PAX Australia - Logitech G910 Hands On
Logitech were at PAX Australia this year and they were showing off a range of devices, from headsets to keyboards. One of them is not out on the market here yet, though that shall change in a few weeks.
The Logitech G910 is a brand new mechanical keyboard, not just from Logitech but also in how its built. I had the chance to chat with Max Pan, who came here all the way from Shanghai to PAX Australia, not only to talk about the G910 but the other products. But as the G910 is the brand new baby from Logitech that is what we spoke about.
The first thing that Max wanted to point out was that this is not Logitech's first mechanical keyboard, they have been doing that for a few years, but this is their first with their own mechanical switch. Most keyboards on the market use the Cherry Blue or Cherry Brown switches, which offer up great response times, but the team at Logitech knew they could do better. So after 2 years of development they developed their own switch that actually out performs the standard. Most switches offer a distance of 1.92mm, which in of itself is impressive, but Logitech got theirs down to an incredible 1.5mm.
Max did state that the whole point of the keyboard was not to simply make the switches faster but to build a keyboard that offers a complete gaming experience. The G910 now sports 9 dedicate macro keys, 4 along the top and 5 to the side. Past keyboards have had 6 along the side, but through feedback the team learnt that the one that was adjacent to the escape key was not in the most ideal spot. Naturally a keyboard that contains macro keys will also contain profile keys, which can be found the top left, these keys can be customised by the player to whatever they want, but it also comes with some presets for standard genres such as FPS and MMO.
But of course, these are all features that help make it a more desirable product, what you are going to want to know is how it handles, sadly I was not able to put it to the test in a game, but from the time I spent mock typing with the key I can tell it is something special. Each of the keys have the edges turned up, to give your finger a nice little cradle to sit in, it makes it really easy to maintain your fingers positions with this little adjustment. Another cool addition to the layout of the key is that the bottom three rows are actually titled forward, so the bottom of the key is sitting higher than the top, to stop your fingers from sliding down off them, the remaining rows are flat in their layout.
The keys can also be coloured, to any combination you desire, you can have them all on or if you are just need the keys you would use for FPS games, then you can just have WASD and the surrounding keys lit up, with the rest going dark; of course should you want the inverse that is entirely possible.
Two features that are kind of hidden away are really cool and actually show how much thought has gone into this keyboard. Across the bottom, where you would rest your wrists is a space where you left hand goes, that give your palm some space to get air, so you are no longer suffering those sweaty palms in the middle of your raids. The other feature is what they call the ARX Dock, a space above the middle of the keyboard where you can rest your phone. A nice little touch, meaning its in front of you while you game, but that is not all, if you desire you can run a dedicate app that will sync with your games to show you statistics, very much like the screens of the past used to do. But by using your phone, you can get a really quality screen, depending on your phone and the cost of the keyboard is kept down, because its not including a screen any-more.
Luke Henderson
