My favorite, most used keyboard in my office is my Das 4 Professional Soft Tactile MX Brown Mechanical Keyboard. I mention this so that you could have an idea as to what I look for in a keyboard. Although Das does make an illuminated keyboard, Das Keyboard Prime 13 White LED Backlit, at $129.00 it’s a bit too steep for most of us. I wanted an illuminated keyboard for home use so I could use it at night without disturbing anyone by having to keep the overhead lights on.
I ended up buying 4 keyboards looking for the one that not only had good backlighting but also good typing action making it easy to see at night and easy to type on. I wanted to keep the price to around $50.00 – so here is what I bought in order:
Perixx PX-1100 ($59.99)
The keyboard has serious flaws that significantly interfere with it's stated purpose. It is supposed to be illuminated so that it could be used in a dark room. It specifically states that it has key and letter illumination which it does but here lies the problem - the illumination is very uneven with some keys being very bright and others just an inch or two away being very dim. As an example, the left arrow key on my keyboard was very bright while the right arrow key was barely visible especially since the keys next to it were so bright! Another factor is the brightness surrounding the keys which in some areas is brighter than the keys themselves which makes it more difficult to read them. This keyboard apparently has "zone illumination" meaning that it has just a few LED's lighting up the keys and in some places, near the edge of the zones, there are dim areas - very dim areas, even with the brightness at maximum. If you're buying this for the illumination to make it easier to read in a dark room, look elsewhere. If you want a cool looking, colorful keyboard that has relatively good good typing action this is your keyboard, it is heavy, well built, has good typing action and poor lighting. This was the first one I bought and I was very disappointed with it, hence the mediocre rating.
Azio – Vision Large Font Keyboard ($29.99)
This keyboard has large font: letters, numbers and symbols making it very easy to read in a darkened room. The lighting is even throughout the entire keyboard, there are no bright or dark areas and you can easily change the color of the keys for the entire keyboard or within the 5 lighting zones. For people with vision impairments, this is your keyboard. It is easy to use, set-up and change colors. The typing action on it is very unsatisfying for me as the keys are larger than standard keys so my fingers are not used to the spacing. Also, the height of the keys is somewhat shallower than standard keys and the resistance when you type is “mushy” at least for me. That said, for visually impaired people who are used to the common $15 to $20 keyboard this will be fine for you and at $30, it is a bargain.
Logitech K740 – Fullsize Illuminated Slim Keyboard ($59.99)
This keyboard is very slim in fact, the travel of the keys when you type is minimal and they are very shallow which I am not used to so I found typing on it unsatisfying. The keyboard reminds me of the one on my inexpensive, compact laptop which gets the job done when I’m traveling but is not designed for serious typing. The illumination however is excellent, bright white and very legible. Set-up is simple and adjusting the brightness is straight forward. If my “go-to” keyboard wasn’t so good, I probably wouldn’t have an issue with this one. Once you have typed on a quality keyboard with mechanical switches you get spoiled! At $60 on sale, I was underwhelmed.
Corsair K55 Gaming Keyboard ($47.99)
This keyboard basically met my expectations for typing feedback and illumination for the price but it’s far from perfect. When you first connect it to your computer you will be met with an over the top moving display of colors flowing across the entire keyboard which is very distracting and thankfully easily changed with just a few key strokes. You can make it all one color if you wish and choose the color you want or make each zone a different color. The keyboard is light weight like most cheap keyboards, lighter even than the non-illuminated Dell keyboard that it replaced but it gets the job done. The first thing I noticed is that the illumination is crisp and even throughout the keyboard. The letters and symbols are centered on the keys and a bit bolder in font than average keyboards. The keys are not individually illuminated but there are enough LED’s to give it an even appearance. The lighting around the keys is somewhat bright but not to the point of making them difficult to read as on the Perixx. Although the keys themselves are not mechanical, they feel somewhat mechanical giving it a nice tactile experience. The keys have the same height as one would find on a good standard keyboard and have about the same travel as well, so it is a good keyboard to type on or use for gaming or both!
There are many illuminated keyboards out there and I spent hours shopping on Amazon and reading reviews trying to finds one that would be right for me. For some people, the typing action may be secondary and so for them, the best buy would be the Azio Vision Large Font Keyboard which at $29.99 is a bargain. It is the easiest by far to read under any conditions and very easy to use/set-up. The Logitech at $60 is also very easy to read but it is twice the price of the Azio. That said, the keys are standard size and it is very well made. For me, the Corsair K55 was the best compromise; although the Azio and the Logitech are easier to read, the Corsair is also easy to read, they are just a bit better in visibility but when I considered typing feel and speed , the Corsair wins.
I hope this helps some of you make the right buying decision.
Art
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