Unlocked Gaming Keyboard

[Demetrius Dade]

Agaming keyboard is a special type of keyboard that's designed with quick actuation time and other features that can help enhance gaming performance. Gaming keyboards are available in different form factors, which refer to the size of the keyboard and the number of keys it has. You can also find smaller keyboards that give you more room on your gaming mouse pad for mouse movement and comfortable keyboard position to reach all the keys and buttons.

Like most gaming and streaming gear, the cost of gaming keyboards can vary depending on the model you choose. You can find more affordable gaming keyboards for around $50, but a premium gaming keyboard with the best mechanical switches can cost upwards of $200 or more. Sometimes you can save money with a gaming keyboard and mouse bundle, but you can expect to pay somewhere in that range for the average gaming keyboard.

There are wired and wireless gaming keyboards, including LIGHTSPEED wireless and Bluetooth models. For mobile gaming, Bluetooth keyboards are a popular choice due to compatibility, while most people choose a wireless gaming keyboard for PC setups. That being said, the switches are the important thing to look at when it comes to gaming keyboards. And we offer many, from mechanical GX tactile, clicky and linear to low-profile mechanical GL tactile, clicky, linear, and other options.

The standard keyboards you buy at most stores use rubber dome switches, while many gaming keyboards use mechanical switches. The switches you have in your keyboard determine how fast you can press keys, how keypresses feel, and how long your keyboard lasts. If you're looking for the best keyboard for gaming, you typically want to go with mechanical switches over rubber dome switches.

A Logitech G gaming keyboard has features that are built for gamers while having many standard features found on a regular keyboard. The same is true for gaming mice. The best part is that gaming keyboards and mice are usually designed with ergonomics in mind, so they make excellent daily drivers for office work.

There are a handful of different gaming keyboard sizes you can choose from based on your hand size, desk space, and preferences. Full-size keyboards have all the standard keys, including the number pad and arrow keys. Tenkeyless (TKL) keyboards don't have the 10-key number pad that you'll find on most keyboards, but they do have arrow keys.

Lighting: Lighting doesn't just make your keyboard look cool, it also helps you see the keys you're pressing when you're gaming or typing in the dark. And, lighting can be programmed with LIGHTSYNC RGB to color code your keys to stand out. This is great for games with special key commands.

Whether it's a gaming keyboard or a gaming headset, you can't go wrong with any of the gear in the Logitech G gaming gear lineup. We have affordable options if you're looking for an entry-level keyboard, as well as mechanical keyboards with some of the fastest switches and sleekest backlighting.

We can talk for hours about the feel of mechanical switches versus membrane switches, but ultimately that's a personal choice. What makes mechanical switches objectively superior, however, is their far extended life span. They can take far more punishment and keep responding long after a membrane switch has collapsed in on itself.

The main reason gamers will use compact 60% keyboards is because the smaller form factor allows for more space for your gaming mouse. That means you can have to DPI levels in your mouse lower, offering greater accuracy but also necessitating wider sweeping movements.

The switch type is arguably the most important choice to make when picking your new gaming keyboard. Cherry mechanical switches are the most common and most recognizable, but there are a host of alternatives on offer, as well a bunch of upmarket, specialist switches to choose from.

Only you can make that call, but we would suggest that at least having the option to toggle the top row between function and media controls would be our choice. Having a discrete volume wheel can be super useful, however.

Keyboard size is absolutely a defining factor. Full-sized keyboards tend to offer the most features and a Numpad, but if you don't have space, then all of those extras you paid for will be useless. Tenkeyless boards (the ones with no number pad) and compact keyboards can be a great option, too, if you don't care about all the extra bells and whistles or you don't have any use for alt codes (how barbaric!).

When searching for the best gaming keyboard we keep an eye out for features, feel and value for money. Each of the gaming keyboards in this guide deliver on these three points, though we've focused on various price points to cater for any sort of budget.

One vital aspect of any gaming keyboard purchase is whether to pick a mechanical keyboard. Generally, we'd say it's always worthwhile considering a mechanical switch over a membrane one. They feel much better for typing and gaming and they're generally quicker. Though nowadays we're seeing more and more specialised switches, such as Hall effect, optical and even induction, which are becoming great picks for competitive gamers due to features like rapid trigger.

There are few keyboard enthusiasts as enthusiastic as our Jacob. He's been professionally testing for many years now, and has been collecting mechanical key switches like Smaug hoarded gold for years before that. Whether it's Hall effect or straight mechanical, he's poked and prodded more keyboards and switches than any one man should, and is our expert on all things keeb. ","strapline":"Curated by..."}), " -0-10/js/person.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Curated by...Curated by...Jacob RidleySenior Hardware EditorThere are few keyboard enthusiasts as enthusiastic as our Jacob. He's been professionally testing for many years now, and has been collecting mechanical key switches like Smaug hoarded gold for years before that. Whether it's Hall effect or straight mechanical, he's poked and prodded more keyboards and switches than any one man should, and is our expert on all things keeb.

Mountain has taken all it's learnt from its first keyboards and created the best-feeling, most usable 60% gaming keyboard I've ever used. It's solid, reliable, responsive, and offers the best typing experience around.

The Wooting Two HE uses the magic of magnets to deliver a gaming keyboard like no other. There's a whole bunch of flexibility here, a great app, and superb build quality. So yes, I'm absolutely a fan.

If you want to prioritise your health and posture while typing, you'd better opt for an ergo board. Luckily, that doesn't mean sacrificing any important gaming features, thanks to the Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB's blend of both.

Firstly, some of the smoothest mechanical switches in the biz. You can pick between ROG-branded NX Snow or NX Storm switches in this board. I've been using the Snow switches, which are your regular linear dealio with an actuation force of 45g, though the Storm switches are a moderately heavier tactile option. These switches alone aren't anything special, but a little lube goes a long way.

A drop of lube on every mechanical key switch makes a surprising amount of difference to the typing experience. Each key press is smooth, consistent, and every thwack produces a glorious clack. This lube is already pre-applied to each switch, which saves you the hassle of opening each one and applying it yourself. We've done that before and it can get messy.

It's also relatively quiet. The sound of the linear switches reduced to a light pitter-patter by the sound dampening foam, sturdy PBT plastic keycaps, and switch pads. Lubed up, sturdy stabilisers also keep the larger keys, namely the spacebar, quiet.

You are able to swap out any of the NX Snow switches on this keyboard for keys of your choosing. However, if you don't replace them with lubed switches I will personally hunt you down. Don't do the Scope II dirty like that.

Mechanical gaming keyboards can cost a fortune. The G.Skill KM250 RGB's best skill is that it doesn't. That's why it is our pick for the best budget gaming keyboard in 2024. It's nowhere close to costing a fortune, yet it still offers mechanical switches, per-key RGB, hot-swappable keys, and discrete media controls.

The G.Skill KM250 redefines what it means to be a budget gaming keyboard. Features that were once enthusiast only are right here, for just $40. During a time when PC peripheral prices generally appear to only be increasing, that's important.

If you're after a good compact board you honestly don't need more than what's being offered here. A simple and small frame with Kailh linear mechanical switches, it's a no-nonsense design if ever there was one. Though you'll be pleased to know that it retains one fan-favorite feature: per-key RGB backlighting.

If you prefer you can jam in some higher-end switches and create a lovely little semi-custom build inside the G.Skill KM250 chassis. It is obviously lacking the high-end luxury of sound dampening and super-fancy stabilisers, but those are compromises I'm willing to make for such a supremely cheap keyboard. And honestly, I've experienced far worse stabilisers on expensive NZXT and Razer keyboards in the past.

But, having changed out the linear Kailh Red switches for a set of Halo True heavy tactile switches, the difference in the sound is clear. It's not the ultra rich-sounding experience of using the Mountain Everest 60 or Asus ROG Azoth, but it now feels great to type on, dampening or no. It's also at most half the price if you include fancy new switches, and if you've got a headset on you'd be hard pressed to feel the difference.

The board layout itself is pretty standard 65%, which makes for a few more useful keys than a 60%. There's a little bit of spacing between the bulk of the keys and the cursors, and you also get separate Del, PgUp, and PgDn buttons, too. A neat selection.

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