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Monday, 11 November 2013
The German manufacturer, Roccat has been known for designing exceptional gaming peripherals like keyboards, mice, mouse pads and headphones.They also have notebooks but they are available only in Germany. But when it
comes to keyboards, they have been a bit behind the times. After taking
almost a year to develop, Roccat is ready to introduce gamers to the Ryos
Series of gaming keyboards. Let us have a review of the Ryos MK Glow.
The Ryos MK Glow features a built-in palm rest, individual LED keys, individual key remapping, fully capable macros and an anti-smudge surface. This keyboard which is going to be available at retail stores during Christmas with a price tag of £120, is described by the German manufacturer as "the most advanced, most customizable mechanical keyboard ever." The company has high expectations with this keyboard and there should be, as the Ryos is the successor to the well-received Isku.
THE DESIGN :
When you flip the keyboard towards the back, you can see five rubber pads that helps in keeping the keyboard in place, two pop-out stands that create a small incline, a series of cable-routing channels as well as a centrally-mounted USB 2.0 connection cable. The keyboard measures 23cm x 51cm in size. The keyboard includes 113 keys in total. The material used for the keyboard is mostly plastic, but the overall build quality is quite good. Roccat has continued to improve upon its established designs and it has innovated new features as well.
SWITCHES :
The Isku is a membrane keyboard, whereas the Ryos is a mechanical keyboard with CHERRY MX key switches. Mechanical keyboards differ from the less expensive membrane keyboards as they include a switch mechanism under every key, which results in many advantages such as greater durability, the ability to press any number of keys simultaneously and have them all register, and key strokes that register without having to press the key all the way down.
As you can see in the image, there is a trio of 'thumbster' keys below the spacebar, five macro keys line the left side of the keyboard, and there is a full-size number pad on the right side. The keyboard's blue LED backlight works very well and it has five brightness settings and plenty of illumination at the highest setting, but the individual LEDs are placed high on each key, which results in dim backlighting on secondary function. All the keys are surrounded by a micro-dotted keyboard tray, which the company claims as smudge and fingerprint-resistive. The keyboard allows you to assign a secondary key function to each and every key, and you can store more than 500 macros in the keyboard’s flash memory.
CONCLUSION :
Overall, the hardware is solid and comfortable to use. Typing and gaming on the Ryos MK Glow is equally easy.
The Ryos MK Glow features a built-in palm rest, individual LED keys, individual key remapping, fully capable macros and an anti-smudge surface. This keyboard which is going to be available at retail stores during Christmas with a price tag of £120, is described by the German manufacturer as "the most advanced, most customizable mechanical keyboard ever." The company has high expectations with this keyboard and there should be, as the Ryos is the successor to the well-received Isku.
THE DESIGN :
When you flip the keyboard towards the back, you can see five rubber pads that helps in keeping the keyboard in place, two pop-out stands that create a small incline, a series of cable-routing channels as well as a centrally-mounted USB 2.0 connection cable. The keyboard measures 23cm x 51cm in size. The keyboard includes 113 keys in total. The material used for the keyboard is mostly plastic, but the overall build quality is quite good. Roccat has continued to improve upon its established designs and it has innovated new features as well.
SWITCHES :
The Isku is a membrane keyboard, whereas the Ryos is a mechanical keyboard with CHERRY MX key switches. Mechanical keyboards differ from the less expensive membrane keyboards as they include a switch mechanism under every key, which results in many advantages such as greater durability, the ability to press any number of keys simultaneously and have them all register, and key strokes that register without having to press the key all the way down.
As you can see in the image, there is a trio of 'thumbster' keys below the spacebar, five macro keys line the left side of the keyboard, and there is a full-size number pad on the right side. The keyboard's blue LED backlight works very well and it has five brightness settings and plenty of illumination at the highest setting, but the individual LEDs are placed high on each key, which results in dim backlighting on secondary function. All the keys are surrounded by a micro-dotted keyboard tray, which the company claims as smudge and fingerprint-resistive. The keyboard allows you to assign a secondary key function to each and every key, and you can store more than 500 macros in the keyboard’s flash memory.
CONCLUSION :
Overall, the hardware is solid and comfortable to use. Typing and gaming on the Ryos MK Glow is equally easy.