Chris InglisThe G-Tek Cyborg 104 Key Mechanical Gaming Keyboard has some interesting design features that I hadn’t seen before, but a big tick for me straight out of the box was an included wrist rest. This might seem like a weird feature to most, but it’s been years since a keyboard has come with a wrist rest. For me, working 8 hours at a PC and then gaming late into the night, it’s been a pleasure to review this latest keyboard from G-Tek.
My only gripe with the wrist rest is that it sits independent of the keyboard and so can be shifted quite easily. It would be great if it had magnets in the top so it would snap to the keyboard to keep it in position. This review unit was the white version, so I would be worried about the wrist rest discolouring after prolonged use, especially in the warmer months. It was also too easy to inadvertently leave pen marks if you’re using it as an office/work keyboard.
This is a wired mechanical keyboard with PBT Double Shot Keycaps and Cherry MX Red Switches, and this review unit came in white. I prefer to use black peripherals myself. It feels like a mechanical keyboard should, but the MX Red switches make it a little too loud for my personal preferences. I have been using Brown switches on my existing keyboard and I certainly heard the difference, as did my wife in the other room. It’s not a deal breaker for me, but good to mention for those that are audibly concerned with their key choice.
There are two design elements that I found interesting. First is there is a built-in 3-way cable management underneath the keyboard. Considering this is a wired keyboard, I appreciated the ability to feed the cable out of the top left of the keyboard as opposed to my existing one where the cable comes out of the top centre. As a wired peripherals user, it’s great to have some say in where the cables align. This is also one of the heavier keyboards I’ve used, weighing in at 1200g, but this made it feel sturdy and reliable.
The other interesting feature is this G-Tek keyboard comes with a magnetised removable cover that gives you depth and volume to the overall look. Having the cover on meant the wrist rest was the same usable height. Taking the cover off meant the RGB lighting had more spread, and you can see more of the mechanical switches under the keys. Plus, this would make keeping the keyboard clean much easier. Having the cover off did change the sound of these Cherry MX Red switches ever so slightly, so I guess that could be a determining factor whether you use the cover or not.
RGB-wise, where other brands of keyboard will have either a single button to cycle through options or be controlled by software, this G-Tek keyboard utilises a combination of function key presses to change the lighting. Using FN and the down arrow will cycle through three levels of brightness and the fourth key press will turn the RGB lights off which I used when I went to bed each night. RGB lighting variations are controlled by using FN and F7-F12.
Cycling through these gave you multiple options for pulsing, random and many varying RGB light effects. This is something I personally don’t use so I preferred using FN+F8 and cycling through to RGB constant. Thankfully the user manual lists all options so you can find the one that’s right for you. FN and the F1 – F6 keys allow you to play music, skip forward or backward and control the volume. Other keyboard handle music controls better but once you memorise the keystrokes, it was easy to control both music and RGB lighting yourself.
Overall, the G-Tek Cyborg 104 Key Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is a worthy keyboard for gaming and office use, so long as you don’t mind having manual music and RGB controls. It’s a solid design and feels good to use with Cherry MX Red switches, though these are a little too loud for my purposes. The addition of the wrist rest is such a good one in my opinion, though others may not see the need for one. This review unit came in white and I would much prefer black, but it’s good to have the two options.
This review utilised a loan unit provided by Closer Communications. The G-Tek Cyborg 104 Key Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is available now for $279 from Laser and JB Hi-Fi.
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