Steelseries Apex Pro review (OmniPoint Hall effect)

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Chyros

21 Sep 2019, 11:13

Today we have a very interesting offering on the menu! This made it into my most extensive review yet, hope you enjoy the video guys! :)

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digital_matthew

22 Sep 2019, 22:00

Loved the video. I'm very intrigued by those switches. I just wish it came with better keycaps.

Findecanor

22 Sep 2019, 22:35

Kudos for the legend in the top/left corner. The rest, I don't care about.

BTW, IMHO switches for backlit keyboards should have a light-pipe for a separate LED in each corner.
Hold Alt Gr and have the right/bottom legends lit up. Hold Shift+Alt Gr and have the right/top legend lit up, etc.

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Elrick

25 Sep 2019, 03:44

Desperately waiting for the Tactile or Clicky edition, within this new model range.

Also hoping they manage to produce a similar feel to authentic IBM Beam Spring Switches. Has to be Loud and Proud above all other switches that are currently made.

Linear is for the sneaky but ALL Clicky switches are for the justified and righteous :D .

Just surprised how much you seem so positive about it especially considering it's been produced today rather than 40 years ago. Maybe these clowns have finally considered their worth in making actual superior switches, instead of relying upon the boring CherryMX sickness to ride the popularity stage forever more.

The Key-caps they used seem sub-par so hoping you could replace their version with some decent SA Profiled sets instead. Have no idea if they would work but please try them out and post another review using some good SA profiled key-caps.

Of course please feel free to ignore an ignorant old man who seems oblivious to what's being released these days......

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Darkshado

08 Oct 2019, 06:41

IMHO, at a minimum they should have made the arrows analog as well; or better yet assume the enthusiast/connoisseur tier and go all the way as Wooting has.

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Elrick

11 Oct 2019, 03:15

Darkshado wrote:
08 Oct 2019, 06:41
IMHO, at a minimum they should have made the arrows analog as well; or better yet assume the enthusiast/connoisseur tier and go all the way as Wooting has.
This is SteelSeries here they're following the Corsair playbook, when they first started to use a combo of Cherry switches with Membrane extra's on certain keys around their first keyboard models.

Corsair still called their Keyboard's 'Mechanical' switch-based models too.

Now everything has changed for the 'better' (if Cherry can ever be that at all) :( .

Wooting is a small tier manufacturer catering to a totally different market, that enjoy's paying a higher premium for their keyboards.

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XMIT
[ XMIT ]

11 Oct 2019, 22:56

Spoiler from the video: Hall effect only on the alphas, not on the Fn row or numpad.

edlee

18 Nov 2020, 09:09

I purchased an Apex Pro keyboard because I was curious about it. I have never before used a hall effect keyboard or a linear switch keyboard.

There is software available for the keyboard for Windows 7 and above which lets you update the keyboard's firmware, configure key actuation distance, configure lighting effects, and control macros for the keyboard. The keyboard software is over 100MB in size. It's as if the manufacturer is supporting all of their Steelseries peripherals with this one software package. I personally don't need lighting effects other than a monochrome red illumination to use the keyboard in the dark. Even though I am a touch typist, I occasionally need to look at the keyboard after I take my hands off the keyboard.

The default key actuation point was 5 when I received the keyboard. I found that if I select an actuation point any shorter than 4, then ghost characters occasionally appear when I type fast, such as a random letter g injected into my text that I did not type. I have been timed as typing 85 wpm but can type faster than that in bursts. This phenomenon might not be a result of ghosting in the traditional keyboard sense and might not affect slower typists. I might be capable of typing fast enough to cause a magnetic ripple between adjacent keys. Lowering the actuation point on individual keys that are used as triggers in first person shooting games might be the best use of this adjustable actuation point feature. When you use a mouse with high sensitivity, it can be preferable to use a keyboard key with a short actuation point as a hair trigger so the mouse does not slightly move as you fire at a distant target.

The Apex Pro is able to record and to play back keyboard macros. By default, the Apex Pro keyboard records the delay between keystrokes and incorporates those delays on macro playback. This is not always desirable, such as when you are trying to automate repetitive word processing or computer programming tasks, where you would want a macro to play back as fast as possible. It's not clear to me if this macro recording feature is dependent on the installed computer software or if the keyboard is capable of recording macros without the software. The keyboard software allows you to set a fixed delay between each key press or release. I find that if I use a fixed delay of 0, then some of the characters get dropped on playback of a macro. A 3 millisecond fixed delay seems to work well. There is an unusual OLED display in the upper right hand of the keyboard along with an associated button that lets you start macro recording or change the actuation point along with the volume control roller. It would be nice if one of the selectable keyboard modes on the OLED display was to play back macros with a fixed delay of 3 milliseconds. In this respect, a Gateway AnyKey keyboard from the early 1990s is superior for recording and playing back macros on the fly as fast as possible. That might be why used Gateway AnyKey keyboards still typically sell for over $100 on eBay.

The feel of the keyboard is a matter of personal preference. There is audible feedback as you bottom out a key, but I prefer clicky keyboards.

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Elrick

22 Dec 2020, 09:52

edlee wrote:
18 Nov 2020, 09:09
I purchased an Apex Pro keyboard because I was curious about it. I have never before used a hall effect keyboard or a linear switch keyboard.
Was going to but completely forgot about it due to the current Xmas spending on pallets of booze and food. Still having a yearly celebration despite this Covid Crisis.

Relying upon the rellies to tell you whether they have Corona, is another spy thriller under my roof for 2020.
edlee wrote:
18 Nov 2020, 09:09
The feel of the keyboard is a matter of personal preference. There is audible feedback as you bottom out a key, but I prefer clicky keyboards.
It's Steelseries so never get too enthused about their product line. Their mice are sometimes dodgy along with their current keyboard range.

All Steelseries has ever done is produce another lame Corsair-copy product and nothing more. Unless you're crazy about Corsair Keyboards, then there is nothing to see here unfortunately :( .

Clicky will always be the far better alternative to any linear 'sneaky-switch'.

cheater

23 Dec 2020, 09:27

I ordered an Apex Pro US on Black Friday and they used GLS for last mile courier. GLS are absolute i***ts and constantly misdeliver or just don't deliver at all. I found out weeks later from a neighbor from the house one over that there was a keyboard-shaped package just deposited in the hall next to the post boxes for all 20 flats in that building. It was there for a few days then someone took it. I contacted SteelSeries several times and all I got was automated responses. I only found out after I got worried that the delivery takes ages and started asking around. FML

edlee

23 Dec 2020, 18:03

If you have a package thief in your neighborhood, then it might be better if you have packages delivered to your workplace. There will also be less chance of confusion that the package is being delivered to the right place if the business has a sign on its door or on the building as many businesses do.

I am fortunate to have a well paying job as a database administrator/programmer and few expenses, so I can afford to buy things on impulse when they are not on sale, such as keyboards that interest me. Cheater, if you would like to have my Steelseries Apex Pro keyboard, then I am willing to give it to you as a gift. If you live outside of the United States of America, then you might have to pay a customs fee. Perhaps I was destined to give this keyboard to you to restore balance to the universe. Contact me with the delivery address that you prefer. I do not believe I have COVID-19, but it would be safest if you disinfected the keyboard prior to using it, since my hands have been on the keyboard.

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ddrfraser1

23 Dec 2020, 19:39

What a saint!

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