Cheap $25 Backlit Keyboard Round Up!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,694 words · ~8 min read
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Why always with the expensive keyboards, huh?
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What does a $200 keyboard do that a $20 one won't?
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Well, I decided to find out. I ordered every backlit keyboard on amazon.com
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under $25 to see who makes the one that's worth your money. Will it be Shenzhen GoodSource
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Technology Co. Ltd,
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ASIO Corp, or One By One?
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Well, there's only one way to find out. Well, two ways if you count just scrolling down to the Amazon links in the video description.
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iBUYPOWER and MSI's new lineup of gaming laptops feature Intel 7th generation Core i7 processors.
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Check them out at the link below.
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First up is the DB Power DBA8, a
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$25 product whose information I can no longer find since the page has been removed from Amazon since I ordered it.
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It's just as
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well, I guess, since this one kind of sucks. It features a tri-color backlight with red, blue, or purple colors available,
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but the membrane key switches are very mushy, and there's too much flex in the deck for a comfortable gaming experience.
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Next is the
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Xishan
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87 keys fashion classic. The marketing materials suggest that it might give you a great shock,
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but based on what I saw of the build quality, that seems very unlikely.
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This thing is a tank for a $23 keyboard. You get cable management holes on the bottom and
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function media keys along the top. The key switches are among the best rubber domes that I felt for typing,
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though I wish they'd included a wrist rest instead of this random mouse pad, and the stems are Cherry MX compatible,
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so the caps can be easily replaced, but I don't think you'd ever need to. They're premium double shot injection key caps.
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You'd wear through your fingers first.
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The keys are individually lit, and while the colors can't be adjusted, the animations...
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can, giving the fashion classic a charming retro look.
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The gaming experience was not great, however,
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due to the very long key travel and the narrow enter key is a bit of a bummer.
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The N-PAD K70
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turned out to be the motospeed K70L when it actually arrived,
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so I ended up with two of the same thing. Good thing it was only 20 bucks. The static rainbow
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backlight was a bit of a disappointment, as were the horrible painted keycaps that actually have
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overspray between them. But at 20 bucks, the K70L offers up a middle-of-the-pack typing experience
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and one of the best gaming experiences, in spite of its much higher than average deck flex.
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The lack of media keys and the narrow enter key hurt it though, so even with the drain holes for
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water resistance, I'd go with something else. The TK Red from Tech Republic is a little on the
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heavier side, which gives it a higher quality feel, along with its media keys and other function
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shortcuts. But beyond my initial impressions, it flexes a lot, has a very basic backlight setup
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with only on and off,
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and most importantly, has very mushy feeling keys that were unsatisfying for both typing and gaming.
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Not to mention that the price went up to over $30 since I bought it.
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Fail.
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The L70 from ASIO is one of the more basic keyboards in our roundup. The backlight is not exceptionally bright and
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just turns on and off. There are no media keys other than a large volume knob,
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and it doesn't boast a waterproof design or
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any other gimmick. But it does include a large comfortable wrist rest, the key switches feel pretty darn good for a $24 membrane keyboard,
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and the coating on the keycaps held up significantly better to my knife tip test than some of the other keyboards I tested.
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Though your mileage may vary, the top negative review on Amazon complains about them flaking after four months.
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The backspace also isn't especially well stabilized, but overall the typing experience is the best out of the bunch,
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and quite quiet. Though for gaming,
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I found the slow rebound time of the long travel rubber domes to be detrimental for anything more fast-paced than very casual play.
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The award for the worst instructions goes to the 1x1.
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I managed to figure out how to cycle the colors on my own,
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but I stumbled on trying to figure out what the hell the function key is for.
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Turns out that the F keys have secondary functions that aren't labeled,
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and many of which are not labeled, and many of which are not labeled, and many of which are not labeled, and many of which are not labeled, and many of which are not labeled, and many of which are not labeled,
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are replicated, with hardware buttons in the row above.
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But after some trial and error, I unlocked its back light animation and brightness controls.
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Too bad I couldn't unlock anything else that's exceptional about this keyboard.
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The dedicated media keys are nice, but the short backspace is enough to kill any positivity
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I might have felt towards the decent typing, and gaming experience, with the annoyingly loud shift keys
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being the final nail in the coffin.
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There's not a lot to say about the large print tricolor keyboard from ASIO that isn't in its name
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The typing experience is pretty bad out of the box because the spacebar is kind of hard to hit but it becomes
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Serviceable with a wrist rest and the gaming experience is straight-up bad
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But this is one of the few backlit keyboards that doesn't try to be for gaming
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Nope, this one is for NAN and the whole pitch is that the printing on the keycaps is super easy to read
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Mission accomplished then I suppose so if that's what you're after then go ham highly recommended
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The red dragon k503 harp has got to be the best gaming experience so far
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And it's pretty good for typing except that the spacebar has got to be the softest
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spongiest least tactile thing ever
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but the rebound speed on all key presses is pretty strong and it's got a lot of other great features as well including
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seven different colors for the backlighting
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media keys and
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dedicated function keys including search
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browser forward and back and
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refresh for some reason
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Overall construction is middle-of-the-road, but it seems like they're at least aware of the issue, and they made a plan
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I mean sure the keycap paint is likely to wear off
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but
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but you can just swap your WASDs for the arrow keys.
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No big deal, LOL.
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This keyboard, the SuperBPag7 Immutable,
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felt a little like a bad Tinder date.
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In person, it looks nowhere near as good as the picture.
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It gets some points for function keys,
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backlight brightness control,
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and swappable WASD and arrow keys
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for when the on-screen printing wears off,
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but it should be noted that since the keys
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seem to use dye sublimation printing,
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light doesn't shine through the lettering,
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meaning you can't really see it that well in the dark.
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Gaming responsiveness is pretty solid,
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but the typing experience, especially the space bar,
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is very mushy and unsatisfying.
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Overall, not recommended.
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The narrow enter is just adding insult to injury.
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Finally, our last contestant,
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the Masione LED Gaming Keyboard.
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I don't know if any keyboard can be as good
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as this one's product,
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but it's not as good as the one on the last page says it is.
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But overall impressions are not too bad.
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The enter key is narrow, which is a drag,
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but it's got a lot of other stuff going for it.
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Seven different colors of backlight,
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breathing effects for the lighting,
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high quality double shot key caps,
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the second best wrist rest in the roundup,
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and an above average typing and gaming experience.
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Leading us to the awards.
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Top style points go to the
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Asio Levitron L70 with its great wrist rest
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and solid overall build quality.
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Then for gaming, I've got to give it to the
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Red Dragon K503 Harp.
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Lots of colors, good responsiveness,
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and solid typing, too.
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You can't go wrong with any of those three,
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and the Masione or the 1x1 are good options, too.
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Everything else, I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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Asio Levitron K503 Harp.
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I'm going to give it to the
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by going to tunnelbear.com slash LTT, where you can also save 10% on a paid plan.
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So thanks for watching guys. Like or dislike.
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Check out the links to where you can buy all this stuff in the video description.
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Also, make sure you get subscribed so you don't miss any of our future videos. Join our community forum, check out our merch store,
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and I will see you again next time.