Testing

Test Rig

Methodology

To test this keyboard I utilised it over several hours of gaming and general windows usage to see how it performs in different environments. On top of that, I also checked out some of the features highlighted to see if I felt much of a difference.

As well as typing and putting together this review with the Celeritas, I also played the following games:

• Dawn of War II Chaos Rising
• Modern Warfare 2
• Lord of the Rings Online

Results

To get the simple things out of the way I began testing by checking out the Windows key switch. By pressing the Zowie key followed by the Windows key, it changes its function to a third CTRL key. This prevents you from accidentally hitting it while in-game and minimising what you’re doing; something that can be very annoying in a heated game.

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Even with my small hands I was able to do this with one hand which was quite nice to see. However, doing the same with the F1-F6 media keys was a little harder to do. All in all I’d rather the Zowie function key was over on the left, isntead of the right.

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Doing this switches the red lit Zowie logo to a light blue.

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Games

In all games tested, the Celeritas worked perfectly. I had no problems at all. However, if I had to pick a title I felt it performed the best in it would have to be Modern Warfare 2. The simplicity of this board allowed me to hit all the keys I wanted with ease, their smooth motion offering very little resitstance to my touch allowing for very quick reflexes on my part; it may have been a fluke, but I actualy played very well and I’m not that good at MW2.

I’ll be honest, the lack of macro keys was a bit obvious in the other two titles, where a quick auto-build order or macro attack sequence can come in handy, but perhaps we could look at those types of keyboards as ones that sort of play for you. This is a board that lets gamers be gamers. I quite like that way of playing.

Typing

What a lovely experience writing this review has been. While I do normally use quite nice keyboards to type on – being lucky enough to have reviewed most of them, I’m going to be hard pushed to give this one up after this review is over. Typing on a mechanical keyboard feels far more intuitive than a normal board; which is a very odd description but describing how nice it is to type on one board over the other is no easy task. Let’s just put it this way, since I reviewed the Steelseries 7G, another mechanical switch board, it hasn’t left my gaming rig. Something tells me this one won’t be leaving my work setup now.

I think the main difference between a mechanical keyboard and one that uses more typical rubber dome switches, is that they feel dull in comparison. They feel soft and cushioned, and of course quite queit, but a bit dull in whereas mechanical board gives you a tactile feedback that is hard to beat. You can feel the keys depress properly, in a straight, downwards stroke. Rubberised switches can wobble a little which can break your rhythm when you’re really flying through a sentence. Typing on this feels simple and elegant. My finger goes down, it hits the key, which depresses and hits the metal plate, my finger comes up and so does the key. You feel all of this as you type, and it feels like you have far greater control. It’s almost like keyboard traction.

Comfort

Comfort, is a bit of a mixed bag. Sure, typing on one of these is a bit of a raw experience, and while it certainly won’t hurt your fingers in any way, you’ll need to get used to the solid feel of the keys hitting the base plate instead of being cushioned by a soft rubber dome; but this is more of an adjustment period or learning curve than it is an issue of comfort. The fact that this keyboard has no wrist rest doesn’t seem to be a problem at the moment; however when your wrists are resting on the table, which they arn’t very often when typing or gaming, it does leave your wrist at a bit of a steep angle. I’d liked to have seen a rest option like the Steelseries 7G had.

Please bare in mind, I’m looking for any kind of flaw I can find here so I can recommend something to be improved; no product should ever be considered perfect, but this one isn’t too far off.

No Software

There’s no software with this board, which is a welcome change from all the key mapping, on-at-startup junk that gets bundled with a lot of gaming hardware these days. As with the lack of macro keys, this is a board for human control of the game; no software gets in the way either.

Simultaneous Key Presses

The reason that the Zowie board includes a USB to PS/2 converter is that the latter allows for an infinite number of simultaneous key presses, which can come in handy when in certain gaming environments. However, if you’re the kind that prefer a USB connection, you can have a maximum of 6 down at a time; which is more than most keyboards and is the maximum that the USB form factor can support.

Cost

I’m not sure if this is available yet despite its slated December release date, but based on the press release price of 120 euros we can assume it’ll be around £100 when available in the UK. This places it just £10 ahead of main rival Steelseries 7G which at this type of money isn’t really a problem.