Credit:
Reviewed / Simon Hill
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Credit:
Reviewed / Simon Hill
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Not just a gorgeous design, this keyboard is the customization king, enabling you to tailor every aspect for your gaming needs. Read More
Great build quality in a smaller form, this mechanical keyboard ditches the number pad, but has plenty of features. Read More
The 8Bitdo Retro Mechanical Keyboard includes Bluetooth and 2.4Ghz wireless, as well as a hot-swappable PCB and a macro pad for under $100. Read More
The Corsair K70 Max RGB is one of the few mechanical keyboards that use magnetic switches with fully customizable, per-key actuation points. Read More
A pleasure to type on for work or play, this stunning gaming keyboard offers lots of customization options. Read More
If you're serious about PC gaming, a fast, comfortable keyboard is a must-have. A step beyond the standard flat pack-ins, the best gaming keyboards offer traits that can elevate your gameplay.
Features like mechanical keys with quick, reliable travel and more generous key spacing are standard these days. Fully configurable lighting, cable routing, wrist rests, wireless connectivity, and long-term durability may also factor into your choice. Most manufacturers these days use boards with mechanical key switches, and some are even hot-swappable; gone are the days of the mushy membrane keyboard.
Our absolute favorite gaming keyboard is the flawless SteelSeries Apex Pro (available at Amazon for $170.99) . This mechanical keyboard has a svelte aluminum design, a magnetic wrist rest, bright RGB lighting, incredibly deep customizability, and an OLED screen. It also comes in a smaller 60% version.
Don’t worry, though, if you don’t fancy our pricey best gaming keyboard pick, there are plenty of other options with different feature sets at various prices.
The SteelSeries Apex Pro is a feature-packed, mechanical, gaming keyboard that's a joy to use.
The Roccat Vulcan TKL loses the number pad, but has everything else you could want in a gaming keyboard.
The 8Bitdo Retro Mechanical Keyboard delivers tremendous value.
The Corsair K70 Max RGB is the keyboard to beat for gamers who prioritize performance.
Aluminum board looks great
Bright lighting
Dedicated media keys
Hard wrist rest
No USB pass-through
Advanced reactive lighting
Very durable
Great performance
No dedicated media keys
No cable management
Customizable lighting
Very portable
Limited keys
Limited MacOS support
Wired vs. Wireless: Most gaming keyboards are either wired or wireless these days. You may prefer a wireless keyboard if you’re not gaming at a desk or you travel often, but battery life will be a problem if you like backlighting. Many wired keyboards are also portable, just look for removable cables to make them easier to pack up. Some gaming keyboards also offer cable routing that can help them fit in with your desktop.
The feel: The best test is trying a keyboard firsthand. Think about the feel of the keys, the sound it makes, the spacing, the extras, and the wrist rest. A quality board is likely to be with you for years, so you want something that feels right for you.
Extra keys: You can remap all the keys on a gaming keyboard to suit you and even create profiles for different games. Some gaming keyboards include programmable buttons for shortcuts or for macros, which chain together a series of actions. You may also find special media keys and a volume roller or knob useful.
Customizable lighting: RGB lighting is expected in a gaming keyboard. Manufacturers provide software that will include preset lighting effects, and most enable you to craft your own. The level of customization varies, with some offering per-key lighting and complex layered effects. Simple backlighting is a bare minimum, allowing you to play in the dark.
Portability: The size and weight will be a factor if portability is a concern for you. Tenkeyless boards drop the number pad, and some gaming keyboards scale back even further, but be aware that you’ll need to use key combinations to access some functions. Another thing to look for if you want to take your gaming keyboard on the road is the ability to store profiles in its onboard memory.
Wrist rest: Support and comfort can be enhanced by the right wrist rest. The best keyboards for gaming have removable wrist rests that attach magnetically. Consider how it will feel in the long term and how it will age.
Different switches will have a different feel and require different amounts of force or travel. You can usually switch the keycaps and customize more elements of a mechanical keyboard. We recommend linear switches for gaming keyboards, as they depress smoothly. Tactile switches have a bump of resistance before they can be fully depressed and are better for typing.
Magnetic switches are the current cream of the crop. Keyboards like the Corsair K70 Max use Hall effect switches that use a magnetic field instead of mechanical resistance to determine when a key is pressed. This allows users to customize the actuation point of each individual key, and even map multiple actions to a single keystroke.
Membrane switches: Employing a simpler construction that relies on a membrane layer on top of a printed circuit board, these rubber-dome switches are much cheaper than their mechanical counterparts. They tend to offer less tactile feedback and have a shorter lifespan than mechanical switches, but they are much quieter and cheaper.
Keycaps: These are the plastic covers that go over the top of the switches. You often have a choice of different keycaps with mechanical keyboards, often made of PVC or ABS. While PVC wears relatively quickly, ABS keycaps are more durable and resistant to oils and smears.
N-key rollover: Key rollover and "anti-ghosting" refers to how many keys you can press at once before the keystrokes stop registering. If you have N-Key rollover, every keystroke will register, ideal in a gaming keyboard.
RGB: This stands for red, green, blue, and means you can change the color of the lights on your gaming keyboard. Most gaming keyboards have some RGB lighting, but the available lighting effects differ across devices and brands. At the top end, you can customize lighting on a per-key basis or save different lighting profiles to the onboard memory.
Polling rate: This refers to how often your keyboard is checking for key presses and reporting back to your computer. It’s measured in Hertz (Hz). A polling rate of 1,000Hz indicates that your keyboard is checking for keystrokes 1,000 times per second. A higher polling rate means a faster reaction time but can drain system resources.
A standard gaming keyboard connected over 2.4GHz wireless via a USB dongle will have a polling rate of 1,000Hz, but some of the best gaming keyboards can connect up to 4,000Hz over a wired connection.
USB passthrough: Some gaming keyboards include a USB port that you can use to plug in a mouse, receiver, or another USB device.
Tenkeyless (TKL): Tenkeyless or TKL keyboards cut off the number pad section at the end. If you don’t use the number pad, chopping it off can free up some desk space. This also enables you to move your mouse closer, to increase comfort and reduce the risk of strains.
We use each gaming keyboard for at least three days. We work through a normal day with each keyboard, typing, researching, and running through typical administrative tasks.
At night, each product is put through its paces in marathon gaming sessions with a range of different titles, including first-person shooters, real-time strategy games, and more sedate management sims. Then all of the keyboards are matched up using a variety of key metrics to find their overall score and rank.
Lee was Reviewed's point person for most television and home theater products from 2012 until early 2022. Lee received Level II certification in TV calibration from the Imaging Science Foundation in 2013. As Editor of the Home Theater vertical, Lee oversaw reviews of TVs, monitors, soundbars, and Bluetooth speakers. He also reviewed headphones, and has a background in music performance.
Simon Hill is a freelance technology journalist with a decade of writing experience covering everything from smartphones to smart home gadgets. For the last few years, he served as Associate Editor at Digital Trends where he wrote features, reviews, analysis, how-tos, and more.
Jonathan is an Electronics Editor for Reviewed specializing in gaming gear and has experience with everything from controllers to benchmarking the latest GPUs. He was previously the Web Editor at The Architect's Newspaper.
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