| SteelSeries 7G Mechanical Gaming Keyboard |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Input Devices | |
| Written by Steven Iglesias-Hearst | |
| Thursday, 09 December 2010 | |
SteelSeries 7G Mechanical Gaming KeyboardWhen you are shopping for a gaming keyboard what features are at the forefront of your mind? If you are looking for LED backlit keys, an LCD display or macro keys then you won't find them here. Benchmark Reviews brings you the SteelSeries 7G mechanical Gaming Keyboard. SteelSeries have taken a much different approach to the gaming market with their first mechanical gaming keyboard, by bringing durability and quality in the form of individual 18k gold plated spring loaded mechanical switches. I can't say for sure if this keyboard is an IBM Model M killer because I dont own one of those, but if this keyboard lasts anywhere near as long as some of those Model M's have lasted then it will be a very worthy investment indeed. The SteelSeries 7G sports a rigid metal inner chassis for extreme strength and each key on the 7G is an individual 18 karat gold plated and spring loaded mechanical switch which are guaranteed for 50 million presses and provide excellent tactile and audible feedback. The anti-ghosting system allows for as many simultaneous key presses as there are keys on the keyboard. If this isn't enough for you then you also have a removable wrist rest bundled with the 7G and on the back are two USB ports and headphone and microphone ports built in for added convenience when you come to attach a headset or mouse to your PC.
This is my first experience with a mechanical keyboard which means that I can't comparatively compare it to any other currently on the market, but what I can do is report back whether or not if there are any real benefits over a standard keyboard. Before we take a look at the keyboard itself, let's read up on the features and specifications of the SteelSeries 7G Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.
Manufacturer: SteelSeries Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by SteelSeries. Features and SpecificationsBelow is a snippet from the SteelSeries 7G product page: As we began to design the 7G, we wanted to offer a keyboard that would do more than emulate the bridge console on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 and instead, we focused on raw performance and durability. We took a long look at the most extreme use scenarios for keyboards and designed a keyboard that would meet and (in most cases) exceed every one of them. That's why we refer to the 7G as the "heavyweight of gaming keyboards". It's not the prettiest chick in the beauty pageant. It doesn't glow or pulse. But it packs a punch. A serious one.
Closer Look: SteelSeries 7GIn this section we are going to look at the SteelSeries 7G and get our initial opinion. This is not a gaming keyboard in the sense that it has LED backlit keys, info panel LCD or any other bells and whistles. It is instead a function over aesthetics kind of gaming keyboard, one that will last the duration - if the specs are anything to go by.
The SteelSeries 7G Ships in a gigantic box measuring in at 54cm long x 32cm wide, for once it isn't all just packaging though. The 7G is a huge keyboard when it has its wrist rest attached. The box really stands out and has lots of information on it regarding the product inside.
Remove the outer sleeve and you get extra protection via this inner box, the keyboard is suspended within this box by two end pieces of moulded polystyrene. The sample I received from SteelSeries had a bit of a bad time in the back of the couriers truck and as a result a few of the keys had come loose. SteelSeries re-assured us that this is a "non-issue" because the keys are designed to be removable with a little force for cleaning etc. This opens up a few channels for the modding scene out there, you can remove the keys of the 7G to customise them without fear of breaking them.
The wrist rest is nothing more than moulded rigid plastic, function takes precedence over form here. The wrist rest is very nice when typing but not so much when gaming - at least that's how I feel. It is by no means bad and improves things ten fold over having no wrist rest at all, it's just more comfortable when typing than it is when gaming.
With the wrist rest removed the 7G looks its best. The design is minimal and I like that, sometimes you just don't need macro keys and LED backlights or LCD status screens to beat down some pixelated enemies, all you need is your elite skills and good quality peripherals and you will be good. I am a FPS gamer myself and as such I don't need macro's and probably never will, what I do need is rapid response and anti ghosting for when I get my dance on, and I need a keyboard that won't buckle under the pressure when I die and need to vent my frustration.
Here is the 7G in all its glory, I have to admit that before I started to use this keyboard I thought it looked stupidly hideous. With that said though, now that I have been using it for some time my mind has changed a little. It is still huge but that works to its own benefit and the ergonomics feel just right. I would like to bring your attention to the backspace and enter keys, the enter key is just brilliant and the size of it is just right but as with all things good, comes some bad. As a result of the L shaped enter key the vertical bar/back slash key takes a new place to the left of the backspace key, I'm used to having a large backspace key so now and then when I reach for it with my chubby fingers I find myself pressing the wrong key. SteelSeries 7G Detailed FeaturesTime to take an even closer look at the SteelSeries 7G and its features that set this apart from other similar peripherals on the market.
The cable on the SteelSeries 7G is two meters long and splits off into four separate cables one foot from the end. The USB headphone and microphone ends are merely extensions of the inbuilt hub. The keyboard is connected to your PC via a PS/2 plug but you have the option to use the supplied PS/2 to USB adapter. SteelSeries recommend that you use the 7G via the PS/2 port as it will not be restricted by any polling rate like it would be with USB.
Round at the back of the SteelSeries 7G keyboard are some expansion ports for USB, Headphone and Microphone. The headphone and microphone ports are just pass through and work flawlessly but the USB ports are from an internal USB 1.1 hub. This isn't a problem if you want to hook up a mouse or any other low bandwidth device but if you want to use a USB data stick or any other USB 2.0 device via this port you will be restricted by the lower bandwidth offered by USB 1.1 protocol.
One particularly useful feature of the SteelSeries 7G is the replacement of the left hand Windows key with a specialized SteelSeries key. This isn't a new idea by any means but this key serves a purpose as a function key for the media keys that you can see at the top of the keyboard from F1 through to F6. What this means is that you won't find yourself minimising your game in the heat of the moment by accidently pressing the windows key, this is something I'm sure we have all done in the past. Media keys are always useful and by using a dedicated function key to operate them SteelSeries have managed to keep the keyboard nice and compact.
Looking at the bottom of the SteelSeries 7G keyboard we see that it has four large rubber feet that stop it from sliding around the place (the sheer weight of the unit helps too) and the plastic wrist rest also has four smaller rubber feet of its own. A nice addition here would have been to have some cable routing options as the cable coming out of the center is not always ideal. I am glad that it doesn't have the common retractable height adjusting feet that adorn most if not all modern keyboards, I can recall several keyboards that have been ruined by having these break on me.
Zooming in a little to the label now, there isn't too much info to be gained here. Various standard confirmation icons and other info give us an idea what we are dealing with here. We also get a nice close up on one of the textured rubber feet and what I assume is a serial number on the white sticker above it.
The 7G features the three standard lock LED's that are found on 99% of keyboards, but in this case SteelSeries have fitted super bright white LED's in place of standard low level LED's commonly found in keyboards. The LED's really catch your eye are so bright that if you look at them directly you will get the sun spot effect in your eyes for a short duration.
The keys on the SteelSeries 7G keyboard are individually shaped and sculpted nicely for ergonomic use and should provide a much better typing experience over a standard keyboard that has all flat keys or flat low profile keys like you see on laptops. Testing & ResultsTesting MethodologyTesting an input device is simple, all one needs to do is use it, unfortunately there are no quantative benchmarks to run, no numbers to compare, and no software used that can test the quality of the hardware. Testing an input device like the SteelSeries 7G mechanical Gaming Keyboard is going to be based around personal opinion and preference. For instance, I really like the simplistic approach to looks used in the 7G, but this might not be to everyone's taste. In this section I will present my unbiased opinion with regards to the use and operation of the 7G and report back any improvement benefiting directly by its use in various games and programs listed below. Your mileage may vary slightly and as such this should be taken as a guide only. Test System
Software Tested
ResultsIn the first few days of using the SteelSeries 7G I found myself making a lot of typos, this can be attributed to the sensitive nature of the keys. Unlike regular (non mechanical) keyboards the keys on the 7G don't need to be completely depressed to register as a press and combined with my chubby fingers you get unusual typos now and then. The second thing I noticed is that I seem to type faster with the 7G, whether this is purely psychological or not remains to be seen but it definitely feels nicer to type on the 7G over a regular keyboard. I have read that users of mechanical keyboards like the audible 'clack' that you get when you press a key and that it helps create a rhythm when typing. For me the noise seems more nostalgic than anything, it reminds me of the noise of someone operating a typewriter in a way. At first I wasn't too keen but now I am coming round to liking it after all. Maybe the 7G has me in a trance superimposed by a deep embedded 'idea' subliminally implanted in my brain when I first visited the SteelSeries website. No thats not possible... is it? Joking aside, the SteelSeries 7G definitely has something about it that is hard to describe. In the short period I have had the pleasure to use it I can't really say that it has improved my gameplay by any comparable amount but the whole subject of a keyboard / mouse enhancing gameplay will be discussed in my final thoughts. It has definitely improved my typing rate and those typo's are less frequent now, SteelSeries do recommend a one to two week period to "acclimate" (get used to using) the 7G mechanical keyboard by which time you will better appreciate the tactile feedback and fast response of the keys. I must say that I haven't needed a lot of time to get used to using the 7G but if one more week will make any difference then I will be very happy indeed as the overall experience has been very good so far. SteelSeries 7G Final ThoughtsI would like to use this section to express a view about a trend that has been steadily evolving, I hope a lot of others may share my views about the subject, and that is products that are designed for gamers. To kick start this viewpoint we need to rewind time a little, back to the days before the likes of SteelSeries, Razer, Choixx and Roccat etc ever made gaming peripherals. What were people using to play games before these companies created their revolutionary 'must have' devices?? A short answer is anything that they could get their hands on. Before the days of optical or laser sensors we had to grind with trackball mice, and although the IBM model M and other similar mechanical keyboards were around, I'm pretty sure they weren't touted as 'gaming' keyboards. No, we used regular keyboards but people still had significant advantage over others, it wasn't until cyber sports had become popular that these gaming peripheral companies were founded. It's hard to look at a motherboards and memory and CPU's and read the words 'created for gamers' in the features list, the only piece of hardware that is truly designed for gamers are graphics cards surely. We have reached a stage now where the words 'created for gamers' are becoming a little over used, or used purely as marketing to sell a product to a wider market. Gaming mice are making large strides to becoming a whole lot more responsive and feature rich but I cant really see any new innovations that can make any new product individual any more. Most gaming keyboards are a joke with their backlit keys for improved visibility and LCD panels for additional info, sure macro keys are great but when using them in games doesn't it kind of feel like cheating a little? I remember playing Need for Speed: Porsche Challenge on the PS1 and found a little glitch when playing a wager mode between two players, it was possible to load the same car for both players by cloning the memory card. The end result was that I won my own car several times and was able to sell it over and over again and earn a large amount of cash and was able to buy the best car available, which was good for all of one hour and kind of killed the game as I now had nothing to aim towards.
Sure today's games have evolved a lot and we now have the multiplayer aspect to contend with, so now we are pitching ourselves against each other and we need to find that competitive edge. Sure that 5600dpi mouse and that LED backlit keyboard may give you a slight advantage but when it comes down to it nothing comes close to raw skill. My first taste of multiplayer action was in the form of Americas Army, when I started I was rubbish, first I thought it was my RAM holding me back so I upgraded that but no difference was seen. Next I decided to upgrade my CPU but it was the same story. It was then that I upgraded my flailing MX440 Video Card to a more suitable ATI Radeon X800 XT and the difference was immediately apparent. It wasn't until I destroyed my mouse in a fit of rage that I bought into the whole gaming peripheral market ideal in the form of a Razer Krait 1600dpi gaming mouse, which made little difference to my gameplay when compared to the improvement gained from buying that X800 XT Video Card. It wasn't until I learned to watch shadows and listen for footsteps and learn different aspects and routes of maps that I could call myself good. Also being part of a gaming clan and communicating via teamspeak improved my gameplay a lot more than any peripheral ever has. I don't intend to start a mission to debunk the entire gaming peripheral market segment as there are products out there that really do make a difference, but at the end of the day you need to understand that a particular input device won't transform you into a pro-gamer overnight and you can also become 'pro' without the use of one of these devices so long as you have good hardware that is related directly to games. I'm talking now about Video and Sound cards that are able to recreate your game of choice with high details because at the end of the day your main weapons are ultimately your senses and your reaction time, skills that are developed over time. This brings me back now to my opening statement, what are you looking for in a gaming keyboard? Hopefully I have been able to put some things into perspective. SteelSeries 7G ConclusionIn this section I am going to write a brief five point summary on the following categories; Performance, Appearance, Construction, Functionality and Value. These views are my own and help me to give the SteelSeries 7G Mechanical Gaming Keyboard a rating out of 10. A high or low score does not necessarily mean that it is better or worse than a similar gaming keyboard that has been reviewed by another writer here at Benchmark Reviews, which may have got a higher or lower score. It is however a good indicator of whether the keyboard is good or not. I would strongly urge you to read the entire review, if you have not already, so that you can make an educated decision for yourself. I was sceptical of any performance advantage that might be gained from using a mechanical keyboard before I had used one, it is one of those devices that have been long forgotten like the beige box of their era. Once you have had the pleasure of using one you will not want to go back to your regular keyboard, so I encourage you to give one a try, if you have access to one that is. With regards to gaming though, I cannot really say if I have noticed any benefit offered from the mechanical nature, this will only become obvious months or years down the line if I am still using this keyboard or not. I have got through many regular keyboard that have simply broken due to their cheap nature. Since I only play FPS I won't notice the anti-ghosting or increase actions per minute afforded by the 7G but I really appreciate the tactile and audible feedback.
The appearance of the SteelSeries 7G is going to get mixed ratings, with the wrist rest removed the 7G is right up my street I really appreciate the minimalistic looks and the color scheme suits my needs down to the ground but with the wrist rest attached that look is somewhat spoilt. This is not a problem though as the wrist rest is purely functional and as such is acceptable. The SteelSeries 7G weighs just shy of 3lbs, and while I haven't wielded it as a weapon or used it like a dance mat I can safely say that it is one tough cookie that is sure to last for some time to come. The omission of retractable height adjusting feet is a god send, having these break is a nightmare and makes an acceptable keyboard nearly unusable. The ABS plastic and metal inner chassis give the 7G a feeling of real strength and gives me confidence that I won't hurt it with some heavy use. Functionality is good with the 7G, sure the wrist rest makes it look odd but it really makes a difference when you use it. The media keys are a nice addition and the replacement of the left windows key is like a blessing for an FPS gamer such as myself. The rear headphone / microphone ports proved themselves very useful and really improved my working area by allowing me to place my headphones on the other side of my desk as the wire from my headphones often got in the way of my mouse. The USB ports however are not so useful for me, but a left handed person might really appreciate the location of the ports for plugging their mouse into (like me with my headphones). While I have not noticed the benefit of anti-ghosting I can rest assured that it is there and of course I had to make sure it worked, and it does! You really can hold down all the keys on the keyboard without getting that annoying tone and having all the keys register, but I am not sure why you would want to. The SteelSeries 7G can be yours for $149.99 (PriceGrabber). While this may seem like a lot of money for a gaming keyboard but you must remember it is a Mechanical keyboard at heart and will likely outlast most if not all of your entire system. The gaming related features of the SteelSeries 7G are anti-ghosting, quick response keys and the omission of the windows key on the left of the space bar. It hasn't made a great deal of difference to my game but it is a damn good keyboard to type on. I find it difficult to recommend an input device that costs just shy of $150 to anyone, especially when that money could get you a GTX 460 768MB or an ATI 5770 1GB, but if you have the money and you want a quality keyboard that will last the duration then I am confident that you would not regret buying the SteelSeries 7G. Pros:
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Comments
At the end of the day you are allowed to make your own mind up and you can decide for yourself what you think, I can't represent everyone...
I type this on a 7G. It is a very robust quality bit of kit (which it should be for the price). The wrist rest is excellent even if you might not think so looking at it.
Regaring keybord itself it's almost perfect but... I've been using it for over a year and few of the keys like lower left Ctrl and neighbouring buttons started loosing the print - it's not dissapeared just fased badly - it's a shame for such a great product and soo good looking to start diminishing after such a short time... My G6 keyboard never had issues like that, however left Ctrl key stopped working after 1 year. They sent me G7 free of charge then... Great service, I've had a whole set of extra keys with my G6 - maybe will try switching them soon but not sure if would fit.
The wrist rest is bad in my opinion but I never needed to use it used any other...
p.s. and I meant recent LCD's not plasma really but also people who say things like "plasma has 600Hz refresh rate" etc. Nobody fights ignorance anymore - just tries to capitalize on it...
It's a lot of money for a pile of broken keys.