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Keyboard with fast, easy to press buttons

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ColinMacLaren

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi,

I am looking for a keyboard with fast, easy to press buttons. The gaming experience is more important than typing.

I tend to bottom out the buttons quite hard.

So far I have tried:

Cherry Black. They feel kinda sticky and are too hard to press.

I am debating these keyboards:

Logitech G910 (88 EUR)
+ short actuation and total travel distance (1,5 + 2 mm)
+ keys bottom out kinda mushy and really suck for typing
+ RGB has Aurora support
o ergonomics could be better (wrist rest is short and not very comfortable, keys are quite high)
- need to install extra software

Roccat Ryos MK Pro Cherry Red (70 EUR).
+ good ergonomics
+ long actuation and total travel distance (2 + 2 mm)
+already using a Roccat mouse, so no extra software required
+ price
- thumb buttons
o can be shortened with o rings
- no RGB

Steelseries Apex M800 Steelseries QS1 (107 EUR)
+ flat keycaps
+ short actuation and total travel distance (1,5 + 1,5 mm)
+ already using a Steelseries mouse for MMORPGs, so no extra software required
- RGB useless because lack of Aurora support
- no wrist rest, but have a spare one lying around

Corsair K65 Rpaidfire Cherry Silver (107 EUR)
+ good ergonomics
+ shortest actuation and short total travel distance (1,2 + 2,2 mm)
+ RGB has Aurora support
- TKL
- need to install extra software
- price

Razer Black Widow Chroma V2 Razer Yellow (167 EUR)

+ good ergonomics
+ short actuation and total travel distance (1,5 + 2 mm)
+ RGB has Aurora support
- need to install extra software
- price
 
#2 ·
Fast and Easy to press + bottoming out hard is typically not a good combination. Shorter actuation switches will just be even harsher and finger fatigue or general discomfort might happen.

Do you have access to any CM MasterKeys Pro keyboards? I personally wouldn't recommend any of those keyboards for the price but I also don't know if this is all that's available in your location.

My personal thoughts are as followed....

The Roccat flat keycaps can be a huge issue to some, especially for gaming. Flat keycaps cause more keypress areas because of the larger surface area, if you have ever used DSA profile keycaps this would be a similar effect.

The Steelseries Apex spacebar is just way too much for me to handle. I don't know what's going on and wouldn't even bother trying to find out myself.

Never buy Razer.

Logitech romer-G is hit or miss for some people, keyboards are not bad but you definitely should like the switch your buying above anything else.

Corsair K65, I dislike low-profile cases but this would probably be my favorite of the list. MX Silvers are good if you like shorter, linear switches (i personally don't). I also prefer a shorter keyboard, so this is why I like it the best. I still would recommend a CM MasterKeys Pro S over all of these, or a Leopold, Varmillo, or Ducky.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Thank you for the suggestions.

What is so special about the Coolermasters? They cost ~130 EUR and don't seem to offer any additional features. I could pick up a Steelseries Apex 500 with the same switches and layout for half the price.

G910 is what I am currently typing on. Switches are OK for gaming but feel kinda mushy, they really suck for typing though.
Availabilty of Duckys and others is really bad in Germany. The Ducky Shine 6 with MX Silver looks good, but they are sold out at the only German retailer.

I was able to test a K70 Rpaidfire today for a minute and I really liked the switches. Keep in mind that the most important aspect for me is how good spamming adadadad feels, everything else is secondary. I am finished with school and all kinds of studies, so I will only u se the keyboard for web browsing and gaming.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColinMacLaren View Post

Thank you for the suggestions.

What is so special about the Coolermasters? They cost ~130 EUR and don't seem to offer any additional features. I could pick up a Steelseries Apex 500 with the same switches and layout for half the price.

G910 is what I am currently typing on. Switches are OK for gaming but feel kinda mushy, they really suck for typing though.
Availabilty of Duckys and others is really bad in Germany. The Ducky Shine 6 with MX Silver looks good, but they are sold out at the only German retailer.

I was able to test a K70 Rpaidfire today for a minute and I really liked the switches. Keep in mind that the most important aspect for me is how good spamming adadadad feels, everything else is secondary. I am finished with school and all kinds of studies, so I will only u se the keyboard for web browsing and gaming.
Click to expand...
CM MasterKeys Pro are just good quality all around compared to most of the other mainstream keyboards. It's the lack of "features" that make them good, because they put more quality into the board as a whole. Objectively, for what they do offer it is good quality.

I didn't look at the SteelSeries M500, I actually like that much more than that M800. M500 looks like it uses standard bottom row (just like the CM MasterKeys) so you could replace the keycaps with an aftermarket set if you ever wished to, the whacky layout of the M800 won't allow that.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I got the M800 yesterday. I really love the swithces, they are thebest I have ever put my fingers on. Extremely responsive, but not as mushy as the Romer G. They are exactly what I need. I don't like the layout though. The buttons are actually smaller then a standard layout so I am hitting CAPS and LShift instead of a and z all the time... Why on earth did they decided to make the keyboard itself bigger, but the actual layout smaller then a standard design?

I am looking for a solution (Keyboard, FPs mosue, MMO mouse) where I just stick with one brand. It just looks cleaner on the desk and I don't have to mess with different drivers and utilities.

Logitech (cheap):
Keyboards Switches: OK
Keyboards ergonomics: OK
Mice Buttons: great
Mice ergonomics: meh.

Steelseries (cheap):
Keyboards Switches: great
Keyboards ergonomics: OK
Mice Buttons: meh
Mice ergonomics: great

Roccat (expensive):
Keyboards Switches: meh
Keyboards ergonomics: OK
Mice Buttons: OK
Mice ergonomics: OK

Corsair: (expensive)
Keyboards Switches: great
Keyboards ergonomics: great
Mice Buttons: OK
Mice ergonomics: meh (Glaive looks great, but too heavy)

Razer: (expensive)
Keyboards Switches: OK
Keyboards ergonomics: great
Mice Buttons: OK
Mice ergonomics: meh (

Asus (great expensive)
Keyboards Switches: meh
Keyboards ergonomics: great
Mice Buttons: OK
Mice ergonomics: OK
 
#6 ·
controversial: Go for low height membrane keyboard.

I just switched myself to a red cherry keyboard from a membrane keyboard. Its not good for fast paced gaming.

2mm travel until it registers the key press, but it travels down to 4mm. When you release the key, it has to travel another 2mm upwards before it stops registering. This "dead center" feels "swooshy", not precise or immediate.

You find your self still moving in-game after you already released the key, because you have to release it fully.

I regret the purchase.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by spyshagg View Post

controversial: Go for low height membrane keyboard.

I just switched myself to a red cherry keyboard from a membrane keyboard. Its not good for fast paced gaming.

2mm travel until it registers the key press, but it travels down to 4mm. When you release the key, it has to travel another 2mm upwards before it stops registering. This "dead center" feels "swooshy", not precise or immediate.

You find your self still moving in-game after you already released the key, because you have to release it fully.

I regret the purchase.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you needed a clicky switch and just didn't know it

I like blues, they do the job. Probably a little light but they're a very nice all around switch. Excellent for typing and pretty good for gaming (most people would say reds are theoretically better and I'd agree except I like the feedback).
 
#8 ·
Here is a list of a few keyboards I have owned/tried, with a few comments if it helps at all:

Keyboards:

Corsair K65 Compact Cherry MX Reds (Owned for 2 years) - Great keyboard for small desks, allows your hands to be closer together due to the form factor, I am pretty heavy handed when it comes to games, and I would rest my thumb on the keys before a keypress, however, I'd accidentally press them and end up doing unwanted actions in games. I did some work from home on a number of occasions, and I can honestly say... I can't deal with the noise or the hand ache after hours of typing, it was truly unusable for anything but gaming. 6/10

Corsair K70 + Palm Rest + red grip keycaps + the original one had Cherry MX Reds (Owned for 3 years) - I do admit, I have a soft-spot for the Corsair design, it was a shame that not all of the keys were mechanical on the K70 I owned, (they all are now). The red grip keycaps seemed to cause the same issue as on the K65 as they made the keys taller, I'd accidentally press them when resting my hand. I wrote my dissertation for university on this keyboard, and it was noisy as expected, but didn't cause as much hand-ache as the K65. Not sure why, they are very similar in design. I sold it with my old PC to a friend and it is still going now, I do miss it. 7/10

Madcats Strike 7 (Owned for 6 months) - I do not know what compelled me to buy this keyboard as I did not really like the way it looked too OTT, I think I got it to match my R.A.T 5 at the time. I used it for roughly 6 months before selling it on. The keys started sticking, poor build quality... overpriced.... I don't know what I was thinking. AVOID 2/10.

CM Masterkeys Pro + Cherry MX browns (Owned for 4 months) - I absolutely loved this keyboard from the very first day I owned it. I had zero issues with this keyboard, when I rested my hand on it, the keys didn't depress, there was no ghosting, it felt great! The spacebar was very satisfying to press, more-so than any keyboard I have ever used. Then after 4 months... It just stopped working, completely, out of the blue. I got it RMA'd, they sent back a brand new one and I sold it because I didn't trust the build quality after that. 7/10

Zalman ZM K500 (owned for 7 months) - I got this because I was on a budget, at the time it was £38, so I couldn't complain. You could tell it was cheap but the key-presses felt just as good as the Corsair keyboards, until it started getting confused on key-presses, I'd press shift and F and it wouldn't recognise the command, gradually this kept happening, until eventually it wouldn't recognise at least 30% of keypresses with shift held down. While the performance was better than the Madcats Strike 7, it obviously has some board issues, if you go on amazon reviews, there are a few people experiencing the same. AVOID 3/10

Ducky Shine 6 (tried at my friends when I was staying there for a few days) - I instantly fell in love with this keyboard, it is perfect in every single way. Possibly the most satisfying keyboard to type on, no ghosting, no placement issues, just extremely good quality, I wish I had one, but I don't actually own a desk anymore and use a Razer Turret (sigh) 10//10

Razer Turret (Currently owned for 8 months) - This has been the best wireless keyboard I have ever owned, it is a very niche product and I understand it isn't something you'd probably ever buy. It allows me to use my PC from my couch on my 4k TV. The features aren't there for a £150 product though... No LED's, let alone RGB. 125hz mouse... 3500DPI only. No macro keys, no numpad. I knew this before purchasing but there is nothing else like it that is wireless and foldable
frown.gif
. The keyboard however, is lovely to type on, feels like a high end laptop. Although there have been a few times where the spacebar has unclipped and I've had to press it back in-place. The mouse is slightly magnetised so I can sit at funny angles and it won't fall off the trackpad. Overall I am super happy with this purchase. 7/10

In conclusion, if you have the money... without a doubt... the Ducky Shine 6 is the pinnacle. If you're after macro keys, and loads of features, I don't think many keyboards can top the K95!
 
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#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by spyshagg View Post

controversial: Go for low height membrane keyboard.

I just switched myself to a red cherry keyboard from a membrane keyboard. Its not good for fast paced gaming.

2mm travel until it registers the key press, but it travels down to 4mm. When you release the key, it has to travel another 2mm upwards before it stops registering. This "dead center" feels "swooshy", not precise or immediate.

You find your self still moving in-game after you already released the key, because you have to release it fully.

I regret the purchase.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more. I game way better on twitch-based games on my membrane, then Gateron Red, then MX Blue keyboards for the exact reasons you gave.

Typing is way better on mechanical though but for gaming a membrane keyboard is way better... Kind of like an IPS screen vs a TN panel for gaming... sure the IPS/VA panels looks a lot better and the newer panels game very well but the TN panels with worse picture quality are much faster for gaming. Of course CRTs are still best but I sold my behemoth FW900 years ago XD
 
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#12 ·
For gaming I would go with brown switches. They are very fast and easy to press switches.

I can't really recommend a keyboard since my Cougar Attack X3 is pretty much the only mech keyboard I have owned. But its a pretty good deal at 89$.

Just don't go with Razor. They feel nice for awhile but the quailty is crap and keys will die in a year or two.
 
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#19 ·
For FPS shooters it should offer the ability to have an as short as possible enduring contact, so that you can make the tiniest of movements(corner peaking).
GL with that on a linear switch, which activates "somewhere" within its long keytravel.

IMHO the best would be a linear, 2-3mm keytravel, very light switch, which activates only at bottom out.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by thuNDa View Post

For FPS shooters it should offer the ability to have an as short as possible enduring contact, so that you can make the tiniest of movements(corner peaking).
GL with that on a linear switch, which activates "somewhere" within its long keytravel.

IMHO the best would be a linear, 2-3mm keytravel, very light switch, which activates only at bottom out.
Click to expand...
I am a heavy typer myself and bottom out always. So what I recommend is always doing O rings to bottom out faster.
 
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