SteelSeries Apex Gaming Keyboard

I was in the market for a new gaming keyboard for my new setup. At the time I had a very cheap, general use, Dynex keyboard and it just wasn't doing the job. So, I began browsing for a new, higher quality, gaming keyboard. I'm an avid gamer and having a gaming keyboard was the perfect solution. I looked at Razer keyboards and they almost had me sold for the Deathstalker. Then I saw this! Here are the pros: First off, this keyboard looks great. It also feels great too. Not too big, but also not too small. Just perfect for my rather long fingers. It's pretty light weight (also a con, see below). The colored, backlit keys look amazing and the ability to change them to any color scheme I want is just incredible. The "SteelSeries Engine" client is super easy to use for color preferences and any other settings and works with any other SteelSeries products you have. There are a total of 22 macro keys on this keyboard and 4 layer keys for macro sets to be programmed to. It also features volume keys and all the necessary media keys for quick access to media controls. There are two added arrow keys for turn left and turn right. There are also two USB slots on the back of the keyboard next to the cable which is very convenient. It comes with two larger rubber feet for a more angled keyboard, which I like a lot since I like mine to be pretty angled. The install and initial setup is pretty simple. Plug it in, let it install the drivers, download the "SteelSeries Engine" (which is optional), and reboot. Then you're ready to go. Lastly there is, what seems to be, an extension cable already attached which I thought was kind of odd but also convenient (also a con, see below). Here are the cons: Not too many cons for this one. The keyboard is rather light weight which can make it feel a little cheap, but not too much of a concern to me. It is mostly plastic, which gives it the possibility of breaking a lot easier. The attached extension cable has a tendency to get in the way and its attached facing away from the initial cable. It is also pretty short. Not really sure why it is setup that way. If anyone knows the reasoning, feedback would be appreciated. Overall, this is a great gaming keyboard. It works very well, is super customizable, and looks incredible. If you're looking for a gaming keyboard that functions amazingly, and looks awesome in the process, then this might be the keyboard you're looking for.

Best keyboard I've ever had! I was looking for a keyboard that you could customize the colors of the keyboard, and after viewing many products, I stumbled across this one and it is great! Totally worth the $90 dollars! Many people prefer mechanical keyboards over the rubber dome ones, but I like these better as I'm not a fan of the loud clicking sound they make and the feel. The keys do require a bit more of a push compared to any other keyboards, but once you get used to it, it feels normal. Keys are nearly flat and not curved like typing keyboards. The keyboard has a huge spacebar that is about twice the size of a normal spacebar, and it is great for gaming as you don't have to have your hand in a claw shape and can be more relaxed. Two things I didn't like about this keyboard was that it made a clicking sound when I pressed the spacebar on the right hand side and the software could have been better. The spacebar clicks when you barely touch it even before you press it down to register the key press. I think it just might be my keyboard but it the space bar functions well. The software could have been better and is needed to change the colors of the keys and set up shortcuts and macros. Wish they would add it to the Steelseries Engine 3 software so that I could only have one of those programs running. Overall great purchase and love this keyboard, and if you're looking for a gaming keyboard with customizable colors, look no further!

This keyboard looks awesome. There's no denying that. The colors look fantastic in low lighting and make gaming even better. I only really use the laptop for playing Guild Wars 2, for which is it great. Plenty of programmable keys for skills, utilities etc. The raised dots on the W key are very useful as well. Its quick and very responsive. The keys feel secure and well made. I love the big space bar for gaming, I sometimes miss when playing on a normal keyboard so it comes in handy. However, there are some very annoying faults. The layers is a nice feature, especially if you play multiple games, but every time you turn your computer off and back on it forgets them! You have to unplug and plug back in the keyboard for it to remember your macro keys and the layers you set up. It gets very frustrating starting your game, pressing the macro keys and getting nearly killed because you forgot to unplug and plug back in your keyboard. The engine itself is a bit temperamental as well. It takes a long time for it to come up after launching it and it is pretty slow when moving between the colors and settings etc. There's also the problem of some of the lights not coming on when you start your computer up. Whole sections don't light up and you have to unplug and plug back in the keyboard for it to remember to light every section up. The fact it came with a tiny instructions book that had no actual instructions might not bother some people. However, it took me and my husband a good half hour to figure out how to set the keys to work for Guild Wars 2. We aren't familiar with gaming keyboards so it may not bother people who use them frequently. Despite all the problems and hassle with this keyboard, we aren't sending it back because we are in love with the looks of it. Its just stunning to play on when it is working properly. Being able to change the colors of each section never gets old for us, we're always coming up with new combinations. So if you can deal with the faults and are just interested in a decent, awesome looking keyboard - this is it!

I have heard a lot of stuff online about mechanical keyboards are way better than membrane ones like this one is. I was rather nervous picking this one over a mechanical one because I don't have much experience with mechanical vs membrane and I thought I would end up regretting my decision later, but that is not what happened. This keyboard works very very well for gaming and the keys are very responsive. I absolutely love the extra big Esc button and I feel that other gaming keyboards should put ones like that on theirs because as gamers, you know we use that key a lot. The extra big space bar is another great thing that really comes in handy during those intense play sessions. The macros work great and help with simple things for me. My only complaint about the keyboard is how it works with its colors. This keyboard boasts about how intense the color customization is and while yes you can get every color on its software, the lights on the board are not good enough to accurately display the color you really want, it is like a few or many shades off. This is especially problematic if you want colors like purple, or lighter shades of certain colors. I do not feel it is worth taking a star off however, because it will take some time playing around with the software, but you can eventually get the colors you want, and how vibrant you want it to be.

This keyboard is extremely well-built/ It's solid as a tank, the cable is first-rate and feels securely anchored. The lighting and buttons work as advertised. It's handy not only for gaming, but also for work, given the macro abilities. You can create multiple profiles with four layers each, and load them on demand. It's also gorgeous. Took me a while to get used to the main keyboard feel and hitting keys without going to extra keys (a lot of times I type with one hand by touch for some tasks). About the only "complaint" I have is that you cannot lock the media keys the same as you can the Windows key. That said, you could probably make a profile where they're disabled; I simply haven't taken the time to try. I'm just saying the SteelSeries key doesn't lock them. I would buy a few of these as spares, except for the price point, but it seems robust enough that I think it'll last longer than most every keyboard I've used in the last decade by a huge margin. I also plan on buying another if/when this one goes, which hopefully will not be for ages. WELL worth the money! The USB hub built into it is also quite convenient.

So I've been using this keyboard for a few months now, and so far it hasn't given me any problems at all. Keyboard is a bit large than standard so make sure to have extra space. Pros: - Fully customizable keys, macros, and lights colors with SteelSeries Engine software that you can download in their website. - Comfortable enough for long gaming hours - Simple and elegant design - Keys still look as NEW when I bought it. Cons: - Feels like it could use a little bit more of illumination.They're not noticeable though if you're playing in the dark. - Black surface that separates the keys is a bit of a smudge magnet. It doesn't hurt to have a small cleaning cloth to clean the keyboard every once in a while. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a sleek and cool looking keyboard at an affordable price.

The keyboard itself is fantastic. The macros are easy to use and well placed, which is easy considering there's 22 of them. I do have to note however that this is THE worst refurbished product I have ever bought. If you can, I recommend buying new. Half of my color spectrum looks identical to the other half, which is roundabout way of saying I have half the colors I should. Pretty much just blue, green, and red, which is fine, but I was promised 16.8 million color schemes. I don't have that many. But we can, for now, chalk that up to the refurb. The required engine to make this keyboard run has to be downloaded from the website, fine I expect it from a high tech piece of equipment, but A.) Finding the correct engine was murder after not having any kind of drop down categories (website problem) and B.) It takes half an eternity to boot up. It's not my system, I promise you. I can go and get through all of my website checks, boot and update Steam, maybe even go get a snack, all before the engine boots. The keyboard is completely useless on its own until you have the engine installed, (when not running but installed the keyboard is just a base keyboard. It doesn't remember your profiles and macros.) by the way, it can't even function as a normal, non-led, non-macroed default keyboard. This massive chunk of complaint isn't to say I don't like the keyboard. It's huge, comfortable, useful, accurate, stylish, and maybe even fun to play with. But this keyboard comes with a price bigger than a remarkably small dollar sign, which is the immense hassle buyers have to go through to get it working. Bottom line (AKA. TL;DR) - Buy it. If you have the patience of a mountain, the space of the ISS and the pockets of a pauper.

Just got the keyboard yesterday and I'm enjoying it. For a non-mechanical keyboard, the Apex responds rather quickly. Aside from the lovely 16 million color spectrum you can choose from, the SteelSeries Engine (available directly from the website, no software disc included), makes creating macros fairly easy. You basically create a profile for one of the games you wanna play, start and name the action, then record the button presses. Drag that action to the key you want to trigger the action, then hit Save. Can't stress enough to remember to click save. When you change the color setup, it won't even take effect until you click Save. Then you just create a new action and repeat the steps. As of yet, I haven't figured out how to map mouse actions (like mapping a 180 degree turn plus a left click for FPS games), but I'm sure you can. Right now, the keyboard shines brightest for RPGs, as all your skills can be mapped to one button and triggered one after the other. For typing on the other hand.. leaves a bit to be desired. I doubt the majority of people interested in buying this are trying to find a great typing keyboard. If so, look elsewhere. It's not mechanical first off, and although it responds well enough for typing, if you have large hands, you may find the keys to be a bit too close together, resulting in typos. The ESC key, though larger than on most keyboards, is placed rather oddly. There are media buttons to the right of the number pad, and if you're not paying attention, you'll probably hit the PLAY button instead of the Enter key a few times. If you must use it for typing like me, just keep in mind that you will need to kinda get used to the button placement. There are feet that come with it which allow you to raise it up or lay it flat. Other than that, as a gaming keyboard, especially one without the tactile feel of Cherry MX switches, this is a good buy. I got it for $70 along with a two year warranty. GET THE WARRANTY. Anything can happen bro. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it. :)

BEST KEYBOARD I'VE EVER USED. I've never spend a lot of money of key boards . I didn't think paying more than a couple of grands on a keyboard was worth it. Boy was I wrong. This thing is amazing. The keys feel great. I type essays with it sometimes for fun. I bought it for work and I see an increase in my productivity. The macro keys are just amazing. The steelseries engine is easy to use and works flawlessly. I will highly recommend this to anyone looking for something for work and play. Got got it!!

Amazing keyboard. Can't possibly complain for the price. Intelligent design, high quality key caps, great and very customizable back-lighting. Found it very easy to get used to. It is also one of the quietest keyboards I have ever used. The keys sit much lower on this keyboard than any keyboard I've used before, making each key easier to press, with a lot less resistance than a usual keyboard. SteelSeries comes through again. The only qualm I had is when the installing the software it had to program the keyboard for use--it was unsuccessful the first try, instead completely disabling the keyboard. Had to restart, uninstall and reinstall so it would re-program the keyboard to work again. Successful on second try. No problems since then. Loving the space bar.

El mejor teclado de membrana que he tenido. Me gusta la sensación del bajo perfil de las teclas. Las teclas se ven perfectamente claras con la iluminación, comparado con otros teclado retroiluminados que pierden claridad. El material es de muy buena calidad, sobre todo el del cable, el cual es bastante largo. Me gustan las teclas multimedia puesto que suelo usar reproductores sencillos que se manejan en segundo plano y es molesto tener que buscarlo en la barra de windows. Es muy facil personalizar las teclas macro con el software de steelseries, y teniendo cuatro perfiles los cuales se pueden alternar facilmente, se puede cambiar la configuración que tengo de un juego para otro diferente con solo un botón. Como se puede esperar es bastante grande debido a su cantidad de teclas especiales, deja de ser un tanto portable. En general mi mayor satisfacción es la sensación de las teclas.

Briefing it up : Simply Superb Pros: Fast and Efficient , Keys are Removable :P Cons: Too Huge But I Love It.

Aun cuando no es un teclado mecánico, este teclado que fue una actualización de mi antiguo Logitech G15 es excelente. Las teclas estan muy bien iluminadas para las sesiones de juegos de supervivencia de horror, la barra de especio es del doble de tamaño de cualquiera que he utilizado antes, el teclado es pesado y las bases de goma hacen casi imposible moverlo accidentalmente en sesiones de juego de acción, lo único que algunas personas encuentren problemático es el idioma, ya que solo viene en Ingles de EEUU, pero como mi sistema operativo se encuentra en Ingles no tengo problema con esto. El software de Steelseries es muy completo y no es muy difícil de utilizar para asignar macros y cambiar colores de iluminación por zona. Probablemente en treinta minutos después de recibirlo ya tenia configuradas las zonas y macros para juegos como Diablo 3, Grim Dawn, Elder Scrolls Online, recientemente para Fallout 4 y para mas juegos de mi biblioteca. El software también se actualiza constantemente. Muy recomendable para cualquier gamer.