The Keyboard
The keyboard follows a lot of the same design trends as the mouse with a brushed metal look. It’s also built quite well feeling solid in the hand and barely flexing at all when force is applied to the sides.
Using the included software opens up a lot of customization in this keyboard allowing you to set a large number of actions to any of the function keys.
I really love how much customization you get with the keyboard but I feel like it will go underused since when you remap a key you won’t be able to use the normal function key function anymore due to it being re-mapped, I would have liked to see the option to use the FN key plus a function key to execute commands in order to maintain the normal use of the function key’s too.
Range is alright, I was able to go about 15 feet away from the USB receiver and around a wall before letters stopped registering, while this isn’t an amazing range I also doubt it will ever be an issue in normal use due to how close the keyboard will be to the computer.
Typing is pretty good too, while the SlimStar doesn’t feel as good as my fully mechanical keyboard that I use for gaming it also cost less and comes with a mouse. I was able to get 39WPM in an online typing test which is the same as I get with most other keyboards also typing is way quieter than on my mechanical keyboard being only slightly audible over normal background sounds like an air conditioner. Keys feel responsive and springy making a noticeable click when key commands are executed and bouncing back quick enough for rapid typing. Also there was no noticeable delay between pressing a key and the letter showing up on-screen.
Also the keyboard has a slight tilt to it making it quite comfortable to use, size wise it’s the same size as any full keyboard but manages to stay quite thin too.
Also even though this isn’t a “gaming keyboard” it works perfectly fine during gameplay while it doesn’t feel the same as a full mechanical I was able to beat the final boss in The Witcher 3 just fine with this keyboard and it never misread a key command or felt sluggish while I was gaming either.
Battery life here seems to be great, lasting though all my testing without dying so I will try to update this review once the battery does die in order to get a more accurate number.
Overall just like the mouse this keyboard isn’t going to win any awards for greatest keyboard ever but it works exactly like a keyboard is supposed to, looks and feels great and packs some nice extras like customization for the function keys, really the only things I wish it did different is letting you map commands to FN+ function keys since I ended up leaving most function keys un-mapped due to needing to use the normal function key commands and I really wish that the keyboard had some form of back-lighting since using this keyboard in a dark room is almost impossible, but during daytime use or in a lit room this isn’t an issue. Overall I’m rating the keyboard 4/5.
Now onto the final conclusion and final score!
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