Steelseries Apex [RAW]

[flibberdipper]

P1080205 by Travis McClelland, on Flickr

 

INTRO

So, as much as I loved my old Dell QuietKey keyboard, I decided that I had to stop using it for a daily driver for 3 reasons. 1. I didn’t want it to yellow over time, since it is one of the old white keyboards. 2. It was kinda loud when you typed on it. 3. It was not backlit. So, I had my mom pick this keyboard up for something like $45 USD, and I think for the money it is totally worth it.

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

When I opened the box and took it out, I noticed just how freaking HUGE this thing was, primarily due to all the macro keys on the bloody thing. I also noticed that it had stupid shiny plastic accents, which attract dust and fingerprints like freaking crazy. But overall, it looks good. Speaking of looks...

 

LOOKS

...It’s not bad. Not bad at all. I like the glossy plastic as it does add a little more to the looks. Everything is laid out nicely, and the Steelseries logo is backlit which is a pretty nice touch. Everything is placed right where I’m using to having them, and it’s just awesome. I like that they made the escape key taller to make up for the macro bank switch keys and the added macros above the function keys. And I LOVE the rubberized cable, even though it too attracts dust like mad.

 

BACKLIGHT

For a $45-ish dollar keyboard, I have to admit that it is pretty good. Lighting is fairly consistent across the keys, and the keys are fairly evenly lit. There is a little bit of light bleed between the keys, but I honestly like the look and… Yeah. The Steelseries logo is the brightest thing of the bunch though, which is kind of annoying, but it looks nice regardless. I have noticed that my print screen, scroll lock, and that general key area is the darkest of the bunch, but whatever. The num/caps/scroll lock indicators are bright and easy to see. You also get 8 different levels for the backlight, including off. The lowest level before off is crazy dark, and it’s usually where I leave mine when I watch a movie or go on a YouTube spree.

 

MACROS

You get a LOT of these things (37 as I recall). I only really use the left bank, and it’s only really for OBS and FRAPS. I don’t really have anything much to say about these, but holy crap. There are a lot.

 

ERGONOMICS

I actually really like typing on this keyboard. The large spacebar is a godsend and it really does make a difference on how my thumb feels after a lot of typing and gaming. The feel of the keys overall is pretty nice, but they are a little bit on the stiffer side, but again, I can’t complain for the money that this thing goes for. The key spacing is pretty nice as well, but I do still have to get used to it. The little function key with the Steelseries logo that controls the backlight and media controls is where the Windows key would normally go, which I’m okay with since I never actually use the right Windows key if it’s there. I also love the natural incline of the whole keyboard, since it relieves strain on my wrists which was becoming a bit of an issue with my old keyboard when I typed for extended periods of time. The extra tall feet were way too much for me, and I had to go back to the standard ones. However, you milage may vary on that note.

 

QUALITY

Flex test shows that this keyboard is actually pretty damned solid. My fingers say that there is pretty much no flex while typing, unless you’re really mashing on the keys. Speaking of the keys, the plastic that they’re made out of seems to be pretty good. I am not sure what kind of plastic it is or whatever, but it does seem to be pretty good overall. The cable is fantastic, and I love it, and it looks to be pretty good as well. There is some key wiggle, especially on some of the larger keys (like enter, backspace, backslash, etc.) but that should not be anything groundbreaking.

 

SOFTWARE

I was pretty impressed with it actually. I haven’t really played with it all that much, but it looks like you can remap pretty much any key that you want, as well as record the keypress delays when you do a macro, or just have all the keys be pressed at the same time. The illumination intensity goes from 0, 13, 25, 38, 50, 63, 75, and 100%. The polling rate can go from 125, 250, 500, and 1,000Hz. You can also change the keyboard layout, as well as reset everything to factory defaults if you really fudge something up. You can save different profiles, and also use a little heatmap program that shows you how often you press keys and colors them accordingly. My only gripe about the heatmap is that you can’t actually read the freaking numbers unless you maximize the window or turn scaling off and deal with scrollbars.

 

CONCLUSION

Overall, I am really happy with this keyboard, and it’s certainly better than the $70+ that I’ve blown on cheapo Logitech Combos (heh, whoops). I really do like this keyboard, and I love the spacebar design to death since it really does feel better.

 

IS IT WORTH IT?

For me, I find that it is. This is the cheapest backlit keyboard I found that wasn’t a piece of crap, and at least matched my color scheme somewhat (white is a universal color after all). I would love to get a red version, but as far as I know the only other one they make is the RGB one which is a tad bit of a ripoff. Sure, you could save a little over double what this cost and get some kind of Corsair mechanical keyboard, but this one is perfectly fine for the money.

[79wjd]

Did you look at/try the CM Devastator? I've heard it's really good (especially for $25~) plus it comes in a red-backlit variant. 

[YOLOGUY]

i have hte normal APEX and its awesome, it costs 1/3 as much as a Razer Chroma and has more makro keys and also customization, not as much as the razer, but for me its enough

[Notree]

 

 

IS IT WORTH IT?

For me, I find that it is. This is the cheapest backlit keyboard I found that wasn’t a piece of crap, and at least matched my color scheme somewhat (white is a universal color after all). I would love to get a red version, but as far as I know the only other one they make is the RGB one which is a tad bit of a ripoff. Sure, you could save a little over double what this cost and get some kind of Corsair mechanical keyboard, but this one is perfectly fine for the money.

I always liked the apex and its big spacebar.I'm glad they finally made a mech version. Haven't  tried  their mech switches yet tho. It's a bit expensive also being $199.

[Damikiller37]

I would have thought they only sold the US layout of the keyboard in US and not the UK one. Seems like a decent choice for the money though.

[flibberdipper]

Did you look at/try the CM Devastator? I've heard it's really good (especially for $25~) plus it comes in a red-backlit variant. 

I did but I heard some kinda bad things about it, so I decided to steer clear.

 

I always liked the apex and its big spacebar.I'm glad they finally made a mech version. Haven't  tried  their mech switches yet tho. It's a bit expensive also being $199.

Yeah, that is a little crazy for a keyboard.

[79wjd]

I did but I heard some kinda bad things about it, so I decided to steer clear.

 

Yeah, that is a little crazy for a keyboard.

What bad things? It's usually what I recommend people who want a decent keyboard on a budget.

[flibberdipper]

What bad things? It's usually what I recommend people who want a decent keyboard on a budget.

Key squeaks, backlight (or the keyboard outright) dying, mouse squeaks, so on and so forth.