Who says the best gaming keyboard needs to be a mechanical one? Razer’s Cynosa Chroma has been caught on my desk for a few weeks now and hoo boy did have I given it a baptism of fireplace, as this ended up being the keyboard I used to place collectively my Monster Hunter: World graphics performance article.
Yep, I’ve murdered a whole bunch of Great Jagrases with this £59 / $59 non-mechanical, membrane keyboard, and you realize what? I truly had a fairly all proper time with it – and it was a heck of loads simpler on my ears, too. Is it a greater purchase than your typical £100 / $100 mechanical keyboard, although? Let’s discover out.
Of course, being a Razer keyboard, the Cynosa Chroma is a bit of totally different out of your normal membrane keyboard. Membrane keyboards, in case you’re unfamiliar with the excellence, usually have a single sheet of rubber domes inside them, which may usually make them really feel fairly spongy and gradual when typing at pace or, say, mashing plenty of keys without delay in a determined bid to remain alive in a game like Monster Hunter. Mechanical keyboards, then again, all have their very own particular person switches with a bunch of transferring elements inside them, usually making them really feel faster, sharper and extra responsive in consequence.
Razer nonetheless describes the Cynosa’s keys (that are all made in-house) as being “soft-cushioned”, a bit like your common rubber dome setup, however additionally they say every key has “better housing support”, which is supposed to present every tippity faucet a extra stable and responsive really feel. In apply, they’re positively much less spongy than the previous Razer Arctosa and Roccat Isku keyboards I’ve nonetheless obtained kicking round, each of which come from the membrane aspect of the keyboard household tree, however they’re additionally not fairly as fast and ‘clicky’ as, say, Roccat’s ‘membranical’ Horde Aimo.
As a outcome, it will seem the Cynosa occupies a barely bizarre place on the keyboard hierarchy – someplace that’s midway between a membrane and a membranical keyboard, the latter of which already being a kind of half-way home between membrane and mechanical. A kind of quarter-way home, if you’ll, however one with a larger quantity of membrane DNA than anything.
If full-on RGB lighting isn’t your factor, you’ll be able to both go for a single block color, or simply flip it off fully by downloading Razer’s Synapse software program.
Fortunately, its unusual, upper-end membrane-like standing is mirrored within the total value of the factor, with its £59 / $59 asking worth sitting roughly in the midst of your typical entry-level £30 / $40 membranes and £80 / $90 hybrid jobs just like the Horde Aimo. The query is whether or not it’s a greater use of your cash than a hybrid or membranical one if you happen to’re trying to improve from an inexpensive membrane.
Personally, I obtained on fairly properly with the Cynosa Chroma, and would possible select this over the Horde Aimo if given the selection – each by way of total appears and the way it feels to kind on. Focusing on the previous for a minute, it’s fairly tasteful so far as gaming keyboards are inclined to go, and its plain, black, plastic chassis bears solely the smallest of Razer logos on the very entrance of the board beneath the primary keys.
I’m additionally very keen on its double-layered rear ft that offer you two totally different elevation choices, and also you additionally get full, individually backlit keys with a mountain of customisable RGB color schemes through Razer’s Synapse software program. Its sharpish-corners and angular design gained’t be for everybody, however I a lot favor its clean-cut strains to the cumbersome extra of the Horde Aimo.
You don’t get any devoted media keys sadly, however you’ll nonetheless discover them assigned to varied Fn buttons, together with a gaming mode key that disables the Windows key, an on-the-fly macro recording button and backlight brightness controls.
Not positive whether or not you’ve obtained Game mode enabled or obtained Caps Lock switched on? This small row of LEDs within the prime proper nook reveal all, even when the symbols beneath them are barely seen.
Then there’s the blissful undeniable fact that its aforementioned ‘soft cushions’ make it very straightforward on the previous ear canals. Yes, there’s nonetheless a level of noise to place up with, however man alive I miss having a keyboard that doesn’t go CLACK CLACK CLACK each time the tip of my fingertips brush towards the floor of a key cap.
Take my in depth forays into Monster Hunter: World, for instance. It’s fairly demanding as mouse and keyboard games go, as positioning your self subsequent to a monster’s weak level whereas steering away from their always snapping jaws and flicking tails is totally very important. Yes, there have been occasions once I wished the area bar felt a bit of bit faster and sharper for my continuous and repeated dodges out of hurt’s approach, however not as soon as did I really feel prefer it was tripping up over my WASD instructions, which, for the report, additionally obtained their justifiable share of mashing each time I by accident obtained caught up right into a two-monster tussle and needed to beat a really swift exit.
It’s completely able to dealing with fast-paced shooters comparable to Doom, too. It in all probability wouldn’t meet the requirements of uber aggressive shooter varieties, however sadly my reflexes are simply too shot to items (sorry) to present a correct verdict on that. For your common PC individual, I feel the Cynosa Chroma will do exactly advantageous.
It’s additionally a pleasure for typing on extra usually, as I used to be capable of rise up to my regular typing pace virtually as quickly as I began utilizing it. The keys by no means felt too excessive and all the pieces was spaced simply as I’d anticipate, permitting me to touch-type with out always second-guessing myself.
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- With small ft…
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- …and tall ft
That mentioned, I usually discovered I needed to be fairly heavy-handed with every key press, ensuring I pressed all of them down firmly earlier than transferring onto the subsequent one, however as somebody who’s spent a number of years of her working life typing away on a horrible Microsoft Wireless keyboard, it wasn’t an excessive amount of of a chore to adapt my typing model on this case. Not everybody likes being so forceful with their keyboard, in fact, so if you happen to’re the kind of one that prefers a featherlight typing model, the Cynosa in all probability isn’t going to be for you.
As a quarter-way area of interest inside a distinct segment, although, the Razer Cynosa Chroma fulfils its function completely. It presents an honest improve out of your primary membrane with out forcing you go full CLACK with a hybrid or mechanical keyboard, and you continue to get a good variety of higher-end gaming options comparable to RGB lighting, macro-recording and a Windows-key-disabling game mode with out having to spend an absolute fortune on it. USB passthrough would have been the icing on the cake, however alas, you’ll need to make do with plugging your mouse into your PC like regular with this one.
Still, in case your present membrane keyboard’s beginning to really feel previous its prime and also you fancy a small however agency improve towards one thing higher and extra responsive, the £59 / $59 Cynosa Chroma is properly price a glance.
