Hexgears Venture review - keeping it low profile

Nowak · March 21, 2020

This is a board I've been anticipating for a while, having preordered it back in October and now it's finally with me, in my possession. Considering how long I've been waiting for it, I can't help but feel... slightly let down by it, but at the same time, I like it quite a bit. It's mainly the stabilizer for the spacebar that lets me down, but enough of this fluff. Let's get on with the review. Just keep things low.

This is a 108-key, full size keyboard featuring Kailh's Choc switches as the exclusive switch type. There are no Cherry MX Low Profile or Cherry ML switches to be found here, folks! Which is good, as these are a properly low profile switch rather than... whatever the hell this is. I ordered mine with Kailh Choc Whites, which are a clicky variant and also what Kailh's "click bar" torsion spring originated on.

This board is also available with Choc Red (linear) and Choc Brown (tactile) switches. Now, these are the origin point of the torsion spring "clickbar" that Kailh uses on their clicky switches because Kailh was seeking a way to provide a click on a low profile switch, as the traditional "click jacket" or "click leaf" methods used by Cherry and Alps would not work in a switch like this. They've since adapted the clickbar for higher profile switches, including my usual Box Jades. As far as typing goes, it's... not that bad. There's a decent amount of travel before actuation and bottom out, there's not a lot of wobble and there's no binding... mostly. Now, I am not sure if this is just my Venture in particular, but the spacebar on it tends to bind, and it's not even the switch that does so, it's the stabilizers. It was pretty annoying and made typing harder than it needed to be during the entire testing period. I will contact Kono, Hexgears' US distribution partner and apparently their support partner, about this.

Now, even though this is a low-profile board, it does sacrifice a bit on the "low profile"-ness intentionally, to try to provide a more comfortable typing experience. There's a slight angle with single-stage flip-out feet, and caps are sculpted rather than "chiclet" style. These caps are laser-ablated ABS and feel cheap, and I'm not sure if I trust these mounts.

However, there aren't a lot of caps available for Choc switches, so this is what you have to stick to. Mac keycaps are included in the box, as is a Mac OS mode, but by default this board is configured for Windows. Also, the font used on the caps is clean and readable. There is no "gamer" bullshit to be found here.

This keyboard isn't marketed for gamers, but it has a Windows lock button on the forehead as well as an elongated left control key. I did not notice any difference in my gaming ability between these switches and my usual Box Jades, so, again, let me reiterate that "gaming performance" isn't real. You can absolutely use this keyboard to game; in fact, compared to its most direct competition, the Logitech G915, it's $90 cheaper at $160 as opposed to $250. Get this one instead if you want a wireless keyboard for gaming.

Oh, yeah, this keyboard is Bluetooth-compatible. Performance seemed fine, my usual issues with Bluetooth (random disconnections and repeating keys) aside. By default it comes with two rechargeable AA batteries, for a total of 4000mAh. Now, unlike a certain other keyboard I reviewed, this board is only rated for 16 hours with RGB enabled, or 4 weeks with RGB disabled. Hardcore gamers may want to leave this board plugged in when gaming as Bluetooth may introduce some input latency, but I had no issues with it in Bluetooth mode while playing Doom Eternal. The removable batteries are a nice feature, and will help ensure this board lasts for a long time. However, if it comes with batteries in the box, could we have perhaps gotten a Bluetooth adapter in the box as well? Not everyone's computer has Bluetooth built in!

Like the Keychron K4 and Hexgears Impulse before it, there is no software for this keyboard. This means setup is simpler, but customization is limited to what's on the board, and, well... there's not a lot of RGB modes, even compared to the Impulse. However, this board does support macros, using the Fn (labeled "Fun") key + F11 to record and Fun+Y to toggle macro mode. The keys that macros can be bound to are Y, U, I, O and P, and yes, they do work. Holding down the... Fun key (lol) also highlights key combos. This is useful in the dark, as secondary characters are not shine-through.

Build quality is pretty decent, with a metal top plate and virtually no flex. The bottom is plastic, but that's to allow the underglow lighting and Bluetooth signal to transmit.

There are dedicated lighting buttons, one to control the keyboard backlight, one to control the underglow and one to toggle the underglow and keyboard backlights on and off. However, there are no dedicated media control keys. Instead, they're on function key layers. This isn't hugely important to me, but it would have been nice to see a volume rocker or play/pause buttons, at least, considering how much of a forehead there is. Seriously, this thing almost has as much forehead as the Corsair K70.

Again, the typing experience on this keyboard is mostly okay. It works fine, but the spacebar stabilizer issue I am having was making typing on it almost infuriating. Choc switches aren't bad for typing on, they feel rather sublime, actually. It's just the spacebar ruins things for me. Me not really being able to use a full size keyboard due to my physical problems either doesn't help. I had to keep on switching back to my Kira because it got physically uncomfortable to type on this board. This is personal, but I would like to see a tenkeyless variant of the Venture. Yes, I know the Hexgears X-1 exists, but that's not what I'm asking for.

Anyway, that's about it for this review of the Hexgears Venture. I really want to like this board, but the spacebar issues I'm having ruins the experience for me. That being said, if I were given the choice between the Logitech G815/G915, Cooler Master SK650 and the Hexgears Venture, I'd go for the Venture any day of the week. Just get this board instead of those if you want a low profile keyboard.