Logitech G915 Lightspeed TKL long-term testimonials: The Magic Keyboard for gaming

Logitech’s G915 is for the gamer who desires the aesthetics of Apple’s Magic Keyboard with the texture of a mechanical change (plus dose of RGB). I’ve searched far and huge for a keyboard that nails the look and really feel, and after scouring dozens of low-profile choices, I settled on the Logitech’s current G915 TKL.

It’s not as sturdy as a full-size board, and the pric, like plenty of Logitech peripherals, e is just too excessive. Nonetheless, the mixture of the Lightspeed wi-fi know-how, pretty distinctive low-profile switches, and rock-solid construct make the G915 really feel prefer it earns its asking worth.

It’s a keyboard that manages gaming and typing properly, and it’s a showstopper within the visible division. Though it took some time to regulate to the low-profile keycaps and Logitech’s switches, I’ve grown to like the steadiness that the G915 gives — and after months of steady use, I’m not returning to a full-size keyboard any time quickly.

Design

The Logitech G915 is accessible in two variations: Both full-size or a tenkeyless (TKL) design. I obtained my arms on the TKL model, which ditches the quantity pad that often occupies the correct aspect of the board. TKL boards have gotten extra common over the previous few years — take the Corsair K70 RGB TKL, for instance — and that’s a pattern I can get behind.

Just a little additional area in your desk goes a good distance in gaming, and the general slim design of the G915 TKL makes it really feel a lot smaller than it truly is. Logitech sells a model with a quantity pad, however except you want one for decent keys in packages like Adobe Premiere or Professional Instruments, you must stick to the TKL mannequin.

The G915 TKL’s design is primary however stunning. It’s a slab of brushed aluminum with some keys caught to it, but it surely nonetheless manages to look higher than boards just like the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini.

There are a few the reason why. First, the RGB lighting. Even at full brightness, the lighting simply barely spills out of the perimeters of the keys, with a lot of the mild centered towards the highest of the keycap. Second is the restricted variety of extra buttons, which helps it stay useful with out going off the deep finish.

Outdoors of the keys, you’ve entry to 4 media buttons, 4 operate buttons, and a quantity wheel. The 4 operate buttons do just a few various things. There’s a brightness button that permits you to cycle via 5 brightness ranges (together with off), in addition to a Recreation Mode change that disables the Home windows key. By the included G-Hub software program, you need to use Recreation Mode to disable any keys you need.

The opposite two buttons are for inputs, both Logitech’s personal Lightspeed wi-fi know-how or Bluetooth. You possibly can seamlessly change between Lightspeed and Bluetooth on the contact of a button, which is a giant win for the G915. It’s sufficiently small to make use of on the sofa with one thing just like the Nvidia Defend, and I appreciated having the ability to bounce backwards and forwards with out reconnecting dongles or fussing round with pairing.

Logitech sells a model of the G915 with a wire (referred to as the G815), but it surely’s solely barely cheaper than the wi-fi model. Wi-fi peripherals have gotten rather a lot higher during the last a number of years, and Lightspeed is a showcase of that. It’s unimaginable to inform the distinction between wired and wi-fi, even in twitchy shooters like Counter-Strike: International Offensive. 

The amount wheel feels nice. It’s metallic and offers clean adjustment over the sting of the board, making fast quantity modifications a breeze. I simply want that high quality carried over into the media and performance buttons. They’re fabricated from a comfortable rubber materials and really feel mushy to the contact. I by no means missed an enter whereas utilizing them, however they nonetheless don’t really feel nice.

Along with the keyboard, you additionally get a Logitech-branded micro USB cable, the Lightspeed USB receiver, and a USB vary extender within the field. Critically, the G915 TKL is lacking a wrist relaxation, which is hard to swallow at $230. I didn’t miss a wrist relaxation whereas utilizing the G915, although.

I exploit a desk mat for my keyboard and mouse. Given the G915’s slim kind — it’s solely 0.9 inches tall — my wrists comfortably relaxation on my desk mat with no need to bend upward. That’s nice in my scenario, but it surely’s not ultimate if you happen to don’t have a desk mat. Slim wrist rests are solely about $15, so it it could’ve been good to see one within the field.

Switches and efficiency

I favor a standard Brown change for typing, because it gives the tactile suggestions of a Blue change with out the annoying click on. The G915 TKL doesn’t use a Cherry MX mechanical change or one among its derivatives, however reasonably one among Logitech’s GL switches that approximate the texture of a full-size Cherry change.

There are three choices obtainable: Clicky, Tactile, or Linear, which approximate a Cherry MX Blue, Brown, or Pink change, respectively. I settled on the Tactile change for a steadiness between my day-to-day writing duties and gaming. Though Cherry makes some low-profile switches, it doesn’t make a Brown variant, making the Tactile change an ideal match for my functions.

I’ve all the time struggled between balancing writing and gaming, and the Tactile change makes compromises I can reside with. It’s not as nice to kind on as a full-size Brown change, and the gaming expertise doesn’t get close to approximating a Pink change. However the steadiness between the 2 is great. Gaming feels higher due to the decreased journey distance, and writing nonetheless feels tactile.

The thinner profile took some time to get used to, although. The G915 itself is angled, however the keys reside on a flat airplane. That will increase the probability of accidently slipping up or down a row whereas typing or gaming, which I discovered myself doing typically once I first picked up the G915 TKL. Fortunately, after a few weeks utilizing the keyboard, I obtained used to the marginally totally different typing expertise.

Though the Tactile change will get near a Cherry MX Brown, it’s not an actual copy. Logitech’s change has an actuation distance of 1.5mm whereas a full-size change has a distance of 2mm. When you bottom-out the important thing, Logitech’s change can journey as much as 2.7mm whereas a full-size change can journey 4mm.

The bigger distinction is available in drive. The Logitech Tactile change requires 60 grams of drive to succeed in the tactile level, whereas a Cherry MX Brown is a bit of lighter at 55 grams. It’s a small change, however the additional little bit of strain makes a distinction in a low-profile design. The additional drive makes the Tactile change really feel nearer to a full-size change, regardless of a a lot smaller journey distance.

Though the change carries Logitech’s GL branding, it truly comes from Kailh’s Choc collection. There are only some keyboards that include these switches, and no choices that I may discover from main manufacturers. There are extra boutique boards just like the Morgrie RKB 68 that use them, nevertheless, and that board is cheaper than the G915 TKL.

Nonetheless, the G915’s switches carry a compromise. They’re not good for gaming, they usually’re not good for typing, however they do each properly sufficient to earn their preserve. So long as you’re prepared to regulate to a barely altered typing expertise, Logitech’s switches maintain up properly in opposition to the Cherry competitors.

Sadly, these are nonetheless Logitech switches, and like earlier designs, they aren’t appropriate with different keycaps. There aren’t a ton of low-profile keycaps proper now, however it could have been good to see extra common help when extra units inevitably pop up down the road.

That makes mechanical keyboards just like the Roccat Vulcan TKL and Cooler Grasp SK630 a bit of extra engaging — particularly with how low-cost they’re in comparison with the G915. Each of those keyboards use the usual cross for Cherry switches, making keycap swaps a breeze.

G-Hub software program

I don’t mess with bundled keyboard software program a lot. Generally, I set the lighting I would like and let the software program quietly eat up system assets within the background. Logitech’s G-Hub is totally different. It’s useful, straightforward to make use of, and — critically — freed from bugs. That is the way you do peripheral software program.

Lighting breaks down into three classes: Presets, freestyle, and animations. Presets provide you with entry to straightforward RGB results like respiratory and a colour wave, Freestyle allows you to paint colours on any key you need, and animations allow you to create a series of distinctive modifications between colours.

Though there are different items of software program with extra choices — Corsair iCUE, specifically — G-Hub nonetheless presents degree of customization. It’s straightforward to make use of for somebody who desires to set and neglect RGB, whereas nonetheless providing some totally different results and animations. You possibly can even arrange the lighting to match no matter’s in your display or to operate like an audio visualizer.

You may also mechanically sync the G915 with different Lightsync merchandise from Logitech, in addition to use particular lighting results in supported video games. You possibly can see your ammo bar in Borderlands 3, for instance, in addition to instantly view your essential keys in Ultimate Fantasy XIV. Solely a small variety of video games are supported, but it surely was a pleasant deal with every time I booted up a supported title.

Lighting is what will get you into G-Hub, however that’s not what’s going to preserve you there. You possibly can remap any key, arrange macros, and map system features like copy and paste. That’s nothing out of the extraordinary for a gaming keyboard, however G-Hub makes mapping macros really feel easy. You possibly can rapidly drag features like Alt + Tab to a operate button from a pool, in addition to modulate between instructions and macros with an elective G-Shift button.

After you have the whole lot arrange the way in which you want, you may retailer three macro and two lighting profiles on board and cycle via them with a key you choose (the primary 4 operate keys by default).

Lastly, you may view your battery degree in G-Hub, in addition to your remaining battery life. Logitech charges the G915 TKL for 40 hours of use at 100% brightness (30 hours for the full-size model), however you’ll get far more than that. The keyboard mechanically enters a relaxation mode after some time, saving your battery life while you’re away out of your desk.

I’ve used the G915 TKL at 50% brightness for months, and with semicontinuous use for 10 to 12 hours a day, I often have to high up the battery each couple of weeks. That point shrinks considerably at full brightness, however the keys nonetheless put out loads of mild on the decrease brightness ranges whereas saving you plenty of battery life.

The G915 makes use of a Micro USB cable for charging, and you’ll proceed utilizing the keyboard whereas it’s topping up. Though Logitech features a Micro USB cable within the field, I’d’ve appreciated to see USB-C for charging. In my case, at the very least, USB-C has develop into the usual throughout all of my gadgets, so I can rapidly swap in a brand new cable every time I inevitably lose the one which got here within the field. With the G915 TKL, I’ve to dig via a pile of three-foot micro USB cables to search out one that can truly stretch to the port.

That’s a little bit of a testomony to the G915, although — I cost it so occasionally that I don’t preserve a devoted cable on my desk. Nonetheless, USB-C isn’t too huge of an ask for a $230 keyboard, particularly one which’s nonetheless pretty new.

Our take

The Logitech G915 TKL is just too costly in comparison with different keyboards that present the identical or the same low-profile expertise. Nonetheless, the mixture of wi-fi connectivity, helpful media and performance buttons, a strong construct, and bug-free software program make the G915 TKL earn its asking worth.

It strikes a steadiness between typing and gaming that I get pleasure from, and it seems incredible sitting on my desk. Adjusting to the low-profile switches takes a while, however I’ve by no means felt the necessity to return to a full-size switches in my many months of utilizing the G915 TKL.

The draw back is that, like different Logitech peripherals, you don’t have choices for third-party equipment. As somebody who likes swapping out keycaps and experimenting with totally different switches, I do know the G915 TKL will, in some unspecified time in the future, relaxation in my keyboard graveyard. It hasn’t made its manner there but, nevertheless, and that’s signal.

Are there any alternate options?

Sure, however not rather a lot. The Roccat Vulcan TKL and Cooler Grasp Cooler Grasp SK630 are each cheaper low-profile alternate options, although they lack wi-fi and use totally different switches. The G915 is pretty distinctive with its mixture of switches and wi-fi know-how, however there are boutique choices that use the identical switches with a wire.

How lengthy will it final?

Logitech’s GL switches are rated for 5o million actuations. After all, the variety of actuations is dependent upon how typically you utilize your keyboard. Assuming common use, the G915 will final a number of a long time, and even then, it’d nonetheless have a bit of life.

Do you have to purchase it?

Sure, however search for it on sale. The G915 has some apparent oversights, and it’s incompatible with most mechanical keyboard equipment. It’s a incredible low-profile choice, however Logitech is ready to cost a excessive worth given how few true opponents it has on this class.

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