By Robin Owens 14 days ago, Keyboards
Top-rated cheap gaming keyboards.
If you strive to become a pro-level gamer, you will need to purchase high-end gaming gear. It’s impossible to imagine a top-notch gaming system without advanced peripherals.
While your regular keyboard might be perfectly suitable for writing texts or emails, it won’t give you a competitive edge in fast-paced games. Those who are serious about competitive gaming need to purchase a keyboard that delivers powerful performance and is suitable for live esports competitions.
Many users are wondering why gaming keyboards are considered to be so unique. While they stand out among the rest models thanks to LED backlighting and ultra-modern designs, what makes them really difficult is a set of advanced specs that influence your gaming experience.
In these reviews, I’ll give you a full lowdown on the main features of these peripherals you should pay attention to.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Weight: 3.69 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ Value for money
⊕ Stunning backlighting
⊕ Extremely comfortable
⊖ Plastic body
The Razer BlackWidow Elite is equipped with mechanical switches that account for quick actuation and can withstand 80 million keystrokes. The keyboard comes with media control keys, it’s easy to connect to any device thanks to USB 2.0 and audio pass-through.
Thanks to a wrist rest with an ergonomic design, you can play games for several hours straight without experiencing muscle strain. With this mechanical gaming keyboard, it’s possible to customize lighting for each key, as well as use macros. You can save up to 5 setting profiles to on-board-memory or cloud storage. Mechanical switches are pretty responsive, which is perfect for gaming. When pressing them, you will hear a nice clicking sound. They come with 50 G of actuation force, which accounts for better accuracy, whether you use it for typing or gaming.
For the most immersive experience, synchronize your keyboard with Razer or Philips Hue gaming gear. It also can be synchronized with the peripherals from more than 30 other manufacturers. Each key can be backlit with one of 16.8 million colors.
Interface: Bluetooth | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.99 pounds | Color: Black
⊕ Solid build quality
⊕ Low profile
⊕ Enjoyable typing experience
⊖ Compatible only with mobile devices
If you need to purchase the best gaming keyboard, take a look at the Logitech G915. It is equipped with low-profile switches that are quite responsive and deliver distinct tactile feedback.
The dedicated media control keys account for the uninterrupted gaming experience, while the macro keys are easy to program to suit your needs best, especially when you play MMO games. If you enjoy playing games in a dimly-lit room, you will appreciate the RGB backlighting that allows you to highlight individual keys.
While this keyboard was designed with a gamer’s needs in mind, it is perfectly suitable for office use as well. Whether you are a gamer or programmer, the dedicated macro keys will make solving any task easier, while the tactile switches account for virtually noiseless typing experience.
You can connect it via Bluetooth to other devices and won’t notice any issues with the keys. The key drawback of the Logitech G915 is that it is compatible with a limited number of mobile devices. Another disadvantage is that it’s quite bulky, so you won’t be able to take it with you on a trip.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.76 pounds | Color: Black
⊕ Stunning design
⊕ Impressive build quality
⊕ USB 2.0 support
⊕ 8MB built-in memory
⊖ Comes without dedicated macro keys
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is a high-end gaming keyboard build of durable materials. It was designed by one of the most famous gaming keyboard brands and comes with an extremely lightweight aluminum chassis and Cherry MX switches with the gold-plated contacts.
It delivers high accuracy and is quite reliable. Thanks to its native CORSAIR iCUE software, you can easily program the buttons, set up beautiful illumination and save your settings for further use.
Another advantage of this keyboard is a set of extra features, such as USB pass-through, dedicated multimedia control keys, textured FPS and MOBA keycaps. Thanks to a detachable wrist rest, the model is comfortable to use.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.10 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ Affordable price
⊕ Perfect in-game performance
⊕ Fantastic RGB lighting
⊖ Good for nothing hybrid keys
Thanks to the Razer Mecha-Membrane switches, this keyboard offers the second to none typing experience. As it features both membrane rubber domes and reliable mechanical switches, it can easily beat other peripherals when it comes to performance.
While rubber dome keyboards are famous for their cushioned touch, they often have subpar accuracy and fail to offer quick actuations. At the same time, mechanical keyboards have perfect actuation control and provide great tactile feedback, but they aren’t suitable for long gaming sessions.
The Razer Ornata Chroma offers gamers impressive tactile feedback when they press the mechanical keys. It prevents muscle strain thanks to the soft membrane and rubber-dome switches that are perfect for intensive gaming. This model comes with advanced personalization options as well.
For the most immersive gaming experience, you can fully synchronize this MMO gaming keyboard with your favorite games, Razer and Philips Hue gear, as well as peripherals of more than 30 manufacturers. Each key is individually backlit, so you can choose one of 16.8 million RGB colors to create stunning effects.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.16 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ High-accuracy tactile feedback
⊕ Great sensor
⊕ Adjustable weight
⊖ None
Besides offering 7 RGB lighting modes, this best gaming keyboard allows adjusting 4 brightness levels and breathing speed. You can disable the WIN key when you play games.
The uniform backlighting of the keycaps is quite clear. This keyboard can be also used for office tasks. It is spill-resistant and comes with a wrist rest that is perfect for long gaming sessions.
The 114-key keyboard features 25 conflict-free keys, 10 dedicated multimedia keys and 12 additional FN keys. They are virtually noiseless, deliver tactile feedback and can withstand extended use. There is also a full numeric keypad and a gold-plated USB connector.
Interface: wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.95 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ Media keys are easy to access
⊕ Macro recording feature
⊕ Perfect key matrix for gaming
⊖ Wired
By using this certified refurbished keyboard, you won’t even notice that it was restored. Sellers tested its functionality, cleaned and thoroughly inspected it. It comes with a set of accessories and has a 90-day warranty. You will receive it in a plain box. Such keyboards are sold only by those Amazon sellers who guarantee that these peripheral devices deliver great performance.
If you enjoy using lighting effects, you will appreciate its 3-zone dynamic RGB backlighting and more than ten preconfigured RGB lighting modes.
As there are 6 easy-to-program macro keys, you can assign any actions for them and use different combos. For uninterrupted gameplay, there are dedicated volume and multimedia controls.
You will hardly hear any sound when pressing the keys. This MMO keyboard can be connected to your PC via USB 2.0 ports. It has been designed for Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.43 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ Virtually noiseless
⊕ Several lighting options
⊕ Spill-resistant
⊖ Poor-quality frame
The G213 Prodigy has a slim profile, it’s precise and spill-resistant. You can easily customize it to make your experience more comfortable. This best gaming keyboard delivers top-notch gaming performance and gives you a great tactile feel.
Its keys provide extremely quick feedback, as their responsiveness is 4 times faster if compared to the keys of regular keyboards. Anti-ghosting gaming Matrix allows you to press several keys at the same time without experiencing any lag.
You can customize RGB lighting zones to your liking, as well as use convenient media controls to play music and videos. The G213 Prodigy is a nice full-sized model that will enhance your in-game performance.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 2.00 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ 7 circular breathing lighting effects
⊕ Comes with an ergonomic mouse
⊕ A 3200DPI mouse’s resolution
⊖ Large size
This best gaming keyboard comes with a LED gaming mouse. Thanks to rainbow backlighting, you can enjoy the most immersive experience ever, with 7 circular breathing colors of mouse enhancing it even further. The mouse has a comfortable design and fits your palm perfectly. Both peripherals are plug and play, so you won’t need to install additional software.
For better gaming performance, you can use up to 19 keys simultaneously. There are also 11 multimedia combination keys on the top, as well as WASD keys and WIN keys that you can disable if you don’t need them.
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: yes | Weight: 3.76 lbs | Color: Black
⊕ Ultra-fast key actuation
⊕ Great hybrid switches
⊕ Easy-to-use media controls
⊖ Unreliable software
The Razer Huntsman Elite is a best-selling keyboard equipped with optomechanical switches that make most of optical technology to deliver unprecedented speed. A key stabilizer Bar makes your keystrokes extremely precise, while switches actuate and reset at the same time.
You can use the easy-to-program digital dial to get access to functions. Thanks to hybrid on-board memory and cloud storage, it’s possible to save settings for further use. A plush leatherette wrist rest with an ergonomic design and built-in lighting makes your gaming experience more comfortable. Aluminum housing with the matte coating is quite durable and can withstand extended use.
| Image | Name | Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Razer BlackWidow
Our choice |
CHECK PRICE → | |
 |
Logitech G915
Gaming |
CHECK PRICE → | |
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Corsair K70
Stylish |
CHECK PRICE → |
Gamers might get carried away a little when playing their favorite games and hit the buttons too hard trying to move more quickly or take their opponent out with a high-accuracy shot. While a regular slim keyboard can withstand typing, it might cope less well with quick button-mashing.
If you have made your mind about purchasing a gaming keyboard, pick the more durable one. Expensive keyboards are more reliable thanks to metal backplates, which prevent them from breaking down. For better protection of the switches, housing needs to be made of metal or high-quality oil-resistant plastic.
Most standard membrane keyboards are made of PVC plastic. As it’s quite cheap, it’s prone to breaking and shows signs of wear quickly. Gaming keyboards are made of much more durable materials, such as ABC plastic that is oil-resistant and can withstand quick keystrokes. If you want to use your keyboard for a long time, make sure to use the one made of metal or ABC plastic.
Before choosing the best mechanical gaming keyboard, try thinking about what layout type you need. Most full-size keyboards are pretty similar. They come with a traditional set of keys and a standard number pad.
The most significant shortcoming of such peripherals is that they take too much space on your table. You will need to move your hands a lot to reach all the keys, while the number pad makes it more difficult to access your mouse that will be farther away. Because of this, I am against using full-size keyboards. There is another option on the market, a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard (TKL) that is also known as an 80% keyboard.
It also doesn’t have function layers, besides, it lacks a number pad which results in it being more portable. As it still has a number row, it looks pretty much similar to more traditional options. If you are still not sure, think carefully about how often you need to use a number pad.
Unless your job requires entering a lot of data, you are unlikely to use it much. Such keyboards take less space on your desk and make it easier to use a mouse. Recently, this option has become less popular because of even smaller 60-percent models that have just alpha keys, a number row and modifiers.
With this option, you need to get used to the lack of arrow keys, the F-row and number pad. It has all the features of a standard keyboard but comes with the function layer. Thus, you can hold Fn and press any key. For instance, to use the arrows, you need to press Fn+WASD or Fn+JIKL. A key selling point of such keyboards is that they are quite portable and extremely efficient, once you learn how to use the function layer.
When making your choice, pay attention to the build quality of a wired or wireless keyboard for gaming. Even the best budget gaming keyboards often don’t withstand months of intensive use well, so it’s better to choose a slightly more expensive option that will last at least several years.
Manufacturers use two types of plastic for keys:
ABS-plastic that stands for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and is fairly expensive. One of its main advantages is that it doesn’t rub off and looks just as great after prolonged use. This material is known for its high-temperature resistance (up to 300°F) and durability. It’s used mostly in high-end models that are designed to last longer. If you have some cash laying around, pick a keyboard made of this type of plastic.
PBT-plastic stands for polybutylene terephthalate. It’s much cheaper and doesn’t weigh much. After some time, you might notice that the letters on the keycaps get slightly less visible and the body of the keyboard acquires a glossy look. It’s better not to leave it in the sun either, as it will literally melt at high temperatures. Manufacturers use this plastic for budget options. If its shortcomings don’t put you off, keep in mind that you can always purchase overlay keycap stickers.
Yes, and it can tremendously improve your gaming experience. Such models weigh less, boast better responsiveness and are designed specifically for gaming. They are easy to customize and usually offer macro support, comfortable wrist pads and adjustable lighting. Most of them are designed to accommodate disabled people as well.
You can use a regular keyboard to play games. However, the best backlit keyboard for gaming comes with advanced specs and is a must for pro-level gamers. If you want to buy a keyboard for office tasks or the best writing keyboard, there is no need to purchase a gaming one.
Unfortunately, no. Such keyboards have beautiful lighting effects and come with mechanical keys but you won't get better at gaming unless you practice a lot.
Mechanical keyboards are highly-priced as each key has an individual switch. It makes them more reliable than membrane keyboards and accounts for better accuracy, which might come in handy when you play action games. However, you can also find good gaming keyboards under 30 dollars, but they require gentle handling.
