How is it that we have 540Hz, 4k, and OLED displays, mice with 20k DPI and sub 2ms latency times, graphics cards capable of 100 TFLOPS, console controller compatibility, VR, etc. etc... and we're still basically using the same binary, on/off keyboard input scheme?

The mechanical keyboard space has exploded recently. People over in r/MechanicalKeyboards are paying $300 for high-end keyboards that look amazing, sound cool, and feel great, but which have 2005 technological limitations such as one connection method. Full disclosure, I happen to own a couple of said keyboards and I love them, so not knocking it. Meanwhile, in the GAMERZ XXXXTREME segment of the market, Razer is busy innovating by cramming more LEDs and malware into their keebs, and little else.

Wooting, as far as I know, has been the only game in Analog Town for years now. Their selection is limited and they're struggling to keep up with orders. Why haven't bigger players gotten into this yet? Is it a lack of demand? Wooting's waitlist seems to dispute that.

The Lekker switches they use not only allow for variable input, but also allow adjustment of actuation points. So you can literally decide how sensitive each key will be to pressure without having to swap switches, which would seem solve not one but two shortcomings of traditional keyboards when gaming.

I realize that many gamers who'd want pressure-sensitive input are solving that problem with console controllers, but there are still many games which are commonly played with kb+m that would benefit, such as any RPG that allows you to operate a vehicle. Certain strategy games like Factorio that use WSAD to drive cars and tanks are especially annoying with only on/off key presses. It would also be great for menu navigation instead of the now-ubiquitous long-press.

I realize that we'd also need buy-in from game developers, but the PC gaming community has been able to effect changes with the right amount of interest.

So, in your opinion, is this a stupid concern? Are analog keyboard switches a niche novelty that wouldn't benefit your play style?

For those that don't know, analog keyboards allow "pressure sensitive" keystrokes where it can emulate a control stick. Racing games can allow you to feather the throttle, or games like MGS V or GTA 5 can allow you to adjust walk/run speed depending on how soft or hard you press on the key. I'm in the market for a new keyboard and there are only a handful that I know of. Anyone have experience with these? Any recommendations?

Looking at reviews and videos they all seem to focus primarily on the "rapid release" tech with these keyboards, but I'm more curious on how well do they bridge the gap between a controller and keyboard. What I'm looking for specifically are things like better control when moving, for example a lighter touch equalling walking speed and a full press equalling full movement speed like a analog stick, and also better control driving, again the amount of acceleration being directly affected by the level of pressure on the key. Is this something most analog keyboards offer? If so does anyone know if most games support this kind of tech?

Since they’ve started taking over the gaming keyboard market, to what degree are people’s opinions on these types of keyboards? Its custom keyboard market is vastly smaller than regular mechanical keyboards, often leading to less freedom for creativity with people’s builds. Is the upside worth it to you? Have you experienced a major upper in gaming performance using them? Is it only noticable within competitive games?

I’m curious, how is the mechanical keyboard community’s look on analog (hall effect, TMR, etc) and the future of this technology? :)

Hi! I finally have all the pc tower parts and now I’m looking into a keyboard and mouse. I like flat thin keys (like laptop keyboards) cause I like having long nails.

I was wondering if mechanical keyboards are better for gaming? That’s generally what I see people use. I tried to look it up but the answers I found were kind of old and I didn’t know if anything changed.

If things haven’t changed, then are all mechanical keyboards created equally or are their certain things I should look for to actually get that possibly advantage that mechanical keyboards provide?

Any advice is appreciated :)

I want an analog keyboard so that when I play games with driving I can precisely control how much I steer. I'm not playing racing games perse, but games like Cyberpunk, GTA, or even just being able to control walking speed.

I was looking at the wooting 80he because I heard it has the best software which means maybe the best compatibility for games?

I'm not getting it for whatever that rappy snappy feature is or the quick response time. I want it for the analog control for driving mostly. And no I don't want to get a controller or steering wheel because I prefer keyboard and I'm not doing racing games.

When I was researching I saw a whole lot about custom stuff and I don't know enough about keyboards to understand. I'm using like a $50 mechanical wireless chinese keyboard so I'm not trying to min-max my response time and stuff.

My fingers stumbled onto a G915 at Best Buy the other day, and the awesome switches made me decide it's time to replace my massive full-sized Razer Blackwidow v2 with a new, smaller board. I've selected a set of boards that could be ideal, but it's really hard for me to decide between them:

Low profile

• Logitech G915 TKL (tactile switches)

• Razer Deathstalker Pro (clicky purple switches)

• Keychron K7 RGB (tactile brown switches)

• Fnatic Streak 65LP

• Corsair K70 Pro

Analog

• Wooting 60He

• Razer Huntsman v2 analog

• Steelseries Apex Pro Mini Wireless

I wish I could all try them side-by-side, but I don't know where I would even be able to. Some things to keep in mind are:

• I mainly play FPS games (mainly Overwatch)

• I like tactile buttons and want to stick to them for the low profile boards, but I am willing to switch to an analog keyboard if it makes a big difference

• Based off of reviews, I think the Deathstalker is probably a better pick than the G915 TKL

• The Keychron and the Deathstalker are hard to pick between, since the Keychron has my favorite form factor (65%), but I'm worried about the switch quality of it relative to the Deathstalker

• I don't know anything about how the Fnatic Streak and Corsair K70 switches and can't really compare them well

• Having programmable keys like macro keys on my Blackwidow would definitely be cool, especially to launch certain programs

• I like having arrow keys on my keyboard.

• It's not obvious to me that analog keyboards are going to be significantly more advantageous, although I think the programming that's possible with the Wooting makes it really cool. I wish there was a low-profile, tactile, 65% Wooting keyboard, that'd be the dream.

What do you guys suggest I go with?

I came across Wooting analog keyboard. It's reasonably priced and analog seems like big plus. What do you think? Is it worth the money and good first mechanical keyboard?

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

I've been considering ordering a Wooting 60HE; an analog keyboard that comes with a feature called "rapid release" or smth like that. Basically the instant you start to lift your finger off of a pressed key the keyboard registers the key as unpressed. With traditional mechanical keyboard switches you'd have to lift the key all the way back up to the actuation point for it to register as impressed, which takes a few extra milliseconds.

For most things this probably won't make a big difference, but I suspect it would make figure 8 strafing easier, since the latency from your finger starting to lift up and the key releasing is effectively as close to 0ms as you can get as of now. Biggest issue I think a lot of people might run into while figure 8 strafing is accidentally pressing keys before others are released.

Since lurches are registered when a key is pressed, and since a lurch will check what keys are being pressed when altering your momentum, holding a key down for too long as you start pressing the next key might give you an unintentional diagonal lurch or worse.

What do you guys think?

Hi,

I saw the finalmouse keyboard reveal and I thought about how many more keyboards are there which are analog.

I found two, other than a wooting keyboard and finalmouse centerpeice:

Ace pad tech-https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4262 which is just $100

Fluz keyboard- https://fluxkeyboard.com/ which is basically a finalmouse keyboard without 8khz(unreleased)

and there is probably a pulsar keyboard this year which they teased in their 2023 mice preview video.

Anyone know anymore?

Keyboard experts, how big is the movement diff from upgrading to an analog keyboard?

I'm in the market for an analog keyboard, and currently looking at the Wooting two he, but I'm not in a hurry to upgrade, is there any upcoming analog keyboard release I should pay attention to? (I'm looking for 96%+, a volume knob, and analog feature)

Hey guys, I’m looking for a ‘true’ analog keyboard, ie one that has smooth different levels of input based on how much u press it down, not just different actuation points for an on/off input or rapid trigger or different on/off inputs based on how far u press (that every analog keyboard boasts). I want an analog keyboard that could be used for driving games, a true analog, controller trigger-like. I heard wooting might be one, and might also be the only one? But it’s very expensive, do y’all know any others? Appreciate any responses.

Hey everyone, I'm looking for am advice for a new gaming keyboard (mechanical or analog-magnetic) with a budget of about €100–150. There are so many options out there and I’m not very informed, So I’d love your experiences and recommendations.

I would like linear switches, good build quality and preferrably a TKL keyboard or 75% ANSI keyboard.
I usually play competitive games like Valorant but sometime I swap to other games (e.g: Arc Raiders nowaday)

Right now I’m thinking of buying one of these on Amazon (Black Friday deals):

• Logitech G PRO X TKL RAPID — discounted to €126. From what I understand it’s an analog magnetic board and not hot-swappable.

• Logitech G G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL — discounted to €82. This one is mechanical low-profile, and I’m not sure if I’d like the low-profile feel.

These keybaords seems a good deal for me even if they're not ANSI but ISO, still I need suggestion.

Any keyboard recommendations within my budget? Personal experiences appreciated.

Thanks a lot

Between these 4 mechanical keyboards which to buy?

Its use will be exclusive for typing , i am working a lot of hours and i am typing a lot 12 hours a day ,, ,, and also i need it for gaming

https://wooting.io/wooting_two_he

https://www.razer.com/gaming-keyboards/razer-huntsman-v2-analog/RZ03-03610200-R3U1

https://steelseries.com/gaming-keyboards/apex-pro

https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Keyboards/RGB-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboards/K100/p/CH-912A01A-NA

I've seen old discussions about this but none seem to touch on my main concern. Looking at reviews and videos they all seem to focus primarily on the "rapid release" tech with these keyboards, but I'm more curious about how well do they bridge the gap between a controller and keyboard. What I'm looking for specifically are things like better control when moving, for example a lighter touch equalling walking speed and a full press equalling full movement speed like a analog stick, and also better control driving, again the amount of acceleration being directly affected by the level of pressure on the key. Is this something most analog keyboards offer? If so does anyone know if most games support this kind of tech?

The TLDR is that I'm going to keep it, but it's pretty much a waste of money.

When I heard about the analog keys, I was curious. The concept seemed to be a game changer. Then I heard the keys in a YouTube video, and tried to cancel my order. That didn't work out. I'm pleased to say that the keys are not as bad as I feared. They are louder than I was hoping for, but the analog mechanism gives them a good resistance. They don't crash into the bottom of the stem as roughly as I was expecting, which is a relief.

Unfortunately, that's about all the nice things I have to say. The superthin font on the keycaps lets very little light through. Combined with them being black (which absorbs light) and the lighting effects might as well not exist. At least not with the room lights on. They are exceptionally boring. I threw on a set of mercury keycaps, and that makes the colors pop much nicer.

Actually making use of the analog keys though... it's pretty pointless. In order for them to actually act like analog keys, the game you're playing needs to believe you're using a controller. That brings with it other controller baggage, such as aim assist. Want to type in chat? Forget it, your WASD is a joystick so you can't use those letters. "Your entence ill look like thi." I ended up creating two profiles so I can turn the joystick mode on and off, but that's pretty annoying. Worse, some games try to switch between keyboard and controller mode based on your inputs. For example, testing out in Borderlands 2, joystick mode would work fine normally. But if I were to crouch, the game switches to keyboard mode and my WASD begins to operate in binary mode until I stop crouching. It'll do things like show me an Xbox "X" button instead of my actual action key of E. The game has to believe through and through that you're using a controller for this to work, and... well that's not the PC way.

The analog keys end up not bringing anything to the table. It still works like a normal keyboard and I like it more than the BlackWidow, so I'm going to keep it. But I wouldn't buy it again and I don't recommend you do either. It's a waste of money. Just get a normal keyboard because this one doesn't bring anything meaningful to the table.