Best Gaming Keyboard for 2024

The K100 Air is at the moment our favourite low-profile gaming keyboard. It is feature-packed, with all of the wi-fi (2.4GHz and three Bluetooth pairing slots) and a dock for the PC/PlayStation-compatible dongle, in addition to additional macro keys. Because it solely comes with tactile keys it isn’t nice for actually fast-response video games that profit extra from linear switches; it makes use of Cherry MX Extremely Low Profile mechanical switches. But it surely’s bought an amazing really feel if tactile is your factor and it is fairly effectively constructed, which makes it terrific for the workday. Plus, battery life, even with RGB at full blast, is sort of good, and if the battery dies you should utilize it wired whereas it prices. All of that is wrapped into the thinnest keyboard we have seen to this point.

The plain draw back is the worth. It is not overpriced for what you get, nevertheless it’s nonetheless on the excessive finish of the vary for keyboards. Learn our Corsair K100 Air overview.

Tied for favourite low-profile gaming keyboard, the Razer DeathStalker V2 Professional wi-fi mannequin is effectively fitted to individuals who want a quicker response or quieter working mannequin, because it comes with Razer’s optical linear switches (Purple) in addition to its clicky Purples. It shares plenty of the identical benefits of the K100 Air — full-featured, effectively designed and multidevice (Bluetooth and a couple of.4GHz) wi-fi. It is not as slim, however equally excessive priced. Learn our Razer DeathStalker V2 Professional overview.

Need a compact 65% wi-fi mechanical keyboard for work and gaming? There aren’t that many round (most wi-fi keyboard choices are 60% measurement with out discrete navigation keys) and none that I’ve discovered which have Bluetooth and lag-free 2.4GHz wi-fi just like the BlackWidow V3 Min HyperSpeed. That helps justify the upper value and it is also solidly constructed and is snug for typing, and clean and quick for gaming. You might be restricted to 2 key switches — linear and clicky tactile — so if you need a tactile swap with out the clicky sound, you are out of luck for the second. Swap decisions apart, in case you’re in quest of an amazing little wi-fi mechanical gaming keyboard that can be your day by day driver for work, you have discovered it.

Our present prime tenkeyless (or TKL, i.e. no numberpad) gaming keyboard. A step up from the usual G Professional, the Professional X has swappable switches, letting you select the precise really feel you need with Logitech’s GX switches obtainable in blue clicky, crimson linear and brown tactile units for $50 every. Eradicating and changing the switches is straightforward, making it straightforward to customise your expertise in case you’ve bought the cash. It is modding made straightforward.

The Logitech keyboard’s general design would not differ a lot from the G Professional, although, which might be our runner-up decide. It is made for esports, and its small, sturdy construct and detachable braided cable makes it good for journey. Logitech’s G Hub software program is easy to make use of so you do not spend plenty of time attempting to find settings or management choices. Attaching macros to the perform keys is painless as effectively.

A compact TKL model of , the K70 RGB TKL is designed for esports however has options any aggressive gamer will respect. It makes use of Corsair’s Axon processing know-how to get a polling price as much as 8,000Hz that just about eliminates the possibility that enter lag goes to value you a victory. At 8,000Hz, it experiences keypresses each 0.125 milliseconds and it has a 4,000Hz keyscan price — 4 instances quicker than competing keyboards — so it is each detecting and transmitting keystrokes far quicker than the typical gaming keyboard with a 1,000Hz polling price.

Corsair used Cherry MX Purple mechanical switches, although in some areas it is going to be supplied with MX Velocity or Silent switches as effectively. The common linear Purple switches are quick, clean and simply reliably good. There’s per-key RGB backlighting shining by way of sturdy double-shot PBT keycaps and Corsair additionally contains some textured keycaps for gaming. The keyboard’s structure is healthier for journey and it has a detachable braided USB-A-to-USB-C cable.

Subsequent to the cable enter, you will discover a swap that flips the keyboard right into a tournament-ready mode. This makes the backlighting static and disables macro activations so there is not any unintended presses whereas taking part in. You’ll be able to nonetheless use different keys just like the media and quantity controls and alter profiles, nonetheless.

Corsair’s iCue software program was overhauled lately to make organising lighting, programming macros and remapping keys extra simple. When you can create limitless profiles and lighting layers which might be accessible when utilizing iCue, you may as well retailer as much as 50 particular person profiles to the keyboard’s onboard reminiscence. These are accessible with out operating iCue and even once you’re on programs that do not assist iCue. It’s also possible to retailer as much as 20 lighting layers.

In the event you’re on the lookout for a quick, full-featured compact keyboard for FPS and MOBA video games, the K70 RGB TKL has you coated.

Out there in full, TKL and 60% sizes with HyperX’s personal linear, tactile and clicky switches, the HyperX Alloy Origins line provides plenty of variety so you could find simply the appropriate keyboard on your wants. All of them have slim, streamlined designs with aluminum our bodies and detachable braided USB-C-to-USB-A cables. You will not discover discrete media controls like the corporate’s Elite 2 keyboard, however the perform keys are marked out with media controls in addition to a Recreation Mode so you’ll be able to disable the Home windows key and sure key combos whereas gaming. 

The Elite 2 is a beefier model of HyperX’s slimmer, lighter Alloy Origins and Origins Core TKL keyboards. As an alternative of an aluminum body, the Elite 2 has a sturdier metal body, which provides it some heft to maintain it in place in your desk. A thick braided cable is connected on the again and there is a pass-through USB 2.0 port on your wired gaming mouse or wi-fi receiver. 

The backlit keyboard is general bigger, too, with the addition of a light-weight bar above the perform keys and a separate bar with media controls and buttons for adjusting backlight brightness, selecting one among three customized gentle modes you’ll be able to retailer on the keyboard and turning on the Recreation Mode, which turns off the Home windows key and different key combos that may intervene along with your gameplay. 

Nonetheless, just like the Origins fashions, the Elite 2 makes use of the corporate’s homegrown Purple linear key swap options as an alternative of the Cherry MX swap within the unique. Easy and quick, the HyperX Reds are corresponding to the Cherry MX Purple swap and carry out simply as effectively and will fulfill most avid gamers. 

The switches use surface-mounted RGB backlight LEDs which might be extremely brilliant, so if you need a very good lightshow out of your gaming keyboard, this does not disappoint. Plus, the keyboard is ready up with HyperX ABS pudding keycaps that allow the sunshine shine by way of their translucent sides.

Optical key switches are praised for his or her lightning-fast velocity and lengthy lifespan. The Vulcan TKL Professional’s Titan optical switches add the texture of a very clean linear mechanical swap to the components supplying you with an amazing gaming expertise. The keys, which have a muted clack to them, have a 1.4mm actuation level and no discernable wobble irrespective of how furiously you press them. 

The keyboard is slim and light-weight and Roccat stripped away nearly the entire body across the keys retaining its footprint as small as attainable. The floating keycap design offers Roccat’s keyboards a singular look within the class and actually lets the per-key RGB lighting shine. It additionally makes use of a removable USB-C-to-USB-A cable. 

The corporate’s Swarm software program is not as simple to make use of as others, however you will discover all the identical type of design instruments for creating customized lighting setups and macros with completely different profiles. You’ll be able to even make your keypresses sound like laser blasts or a typewriter, amongst different issues, by way of your audio system or headphones. And when you’ve got different Roccat AIMO units, the lighting might be matched between them. 

In the event you’re not offered on optical switches, Roccat’s Vulcan TKL has the identical wonderful design because the Professional however makes use of the corporate’s Titan linear switches. They’ve the same however barely lighter really feel to them in comparison with the optical switches with the identical 1.4mm actuation level. 

If you are going to spend almost $200 to purchase one of the best gaming keyboard you could find, the Razer Huntsman v2, together with its inexpensive little brother the Huntsman v2 TKL, delivers wonderful efficiency with both Razer’s linear crimson optical switches or clicky purple optomechanical switches (which is $30 much less). The 2 fashions change the veteran Huntsman Elite (the v2) and Huntsman Match Version (TKL), although the latter nonetheless exists in a inexperienced keycap mannequin.

Razer matches Corsair’s Okay sequence for its 8,000Hz polling, and mixed with the swift response of the optically primarily based switches provides minimal lag to your gaming expertise, and brings the up to date sound-dampening know-how to the reds. There are media controls on the full-size keyboard, programmable similar to all the opposite keys, and Razer’s Synapse software program supplies in depth management over the keyboard’s setup, which you’ll be able to load into one of many keyboard’s 5 profile slots. You’ll be able to keep on with presets in case you’re not into tweaking settings. 

For the v2, Razer dropped the gorgeous underglow lighting, however meaning it now not requires the second USB port in your laptop. In the event you miss it, there’s at all times the Razer Huntsman Analog v2 in case you can abdomen the $250 value.

Most avid gamers swear by wired keyboards and for good purpose: A wired keyboard eliminates lag and potential sign interference. That mentioned, I did not expertise both whereas testing the G915 utilizing its Lightspeed wi-fi adapter. This wi-fi gaming keyboard might be linked by way of Bluetooth, too, and so long as you retain the backlight off or low, battery life is pretty good. 

The per-key RGB lighting, in addition to all keys, might be programmed with Logitech’s G Hub software program. The app is usually straightforward to work with and you may set as much as three profiles which you could change to with out opening the software program. 

Its compact measurement and the corporate’s low-profile GL Tactile switches make it a viable selection for work and gaming, which is sweet contemplating its checklist value of $230. It’s also possible to get it with GL Clicky or GL Linear switches and in two colours: carbon with black keycaps or silver with white caps. 

The GMMK is one of the best deal in gaming keyboards. Sure, there are inexpensive choices, however the design and options of the Wonderful Modular Mechanical Keyboard, to present it its full identify, are unbeatable at its $43 value. Out there in full, tenkeyless and 60% sizes and in black on black or white on silver colours, the keyboard is modular, letting you hot-swap its key switches. It comes commonplace with ABS doubleshot keycaps on prime of Gateron Brown tactile switches, which work effectively for each gaming and typing. However you may as well customise the keyboard with one among 13 different Gateron or Kailh switches or the corporate’s Wonderful Panda switches which might be clean however with a tactile bump you will positively really feel. Or you may get simply the board and put in your swap of selection. The identical goes for the keycaps; there are 4 to select from or you may get none in any respect.

The total-size keyboard has an connected braided USB cable with three-way routing underneath the board (it additionally has a keycap puller saved on the underside). The 2 smaller boards have detachable cables. The GMMK has a metallic prime with nice-looking beveled edges. It is a streamlined design with simply the necessities; you will not discover additional media controls or a quantity dial or an enormous, cumbersome physique to go together with them. The underside is plastic, however you’ll be able to’t see it except you carry the board and, mixed with the metallic prime, it has a heft to it that retains it in place in your desk.

Even in case you by no means swap out the switches or keycaps, this is a superb gaming keyboard. It is the truth that you will have the choice to simply do these issues, although, that makes the GMMK a standout.