Azio listened and implemented advice
from NCX employees on their Mech 5
gaming keyboard. So, this is from their Levitron series of keyboards. It is a
mechanical keyboard. And I'm not going
to say who the NCIX employees were, but
if there's anything you don't like about this keyboard, then I hope that you have
a keyboard yourself that is capable of writing Russian characters so that you
can email the NCIX employee who is responsible for your
dissatisfaction. Um, mechanical keys.
The cherry black mechanical key switch is widely believed to provide the best gaming experience. featuring a linear
design ideal for rapid pressing of keys and the right stiffness to help prevent
accidental key press. It also has a dedicated key for turning the Windows
key on and off. Personally, I don't use that, but some people do. Has a numeric
keyboard that can actually be attached and then detached to put either on the
right or the left side of the keyboard, which I think is kind of neat. You can also just take it right off and use it
as a standalone USB keyboard, which is or keypad, which is kind of neat. Some
people like those. Anti- ghosting ensures multiple keys register when you
press them simultaneously. That's good. Modular design attaching modular
accessories. Okay. Unlimited profiles. Create and save as many profiles as you'd like for maximum key
customization. Require software. That's cool because I can't imagine a reason
why anyone's keyboard software actually has a limit to how many profiles, but
they all do. And this one doesn't. Neat.
The add-on macro D-pad expansion allows for six additional programmable keys.
The expansion module rail enables custom positioning by sliding the D-pad left to
right. So, I'll show you guys that after. Volume knob, water resistant,
remain functional even if accidentally exposed to liquid in such an event. Do not flip or shake the keyboard and the
liquid will properly drain
itself. It's kind of neat. Lifetime support by phone, live chat, email, and
including warranty. Okay, you can phone
their support about your warranty, but your warranty is 3 years.
Here is the keyboard itself. So, you can see it looks like um a no number pad
keyboard when you first take it out of the box, but then you will find all the
modular accessories and hoo-ha that you
didn't initially see once you take the keyboard itself out. There's their
packaging. Here is their extra USB
cable, which I will show you what it's for in a minute. Here is the modular
D-pad dudad. D-pad duad.
Nice. I satisfy even myself with my
quirkiness sometimes. All right, we have the
included software, which you'll need for your programmable keys with unlimited
profiles. Your quick start guide, which pretty much shows you how a keyboard
works. Okay, I don't think I'll be needing that. Uh, and then we have the
keyboard itself. So, we had a look at the Mech 4. In fact, uh, Slick pointed
out a fascinating uh, a fascinating fact to me, and that
is that the Mech 4 was the first unboxing he ever filmed with me back
when he was doing his job application. So, I thought that was interesting. So,
here we are. We've uh, we've come to the Mech 5, and this will be the last
unboxing he ever films with me cuz he's fired. Actually, I only fired him once
today. Usually I fire him multiple times in a day, but then I always rehire him,
so he's not too he's not too put off by it at this point. All right. In terms of
the cable that's included, it is uh just over one full Linus arms span in length.
Includes two wires, one for presumably, yes, the built-in hub, and the other for
the actual data to the keyboard itself. It uses a nice thin cable, though. I
like that. Instead of like one of those super thick, ridiculous cables just for
the sake of, you know, having a couple connectors end up at the other end.
Um, in terms of the layout of the keyboard, we have what to me is the Hold
on. There we go. We have what to me is the ideal layout where you've got your
long shift, long shift, long enter, and long backspace. It does have two Windows
keys and no function keys. However, the fact that you have all these
programmable keys, which you can switch between A or B, as well as the dedicated
Windows key means this Windows key shouldn't really bother gamers for the
most part. Ah, so they did not make the mistake of
one of their contemporaries who also builds mechanical keyboards. These are
all mechanical and these are all mechanical and these are mechanical and
these are mechanical. This is a full mechanical keyboard with the couple of
small exceptions being the volume
dial. Clearly, if you put a key switch in it, it would be stupid. Um, also the
Windows on and off and the A and B uh switch between these programmable keys.
These are also not programmable, but it just depends on I mean whether you want
to use them or not. And what's cool is you can put them on, flip it away if you
don't feel like using it, and flip it down if you want more macro keys to use
during a gaming session. So you'll have all of these and all of these, or you
just won't have them. It actually slides on in much the same way as like, you
know, like a sniper scope. In fact, oh, look at this. No, they even have like
shiny like glassy pieces on the sides. And yeah, it's okay. That's totally
totally sniper scope inspired design. And that looks like the rail that you
slide it onto on the See, you can actually position it wherever you want.
So you can throw it over here if it's, you know, here that you desire to have
it. And you can put it here if it's here that you desire to have it. It's totally up to you. Personally, I'd probably put
it right about there cuz I don't have much use for F1 when I'm gaming. Uh, but
escape might come in handy. And you never know when you might need F5. F5 is like my favorite key on the
keyboard. Um, so I want to show No, it's not. I lied. Um, so I want to show you
guys how this works. Basically, there's a USB port. There's a
USB port, and you put the thing into the
thing. You clip the thing onto the thing, and then it will sit on the left
of your keyboard. Tada. Or you undo it
uh or uh preferably with the switch on the
bottom. Unput the thing in the thing.
preferably with the switch on the bottom. Fold that back
over. Open up the other
side and plug it in there and clip it
into place. I think it's cool. Or if
you're one of those people, in fact, Slick was just pointing out to me a
little while ago the lack of mechanical
detachable keypads because lots of people like to use the uh the shorter
keyboards. So, the ones without a number pad for general use, then they have
their mouse. Then they have the keypad on the other side for like more
efficient hand movement. This is a mechanical keypad.
So, it comes with it. All you got to do is plug in the USB cable and plug it
into your computer and you have a full mechanical keyboard keypad including a
dedicated calculator calculator button, which I am personally a huge fan of. It
is also a very well-built one with nice long rubber pads on the bottom as well
as two different height options in terms
of how you want to lay it down on the desk. So, check this out. You can either do flat, in which case it won't move.
You can do half inclined, in which case
it Oh, it will actually move a little bit. That's a shame. Uh or you can do
fully inclined, in which case it won't move. This is probably the one I would go for cuz I like this angle when I'm
typing on a number pad. The keyboard actually has the same options as well.
So, you can see here that it's got two of these where you can do either the
full height, the half height, or the no height at all
depending on what you're into. Wrist rest is Oh, look at that.
Permanently attached wrist rest. That seems like the kind of thing I might
complain about cuz it's less customizable, but it isn't because every
keyboard should have a wrist rest and uh the ones that are detachable tend to
break. So, there you go. I'm a fan.
Wow, this is actually really good. Has a volume dial.
Doesn't have a number lock light as you may or may not have noticed because it's
on here. So, that's just an FYI. And has kind of a cool overall aesthetic to it.
Very uh very nice overall build feel to
it. Not a lot of flex to the to the deck of the keyboard
itself. Yeah, I'm impressed.
So, thank you for checking out my unboxing and first look at the Levatron
Mech 5 from Azio. Don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips for more
unboxings, reviews, and other computer videos.