SteelSeries Apex 350 Gaming Keyboard, 5 Zone RGB LED Backlit

This keyboard is amazing. I'm someone who was looking for a good keyboard in the 100 dollar range, meaning not that many mechanical keyboards to choose from. I led my choices down do the Corsair Black and Red STRAFE with Cherry Brown Keys, a Logitech G700 keyboard, and a ROCCAT Isku Illuminated. The thing is if I had more money I would've gone for a better mechanical one, but I didn't so the only ones I could choose were the 3, and the ROCCAT one wasn't even mechanical. That's when I discovered Steelseries, and the Apex 350 really stood out to me. It has over 20 macro keys, a wrist rest, and you can switch between 4 lighting effects the the top left L keys. So what made this keyboard a bit pricey besides all that? The keys are whisper quite, so quite my mic never picks up the clicking which is really important since I'm streaming and recording gameplay nearly all of the time. I mean sure, the RGB/Illumination was probably more expensive than the keys being whisper quite, but this keyboard still is fantastic. It took awhile to get used to (as in a couple hours only) because I've been using a small, crappy 2005 keyboard for everything so switching to this giant is a big jump. I did need to move thing off of my desk, although it is a small desk in the corner of my room so my fault, but if you don't have a big desk you might need to move stuff around. The lighting effects of the keyboard are very cool to me and in games such as CS:GO, it'll show different effects. When I'm close to death, the main keys will switch from bright to dark, and when dead they go off. It also blinks up really cool and flashes when I get a kill, and of course you can customize what colors you want for these effects and make your own settings for any game you have. They might not be true RGB keys, but this is good enough to please me. The Macros are useful for games such as Guild Wars 2 and other MMO's, and I'm guessing will be good for MOBA's if you like those games (speaking of MOBA's, it has effects already set for Dota 2 if you enjoy that) and they are easy to use if you don't want to spend money on a MMO/MOBA dedicated gaming mouse. The 2 cons about this keyboard is that it needs to be powered by plugging into 2 USB ports, but the good thing about that is it gives you the 2 USB ports back on the side of the keyboard facing away from you, so not really a con actually, meaning the only con is that the driver software doesn't automatically install, you have to go to the website and download it yourself. They did this so people who wanted it to work out of the box would be able to use it immediately, however if it's a keyboard with illuminated effects why wouldn't you want those installed right away? Besides that weird choice, this keyboard is GREAT and I can't wait to use it on even more games as soon as I post this review.

This is as good a keyboard as I have ever used.. The action is really smooth, fast and sensitive, The back lighting is awesome--I can control the color in 4 separate clusters of keys. There are 22 additional buttons to create macros with and they operate in 4 different ranges, giving 88 marco capacity.. I do not use the keyboard for gaming at all, but it is wonderful for my application productivity. I have one configuration for Microsoft Office, another for Programming, and a tird for Photo Management and Editing. I plan to use the 4th for Video / Audio editing. The way of recording Macros is a little counter intuitive but I got the hang of it after a while with the help of very good support. The user manuals could be better however. There are very few examples. I particularly like the oversize space bar and the full keyboard with the 22 Macro Keys, 12 Function keys, number pad, directional keys and media control keys. There are even 2 USB sockets on the back of the keyboard for easy use of ThumbDrives or other accessories. For me the easy integration between the keyboard macros and the Microsoft Macros in Office is the best feature and that has increased my productivity with Office programs by about 5%.. Given all these Macro keys, if you use them as I do, remembering which ones perform which functions is daunting. One negative is the lack of a labeling system for the Macro Keys --- M1, M2 etc doesn't really cut it. I invested a few hours and created my own in Word which I print, cut with scissors and use a glue stick to past onto the keyboard. However if would have been better if the manufacturer had slots for these and provided a template Considering the programming capability and the other features and components, the price is I think very good and well woth the investment.

This keyboard is pretty good. I love that it has so many extra programmable keys and media keys. The lighting is relatively good but the colors do bleed over between sections a tiny bit and some sections are not as bright. The software is pretty self explanatory but some things are hard to find. For example, I had trouble at first figuring out how to make a key enter a text string. Also, sometimes the changes that are made, especially to configuration sets, like renaming the configuration, duplicating it, changing the layer number, don't take effect until the software is reloaded or the keyboard is disconnected and reconnected to the computer. So, software could be a bit more user friendly and more powerful, lighting could be a bit stronger and sealed into the sections a bit better, but all things considered, for the price, it's definitely worth it, especially for the great price. In the attached picture you can see how the purple is discoloring the white out the front a tiny bit.

I have had my Apex 350 for only 2 weeks, but my experience so far has been wonderful. The keyboard is solid and does not slide around on my desk, thanks to the provided rubber feet (2 sizes for different angle of tilt). The look and layout are excellent. The 5 color zones are just enough - I personally use the fifth zone (the Steelseries logo area) to identify the layer I am currently using and have the other 4 assigned permanently to the left, top, right, and central key areas. There are two major "macro" areas - The 14 keys on the left(4 for the layer choices) and the 12 "m" keys on top, arranged over the standard function keys. That said, ANY key on the keyboard except the extreme right column (playback/volume keys) is programmable! The Steelseries Engine 3 software is extremely flexible and easy to use, and provides more functionality than any other I am familiar with (including Logitech, which I use a lot and also like, but this is better). There is no need to use the Layer keys for their assigned purpose if you would rather have them as extended macro facilities, for example. This is easily the most flexible keyboard I have ever encountered. This is a membrane keyboard, NOT a mechanical one. That said, it is nearly silent, and very responsive. The true FPS purist may find a good mechanical keyboard better suited to that class of gaming, but this keyboard is more than adequate for anything else and is ideal for MMO gaming - which is how I use it. The keyboard and the macros I have written have worked perfectly and reliably since I installed them. Programming macros is easy and intuitive, with a couple of exceptions. Not all keys (especially those designated as macro keys as compared to the standard letter/number keys) seem to react the same way to "press and hold" macros. It's hard to explain - I won't try here - but not a major problem as other keys can be chosen which do work as desired. All in all, this is the best keyboard I have ever seen for gaming. That it uses membrane instead of mechanical keys is, for me at least, no problem at all, and a lot quieter!

awesome keyboard by awesome company. been using it for a couple of months now and the keys DON'T wear out from typing which is a HUGE plus from me. Though when dimming down the lights in the keyboard, it seems to be glitched and only half the keyboard dims But I believe that is a software issue and its updates that they need to fix on their next software updates. Anyways over all this keyboard is rock solid and very beautiful. I use it for everything including gaming. Worth the purchase....

Great keyboard, I bought one for work and one for my roommate. Before purchasing it do note that the keyboard is NOT a mechanical keyboard, it does come with Chiclet keys. I have the M800 keyboard as well and making comparison to it would be the following: - Not a mechanical Keyboard - Dim lighting - no programmable lighting settings + A lot of Macro keys (great for MMO or quick texts for work) + Media function + comfortable layout even with the extra keys + strafe right / left keys built in For the price I cannot seem to find a keyboard that can do as much as the Apex 350. I'd recommend it as a great starting keyboard for any MMO or general gamers.

Every once in a while this keyboard will lose its connection to the hub, then it comes back. I have to reload the drivers before my macros will come back up. I work from home and I have moved this keyboard into my workflows. it would be a shame to have to get it replaced. I had a different keyboard by SteelSeries called the 'Apex'. That one went nuts. I sent it back when I got this one. I have been ok with this one, except fo that problem. With this being such a big keyboard with all of the macro keys, you'd think that there would be power protection built into the device. That doesn't seem to be the case. That is disappointing. When it works, it works well, but with the drivers continually dropping and I lose my macros several times a day now, i am ready to send this one back in. So if the vendor would contact me, i would gladly give better feedback if the device functioned better.

This keyboard feels cramped and it was difficult for me to get used to it. The edge of the wrist rest has a sharp corner and that makes no sense because the top where your hands never go is rounded. The edge digs into your palms because the wrist rest is not deep enough to support your entire palm. The keyboard forces my arms to angle inward due to the closer key spacing. That caused noticeable strain and muscle pain after continuous use. Now that I am getting used to the keyboard it is not as bad. Another annoying thing about the keyboard is that the LEDs do not always shut off when I shut down or suspend the computer. Sometimes I have to restart the computer after shutting down just to let the BIOS program the keyboard, and then press the power button to shut off the computer. Shutting down the computer twice each time is getting annoying. So far the key lettering is holding up well. That has been my constant problem. I type so much that the M key lettering usually wears off in the first few months. The keyboard does have a lot of macro capability and that is why I got it. Ironically I've been too busy to do much gaming and test out the macros. This keyboard could be really great with a few design changes. The keys should be spaced further apart. That might mean sacrificing or moving some of the macro keys. I would move the Steelseries logo down to the bottom on the wrist rest and put the multimedia keys where the logo was.The bottom wrist rest should be deeper and should have a rounded edge instead of a sharp corner. A padded wrist rest might be even better. The keyboard needs to do a better job of detecting standby power and shutting off the lighting. Wasting the power to light the LEDs and annoy people when the power is off should not be random. If some people like the keyboard to remain lit, then that should be an option. Now it is random and makes nobody happy 100% of the time. This is my one big complaint about SteelSeries products. They intermittently fail to initialize when I boot my system and they often don't completely shut down when I turn off the computer. I've played with the USB power management settings and they don't seem to have any effect on this behavior. Other USB devices don't exhibit that problem. I have to wonder if this is a problem with the SOC or USB interface that SteelSeries uses in their products. I updated this review to decrease the rating of this keyboard to two stars. Black paint on the keys is wearing off after a few months, causing the legends to be unreadable and become bright glowing blobs. After using this keyboard all day for work, my biceps have developed a noticeable ache from the cramped key spacing. Those used to full sized keyboards may experience muscle fatigue from using the keyboard. I like some SteelSeries products, but this one falls short of my expectations. In a market with an excess of expensive gaming keyboards, there is no excuse for the poor design and poor durability.