Sometimes they’re colored white, sometimes they’re colored red, but they’re not full RGB LEDs. But you’re usually relegated to monochrome keys. When you’re picking from cheaper mechanical boards, it’s still pretty common to find LED keycaps. That makes these keys slightly stiffer than typical reds, though. It takes 2mm of distance to trigger keystroke actuation, and 60g of force to get the key to that point. Though the average Cherry switches only last for 50 million keystrokes, they do have some that can go for 100 million these days. These switches are designed to endure about 60 million keystrokes, which makes them comparable to Cherry for longevity as well. Red switches are a great option for achieving exactly that. When you’re playing a game and hammering away at your keys, you don’t want to press a key and not have it actuate, and you don’t necessarily want to have to bottom-out every key you press. They’re supposed to be a rough approximation of Cherry Reds, which are often preferred by gamers for their low actuation point. The VicTsing Keyboard was built around mechanical red switches. Though you still want to go out of your way to avoid getting liquid on your board, it’s nice to know you don’t have to panic if it does happen. It was made with a total of four draining holes placed along the edge of the board to help channel water and other liquids to places that won’t damage the board or its LEDs. The VicTsing Keyboard is a little different. Because like most PC components, designers are ready to assume that if you spill something, whatever happens next, it’s your fault. In a lot of cases, even pretty fancy boards aren’t made with protections against water. It’s every gamer’s worst nightmare – spilling something across your new keyboard. It’s not especially thick, but it is properly braided in nylon to help ensure it will last as long as the switches themselves.Īnother thing to notice is the VicTsing Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard was also made to be fairly water resistant. That’s actually fairly typical for boards like this. One thing worth pointing out is how the included cable is permanently attached. What you’re paying for here is the mechanical switches more than anything else. You probably don’t want to drop it much higher than from your hands to the floor, however. In other words, it’s supposed to be okay for dropping off a desk. The board is drop-resistant for a distance of about 2.5 feet. The baseboard is still pretty rigid, which will prevent flexing the board and damaging the switches. In fact, the plastic chassis is comparable to any $15 plastic keyboard that you’ll find in any public library across the nation. It’s only then that this board starts to look a bit more like a gaming keyboard.īecause this is about as cheap as you can make a mechanical keyboard, the quality of the construction here is nothing special. The base of the board is black, the keycaps are black, and their lettering remains clear until you’ve switched on the LEDs. But how well does it really work? Design & LayoutĪesthetically, the board is a tad minimalistic. It performs comparably to most mechanical boards on the market, at least when you’re making a 1:1 comparison between switches. Still, it’s not quite as cool as aluminum.īut that’s just style, what about substance? From a purely substantive point of view, this board will be far superior to rubber dome keyboards, and yet it costs about as much as them. It’s every bit as sturdy as any gaming controller you’ve ever used before. That’s really not a big deal, since the ABS they’re using is plenty sturdy.
For instance, this board wasn’t made with an aluminum top plate. In this case, corners are mostly cut with respect to the keycaps and the frame of the board itself. Anytime you want a mechanical keyboard and you’re not willing to spend close to $100, you’re going to be cutting corners somewhere.
That’s not to say this keyboard doesn’t have issues. The VicTsing Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is rare proof that it’s possible to get a reasonably good mechanical keyboard for under $50. VicTsing Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard It’s all about the details of its performance, and about your expectations of the board. Sounds like it should be pretty straightforward, right? But the difference between a decent mechanical board and a rubber dome board is like the difference between a sports car and a regular car. You hit the keys, and letters come up on your screen. Yeah, both ordinary keyboards and mechanical boards are tasked with basically the same thing. Using physical mechanical switches for each of its keys, a mechanical keyboard is far more complex and difficult to construct than other keyboards. It takes about two seconds to figure out why, at least, once you’ve got one in your hands. Mechanical keyboards tend are more expensive than ordinary rubber dome keyboards.