Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have only been using this keyboard for a half a day, but I really like it so far. There are definitely some things to keep in mind though, and this keyboard is not for everyone. The instructions also aren’t very clear, so I have included more information here. Visuals: The colors are vibrant and pretty. Cycle through red, yellow, green, blue, indigo, magenta, white. *** HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE *** There’s a very weird visual sensation when using the white, and to a lesser extent yellow, colors. If I shake my head, or look back and forth on the keyboard (as if searching for something), it feels like the R, G, and B cones in my eyes are being activated at different times. I get R, G, and B shadows or echoes of the lights. (My husband and his friend get the same thing, so it's not just me.) It’s extremely disorienting and off-putting, enough that I can’t use the keyboard on white or yellow light. The effect is still present with other colors, but MUCH LESS so. The effect is lessened by dimming the keyboard’s lights down to lower settings, and/or turning on more overhead lights or desk lamps. I rarely have overhead lights on, so it’s pretty dark in my office. I therefore need to turn down the keyboard’s brightness anyway. The manual says there are four brightness settings, but there are actually five. Key Layout: This keyboard resembles what I’m used to. You have the double-height plus and enter keys, and the double-width zero on the number pad. The tab, caps lock, shift, backspace, backslash, return, and shift keys are all also bar-style (wider than normal keys). I didn’t realize how important it is for me, but even small things (like a backwards-L shaped return key) can throw me off significantly. I love that this keyboard has a normal layout. There are also spaces between every four function keys, which helps me hit the right key without looking. Ergonomics: Mechanical switches have a decently long keystroke, so that may be an issue for some. If you're looking for short strokes or low profile, this keyboard is not for you. The red switches in this keyboard take very little effort to press though, and my hands haven’t felt tired or strained while using it. So it definitely qualifies as soft touch, IMO. Sound: This keyboard is definitely louder than scissor-switch/chicklet style keys. I will include a video with my review so you can get a feel for the sound. It’s not a sharp sound like from a typewriter, it’s a softer type of sound. It’s also not off-putting, but definitely worth mentioning. Nobody’s gonna sleep in the room while you’re using this keyboard. Function Keys: All function keys execute their normal/default function in software. You have to hold down the Fn key in order to use the media shortcuts on the Function keys. This is exactly how I need my keyboard to function, so that makes me very happy. Controls: Fn+Ins | Toggle through the various modes Fn+Del | Toggle through colors Fn+Up & Fn+Down | Adjust Brightness Fn+Left & Fn+Right | Adjust animation speed Fn+Home | Start or finish editing current gamer mode preset 1. Single Color On Steady 2. Single Color Breathing (Brightness increases and fades like breathing.) 3. Gamer Mode (Specific keys frequently used in video games are color coded.) 4. Color Rotation (Keyboard is all one color, which then fades to the next color, and so on.) 5. Single Key Light Up (Each key briefly lights up with a random color when you press it.) 6. Single Color River (One color ripples across the keyboard.) 7. Random Color Snake (All keys start unlit. Then starting at the top left, keys begin lighting up with a random color. This goes to the end of the first row, then drops down to the second row and comes back, then drops down again and goes back to the right and so on. Then they are unlit the same way, but backwards up the keyboard. Repeat.) 8. Keypress Ripple Mode (Ripples of random color spread out from each key you press.) 9. Neighbor Mode (Keys adjacent to the one you press will briefly light up with a random color.) 10. Rainbow River (A rainbow of all the colors ripples across the keyboard. Slow to lowest speed to freeze current placement.) More info on gamer mode: There are five presets, you can select them by hitting Fn+1 through Fn+5. Use Fn+Home to enter reprogram mode. Then, press the key you want to change the color of. Keep pressing it to cycle through all the colors, or to turn it off. When you’re done, use Fn+Home to exit reprogramming mode. Note: Gamer mode doesn’t support turning off ALL the keys. If you use one of the Gamer presets to turn all keys off, they will remain off as long as you stay with that preset. If you go to another Gamer Preset or another mode entirely, when you come back to that preset, it will have reset itself to what it was when the keyboard shipped. You must have at least one key lit up for your changes to save permanently. That said, this is an easy way to cycle through static (not animated) views. I have one Gamer preset with all the lights on in one color, one Gamer preset with all the lights off (except one), and one Gamer preset with actual game keys lit up (which I may not ever actually use). This way I can pick a setting with a couple of taps, rather than cycling through all ten modes. I don't intend to use any of the animated modes; while pretty, they're way too distracting. Last note, when the keyboard arrived, the logo plaque wasn’t stuck on above the arrow keys like it was supposed to be. I picked it up and peeled off the protective plastic, with the intent of then pushing the logo plate into its spot on the keyboard. But when I pulled off the protective plastic film, the logo was sticky on top. So I thought maybe it was better to just leave it off entirely.