In the fiercely competitive gaming peripheral market, there are not only traditional peripheral manufacturers, but also some of the hardware manufacturers we are familiar with from time to time. As a well-known PC hardware brand, NZXT's electromechanical bulk products have brought convenience to many DIY players, and not long ago, NZXT launched a new keyboard and mouse product, officially announcing its entry into the field of peripherals. We just got the NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB mechanical keyboard in hand, so let's follow the editor to see how this "new player" performs.
Specifications
Transmission mode: wired
Keyboard standard: 87 keys
Shaft type: Jadalon red shaft
Backlight type: RGB
Keycap Material: ABS Keycap
Dimensions and weights: 362mm×127mm×40mm, 778g
Reference price: 999 yuan
The form factor is small and simple, and the side function buttons are unique
When stepping into new areas, manufacturers usually come up with "test the water" models to verify the market and user feedback, and NZXT chose to skip this stage and directly launched the "family barrel package". Taking the keyboard to be introduced to you today as an example, there are the standard NZXT FUNCTION RGB and the two 87-key NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB and NZXT FUNCTION Mini TKL RGB mechanical keyboards, each keyboard provides black and white colors. In addition to the axis body selection only red axis, almost can cover the preferences of most players, but also shows that NZXT is still very confident in its own peripheral products.
NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB shape design is simple, the keyboard uses aluminum alloy panel plus suspension shaft design, the panel is frosted, increase the texture of the keyboard at the same time is not easy to stain fingerprints, sweat stains, users clean up more convenient. The edges of the panel do not have arc corner transitions, and the top overhead view is very tough and square. With a width of 127mm and a weight of less than 800g, the keyboard is small even in the TKL keyboard and does not take up too much space on the desktop.
Although the appearance is not too eye-catching, this keyboard has a lot of highlights in the key design. The keyboard's volume adjustment wheel and shortcut keys are configured on the left, where the volume adjustment wheel is installed vertically, the scroll wheel has a pronounced sense of scale and slightly protrudes the fuselage, and the volume can be easily adjusted with the little thumb or ring finger. Three independent shortcut keys in the form of side keys, from top to bottom are mute switch, Win key lock, brightness adjustment, and the corresponding indicator light on the first two buttons. Personally, I think this is much more reasonable than the design of other keyboards to arrange shortcut keys in the upper right corner, and only the left hand can be adjusted, without affecting the mouse operation of the right hand.
In terms of keycaps, the hollow printed word keycaps of ABS material are adopted, and the font is relatively thin and the light transmittance is excellent. The shortcomings of ABS keycaps are in durability, but compared to PBT keycaps, they are more delicate and smooth to the touch. From the side, this keyboard has a certain slope, the front low and back high design with OEM height keycaps, the use of foot braces is also good. The mass production version of the FUNCTION keyboard uses the Jadalon red shaft, the theoretical service life of about 50 million times, of course, this is a keyboard that supports hot-swappable replacement of the shaft body, if you are not satisfied with the feel of the initial shaft body, you can replace it yourself.
The Type-C interface is located in the left front of the keyboard, and the value of the personalized custom cable will be higher. There are four oval foot pads at the bottom, which are very non-slip and it is difficult to push the keyboard from the side when flat. The bottom also features a two-stage foot support design that allows you to flexibly adjust your height and find the posture that suits you best. This keyboard accessory is relatively extensive, with a plastic key puller, a metal puller for shaft change, and a full-height transparent dust cover.
The keyboard uses a black braided connecting line, and the wire itself is relatively thick and soft. In addition, the NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB comes standard with a wrist rest, which is covered with a layer of hard silicone that connects to the keyboard by magnetic suction. Since there is no positioning magnetic snap,it can be connected without deliberate alignment when used, making it ideal for users who use keyboards for a long time or who demand a lot of comfort.
The driver software is rich in functions and the standard modular design is diverse
NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB is a mechanical keyboard that supports customized modifications, NZXT provides official customization services, including panel color matching, more shaft body selection, wire color matching, etc., which can be fully customized and personalized. But for veteran players, doing it yourself is the fun. The keyboard adopts 100% standard bottom row key design, and you can choose to install personalized keycaps with different materials and different colors. All key shaft body positions feature a hot-swap interface, compatible with the key shaft body of the MX receptacle, and LED beads are integrated above each hot-swappable base, providing RGB light for most keyshafts.
Since it is a keyboard launched by NZXT, it is natural to use it with NZXT CAM software, and the ease of use and functional performance of NZXT CAM itself are excellent, and can be used perfectly with their own hardware products. The new version of NZXT CAM directly added support for keyboard and mouse, from the experience of the situation, NZXT CAM provides more perfect functions, exceeding our expectations for software.
In the keyboard module of the software, it is divided into two functions: lighting and remapping keys. The first is the lighting page, the software provides 9 different lighting presets, each preset has a wealth of adjustment options, button support independent dynamic backlighting. The set lighting effect can be clicked or boxed to select the single button or area you want to apply, which is very smooth to operate. The brightness of the keyboard backlight is excellent, and it can provide a good sense of atmosphere on the desktop, but the fluency of the dynamic light effect is general, and there is a certain gap with the mechanical keyboard of the "light factory".
On the Remap Keys page, users can set the function of each key or record macro actions. Changing the key mapping is achieved by dragging the keys on the left to the virtual keyboard on the right, the setup process is intuitive, and the above settings are supported to be saved in 4 on-board profiles and switched using shortcut keys. The software adjustment function is relatively perfect, but the Chinese translation of some functions is not very accurate, such as the "reactivation" of the light page is actually the trigger light effect of the button. The "function layer" in the remap button is similar to easy-shift on the ice leopard key mouse, and most of the keys are utilized by setting different FN+ key combinations, and will not conflict with the shortcut keys of the game and software.
In actual experience, the NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB feels very comfortable and solid, and the support of the wrist rest can improve the comfort to a higher level, and the code word is not easy to fatigue for a long time. The press of the button feels soft, the rebound is clean and crisp, and the spring tone of the shaft body is well controlled, but the hand feeling adjustment of the big key position needs to be strengthened. The side volume wheel and shortcut keys do provide convenience for daily operation, and the keyboard is more easy to use if the three side keys also support custom settings. When playing e-sports games, key triggers and multi-key operations are very sensitive, full key no punch ensures the smoothness of the operation, and the compact TKL configuration also leaves a wide space for the mouse to play.
Summary: Debut is the "super god" custom mechanical keyboard
As mentioned at the beginning, the NZXT FUNCTION RGB series keyboard not only launched the "Family Barrel Package" at the beginning of the market, but also supported the customization of the whole series in one step, in other words, this is a highly completed product. From the perspective of keyboard design, the NZXT FUNCTION TKL RGB we experience today has many unique features, such as convenient side function keys and fast magnetic wrist rests, which reflect the manufacturer's design skills, as well as relatively complete control software. We experienced that in addition to the lack of consistency of the hand feeling of the big key, there is not much deficiency, and the feel can be completely solved by changing the shaft adjustment, which is also in line with its customized positioning. If you don't want a cookie-cutter, mass-produced mechanical keyboard, you might as well try it out.