Do you need a gaming keyboard to play PC games? Of course not. And spending triple-digits on one won't automatically make you a winner, winner, chicken dinner. But getting a gaming-specific keyboard can make playing for long sessions more comfortable, and can also unlock a lot of customization options that add convenience to your favorite PC games. And we'd be lying if we said that the gamer aesthetic-complete with optional rainbow LEDs, of course-didn't hold a certain appeal.
New gaming keyboards, with more and more flashy features, are being released almost constantly. Below are the best on the market at the moment, and we'll be keeping this roundup current as often as we can to make sure you can find the best boards in this wide and competitive field.
Pros
?Super-smooth switches
?Great media controls
?Comfy wrist rest
Cons
?Expensive
?ABS keycaps are a little cheap
Price When Reviewed: $229.99 Best Prices Today:
$229.99 at Amazon
Razer's latest revision of its bread-and-butter gaming keyboard is a worthy successor to the long-running BlackWidow line, this time with multi-device wireless headlining a long list of features. Though it lacks some of the features mechanical keyboard enthusiasts crave, like PBT keycaps or hot-swap sockets, its gaming-focused build and software put it at the head of the pack if what you're really after is a high K/D ratio.
Razer's super-smooth Green switches are great for long gaming sessions, as is the cushy magnetic wrist rest, which thankfully doesn't require a separate purchase. The default media controls are a highlight, making this board great as a standard desktop companion for non-gaming, too. And of course you can tweak the layout and lighting to your desire in Razer's flashy but functional Synapse software.
If the price is giving you sticker shock, the same features are available in a cheaper wired setup, as well as tenkeyless (TKL) and 65% "mini" flavors.
Read our full
Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro review
Pros
?Incredible value
?PBT "pudding" caps
?Great layout
?Hot-swap switch sockets
Cons
?No programming options
Best Prices Today:
$39.99 at Amazon
$82.53 at Amazon Canada
The G.Skill KM250 isn't just the best budget gaming keyboard we've seen. With its long list of high-end features and a rock-bottom price, it's the best value for a mechanical keyboard, period. With stylish PBT "pudding" keycaps, a rotary dial, hot-swap switches for deep customization, and even vibration-damping foam underneath the plate, it's shocking how much G.Skill managed to cram into a keyboard in the $50 range. Even the default Kailh Red switches are great for gaming.
The board lacks wireless, and there's no way to reprogram either its layout or its lighting. But these are minor quibbles for such a fantastic budget design, especially when most gamers will customize their layouts within the settings of individual games. Use the savings to buy some fancy switches or keycaps and customize the KM250 to your heart's content.
Read our full
G.Skill KM250 RGB Keyboard review
Pros
?Long battery life
?Protective carrying tray
?Handy touch volume panel
Cons
?RF-only wireless
?Lacks customization
Price When Reviewed: $149.99 Best Prices Today:
$119.99 at Amazon
The Asus ROG Falchion isn't the most flexible wireless keyboard around-you'll want one with better programming and multi-device capabilities for that. But if you want a keyboard specifically for gaming on the go, the design choices here are hard to beat. RF-only wireless means it's incredibly fast, the long battery life means it won't die out on you, and the included protective cover/tray means it'll stay safe in your laptop bag.
The Falchion is pricey for its relatively short list of features, but its speedy switches and gaming focus make it ideal for this very specific niche. Just remember to bring an adapter if your gaming gadget of choice doesn't have a USB-A port.
Read our full
ASUS ROG Falchion Wireless 65% Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review
Pros
?Thin profile with comfy keys
?Nice volume wheel
?Many connection options
Cons
?Expensive
?No wrist rest
?Default mute button is tricky
Price When Reviewed: $249.99 Best Prices Today:
$249.00 at Amazon
$249.00 at Razer
$249.99 at Best Buy
There are thinner gaming keyboards out there, but if you get much thinner than the low-profile switches and keycaps in the new DeathAdder, you start to lose a lot of comfort. (And add a lot of cost.) The V2 Pro is ideal if you're looking for something a little thinner and more modern, but which preserves all of Razer's gaming bells and whistles at the same time.
The "floating" keycaps on the DeathAdder manage to feel more like a full-sized keyboard than a laptop board, even with much shorter key travel, so this board should slide right into your desktop gaming setup with no trouble. The DeathAdder V2 also comes in a shorter TKL variety, and a wired version if you want to save some money.
Read our full
Razer Deathstalker V2 Pro keyboard review
Pros
?Super-heavy body
?Great keycaps
?Excellent customization
?Surprisingly competitive price
Cons
?Unnecessary Mac/Windows switch
?Programming layer limits
?No adjustable feet
Price When Reviewed: $205 Best Prices Today:
$205 at Keychron
Technically, Keychron's high-quality, super-customizable Q keyboards aren't meant for gaming. But with a selection of switches (including speedy Linears) and a 1000Hz polling rate via the USB-C wired connection, it can keep up with pretty much any board on this list in terms of gaming prowess. And that's before you customize it with QMK or VIA programming, the go-to choices for mechanical keyboard fans.
On top of that, the Q series comes in a wide variety of layout choices, with high-quality aluminum bodies, hot-swappable switches, PBT keycaps, double-gasket mounting for that "thocky" feeling, and even case foam for reduced noise and vibration. They're also mod-friendly and easy to open if you want to really dig into customization. For a keyboard that can handle gaming, writing, and anything else you can throw at it, any member of the Q series is a great choice. The new Q Pro variants add wireless options, too.
Read our full
Keychron Q5 keyboard review
1.
Of course you can play PC games on any keyboard, assuming they were designed for it and not a controller. What separates a regular keyboard from a "gaming" keyboard is its intent-gaming keyboards are designed for speed and comfort across long play sessions. While "comfort" is subjective, and somewhat limited in making a gadget that conforms to standard typing, speed is readily quantifiable.
There are a couple of specific ways of measuring speed. One is the latency, the time it takes for a key press to translate into an action on your screen. Normally this is the relevant character appearing in a text window, but for a game it's a sword swing, a foot movement, a grenade toss, a special ability activated. Gaming keyboards have special hardware that can minimize this latency: gold-plated connections on a USB port, for example.
The easiest way to reduce latency is to increase the amount of times the keyboard's circuit board checks for key presses. This is called the polling rate, expressed in hertz. A standard keyboard has a polling rate of 100 to 200Hz, checking every tenth of a second or so. A gaming keyboard might have a polling rate of 1,000Hz or more-typically so fast that even the fastest human reflexes won't be able to spot any gap in between a key being pressed and its relevant action on screen.
2.
Yes-if it's the right mechanical keyboard. While any mechanical keyboard can be used for PC gaming, just like any standard keyboard, most gamers prefer a specific kind of switch. Linear switches, with a smooth action from zero pressure to the point where the switch "bottoms out" and can't be pressed further down, allow for each key to be depressed faster and return to its resting position faster, too. Tactile or Clicky switches, while excellent for typing, are a bit slower and not preferred for gaming.
Cherry MX Red switches are the go-to choice for mechanical keyboards designed for gaming. There are tons of varieties, in a ton of colors that might not correspond to the actual properties of the switch itself. Some have a higher actuation point (the point in the key travel at which the keyboard registers a press), or lighter springs for a softer touch, or even less key travel to shorten the distance between pressing the key and bottoming out by a few millimeters. Some fancy "silent" switches are much quieter than normal ones.
But the important part for most gamers is that Linear switch type for smooth, fast presses. Unless your tastes are very unconventional, you want Linear switches for gaming, not Tactile or Clicky.
3.
Yes! Even before modern wireless gaming keyboards arrived on the scene about 10 years ago, most keyboards using standard dongles and RF connections were fast enough to beat gamer reflexes. More specialized models make this wireless connection even faster, as quick as 1 thousandth of a second-again, far faster than any human being can tell, and essentially identical to the speed of any wired connection.
There is an exception. Many wireless keyboards use Bluetooth, and that's not ideal for gaming. Bluetooth is just slow enough that a gap between the key press and the action on screen is noticeable, even if you don't have super-human reflexes. And it's also on a very crowded wireless spectrum, so Bluetooth accessories are more prone to interference.
Even if your wireless gaming keyboard offers Bluetooth as a multi-device pairing option, you should go with the RF USB connection whenever you have the option.
4.
No. But they're fun, aren't they?
RGB lights can be programmed to indicate specific key bindings, and some driver programs even include custom decorative patterns for specific games. But since you'll be looking at your monitor and not your keyboard most of the time, the lights are basically just for show, no matter what they happen to be doing. And if you're not a fan, you can always turn them off (which can save a huge amount of battery life on wireless keyboards).