Customer Ratings & Reviews

I will start by saying, this keyboard is 100% not necessary for a gaming setup. I prefer steel series as their products have never given me any trouble and always great quality. With that being said, this keyboard is wonderful. It’s very responsive, and very creamy sound. Maybe even a hint of blocky. For those looking for a clicky sounding keyboard, move passed this one. There’s multiple RGB settings pre installed that u can choose from to fit your style! And you can customize it your way from a fading effect to a wave effect and your color preferences. This model is also a wired keyboard so double check before you buy according to your preference. I prefer wired. Some people would rather have wireless. I will say the down side of this is the price. If you’re willing to drop a few bones for this then I would say go for it but there’s plenty of other keyboards that will get the job done for a more budget friendly price. (I added a picture of where the type c cable goes cuz I struggled for a minute trying to find it)

Upgraded from a 10 year old mechanical keyboard and this has been a huge upgrade. The colors are great and typing is amazing. Wish the profiles could be saved onboard with the onscreen gifs though. Only downside so far is that the magnet came unglued / popped out of the wrist pad

Was hesitant to purchase this at first because of the cost but I absolutely love this keyboard. Definitely a little overpriced but I wanted a quality keyboard and this thing delivers. I would recommend to anyone!

Nice work best best I love I like Steel series ever

The SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 is a premium gaming keyboard for gamers that want something that’s top of the line, but also has a full number pad. The Apex Pro has lights, a screen, and tons of customizable options and features. Design The Apex Pro Gen 3 is a solidly built and good-looking keyboard. The RGB lights are bright, the OLED screen is readable and the keys all feel very nice to type and game on. Having a Numpad isn’t always ideal for gamers, but I don’t mind having one. RGB lighting is the brightest I’ve seen on a keyboard, but can be adjusted as well, so no worries about it being too bright. I really enjoyed the build quality of the keyboard as there is no flex, and it has a great weight to it as well. Features So first things first, this keyboard has a customizable actuation point. From .1 to .4 mm, you can adjust the keys to your liking. Also, per key illumination is a great feature, along with Protection Mode and the OLED screen for adjusting features and viewing your CPU/GPU Temps if you’d like. All of these features are adjustable via GG Quickset, which works well from my experience. OLED display: The OLED display can be used to display system information and game stats. The magnetic wrist rest is pretty cool and decently comfortable. Omnipoint 3.0 adjustable switches. Reduced latency. GG Quickset software. Performance This keyboard doesn’t miss a stroke, seriously, I played with the actuation levels and decided that 2.5 mm was what felt most comfortable to me. After setting that, I started playing some Halo Infinite and CoD with the keyboard. I noticed no lag and a very quick response to my key presses. Setting up what I wanted to see and control on the OLED screen was easily done through GG Quickset as well. This keyboard performs very well, even under quick key presses or multiple presses. Lighting was easily customizable, and I enjoyed creating my own patterns and per key lighting in the GG Quickset software. Overall The SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 is a great choice for any gamer that wasn’t the best of the best for a keyboard. Sure, the price might be a little high, but the Steelseries warranty is great, and their products tend to be very well-built. I would recommend this keyboard to any serious gamers that want the best keyboard money can buy.

Nice keyboard! Definitely quieter than my previous mechanical Steel Series keyboard

THIS... is the SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3, a wired, full-sized keyboard equipped with Omnipoint 3.0 (HE) switches. With it being an HE keyboard it now supports a host of features such as: rapid trigger - not needing to fully ‘reset’ the key actuation to use it again, adjustable actuation points - being able to adjust when the key ‘works’, rapid tap - a copy of razors snap tap which is banned in some titles while also adding a protection mode - which lowers the sensitivity of the surrounding keys so you don’t fat finger them. This new apex comes in the same familiar, mostly plastic, but aluminum plated frame as well as some ‘improved’ stabilizers to help eliminate keycap wobble. SteelSeries also included 3 layers of damping foam and a silicone pad to help improve the sound. Now that is a laundry list of features and upgrades! At first glance, with an OLED screen and advanced switches, this keyboard seems like a top-tier option... But as I spent more time with it, the cracks in its armor began to show. Let's talk. So where did it all go wrong for SteelSeries on this Apex Pro Gen 3 keyboard if it has all the features of a fantastic HE keyboard? Well, for starters, it is $240 MSRP and outside of the switches on the board, this keyboard is objectively not built like a high end keyboard anymore. Opening the box, this is a very clean looking keyboard, but as soon as I picked the Apex Pro full sized keyboard… I knew it just wasn't built the same as many other offerings. When you pick up this keyboard, its mostly plastic! There is no heft at all, whereas Glorious, Keychron and more are all from CNC milled aluminum. SteelSeries seems stuck in 2018, where the primary competitors were the Logitech G915 and whatever flagship Razer was offering at the time with some aluminum trim. Fast forward to 2024… and the keyboard market has evolved dramatically. The Apex Pro Gen 3, priced at $240 MSRP, struggles to justify itself when compared to its modern competitors. While the HE switches are undoubtedly fast and responsive, this keyboard misses out on key features found in even lower-priced options. Let’s break it down further: The Switches: The keys on this board still have noticeable wobble, a recurring issue in SteelSeries keyboards. While not a dealbreaker, it's disappointing for a keyboard at this price point. Steel series said they updated the stabilizers, but it is obvious when fiddling the switch that there is very noticeable wobble in the housing. I think that a pom stem over a cherry mx would solve a lot of this, but I digress. Here’s the most baffling design choice on the whole keyboard… only some switches are replaceable! And the ones that are, can only be replaced with other 5 pin switches. All non alphanumeric keys are not swappable meaning that your F keys, number pad and accessory keys (arrows included) are permanently soldered with Gateron Red switches, meaning if any of these keys fail, you’re out of luck. This also means you can’t customize these switches for a different feel or functionality. Given that SteelSeries sells standalone switches, this choice just seems like an erroneous cost cutting measure. The Sound: Something that Steel Series touched on in their press release for this and in advertising, was that they had improved the sound profile through three layers of poron foam. Now this does help reduce noise.. but certainly doesn’t eliminate it and still leaves a very muddy low end sound. It doesn’t click or clack but rather sounds like mush. Larger keys like the spacebar, left shift and my backspace button have a high pitched whine as well. For a $240 keyboard, this level of sound refinement feels lacking compared to competitors which offer better stabilizers, dampening and overall typing experience. The keyboard also does not have any gasket mounting system, which is something that I would have expected at this price point to soften the key presses and eliminate droning sound / vibration, but is mounted to the chassis using screws. Lacking Connection: The forgo of 8k polling (how fast the keyboard talks to the computer) while also not including wireless on the ‘fastest switches’ in the world is also indicative of apex’s cost cutting. I would understand if they threw in 8K polling yet omitted wireless connection, that is a fair trade. However, given that razer is doing 4k polling wirelessly… this keyboard being wired 1k polling AND a bit more expensive is ridiculous. Ok, so I have been a pretty big Debbie downer, but I still gave this keyboard 3 stars… so lets go over why. This keyboard, again, is very clean. The RGB is CLEANNNNN, the north facing (top of the key) led is very bright and has a pretty accurate (leans blue) color palette. Thanks to some nifty software, the apex pro 3 is pretty easy to setup and organize. The OLED screen is also pretty handy. Showing things from computer temps, gifs and more key specific applications make it a quick on the go hub. I think a lot of gaming branded software sucks (Synapse and ICue I am looking at you), and I will never shy away from saying that, but the steel series software is pretty good and easy to navigate, which rarely left me scratching my head. So wrapping this up, I want to highlight something. I think someone can pick this keyboard out and have a great time with it. I think I am also one of those people, regardless of what I have previously stated. However… the price is just such a killer here. At $80-$100 less, I am singing a completely different tune. The HE switches deliver on performance, but the lack of hot-swappable switches, wireless connectivity, 8K polling, and better build refinement holds it back from being what it should be for a high end keyboard. Apex isn’t on the forefront of HE switches anymore, so they are going to need to do more to win me back with whatever their next endeavor is for high end keyboards. Unless you’re deeply invested in the SteelSeries ecosystem or in love with the feel of the OmniPoint switches, better options exist. That being said, I urge you to fall in love with whatever keyboard you want with YOUR hard earned money. Which is why BestBuy is so awesome, there is usually a pretty good display at BestBuy to sample keyboards before you buy …which is awesome! Best Buy also has an excellent return policy and even better customer service, so you never have to worry about buying a keyboard that you don’t like or that doesn’t click clack the right way! So there is no harm in testing it out to see if the Apex Pro Gen 3 is right for your setup. Until next time :)

Amazing keyboard. Finally Steelseries has listened and they made tremendous improvements compared to previous gens of this keyboard. Mainly in the "feel" and "sound" departments. I had their previous gen 2023 TKL one and while great quality and also using hall effect Omnipoint switches, the sound and feel was just awful, tons of ping, resonance and feel on the keys. Compared to other non gaming brands with hall effect switches, it was lacking. Not this time around. Now the keyboard sounds and feels amazing! They have added a sound dampening foam inside the keyboard, lubed the switches (these got updated too to their 3.0 iteration, with faster and more responsive actuation) and finally improved stabilizers. Now the keyboard sounds thocky and without any pinging or resonance. I love it!! The quality of they keybcaps is great too and are PBT (meaning they wont fade, oil up and feel kind of grippy, with texture) and they are RGB shine through. Legends are clear and while RGB shine through, its not obnoxious, the lighting is subtle. They also include a wrist rest that attaches to the keyboard magnetically (its a hard with almost like a silicone feeling, here, I think IMHO for the price, they should have included a thicker and comfier one, maybe like a soft gel or memory foam). The keyboard has a nice small Oled screen on the top right corner and a wheel (you can program) and a button. You can use it to go through many menu items and change on the fly settings on the keyboard (like actuation points etc) however I feel it may take some time to do so. I do prefer doing this through their GG app. Their app is good and not bloated, it works great and compared to other brands software I have tried and its much more stable, functional and non bloated in my opinion (consumes less resources). You can manage the keyboard through here and change all the characteristics of a the magnetic switches (like actuation points, rapid trigger, dual actuations, SOCD-snap tap etc) and create profiles and you can save them to the keyboard if you want so the software isn't needed. However in my opinion, this last part is a little cumbersome in their engine software, I don't know exactly what it is, maybe the layout.. they should copy and try making the layout closer to other Hall effect switches keyboard brands, aka more intuitive or heck even a web based quick magnetic switches setup like those). This is where their new "Quickset" feature comes handy (although still in "Beta" phase) it allows the software to automatically detect what game you launch and you can make it automatically switch to predefined game profiles (more games are being added all the time) and this will automatically program your magnetic switches with a predefined profile for each game (and you can customize these), this is a great and quick feature I'm using a lot and I hope they continue to work and improve it. If you are looking for a great much improved quality/sound and feel, full size, hall effect keyboard with tons of features and the backing of a large and good company like Steelseries, this is the keyboard to get, you wont regret it!!

My first impression of this keyboard was “wow this is heavy!”. It felt like a few pounds in the box, not so bad when I took it out but I love the quality weight and feel to it. As a TLDR, I will say this keyboard is one of the better keyboards I’ve ever used and it does have a great typing experience, for gaming and off-gaming. My next impression was how well and quiet it types. My last gaming keyboard, was a very clickity clackity mechanical-type keyboard. At first I really liked it but I transitioned to a quieter one for a few months (until it started having issues) and really enjoyed the gentler sounds from typing. This keyboard has sound dampening foam built-in, so just based on that alone, its been a great upgrade for me. I work from home, so my keyboard is used for work and for gaming, and serves both purposes quite well. It’s really an enjoyable experience using this keyboard while having a sturdy palm rest. My last one had the palm rest falling apart because it was too soft, this one should not have that problem, but sits slightly lower than I like. It uses a strong magnetic attachment to the keyboard which should not detach easily. From a gaming standpoint, it is probably the most advanced keyboard I think I’ve ever used. I play a lot of FPS games with a few RPG’s, so I don’t take advantage of the macros as much, but I did go through the Steel Series GG software to see what the options were…and there are lots! You can really customize the keyboard exactly how you like, there’s even a custom physical Steel Series key on the keyboard you can configure. Besides the typical lighting effects (which are pretty cool) and key bindings, you can adjust your Actuation and Dual Actuation settings, letting you adjust the sensitivity of the press/retract, and even determine how the amount of pressure affects your movements (walking vs running for instance). There are some compatibility requirements I’m sure for this, but great features to have. And of course you can save your configs for each game or situation you would want with individual profiles. The built-apps are another great feature. Many of these have integration with popular apps such as Discord, a nice selection of popular games, and a variety of other apps. For instance, I got a Discord call, the OLED display would show the caller on it. Speaking of OLED display, this is one of the better bells and whistles of the keyboard IMO. Whiles its not essential to the function of the keyboard, it adds some nice customizable options. You can upload your image to it or for me, I installed the System Monitor app which shows me the configurable resources my computer is using…love it! As you can see in my image it’s showing my current RAM usage and cycles through other resources every few seconds such as CPU, GPU, temperatures, etc… Overall, I do have to say I’m very happy with this keyboard and surprised to see such a high quality product come from Steel Series since I don’t have much experience except for their Headset, which I have been satisfied with, but never thought they could surpass many of the other major computer peripheral brands out there! They are calling this the “Worlds Fastest Keyboard” and that could very well be accurate with my experience. It’s a premium feeling keyboard, with an easy to use volume roller and action button (pause/play by default)., and adds a nice aesthetic look to my desk.

If you’re a serious gamer, you need a serious keyboard. Steel Series has been making serious gaming peripherals for many years. They’re well built and built to last. The Apex Pro Gen 3 is no exception. My first impression was the weight and sturdiness. It will not move, even as you get excited. Each key press reinforces the feeling that you’re in control. The coolest part of the programmability is the integration with other apps. The lighting can be synchronized with music or a gaming sound track. The colors will flitter and flit around the board to really envelop you in the feel of the game. Steel Series also has integrations with Discord and selected games so that the keys will light up showing health status or list who’s talking during a call. Of course, there’s the usual assortment of pulse, fire, breathing, and ghost chasing the other gaming keyboards offer, as well. With the basics down, Steel Series takes the Apex 3 a bit further than keyboards from Corsair or Razer. The keys can be set for the level of actuation which makes sense for you in a given situation. If you want to gain a millisecond in a given game, you can set the keys you use most often to be extremely sensitive such that even a brush against it will trigger a key press. If you’re a heavy typist, the keyboard can prevent responding until the key has been pushed as far as it will go. It can even be set to only trigger when the key is let up from it’s lowest position. This can be useful if you’re waiting for just the right instant to pounce! Steel Series added a protection mode on this latest iteration which helps those who accidentally brush other keys than what they’re going for. I tried this out by deliberately being sloppy in jamming some commands and the keyboard was admiral in how well it kept me in line. Since this keyboard, like most gaming keyboards, doesn’t require much pressure on each key, the protection mode definitely helps out. The only downside to the keyboard is that you can’t change the key caps. Other boards from Steel Series allow this, but you’re stuck with what you get on the Apex Pro 3. As the keys felt smooth and compliant on my fingertips, I have no issue with this, but keep it in mind. Otherwise, realize this is a solid piece of hardware which will let you level up your E Sports fun!

The SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 keyboard is an amazing feeling full sized keyboard that has a high-quality feeling when typing with it. The cool thing about this keyboard is the adjustable sensitivity of the keys. Using the on-board OLED screen, you can scroll through the options of changing sensitivity, brightness, rapid-trigger, and macros. You can choose the preset lighting schemes or customize the color options through the SteelSeries GG Quickset app. The base of the keyboard has a nice heavy matte finish, and the keys have positive feedback without being loud and clicky. The keycaps are shaped with the right amount of indent that helps prevent accidental side touches. If you accidentally do side touches, the keyboard has a Protection Mode which reduces the sensitivity of the surrounding keys of the key you are pressing. The keyboard runs off a USB-c connection which is detachable from the keyboard allowing a smaller footprint when you transport the keyboard. Included is a magnetically detachable wrist rest which has a nice soft touch to it. Using the keyboard to type is a dream and the accuracy and sensitivity of the keyboard helps playing first person shooters amazing. This was voted one of the best keyboards of the year and after using it myself, they are spot on in awarding this keyboard one of the best keyboards out there.

The SteelSeries Apex Pro is the highest quality keyboard i have used to date. Everything about the keyboard is quality. Right out of the box you immediately notice the weight and heft of the keyboard itself. I really love the look and feel of it, the texture especially. It comes with a nice long usb cable, a wrist testing pad, and a key pulling device. Once connected you are treated to a brilliant RGB light show! The colors are the prefect brightness and are not too distracting. There is a small lcd touch screen in the top right corner that allows you to play and pause media via touch controls. There is even a wheel that controls volume. That is one of my favorite features. When using the keyboard you will notice the keys feel ultra premium. They have a wonderful clicking to them that is so smooth. The keys make a nice subtle click as well, not too loud. My old mechanical keyboard i replaced was too loud and others found it annoying. The other thing i like is that it had a full numerical keypad. This keyboard is built for more than just gaming. Not only does it outperform all of my previous gaming keyboards, but it outperforms all previous keyboards. I highly recommend this keyboard, five stars!

--- SETUP --- Keyboard is plug and play. Connect the USB-C connection to the keyboard and the USB-A to your PC and you are ready to roll. Download the optional, yet highly encouraged, software for full customization and gaming presets. --- FEATURES --- Full size QWERTY keyboard, wired, volume control, quiet and smooth typing, rapid tap and rapid trigger, adjustable actuation, RGB lighting, programmable, customizable. --- EXPECTATIONS and PERFORMANCE --- This keyboard has brought me one of the best gaming experiences ever! From how quick and easy it is to set up, to its quiet key presses, to its customization options, this keyboard truly has it all for any avid gamer. Under the keys, you’ll find magnets that are adjustable with the downloadable software. This allows for a precision to your actuation like never before. After I downloaded the software, it identified the games that I already had installed on my PC. I then had the option to add the profiles I wanted to add to the software and turn on auto-change of profiles depending on which game I booted up. After I tested it with several games by only using the presets for those games, I quickly realized that a lot of thought has gone to the presets that every keypress felt natural and where it should be. There is an included magnetic wrist wrest that connects to the keyboard. It has a smooth, slick finish and is a great addition to the comfort level of an already amazing keyboard. The keys on the keyboard are spaced just enough for a great comfort when typing, but not too spread apart for when gaming so that you don’t miss that button press in a tight situation. When I missed a shot, it was due to user error and not once did I feel it was because of the keyboard. Silence is golden at my home. Previous keyboards I’ve used are extra clicky and loud. This one still produces sounds when pressing the keyboards, but all keypresses are much more silent, and that is greatly appreciated. Watching the RGB lighting take off to the edge of the keyboard after every press is very amusing, but not distracting while gaming. --- APPROVAL --- This keyboard is a great prolevel keyboard and a welcomed addition to any PC gamer. It also works for Xbox and Playstation, though I didn’t test it on those platforms. Overall, this keyboard is highly recommended and stands above the competition!

Introduction Steelseries has been making many pc accessories from headsets, mice, and keyboards. They have built a great reputation for themselves over time. Going in I’ve only had a headset from Steelseries, so it would be fun to see how their keyboards hold up. What comes in the box? You get the keyboard, a USB-C to USB-A cable, a magnetic wrist rest, a keycap remover, and a starter’s guide. Major wins I am a huge fan of the included wrist rest. The soft touch material is great, and it offers high quality comfortability. Usage The keyboard is probably the heaviest keyboard that I’ve ever picked up. I like that fact. It let’s me know that it’s made of great material, and has a nice build to it. The wrist wrest attaches to the keyboard magnetically. Once you attach it, it stays on quite nicely. The keyboard is great to type on. The thing I noticed immediately is that it is relatively quiet. I know that most mechanical keyboards are known for their loud clicky keys, but the Apex Pro goes in the opposite direction. The actuation can be changed via the OLED settings. The keys aren’t that high up in their default state, so there isn’t a lot of travel. I like the default settings. I use the multimedia roller a lot. You can control the volume, and if you press it, you can switch audio on and off. The OLED screen seemed very gimmicky to me when I saw it, and after playing with the settings for a bit, I do get some usage out of it, but I find myself not using it more than actually finding use for it. You have a good number of setting options at your disposal. It’s here you can change the RGB settings, actuation, brightness of the RGB, etc… Primarily for This is obviously aimed at gamers, and well, considering how comfortable it is to type on, one could argue that it could be used for regular use, but not at the cost. Probably not for People who don’t like RGB lighting and the whole concept of a gaming accessory being this costly. All in all I enjoyed using the keyboard. It was quiet and comfortable. The price may scare some people away, so it all comes down to is it worth the price for the individual.

The keyboard itself is absolutely beautiful. Fairly quiet for a linear gaming keyboard. Keys feel great, the oled screen is a nice touch. Rgb lighting looks great. Magnetic hand rest is feels great too. My main gripe is the software. Right now, for some reason, all the configuration has to be loaded through the windows software. I think the macros are able to save into thr board, but actuation configuration, rgb lighting profiles, oled screen config you are currently unable to save to the board. So unless you are running the steelseries software on your machine, youre limited to trying to configure everything directly on the keyboard itself, which is missing some features that the software only supports, specifically the rgb profiles and the oled screen settings. Havent tested the other features, but in general save to board feature doesnt seem to work well at all. Other than that, the keyboard hardware is quite beautiful. If you dont care too much about rgb, it's a great board.

This has to be one of the smoothest keyboards i have ever used. The design of thekeys and the wristpad make this a must a have for extended computer use. I was very pleasantly surprised. I am going to highlight the best aspects of the keyboard that stood out to me. KEY TRAVEL The key travel is satisfying, the travel provides for a smooth key travel that has a satisfying click. The design is smooth that the click is almost softened by the design. It makes it responsive and very nice keyboard. The design also keeps the fast pressing of keys to not feel muddled or have the keys sticking. They springy responsiveness makes fast gameplay and quick key pressing a breeze. without a sloppy feel. WRISTPAD The simplest design of including magnets make this a non-slip support pad with a nice matte feel. The angle is flows right into the keyboard. KEYBOARD SCREEN The keyboard screen and media controls makes it easy to mute the sound or adjust the volume with the rocker button. It allows you to create profiles and shows you the response bar which lights up when pressing the keys. I dont use it as much but it is a nice feature. SOFTWARE The software is pretty simple to use the preprogrammed light designs but it also lets you create your own lighting zones if you have the time and patience to play around with the software. Creating the custom lights isn't difficult but it is involved. LIGHTING The lighting is very smooth and seamless in transition but i feel most keyboards are on par. The brightness is nice and adjustable. amazing keyboard, the first keyboard which immediately felt like a step above the rest.

Great feel on keys, excellent rgb lighting, quality is on par with any top design keyboards, highly recommend, on the expensive side

I can safely say at this point that the Steel Series Apex Pro Gen 3 Full Size Wired HyperMagnetic Keyboard is the best gaming keyboard I have used. Not only that it is the best keyboard I have used period. First of all the key responsiveness on this keyboard is next level stuff. It feels amazing and definitely helps in first-person shooting games and I am sure any game requiring lightning-fast reflexes. The Apex Pro Gen 3 has all of the best features for custom key assignments as well as things like Rapid trigger that dynamically resets keys for faster trigger reaction time. I am amazed by the what I assume is the Hypermagnetic action in the keys. They bounce back so fast and seem to have the perfect travel compare to other keyboards I have used enabling very quick movements. Not only that you can adjust the responsiveness of the keys and change how they respond depending on what you are using them for. Basically this keyboard with the Steel GG software will allow you to program a perfect custom set up for whatever your use case is. On top of it’s vast versatility options it feels very solid and has some heft to it all while looking premium while doing it. The lighting really looks good and is of course fully customizable as well and it has a first for me small Oled info screen that can display different computer stats. The only downside I noticed at first was the keys seemed a little small. However, I have quickly gotten used to them and it has put my concerns to rest. I have big hands and fingers and was worried at first but it does have key protection as well to help detour accidental presses. While there may be better keyboards out there so far this is the best one I have had the pleasure of using and I have a lot of keyboards and have used many different keyboards over the years.

I’ve been gaming for over 40 years and have used countless accessories—keyboards, headsets, mice, mouse pads, and monitors. I thought I had experienced the best… until now. This keyboard, if you can afford it, is hands down the best I’ve ever used. At first, I wasn’t sure if the ability to adjust the actuation pressure would be useful, but I was completely wrong. Now, I find myself turning left and right just to feel how smooth and responsive the transitions are. It’s an absolute game-changer! No joke—I haven’t always been the best at some of the more popular shooters, but now I finally feel like I can hold my own and actually contribute to wins, which I’m now doing! The GG software used to customize this keyboard is incredibly intuitive. I have my LEDs set up just the way I like them, making it easy to find my place at a glance. It’s a small but impactful detail that enhances my overall gaming experience. There are plenty of software programs out there that claim to enhance audio and performance—like Killer from Dell or Razer’s optimizations—but after using this setup, I’m seriously considering removing all the others and sticking with this exclusively. Somehow, it automatically lowers background music and game chatter, making it easier to hear my teammates, as well as crucial in-game sounds like footsteps and gunfire. I’m now fully invested in SteelSeries and will be looking to them for my next headset, mouse—pretty much anything and everything. I can’t wait until I need a replacement, LOL. When I bought my laptop, I was torn between MSI and Alienware. I ended up choosing Alienware, and it hasn’t disappointed me. But now, as I start looking for my next PC, MSI with SteelSeries peripherals is looking like the best choice. That’s all for now—thanks, and GAME ON! ReconOgre

This keyboard costs a quarter of a thousand dollars; I am going to assume you’ve already read an actual review and don’t need me to cover the basics. Instead, I am going to talk on whether this keyboard will be good for you if you type like I do, and make some comparisons to the first gen Apex Pro. When I type, I do not bottom out. I just tap the keys. This is the best keyboard I have ever used for the way I type. The actuation pressure is marginally more firm than the first gen Apex Pro, but still very light. The keys are much better stabilized and feel cushioned for a plush feel while making the keyboard very useable at the 0.1 or 0.2 mm actuation distance setting. As Jeremy Clarkson might say, “it’s like typing on double cream.” If you type like I do, I suspect you’ll also really like this keyboard. The first gen Omnipoint switches were not stabilized. The keys wobbled and had a lot of play which always felt cheap and left a poor impression. The third gen switches are vastly improved and feel appropriately premium. The third gen switches are also cushioned and sound fuller; the first gen switches sounds hollow and cheap in comparison. Overall, a vastly more luxurious typing experience. Two other minor observations: When you type like I do, you notice when keys feel different, requiring different actuation pressure or distance. The first gen Apex Pro was not completely uniform, the third gen is. The third gen Apex Pro appears to be better magnetically shielded. When using the first gen, nearby magnetic fields like from wrist rests could cause keys to stop working or send errant inputs. This seems resolved. A few complaints: Only the alphanumeric portion of the keyboard makes use of the advertised switches; this is a little disappointing when considering the price. At least the other keys still feel uniform. Lack of dedicated macro keys, especially given the price, lessens the appeal of this keyboard from a productivity standpoint.