SteelSeries Apex Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

OUR VERDICT

Consider buying the SteelSeries Apex Pro if per-key actuation is a feature that you think could really benefit your gaming habits. Otherwise, it's a bit too expensive for what it offers.

FORPer-key actuation
Robust software
Great performance

AGAINST
Expensive
Spongy switches
OLED screen adds little

what's up guys today we're gonna be reviewing a keyboard that I just had tons of requests to check out lately we're gonna review the new steel series apex Pro introduces new features as well as brand new switches to the steel series lineup this was shown off last month to copy text and had people very interested very quickly main interest coming from the integrated OLED screen and their new omni point analog switches now too many keyboards have analog capabilities and technology so when one comes out always fun to take a look at it will run through all that stuff and talk about my experience in this review in case you're thinking of picking up the new apex pro so first up checking it out on getting it unboxed physically it doesn't look you know too out of the ordinary it's your standard layout you got RGB backlighting as you'd expect we also have an attachable risk for us which is included it's a very soft rubber like texture doesn't have any sort of cushioning or anything like that but it is a soft material the keyboard itself has an aluminum alloy frame with plastic on the bottom but it still feels very rigid with practically zero flex or bend to the keyboard in terms of those features we

have the new editions of the OLED screen and a multimedia wheel next to it pressing that illuminated menu button below gives you access to the menu here you can go in and adjust things like the RGB lighting on the board for picking through the effects to static colors so even picking some preset or custom ones you can have saved you can navigate through to the macros scroll through them here you can go through the key actuation which we'll discuss in a minute and all your profiles holding the wheel in for two seconds is how you actually enter a menu and the menu button lets you back out it also acts as a multimedia control so obviously with the wheel you can adjust the volume and stuff but person that menu button will pause the music two presses will skip a track and three presses will go backwards still see reset they're gonna be adding more functionality with the OLED screen coming down the line we could also use it to

import graphics and gifts I think it adds a little bit more personalization to your board on the back side to the left of the keyboard you have a USB pass-through for plugging in stuff like peripherals flash drives all that stuff and when it is powered on it's going to illuminate white since the keyboard terminates in the two USBs you're gonna have to have both plugged into your PC to power this additional pass-through but I'm sure you know that by now at the bottom of the board you have to flip out feet and three cable routing channels to wrap the cable out the center left or right side it just makes it easier and more tightly on your desktop so you can wrap that cable to the side that's closest to your PC now the big selling point do these

keyboards is the new Omni point switches where you can customize the key actuation point this is all done through magnets and also these software and each key can be controlled individually these are a linear switch and are very smooth they're adjustable from point four millimeters to actuate in in comparison standard switches actually at two millimeters and cherry speed switch is actually at one point two millimeters so the point four millimeter distance here at the highest setting does make this the fastest switch on the market it ranges then to three point six millimeters if you're used to bottoming out your key or we just prefer that longer travel distance and since each of the Omni Point keys can be changed individually your wads can actuate at you know point four for walking around in game you can have everything else at a different you know setting or just keep it normal but only the main 60 keys here had these

Omni point switches everything else is a steel series red switch so just keep that in mind just for comparison a month or so ago I checked out the cooler master MK 850 keyboard which had similar you know analog technology that keyboard was limited to just eight of those switches while this one here has 60 so a little bit of comparison for you now if you're not used to this it might take you some time to get used to that you know 0.4 millimeter travel distance actuate the key if you've been using like reds or blues something like that for a while but for me I have been using the cherry speed switches for a little over two years now so the adjustment period was definitely a lot you know easier and quicker because I was more used to that but if you're someone new to a higher actuation point it might take you some time now is this going to give you a competitive advantage in game you know not necessarily because you have to factor in

input lag your internet you know online game servers and stuff like that but once you start you know using this and you get used to that higher actuation point you can definitely feel that you are moving and stuff in-game quicker because it is actually waiting faster and to help give you a visual of the switch actuation when you scroll to the menu on the keyboard to the actuation tab you can actually use the to adjust the settings from 1 to 10 on the board itself with 1 being the highest actuation point and 10 being the lowest point that when you press on one of the omni point keys it'll show you then real time the pressure you're applying to that key and that arrow under the bar just shows you where it does actuate this would obviously be controlled through these software as well we could pick certain keys grouping together whatever it gives you that

option in here to control the actuation point well that was kind of bland here that a real proper job of explaining to the average consumer you know what they're actually adjusting I feel like having some sort of 3d switch render to show you where you're you know actuated would definitely make more sense in this case or you know even showing the ability or distance as opposed to just a 1 to 10 meter rating I think we just make a lot more sense here to someone who doesn't know what they're doing so until they change or modify the software just know that one is the highest point to actuate and 10 is the lowest point to actuate and to also give you an idea when it is at 1 for the 0.4 millimeter distance if you just set your fingers on the keys and wiggle it just like this it is actually actuated the key now if you're asking you know like why

what is this even for well first off it gives you the flexibility to completely change up your keyboard from having you know certain keys be just for gaming you could switch it up and have them bottom out for typing gives you that flexibility which is really cool all in one board without having to buy different switches for different boards and stuff like that but also in gaming so you commonly accidentally miss press a key so instead of knifing someone you toss the grenade well now you can have that G key bottomed out at three point six millimeters you can still press it but not accidentally toss or grenade in the end it's all about that flexibility which you don't have with a standard keyboard if you want to hear those Omni point switches I'll do a sound test now so you could hear then next I begin to the SteelSeries engine software for customizing everything under the key bindings tabs where you can go in and change what each key does create macros set your different profiles and configurations for different games

and stuff we'll skip that actuation tab so I showed that off to use the minute ago illumination is the RGB lighting effects and at this point you've seen all the RGB effects by now it's 2019 so I'm not going to waste too much time on the actual RGB effects but yes you can change up the base effects of the keyboards from these seven preset ones there's also these seven static colors to pick from as well as now picking a reactive effect from when you press a key this makes it so you can have like a secondary effect going on but oddly enough you can't actually go in and make your own lighting layout like picking certain keys for certain colors and stuff like that and I don't know why that's not an option in 2019 because I feel like that's one of the most basic things that practically every RGB keyboard has out there but they do note on the bottom here that they are adding more effects in the next update so I'd assume some more basic stuff like that as well as some RGB effects to complement the Omni point switches are gonna be

implemented again if that is the OLED in settings tab for changing up that display and here's we can go in and pick from the images or gifts you have saved to your PC and you can also use that as a canvas to draw something extremely meaningful so wrapping it up with a summary of the pros and cons yes the Omni point switches are very cool they are a very linear switch so there's just extremely extremely smooth I can even go out on a limb and say that they are probably the smoothest feeling switch I've ever tried and that's that's saying a lot they just feel very buttery smooth again having that whole flexibility to change your actuation distance with one key is cool for those out there who could utilize something like that and also the OLED screen is definitely cool to have like a secondary kind of metering things for certain games

integration but stuff like that they're integrating stuff like Spotify discord but a lot of that stuff they said is gonna come later on down the line it was kind of a bummer wish they had that when you know the keyboard was released and as for some cons one thing I wish they would have done is had the arrow keys as Omni point switches as well like I said before just the main 60 or Omni point everything else being there SteelSeries red switch but it's actually pretty common for lefties to use the arrow keys as there was it's more common than you might think so feel like it's kind of a missed opportunity to they're just having four more switches probably wouldn't have hurt them that much in terms of production it just would have made more sense to have these included and then again I want to stress if I need to do a better job inside the software again explaining to the average consumer what they're adjusting when it comes to the actuation point because just you know a meter of one to ten doesn't do a good job having that

actual millimeter distance you know displayed whether it is in a render or just you know showing them the switch and the distance they're actually pressing would make a lot more sense people who don't know what the hell they're doing so I like to see that and it is a two hundred dollar keyboard and like I kind of compared it to the MK 850 from core master before that was also $$ and was just limited to those eight keys but here you have the 60 so in terms of that sort of you know price point out there it is the better option I would say as opposed to the Coolermaster one but $$ is still a lot of money so again if Omni points which are something you absolutely need and want not a bad keyboard but it's also not without its flaws as well so factor in your budget how your wallets feeling you can decide from there but all in all it's a solid keyboard and very linear switches keep that in mind buttery buttery smooth but it's pricey

Design

The Apex Pro features a black steel chassis with a low-profile appearance that elevates the keys. Keyboards like the Razer Huntsman Elite have used this design to great effect, and it's just as gorgeous here. The peripheral measures 17.2 x 5.3 inches, which actually puts it on the smaller side, as full-size gaming keyboards go. This is because there's absolutely no wasted space at either end of the gadget, and I admire the keyboard's minimalism.

You also get a magnetic wrist rest; not plush, but instead a hard, supportive surface with a black-matte finish. I don't like it as much as the cushy wrist rests you get with Razer and HyperX gear, but it does look extremely sleek, and it's miles better than not having a wrist rest at all.

Where things get interesting, however, is in the upper-right corner. There, you'll find a small OLED screen, a button to help navigate it, and a volume dial. By using all three in conjunction, you can control most keyboard functions without ever having to dive into the SteelSeries Engine software on a computer. You can change RGB lighting, switch profiles, adjust key actuation, and even record macros on the fly.

It's hard to overstate just how big of an idea the Apex Pro’s per-key actuation is, or how well SteelSeries pulled it off.

While the OLED screen is a unique selling point, it's not something that I got much use out of. You don't get the full suite of keyboard options — you can't change the actuation of individual keys or program complex lighting patterns, for example. And, for obvious reasons, it's much easier to manipulate a full-size, full-color PC program with a mouse than to use a tiny, monochrome OLED with a volume wheel. Given how much the OLED must add to the keyboard's price, I'm not sure it's the best use of resources — or space, since it means you don't get a full suite of media control keys.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Specs

Switches	61x OmniPoint adjustable mechanical switch (Analog Hall Effect magnetic sensor); 43x red (Gateron)
Cable	2x USB Type-A (one for passthrough)
Key Caps	Plastic
Construction	Aluminum alloy frame
Lighting	Per-key RGB
Dimensions (W x D x H)	17.2 x 1.9 x 4.4 inches / 17.2 x 1.9 x 8.3 inches with wrist rest (436.7 x 40.3 x 139.2mm / 436.7 x 40.3 x 210mm )
Weight	2.14 pounds (1kg)
Extra	Magnetic wrist rest; USB 2.0 Type-A passthrough port

Gaming Experience

Compatible with PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the Apex Pro’s adjustable actuation shines when gaming, where you can strategically program actuations for different action. The general experience is responsive and comfortable, especially with the wrist rest.

When I switched from a middle actuation setting to the highest for Middle-earth: Shadow of War no longer was I accidentally hitting a button that made me wander to the left and wonder what happened. With less sensitive keys,I had to deliberately press a key to make it happen. Playing Battlefield V and Grand Theft Auto V at the most sensitive setting, the keyboard was reliable and quick. However, I didn’t notice automatically become a better gamer: Hardcore gamers who need a lot of repetiive presses, like in a MOBA game, may disagree.

the SteelSeries apex Pro keyboard with new omni point switches now we have done several reviews on the keyboard and the switches during Computex you can check it out over here but now that I've actually had the keyboard in my studio for about a week I've been using those switches and I can finally make up my mind of what I think about the omnipoint direction by the general overview of the only points which is is that there's a magnet at the bottom there's a magnet in the stem and when you press the switch it creates this magnetic flux what they call it which means that you can measure that flux and through software and through different calibration processes you can change the actuation point on when that key is registered from point four millimeters to three point six millimeters which gives you that whole range of movement and when that key is registered so you basically can create your own speed switch or going something with a little depth for typing you know all the way up to three point six which

means that you're most likely will have to bottom out in order to activate the switch it is important to know that the Hall effect switches are nothing new this is not something that SteelSeries has patented and in fact we've seen this sort of actuation customization via wooden one keyboard under wording two keyboards VR the flare tech switches which are optical so there's a laser and could detect how much distance is passed between the stem and the bottom so the Omnipoint direction with magnets is kind of better in a way because we have a much larger range of actuation customization but this isn't something that still series invented so I want to clarify that there and overall I'm pretty happy with the execution of the omnipoint switches but it is an expensive keyboard or for the TTL version and there's also the apex 7 which is a non-key point switches and the price is slightly reduced so welcome to

my full review of the apex Pro let's begin after this excuse me please explain is easy to systems fully powered by a single power supply just like me and you two bodies powered by a single mind just imagine the good we can do the revolt X by fantex a high performance unit for multi CPU GPU and dual system configurations with 80-plus platinum efficiency with entirely silent fan mode and 12 year warranty and clean cable management explore the opportunities with the revolt XPS you buy fan tax links below so before we get into the meat of the Omnipoint switch let's talk about the board itself I love the low profile nature of the actual frame no excessive pieces sticking out above the F nothing on the sides nothing from the spacebar I love the low-profile nature and the really smooth and magnetic rest rest wonderful execution over here we do have a USB pass-through on the top left that is illuminated which is why the cable is so thick that is one disadvantage I would say it'd be nice if the cable was removable but you can route it

across the bottom of the keyboard to channel it in whichever direction you want the keyboard feet have one angle orientation which is nice however they're not strong enough so if I push the keyboard from the front they might collapse and that has happened to me many times and this stabilizes one end of the keyboard and completely messes up my finger placement on the walls area and this whole OLED screen implementation and the actual keyboard in the beginning I was like man this is kind of cool but after having used it in some games it's kind of pointless I will say it is fantastic for many customization so you can access you macros your illumination your actuation point your profiles and different other settings without actually going into the driver software all that is done through the OLED screen and the little joystick wheel over here and the one multifunction button so with these two combination you can do media control you

can cycle between different illumination profiles and change your actuation point for example but the actual wheel feels very cheap the scroll steps for example are kind of weak I feel like I have no control the actual click of the wheel is also kind of poor and for this is not what I was expecting and the reason why I say the screen is pointless for in-game integrations and applications is because it is so limited so when it works it works for csgo or dota 2 or minecraft another game so you can see or kill to this ratio you can see which round you're on you can customize when those appear and for how long they stay on screen which is kind of awesome but the screen is kind of out of sight like I feel in when I'm playing a game I'm never looking down to see what my kill to death ratio is and what round it is and from my perspective given the game support list is so little unless you play csgo Mortal Kombat 11 and dota 2 and

minecraft then this is really not a value and of course you can do cool things with animated gifs and actually drawing your own little graphic to display but do you ever really look at the keyboard for any information outside of maybe readjusting your hand or seeing where a certain character is because the display on the keyboard to give you some useful information is more of a gimmick than it actually being useful in real life that is of course my opinion through my experience but I will say the omnipoint which has really saved the Pro and the pro Tal keyboards because they're really fantastic and what they do and how they feel I'm a huge fan of Gator on red switches which are currently my favorite and the Omnipoints remind me of that so incredibly smooth travel distance throughout the entire range and this is exactly what you need when you can customize the actuation point from point four millimeters to three point six

and just let that sink for a second less than half a millimeter to press before the key is registered in game sometimes I would not realize that I would be pressing shift and my character be walking or sometimes I would be going slightly sideways because my finger weight was registering the keystroke point four millimeters at one point my favorite switches were MX speed that's registered at one point two millimeters so they're really fast and I was really comfortable with that but eventually move on to something that actuator 2 millimeters but here you have that whole customization range basically you can make your own speed switch you can go back to reg switch you can maybe even drop the actuation point all the way to 3.6 in case you really want to bottom out while you're typing that what makes the switch so special but so in the software for example you can select between 1 and 10 but not knowing exactly where the actuation happens in terms of millimeters so that makes recreating a certain switch that you're comfortable with can I difficult what is five so that is point four to three point six so that's three

point two so that's one point six millimeters all right so I guess you can do your own math also important to note how many points witches are only located on sixty-one keys everything below the F keys and everything to the left of the arrow keys and the rest of the keys are SteelSeries right I do appreciate the perky actuation customization for those 61 switches because my was--they area can be really fast same thing with my spacebar but my shift and control can be like fully actuated so that I don't accidentally press them and my weight of the fingers don't you know register the keystroke and the same thing when I'm doing something around the wast area just to eliminate any errors while I'm in game but when I go back to my desktop all the keys go back to their normal it's a two point five millimeter actuation point which I'm quite comfortable with and I like to bottom out anyway so that hole per application and purse which is awesome and weirdly they've only recently added the perky illumination customization before that it was just like the whole board and you chose the different color presets and

different profiles but now you can select your entire you know range of keys and color them to whatever you want now I am disappointed the SteelSeries decided to use abs key camps instead of something more premium and quality once you go pbt it's hard to go back and you notice the difference in quality of the actual key caps and just noticing it on a premium keyboard like the apex Pro disappointing now the fact that SteelSeries decided to avoid the analog direction of being able to detect on like how far you press and actually registering that as movement for example like we've seen with flare text which is from the winning one keyboard that you can use things like to slow down your character so depending on how far you press so that is not present with the Omnipoint switches so it's only based on the actuation customization and that's cool but it's also limiting to the tech that's built into the switch and so if you are interested in actuation customization plus having the full analog control check out wooden one and winning two keyboards because through the driver software you can remap certain keys so they're seen by the program as analog inputs giving you the fool like full range of motion in terms of how far you press to how fast your character moves I was also hoping to see more

functionalities and features built into the omnipoints which outside of the actuation control so like maybe setting in the recent point at certain level and having different maybe actuation points beyond the first one so it like a double taps or it activates something else so having these dual functionalities that are built into the Hall effect functionality but here it's quite basic with the actuation registration distance only it is cool to play around different actuation points and seeing how it reacts to your game play and your typing experience or whatever and given the 100 million keystrokes this keyboard will last you for a while so you can switch back and forth depending on how deep you like the press or how light you like tap I like that alright so that's my experience with the apex pro keyboard the omnipoint switches are fantastic the actuation customization is super fun but it's one of those things where once you set it may be for like certain games and certain applications you'll forget it and the OLED screen is underwhelming it'd be nice if it was slightly bigger or maybe in a more visible area I would like the keyboard

feet to be improved and also the actual little scrolling wheel to have a bit more resistance and feel more premium because using it to control different things just yeah it didn't feel really good and the frame plus the amazing wrist rest really kind of complete the package to be a really premium keyboard so if you don't mind spending $200 and want to play around the customization of the actuation for the 61 switches then the apex Pro and kikyo might be for you all right guys

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

I was just thinking about the other day no how do you make keyboards cooler and I was thinking the other day what could be the next cool thing when it comes to keyboards and you know what SteelSeries is out do the bang at Computex releasing eight keyboard my friends you know giving a little flavours here and there for your preference so let's take a look at the new apex pro and apex seven lines right after this huge thanks to fan thick sand steel series for sponsoring our Computex visit so the first one here is the apex pro keyboard we actually just came from their booth I actually get to experience it and also we kind of stole one with the condition that we return it tomorrow but don't worry I'll definitely get some in the studio right after the show so stay tuned for our full review then so the apex Pro it is top of the line and I'm very happy with its feature set the board design looks great with that thin profile without any

oversized frames or weirdness going on and actually really awesome illumination we have an aluminum base plate a really nice soft touch magnetic rest rest on both the tkl and full-size variants there's a USB pass-through port on the left side that is illuminated 3-way channel for the cable underneath that is non removable and multifunctional roller and button in the top right that is for your media control volume and navigating that screen now that magnetic wrist rest it feels so smooth and satisfying we do have some concerns about that collecting lint and other particles over time when we try to clean it with a microfiber cloth it left a bunch of particles but in terms of its surface texture and its feeling in your fingers and on your wrist it is really smooth the only thing that I would comment on about the physical characteristics would

be the cable it is quite thick it requires dual connections because of that USB pass-through and one power in the keyboard so just keep that in mind now let's talk about that monochrome OLED display and it seems like that's coming back and while I thought it was pretty gimmicky on the rival 700 Mouse with the vibration motor and the slide display on the right side to give you some information I think that it's a mutation on the apex Pro and the apex 7 key is actually well done what you can do with it is lighting navigation profile selection on-the-fly macro recordings you can see your system statistics like hardware usage or temperature of the hardware there are plenty of in-game integrations too with csgo and dota 2 to see your kill to death ratio plus all types of unique graphics based on these titles it's got a notification system built-in for Spotify and this chord so you can see visually things coming in it won't be like a

thing that you can read an email on that's kind of pointless because the screen is pretty compact and it's further away from you if the screen was somewhere beside the escape button then it would have been a bit more visible but it being in the corner it's only there when you really need it and you can also use the screen to adjust the actuation point for the new SteelSeries omni point switches which is awesome you don't require the software now i've made the whole video about the omni point switches you can check it out over here but to recap they wanted to create something linear something that is light at 45 grams something that mimics the gaiter on red switches and actually co-developed it would Gator on and this which is now patented and the main selling point is the ability to adjust the actuation distance on when that key is registered from point four millimeters all the way up to three point six millimeters so if you like to bottom out on the keys and have that typewriter feel you can set the actuation point to

register at three point six versus if you like to really just fly on those keys without bottoming out or just pressing them it's slightly a slight amount then you can have a much shorter actuation point all the way up to point four if you prefer that but as everybody jokes around in the suite like you can just blow on the keys and they'll register of course that's not the truth but having that really low actuation point is unique but it's also probably not necessary for majority of people and this actuation customization is done on the perky bases which is fantastic so you can customize your writing area for something else and maybe the numbers to be slightly deeper or was the area to be faster but everything else to have deep actuation points we don't accidentally press them while maneuvering your hand within a certain area of your game so that is awesome they are rated at 100 million clicks versus 50 million on them exchange so they should last you for a very long time and they've been testing it for months trying to click it and 100 million is at least as what you can get you can do probably can do more than that

now if you don't really care about the whole actuation customization element about the apex Pro that is why apex 7 exists it offers identical features to the apex Pro in terms of the tkl versus full-size magnetic wrist rest the oled display everything is identical but the switches and the switches on the apex 7 are Gator on bread brown and blue fantastic switches and that gives you the option to save a bit of money if you don't want the whole customization element and that's what the OLED screen I'm curious to see how the experience will be like in the long term is this something I will actually use or just occasionally come back to it to set my lighting presets and maybe change up the actuation point and I'm guessing that is going to be the the usage case scenario but the whole idea of it displaying some hardware statistics or something in-game I feel like that's going to be a nice attractive point of why you should maybe consider the apex

pro or the apex 7 so stay tuned for my full review and finally here are the prices for all the new keyboards a bit on the premium side due to all the loaded features one thing I'm really happy about is that SteelSeries is launching both the cheeki L and the full-sized versions at the same time and we don't have to be asking for tkl variant of something like it and it's cool because the apex pro and the apex 70 Cal versions also have the display that has the same functionality as the full-size alright so that's all from SteelSeries check out our omni point explained review

the review of the SteelSeries apex Pro full-sized keyboard now this costs a lot of commotion at Computex because they have these omni point adjustable switches that's right you can adjust the actuation point of these switches via the software but this new technology comes at a price of $200 for the full-size and a hundred and eighty dollars for the tkl whoo so today I'm going to be going over whether the apex Pro is worth your hard earned cash or if you're better off just sticking with some good old Cherry MX switches starting off with what's in the box you're going to get the keyboard with this series 5000 aircraft-grade aluminum on the back it's got a non detachable cord and this thing is thick okay now you can like funnel this three different ways out the back of the keyboard which is kind of nice but I would have liked to have seen a detachable cord on the cable itself it's got two different USBs one is for the actual keyboard and

then when is for the USB pass-through which you'll find on the left side of the keyboard so what this can do is it can actually interact with your computer so say you want to plug in your mouse straight to there you don't want it to go through the back of your computer and you don't have enough room it's cool to kind of just have those two right there and you can just use it that way I do wish that the cable was a little bit longer for my desk and for my position of my computer it's kind of too far away I had to use a USB extender to actually use this keyboard also on the back of the keyboard you'll find three keyboard feet at the front of the keyboard and you'll find two kickstands at the back so you can have it at two different levels I would have liked to seen a three level stand like ducky does and the keyboard feet aren't that great this

keyboard kind of slides around on my wooden desk a lot so keep that in mind I kind of wish that they invade them a little bit more grippier the keyboard itself has RGB of course and it's got a open casing allowing the RGB to shine out but I didn't find the RGB to be too impressive I don't know it just isn't that bright to me so the good thing about a full-size keyboard is that you get that scroll wheel back from multimedia because I'm a he huge music listener and like when I'm playing games and stuff like that I'll hiding up my music when I'm really feeling it in game so I really like having that scroll wheel there over like a 60% keyboard they've also added in a green at the top of the keyboard as well and this is where you can see it like you're actuation what songs are playing your profiles your volume and that's a really nice touch you can also change the logo from the SteelSeries logo to any upload that you want so you can take

a picture and just upload it to your keyboard and it'll actually show a little picture of it on the top so if you have a logo like a B T or whatever it is that you have you just put it up top and it will show on your keyboard which is kind of cool to use the multimedia Keys there's no multimedia Keys like there's no skip track pause and anything like that there's only that one button if you and it kind of acts like a phone so if you tap it once it's gonna pause and play the song if you hit it three times it's gonna go backwards if you hit it two times so gonna go forward and if you hold it it will show the menu with all the dropdowns so the key caps themselves are abs and I was a little bit disappointed for these are to just shine after a couple of days I mean I'm already looking at my keyboard and it's not looking pretty so I wished it would have added some more quality key caps into the keyboard so now on to the main selling point of this

keyboard which is those omni points switches they've got a point seven millisecond response time compared to a five millisecond on the fastest Cherry MX speed silver so a huge difference there right in response time they've also got a actuation point of 0.4 millimeters on the lowest setting which is a 1 to a 10 setting which is a three point six millimeter actuation point so let's say your gamer you want to switch to something faster you can do the point four if you're a typist and you want something that you know will definitely you won't mess up and get a lot of errors on you can increase the actuation as well so a lot of adjustability there with the key switch and that can be awesome for a lot of people out there and let me tell you I definitely notice a difference when I switch to that point four millimeters I do wish that in the software

there were somewhere to like show you what actuation you actually like best there's only kind of like a 1 through 10 system and it doesn't really tell you what actuation point you're at so I think that in a future update they should add that in the point four millimeter actuation is the fastest on the market but this fast always mean good I mean me personally in-game like let's say I took my mind off the keyboard for a second I would actually start veering off to the left or right in-game and it kept happening I thought something was like wrong with my mouse so you really have to be cautious and like really get used to the actuation of this keyboard now you can definitely tell a difference with that point four millimeters it is blazing fast okay when you're in game and you want to go a certain way you can go a certain way how much it actually helps your gameplay that's another story I don't think that it affects your gameplay that much you

know I think it's more dependent on your mouse your mouse switches that'd be cool if they made some omni point switches for your mouse right but for your keyboard I feel like that's kind of secondary and I feel like once you become comfortable with your setup I feel like that trumps a point four millimeter switch I highly highly doubt that somebody is getting killed over a point four millimeter actuation versus a one point two millimeter actuation I don't think it happens I think it comes down to like game sense and things like that maybe if you had a game like osoo or something like that where you use your keyboard that might actually help in that game but for first-person shooters I don't really see this being a huge deal but anyways guys let's drop a sound test for you guys right about now the actual actuation force needed to press down the key is 45 grams which is the same as a cherry MX speed silver also guys the

stabilizers are actually pretty good they're decent let's drop a sound test for you guys so you guys can hear what I'm talking about so in the software you'll be able to make macros you'll be able to change the RGB the brightness all that good stuff and the actuation switches also to be mentioned the Omni point switches are only on the main keyboard outside of that like the function Rose the num pass the arrow keys all of those are their red switches so keep that in mind you're not getting it for the whole keyboard so don't be surprised when you open it up or you try to change your key caps and you see that they're different for me I don't know why wouldn't they just go all the way and change all of them maybe somebody might need to use the function roll really really fast why not give people the option of having the whole keyboard be Omni point switches it kind of seems like you're trying to save money on the production I don't know who knows you can also change the switches individually so let's say you want to have

your WASD be a different actuation than the rest of your keyboard you can do that as well so a lot of different combinations and cool things that you can do with the software I don't know it just seems a little bit gimmicky to me to be honest with you for this is I don't know I'd rather act I like what their I like what they're doing with the keyboard I like where they're going but I think it kind kind of it's kind of gimmicky in a way because people have been succeeding with mechanical keyboards for so long I would like okay hear me out I would like for them to like chain be able to change like where the tactile bump is now that would be dope on like a tactile switch if they could do that that would be pretty dope and groundbreaking this right here to me it's semi groundbreaking so you came here wanting to know whether this is worth it over some Cherry MX switches I don't think so I think you're

better off sticking with your current keyboard I think it'll do just fine once you get used to it it's more about your game sense and the way you play and getting used to your setup and just becoming comfortable with what you have I think that it's becoming so negligible right that point four millimeters will not really help you in game especially if you're heavy-handed you're also paying that first adapters tax for the being one of the first people to get it so you're paying that for the full-size that just hurts man that just hurts that's too ducky 1 to minis guys oh no personally I would wait and see if they can develop this technology more like I said maybe make a tactile version where like you can change where it kind of the bump is now that would be groundbreaking that is still serious if you're watching this that would be groundbreaking alright guys so that is going to do it for my review of the steel series apex pro keyboard I hope you guys have enjoyed this review don't forget to share comment and I will see you in the next review