especially keyboards since they're way more complicated than they used to be. Thanks for the video Jayz!
Thank You Jay. I hope you do a similar video on mice's next.
Personal preference is mostly correct: reliability and longevity of the hardware is very important as well. For example: who makes the clickers in the mouse matters a lot. I bought a Logitech G500 in 2010 when the clickers were still made in Japan and it lasted until 2022 before one of the buttons finally needed to be replaced. I bought a G500 hero to try out and the right click started having issues less than two years into owning it. I did hate the lit gaming keyboard until I got one and realized it actually helps a lot with interfacing the keyboard--I only ever use the zone lighting.
Thank you, Dr. TwoCents 🤓
Please more videos like this! The following topics are ALWAYS interesting: RAM, CPU Coolers, Keyboards and Graphics Cards.
I finally am building my first pc and was really surprised at all the keyboard jargon which I didn’t expect at all
Was honestly hoping that you'd surprised us with a custom keeb but this is still a good coverage from the gaming brands with their mech keeb offerings.
You'll never get me to give up my Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate. It is completely blacked out, no markings, no RGB, fantastic switches. It is just _chef's kiss_ perfection. I've had it since October of 2020 and I'm a writer. I spend 8 to 10 hours a day typing. I'll then use it for a few hours gaming. I also love it because no one can use my computer because it's blank and I'm the only person I know that touch types. It is an awesome deterent for my niece and nephew to keep them off my computer. They don't know where any of the letters are. There is a smooth spot on the right side of my spacebar where my right thumb hits it. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to email them to see if they can sell me just a new spacebar. Their customer service is awesome. I absolutely love it and will never buy a keyboard from anyone else.
Great video. Can’t vait for a more in depth one,
I was getting a new keyboard every couple months and got a Yunzii 87 key keyboard 3 years ago and I haven't looked at keyboards since. It does exactly what I want. Go to a computer store, pick out a switch type you like, get the keyboard format you like, and buy a good keyboard with the features you need. Unless you spill something on it, it will last you a very long time
Thanks, nice discussion. One factor not mentioned is feedback. I chose my keyboard (Corsair K70 mk2) in part because it was available with Cherry MX Brown switches that feature a tactile bump when typing. I tried a K68 with linear Red switches (no feedback bump) and it was nice for gaming but horrible for typing. Of course I grew up on IBM PC keyboards and they featured that tactile bump.
hall effect magnetic switches are the wave rn Jay
HE switches are awesome. I've been torn to order one of the new wave of keebs just to play with them. my layout is a bit weird frl-1800, so it may be a minute before I get one I stick with
@@CaptainCoel the wooting two HE is probably your best bet at the moment but it has the function keys at the top and is basically just a full size HE keyboard. i really love the new 75% layouts that are coming out. I ended up getting the CYBER 01 by Melgeek and have been loving it so far. Way better than my corsair K63
The akko mod007he is another option, it comes with either akko cream yellow magnetic switches or kailh sakura magnetics
Boog 75 is a nice contender to wooting he60
drunk deer A75, M1HE by Monsgeek, and the keychron Q1HE are all great options as well @@W1nt3rFox
liked the video when i noticed phil hand just pop out of nowhere, love the team just learning new stuff from every videos
Great video. Just bought a keyboard recently and it wasn’t easy to get one that fits
The Gamakay Silent tactile switches on Amazon are amazing. I like the feeling of tactile but not the annoying clicking.
1:30 forté? I'm pretty sure he meant FORAY. I'm more of a mechanical keyboard user myself, always appreciated the clack noise they make (even from years ago before mechanical keyboards were a specialty item).
Reasonable explaination. Not a full keyboard enthusiast but do have preference for cherry red mech keyboards. Since I started using computers in the early days that isn't a big surprise considering mechanical were the standard at the time, for a while I tried membrane keyboards but I was lucky if they lasted more than 6 months before having issues so went back to a mech since it cost about the same over time with replacement costs. Very happy with my current ducky shine 7 although it doesn't have hot swappable switches I am proficient enough with a soldering iron to not be too worried if a switch goes bad (which is rare with a good switch these days). If I need a replacement I shall possibly go for a hot swappable model but that is likely many years away. The opto mechanical switches are a nice idea but I'd prefer the led's to be replaceable as well as the acuator even though that would further increase the price since hot swappable is supposed to be partly about user servicability. I say that since I have to replace a mech keyboard once the electronics have gone bad not the switches, the pcb and electronics are the weak point in most decent keyboards these days.
Jay, I like my G915 Wireless (Tactile) also. Was wondering if you might know where to get replacement keys. Keep up the awesome work and great videos :D
Funny you would release this as I've been on a 3 day custom keyboard research binge. I'm leaning towards skipping the big brands and looking at Epomaker, Aula, Royal Kludge, Yunzii, or Cidoo. I just want a well aligned 75% with a knob and backlighting. 😊
For my work laptop I have a 1989 Model-M with an aftermarket SDL-to-USB cable. Now, I've seen a couple projects working on replacement control boards for the Model-M. I wonder if you could add in some really low-power LED strips inside the keyboard and power them off the USB connection.
I recently watched your video on your health. I'm sorry your going through this and wanted to share good wishes. I hope you get some improvement. We're all rooting for you! I know your concerned about the channel, but I support whatever you decide and whats in your best interest. I personally have no concerns about who faces the channel.
GREAT video (too lazy to retype great after discovering caps lock so i decided to type out this much more time intensive blurb to highlight the fact that i opted to emphasize 'great') but I wish you also went into depth about keyboards that bridge the gap between controllers and m/kbd like the wooting. I just sent my buddy a link of this video; he's part way through buying his pc parts before assembly. He mentioned having some kbd/mouse stashed somewhere and I'm like 'don't prioritize it by any means, but know that a quality m/kbd can make a difference in the sense of user experience'
I changed to my first optical keyboard this year (Steelseries Apex Pro) and oh boy, i don't like to type on any "normal" keyboard anymore! It's just about the feeling, i can't describe what it is but it feels so much better on an optical keyboard! Thanks for this video Jay :)
Apex pro is not Optical, they use magnetic switches with the Hall Effect instead of a lazer in the Optical. That's why you can adjust the activation point even more then on the optical switches and use the rapid trigger effect.
@@simonbromsaxelsson7064 thanks for explaining! I am not into the keyboard knowledge yet, but hopefully soon 😅
@@simonbromsaxelsson7064 I don't know why my answer didn't show up, i already "answered" to you. I'll try again: Thanks for the clearification, i am not that much into the Keyboard theory but i hope I will be soon :)
@@big_darkside2716 you have to start some where. :) what did you use before your steelseries?
@@simonbromsaxelsson7064 nothing special, KLIM Chroma
About to build my new rig and was researching keyboards and mice. I was going to get the Logitech G915 LIGHTSPEED and Logitech G502 X Plus Lightspeed Wireless as I've never had any problems with Logitech but I decided to look around, especially when I realized that the G15 is almost 5 years old, yet costing $200 US on sale. This video definitely came in handy.
I got my first keyboard that has hot swappable switches, the Keychron Q5 Pro. It's so cool to be able to swap out switches until you find your favorite, rather than buying a whole new keyboard every time you want to try a different switch. Worth the extra price IMO.
Used to play on mainstream gaming keyboards for all my time.. then i bought my first wooting and it just feels so much nicer. Also its worth hand lubing the switches.
Hoping for a video soon about RAM and more indepth information about it. Im curious of what is the better use. timings, speed on frequencies? Did enjoy this video. the function 2 keyboard got me interested in getting one.
if u wanna go technical look up the youtuber, "actually hardcore overclocking". He's less approachable but the advice he gives on something like ram timings vs someone like jay is like comparing a professor to a 7 year old child lmao. If u want a tldr primary timings don't matter much at all on ddr5, secondary timings matter massively if this is all too confusing, buy hyinix die ddr5 and you'll get some of the better subtimings automatically. They happen to have the lowest cas latency but if you set a CL 30 ddr5 6000 hyinix kit to CL40 it'll still demolish other die cl36 kits stock, cas latency doesn't matter. As for frequency it matters more than primary timings, less than secondary timings, higher is always better tho on the same die especially on ddr5.
Hi Jay! Can’t wait first you to review the 50 cards later this year!
I think a good way to approach keyboard reviews, isn’t just the type of switches used, but also talking about the difference between wireless or wired (does it have a USB slot availability impact with various cases and motherboard setups?). Can you use compressed air for ease of cleaning keyboards? Are keyboards compatible with Windows (all versions or some), how how Linux (all distros or some?), MacOS or iOS, how about Android? Longevity of various keyboard brands? Customization (do you need special keyboard accessories for music making, volume setting, visual mixing?) Do any keyboard brands have any proprietary softwares or is it open source with brands being more of an aesthetic choice hardware wise? There’s a lot of layman stuff to cover here Jay. Please do once in a while, or provide us a youtuber who does this already. What about keyboard ergonomic accessories for wrist support? What about the disabled community that help them use keyboards in some way? Lot of sponsorship you could chase down too.
Brown switches gang where ye at?!?! 😎
would love to see a comparison vide of maybe 3 or 4 optical keyboards, I have been looking at getting a Razer with linear optical gen2 keys, but this NZXT looks fantastical
I just bought an NZXT case, and I flipping love it. I now know what my next keyboard is going to be :)
I'd be interested to see you do some reviews on Redragon's gaming keyboards. I got one a couple years ago and the only time I started having issues, was when some dust or cat hair had made its way into a switch causing it not to register key strokes. Pulled the key off, switch and did some thorough cleaning and now it works flawlessly again. Would be interested to get your thoughts on their products.
I've been using their K582RGB V2 keyboard for a few months now and have had no issues with it. I've used their M686 mouse for a few years now and it's still working great.
THANK YOU for this. I've never understood what any of this means, and I'm super prone to fatigue and hand problems. I found a great ergonomic mouse but looking at keyboards has made my head explode.
Cougar Vantar, that's all I need, wired, thin, scissor switches, softwareless backlight, reliable.
I'm a big fan of my basic mechanical keyboards not in the market for another, but this was a good watch... learned some things and why people want to build super custom ones.
I have never been big on keyboards as long as it's mechanical I was coo l with it. A few months ago I bought one of the redragon horus tkl rgb mechanical boards and loved it. It was cheaper and was great. The board is hot swappable and the actual switches are pretty good. Now I give more thought to it.
Yes Jay did the video! I posted about keyboards last video ❤❤❤❤!
1st time I tried tactile switch, it feels weird but now it's my fav switch. 😂
I used to be like you where I could never see myself using a tkl or smaller keyboard as I loved (and still do love) the numpad. That being said, for gaming, I think a 75% is the perfect size. My first foray was a Asus ROG Falchion, but the lack of the F-row on a 65% was a constant annoyance. I now have the Azoth with some custom caps and love it. Plan on changing the switches, but still haven't decided on which ones to go with.
You did an unveiling of the montech keyboard is anyone using that in your office and is it a good starting keyboard?
I liked my old Logitech (the one with the mono LCD screen). I loved the game profiles that would light the correct keys, and if you needed to hit heal. It would flash.
Thank you I've been actually wanting to learn more about keyboards, I've got a reddragon keyboard $30 been using it for 3 years spilled on it soda and water more than 4 times, and it's still working great and sounds great and feels great, some people think more money means better which isn't work, but you can get great keyboards for a reasonable price
The kicker is you're not really getting better quality buying a Corsair or whatever typical name brand. The keycaps are not better and for the most part they're generally still not hotswap so what are you even getting for an extra $100? RGB integration? That's a nah from me. There's real decent keyboards around in the $130 range that trash most mainstream stuff.
Yeah you can get keyboards for a reasonable price these days for sure, Leobog, Rainy75 are great budget keyboards that look, sound and feel great. But a reddragon is just not it 😅Its best value is probably that it's a $30 keyboard, but saying it "sounds great" just makes it so apparent you've never ever heard a keyboard that *actually* sounds great. But ignorance is bliss I guess. Better to not be poisoned by actual quality that sends you down a rabbit hole of non-stop buying and exploring 😆
@@fuckERLa bruh? Attacking me for a keyboard i know what a good keyboard sounds like and it is subjective if you want to hear how it sounds I have no problem showing you, i know it's not a great quality keyboard but to me quality means durability and to me spending 30$ on a keyboard i use no less than 5 hours a day for 3 years+ and have spilled sodas and drinks on multiple times and it still works and looks great and SOUNDS GREAT too if that's ignorance than i am blessied to be ignorant a keyboard is not worth more than 100$ i spend money on actually good hardware like GPU/s and CPU's RAM etc.
bruh every time i look something up you do a video on it the next day i swear i was just looking at keyboards and their specs sizes key differences etc the other day i was looking at ddr5 with cl times and mhz then bam u do a ram video
My Razer Ornata Chroma got old now and very used. The mechanical keys didnt feel nice anymore and it overall looked pretty used. I really liked it though. The feeling and feedback of the keys. I went with a Huntsman V2 TKL as my new Keyboard. It needed a bit of getting used to but is a great keyboard for me. Optical switches are nice, even though sometimes they are a bit too sensitive for my taste and I hit stuff by accident. Got it on sale for converted 97 dollar which I think was a pretty good price. One important thing was having a comfy wrist rest. That is really important to me, and after testing some boards on the shelf, well, it was the huntsman v2 I decided for. Really nice wrist rest. Don't know how people can use keyboards without lol.
I have fallen in love with silent switches. not having a sharp sound when it bottoms out is very satisfying for some reason.
Another option is o-rings on the shafts under the keycaps if there's a switch you prefer the feel of that isn't silent
Did you ever get the onboard custom RGB to work with your G915 Logitech. I can only get the preprogramed effects to the onboard memory to work. GAve up on it a while back but would love to have a solution.
Nice Star Trek Reference @ 12:14 !
Glory to you and your keyboard
Of later something I am looking it is the software with the keyboard. How easy is it to set up macros and then switch profiles.