Aukey 104-Key RGB Mechanical Keyboard REVIEW | MacSources

Get a Leg up on the competition with the tactile, responsive, colorful mechanical Keyboard from AUKEY.

According to a March 2017 PCGAMER.com story “Gaming Keyboards: what’s the deal with actuator distance?” (03/2017), there are three elements to evaluate before choosing a gaming keyboard (actuation distance, USB polling rate, and keystroke signal processing KSP). When high-speed, exciting gameplay requires split-second action, you want a responsive keyboard with less travel distance. Luckily, you can get a quality keyboard without breaking the bank. Whether you are looking for a COD setup or a way to improve other FPS like Borderlands or Fortnight, a keyboard upgrade will likely provide a quick boost to your abilities. WIth Aukey, you can conquer the competition while enjoying a dazzling light show.

The Aukey Model KM-G12 Keyboard arrived in a stealthy-black 17 7/8 inches long by 7 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches tall retail package. Except for a flat black pyramidal shape on the main cover, the top, side, and front panels were all unadorned. The bottom panel had a subdued matte-black inscription of the KM-G12 model number, the www.aukey.com address, the support@aukey.com address, product manufacturing labels, an SKU code, and their Chinese address information. I was a little disappointed with the outer packaging due to the lack of information. I was not able to learn about the product without rushing into the testing phase. I lifted the front flap to access the product and removed the opaque-plastic-wrapped device and the AUKEY user manual. Based on the bag’s shape, I determined that the device was a keyboard and that it was a mechanical keyboard based on the key sounds. I removed the protective foam bands at each end of the keyboard and then slid the device out of the bag. To learn more about the keyboard, I turned to the AUKEY RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard user manual.

The manual was broken up by language into English (1–4), UK English (5–8), German (9–12), French (13–16), Spanish (17–20), and Italian (21–24) sections. The first and second pages of both English sections proved to be my favorite. The manual provided a brief paragraph thanking me for purchasing the device and recommended that I read the entire manual before proceeding. Beneath this section, I found the packaging contents, an ink-outline overview of the keyboard, and a very long keyboard specifications table…