Another budget rgb keyboard thread

[f2bacon]

So I've been replacing my old peripherals lately.

I got the g305 wireless mouse because it seems like the budget version of the g pro wireless mouse. ($30 on ebay)

I got the g533 cause it seems like the budget version of the g pro wireless headset. ($25 on craigslist)
I was looking at the g pro keyboard and it fits the bill since it's 10keyless, but the price is a bit high. (70ish on ebay)
I was thinking about the redragon k552rgb but the switches are loud as hell. Any suggestions for a cheap rgb tkl keyboard? Wireless is a plus but not a necessity, so i might be giving up wireless for rgb.
I'm currently using the velocifire TKL02 and the only downside is the lack of rgb so it's not a big rush or anything. Thanks for any help!

[Connor Price]

What kind of budget are you looking at? There's a few decent budget boards around. The MagicForce 68 is fantastic for the price although I'm not too sure if they offer a true RGB version.

[nox_]

35 minutes ago, f2bacon said:

So I've been replacing my old peripherals lately.

I got the g305 wireless mouse because it seems like the budget version of the g pro wireless mouse. ($30 on ebay)

I got the g533 cause it seems like the budget version of the g pro wireless headset. ($25 on craigslist)
I was looking at the g pro keyboard and it fits the bill since it's 10keyless, but the price is a bit high. (70ish on ebay)
I was thinking about the redragon k552rgb but the switches are loud as hell. Any suggestions for a cheap rgb tkl keyboard? Wireless is a plus but not a necessity, so i might be giving up wireless for rgb.
I'm currently using the velocifire TKL02 and the only downside is the lack of rgb so it's not a big rush or anything. Thanks for any help!

Try finding this one on ebay : https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/peripheral/keyboards/masterkeys-pro-s/ maybe you get lucky and find a great deal for it.  Don't buy that g pro keyboard if you had not tried romer g switches, they are really not for everybody, I personally dislike them, if you gonna buy a board with romer g,try it in some store first.

@Connor Price MagicForce is 60%, not TKL.

[f2bacon]

3 minutes ago, Connor Price said:

What kind of budget are you looking at? There's a few decent budget boards around. The MagicForce 68 is fantastic for the price although I'm not too sure if they offer a true RGB version.

around $100 cause I'd be looking at used on ebay regardless. The magicforce is a little small. I still need the fkeys quickly, but thank you!
 

 

2 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

Try finding this one on ebay : https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/peripheral/keyboards/masterkeys-pro-s/ maybe you get lucky and find a great deal for it.  Don't buy that g pro keyboard if you had not tried romer g switches, they are really not for everybody, I personally dislike them, if you gonna buy a board with romer g,try it in some store first.

That looks pretty solid. I'm trying to compare it to the mk730 too

[nox_]

6 minutes ago, f2bacon said:

around $100 cause I'd be looking at used on ebay regardless. The magicforce is a little small. I still need the fkeys quickly, but thank you!
 

 

That looks pretty solid. I'm trying to compare it to the mk730 too

https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-K556-Mechanical-Keyboard-Aluminum/dp/B01NAI2TXC if you would consider buying full size, not TKL, this one has RGB and Brown switches, not the blue ones.  

Mk730 is not as sturdy as masterkeys pro series, looks pretty though, if used, I would buy masterkeys one, better odds for being usable for a long time IMO.

[f2bacon]

1 minute ago, noxdeouroboros said:

 consider buying full size, not TKL  

Mk730 is not as sturdy as masterkeys pro series, looks pretty though, if used, I would buy masterkeys one, better odds for being usable for a long time IMO.

I can't even put into words why I'm so picky, 10keyless makes the most sense cause I'm cutting off the slack from full size, but not losing functionality like 60%.
I don't mind not sturdy considering my previous keyboards have all been under $30 new. The masterkeys goes for high 70s used at the lowest but it doesn't look like theres many used mk730s out there yet

[Connor Price]

@noxdeouroboros Whoops, didn't see that my bad.

 

@f2bacon The CoolerMaster MasterKeys S is a good board for the price (usually around 80-100) but unfortunately the TKL seems to be unavailable on Amazon atm.

The SteelSeries Apex is under $100 currently and is a TKL with RGB.

You could also look at some of Drevo's offerings as they're usually pretty good price wise.

 

[nox_]

11 minutes ago, f2bacon said:

I can't even put into words why I'm so picky, 10keyless makes the most sense cause I'm cutting off the slack from full size, but not losing functionality like 60%.
I don't mind not sturdy considering my previous keyboards have all been under $30 new. The masterkeys goes for high 70s used at the lowest but it doesn't look like theres many used mk730s out there yet

I understand why you want TKL, I use a tkl one, and got one even smaller, would not buy full size myself. When it comes to sturdiness price is not really a deciding factor, cheaper ones are sturdier sometimes, reddragon is great example of that, built like a tank. 

Look up Drevo offerings also, as @Connor Price they are good when it comes to prices, and there are a lot of RGB ones, although I would get a board with some neutral lighting, like white, instead of RGB. Look up used Ducky keyboards, that might be a good option too.

[f2bacon]

10 minutes ago, Connor Price said:

The SteelSeries Apex is under $100 currently and is a TKL with RGB.

You could also look at some of Drevo's offerings as they're usually pretty good price wise.

Steelseries apex tkl might just be exactly what im looking for. finding $50 obo on ebay for the apex, and $50 for the tyrfing. It's a solid shootout and I can't even choose
Redragon was great, I accidentally got the k552r (rainbow) and not the k552r (rgb) and the blues are sooo loud but I can't get past the ugly rainbow mode. I was thinking about just getting the rgb version but the blues scare me off

[Connor Price]

1 minute ago, f2bacon said:

Steelseries apex tkl might just be exactly what im looking for. finding $50 obo on ebay for the apex, and $50 for the tyrfing.
Redragon was great, I accidentally got the k552r (rainbow) and not the k552r (rgb) and the blues are sooo loud but I can't get past the ugly rainbow mode. I was thinking about just getting the rgb version but the blues scare me off

Yeah blues can be pretty loud switches. The SteelSeries board has their own custom switches which are quiet, but linear. So if the nice tactility of the blues is what you're after I'd suggest a different board with maybe brown switches as a nice in between. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of browns aside from the Gateron Browns I have in my Anne Pro which I find to be pretty good.

[seon123]

6 minutes ago, f2bacon said:

I was thinking about just getting the rgb version but the blues scare me off

I mean, you could desolder and replace the switches with some quieter ones. There's plenty of options. 

As for the Steelseries mechanical keyboards that use their own QS1 switch, avoid them like the plague. The switch is incredibly bad and binds like hecc. 

[f2bacon]

1 minute ago, seon123 said:

As for the Steelseries mechanical keyboards that use their own QS1 switch, avoid them like the plague. The switch is incredibly bad and binds like hecc. 

Whoops I just sent an offer for $25 for the steelseries ahahhaha

[Connor Price]

15 minutes ago, seon123 said:

I mean, you could desolder and replace the switches with some quieter ones. There's plenty of options. 

As for the Steelseries mechanical keyboards that use their own QS1 switch, avoid them like the plague. The switch is incredibly bad and binds like hecc. 

Oh really? Must admit I don't know too much about those switches. Looked it up and the Apex board has QX2 switches which seem to be made by Gateron. I doubt they have the same issues as the previous switch.

 

@f2bacon You should be good. As I mentioned in the response to seon123, the Apex board uses newer QX2 switches made by Gateron. I'd assume the quality of them would be pretty good considering i's Gateron.

[seon123]

2 minutes ago, Connor Price said:

Oh really? Must admit I don't know too much about those switches. The Apex board has QX2 switches. Do they have the same issue as well?

Looks like the QX2 is completely different, and reviews seem to indicate that they're Gaterons. So they should be good. 

The keycaps are garbage though, being laser etched ABS. Way worse than the double shot keycaps on the K552-R. 

[f2bacon]

1 minute ago, seon123 said:

Looks like the QX2 is completely different, and reviews seem to indicate that they're Gaterons. So they should be good. 

The keycaps are garbage though, being laser etched ABS. Way worse than the double shot keycaps on the K552-R. 

I didn't even mind the caps on the k552-rAINBOW because it couldn't see it past the rainbow and the blue switches 

[Connor Price]

Just now, seon123 said:

Looks like the QX2 is completely different, and reviews seem to indicate that they're Gaterons. So they should be good. 

The keycaps are garbage though, being laser etched ABS. Way worse than the double shot keycaps on the K552-R. 

Yeah just looked it up myself and edited my post to say that they're Gaterons. As for the keycaps, that does suck. I guess OP could just replace them with a custom set at some point if he wanted to if he's set on the Apex.