The right gaming keyboard ultimately comes down to the right feel while you’re playing. Membrane switches are familiar, but often spongy. Mechanical keyboards offer key switches that are responsive when typing or moving in a game, and feel good to push down. That feel is important, because the keyboard is the peripheral you’ll spend the most time with at your PC, and it has to feel right. We tested a wide range of keyboards, membrane and mechanical, to find the ones that felt best for gaming.
The best mechanical gaming keyboard
CM STORM QUICKFIRE RAPID>It’s not the cheapest keyboard you can get, but Cooler Master’s QuickFire Rapid is a fantastic mechanical gaming keyboard for the price. The tenkeyless version still uses full-size keys, and the Cherry MX Blue switches on the model in our office have a satisfying click when depressed. Most people prefer Blues for typing rather than gaming, but you can also get the keyboard with Brown or Red switches more ideal for gaming.
The entire board has a nice, solid, rubberized feel, with gives the keys a great texture. Media controls are activated through a function (Fn) key down on the right-hand side, but all work at an OS level. Like the Corsair K70, the Storm Rapid I doesn’t require any additional software for its media functions or backlighting programming. We also really love the detachable USB Micro cable, which makes this a great keyboard for LAN gaming
WASD’s keyboards are elegant, so much so that the WASD V2 is our keyboard of choice on the Large Pixel Collider. That elegance comes from the fact that the keyboard is fully customizable, and WASD gives you lots of options when you order.
The WASD V2 on the online store starts gloriously pristine, and it's up to you to fill in everything from key layout to printing.
If you’re not sold on mechanical switches for your gaming, you still have a lot of options for membrane keyboards. Our favorite for gaming is Razer’s Anansi, which uses the exact same layout from Razer’s Black Widow line, but without the clickity-clack that the Black Widow Ultimate is known for.
The Anansi includes five configurable keys on the left hand side, labeled M1 - M5, as well as seven additional media-like buttons below the spacebar that are easy to reach with your thumb. There are no dedicated media buttons, but you can control volume and playback through Function keys. Razer’s software is easy to use for lighting and binding control, and will also play nicely if you use one of Razer’s many gaming mice.
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