Choosing the right gaming keyboards for your gaming devices can make or break your enjoyment of the game. Like any other personal investment, you want to make sure that you’re getting the best quality keyboard for your money. But what factors should you keep in mind when buying one?
The Best Gaming Keyboards by default have a black matte finish, but that’s only the norm. Today’s gaming keyboards come in a dizzying array of colors and finishes, and each one employs a different kind of mechanical switch. There are so many different membrane options available that choosing one can get quite confusing. Here’s a quick rundown of the common membrane switches you’ll find in modern gaming keyboards:
Rubber-Dipped Wrist Restes – The rubber-dipped wrist rests found on many gaming keyboards give you the perfect amount of wrist rest comfort. You’ll find them on all models, but particularly on gaming keyboards that include a full size keyset. They provide optimal support for your hands and wrist, which means that you’ll likely use them much more than you would a normal keyboard, increasing the chance that you’ll actually get some use out of them.
Low Profile Lightweight Gaming Keyboard – Gaming keyboards that use a low profile keypad are among the least expensive, lightest keyboards on the market. On the other hand, they also offer the lowest level of tactile feedback, meaning that they’re not always the best for your budget. Most of the time, you’ll spend hours on low profile k70 keyboards without even noticing the difference in feel. Unfortunately, most of these cheap gaming keyboards have an extremely shallow key-stem. Even with the cheapest k70 keyboard, you still won’t be able to feel the difference between a standard and low profile key-stem. With that said, cheap k70 light weight gaming keyboards are fine for certain applications, but not when it comes to typing and experiencing great hand and wrist support.
Full-size Keyboards with Lighting – Light weight, cheap gaming keyboards usually offer some sort of lighting option. Unfortunately, most times, the lighting that’s offered is very limited. With that said, some full sized keyboards offer lighting options, which can be a nice addition if you can fit it in your budget. Unfortunately, most of these backlighting options are expensive and only work with standard Cherry MX style keyboards.
Number Pad & System Port Pads – Number pad and system port inputs are typically only offered on high end gaming keyboards. Since most gaming keyboards are overpriced, you usually get what you pay for. Cheap gaming keyboards don’t really offer any value in the number pad or system port department. On the plus side though, cheap models usually come with high quality keycaps. If you can find one that has nice color combinations and is made of high quality materials, then it’s definitely worth the investment.
