Home Reviews ,,,,,The VicTsing mechanical gaming keyboard that our editorial team recently tried is the super-cheap alternative to solutions from brands that dominate the sector (see Razer, Logitech, Corsair, etc.) for those who want to play with the computer with a valid product but without great needs.
It offers large, good travel keys, backlit to be perfectly legible even in the dark and connects to any Mac and Windows computer via the USB plug.
How it's made
Just discarded, the first thing we went to check is the type of switch: it does not use the highly sought-after Cherry (Blue, MX, etc.) but a type of element that is probably proprietary which consists of a plastic pin that touches a membrane in silicone: the result is a sufficiently long stroke to avoid accidental clicks and a sound, albeit present, muffled especially when the keys are not pressed with excessive force. The impression is of high precision, also thanks to the anti-ghost technology (basically, when we place our fingers on the keys, they are able to understand if the key has really been pressed or not).
The keyboard is very large: it measures approximately 47 x 19 x 2.5 centimeters and includes both directional arrows and the numeric keypad. The plastic that makes up the chassis appears very sturdy although it can flex slightly in your hands. Underneath there are two folding feet useful for tilting the keyboard and two fixed rubber feet to prevent it from slipping when placed on the desk. The cable, with a thick rubber sheath, is 2 meters long.
Particular signs
The keys are slightly larger (1.8 cm) than those found for example in the Apple membrane keyboard (1.5 cm): for the writer, accustomed to the latter for years, the transition was partly traumatic because, in addition to the larger and closer keys, they have a much longer stroke, which can be somewhat annoying especially if it is used mainly for writing (although this is not precisely the purpose for which it was born).
The layout is Italian and, in addition to the row of F1-F12 keys, on the upper edge we find a series of buttons dedicated to multimedia control and some specific functions. Unfortunately, only a part of these work with Mac, namely the keys for controlling the multimedia player (Play / Pause, Stop, Fwd and Bwd) and the volume (Mute, Increase, Decrease), while the key to return, for example, remains unusable. to the home page, to open the emails, to refresh the page in the foreground, to call up the calculator and the Spotlight. We did not go so far as to make particular customizations as no dedicated software is included in the purchase, although it is probably possible to activate – or at least exploit otherwise – the missing buttons using one of the many third-party software available on the net.
The brief user manual makes us discover that it is possible to make a few adjustments: in addition to adjusting the brightness of the keys by turning the knob, it is possible to switch from continuous light to that with gradual intermittence by pressing Fn + Light, while on Windows the combination Fn + Win allows you to enable / disable the use of the Windows key. Finally, with the Fn + W combo it is also possible to temporarily replace the letters WSAD with the directional arrows (which we find among other things drawn on the respective keys).
How is it going
Completely unrelated to the world of videogames, we used the keyboard to replace that of our MacBook to work on the articles published here on Macitynet: as anticipated it is not the best solution for writing to the computer, however, I got familiar with the long key travel. you can use it correctly and with good speed. The backlight is excellent for being able to write even in complete darkness and the mechanical noise is in some ways pleasant.
Conclusions
The lack of customizations and adjustments does not make this keyboard the best alternative to others, especially if you buy it for the purpose for which it was born, that of gaming. If there is no software to customize the keys, we would have liked at least to have the possibility to activate the lighting only for specific keys, thus making it more intuitive to recognize only the buttons useful for example for a particular video game.
Buying VicTsing's mechanical keyboard you get in fact simply a good product with good mechanics and key travel designed for use in video games, but nothing more. Excellent from this point of view the impermeability that allows to avoid damage in case a drink should spill over it.
Price to the public
VicTsing's mechanical keyboard is on sale on Amazon for € 24.99.
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