Each gaming keyboard producer appears to be leaping on the Corridor impact bandwagon, and why wouldn’t they? The keyboard know-how has been confirmed in each esports arenas and house workplace setups worldwide and presents numerous benefits over commonplace mechanical keyboards, with no actual efficiency compromises.
Corridor impact keyboards have additionally arrived as numerous different applied sciences enter the keyboard house: Every part from gasket-mounting to touchpads is now in mainstream keyboards. That additionally means I recurrently see new merchandise, mechanical and Corridor impact, with options I’ve by no means even thought-about earlier than. Living proof, the Asus ROG Falchion Ace HFX, a small keyboard with a big identify and loads of uncommon options.
This $200 wired-only keyboard has Corridor impact switches, an 8,000-Hz polling fee, multidevice connectivity with two USB-C ports, and a programmable touchpad on the again edge. To not point out numerous on-keyboard controls and a flipable lever to allow or disable the speedy set off function discovered on most Corridor impact keyboards. Whereas it does have some unusual design selections, it has loads of actually intelligent ones too.
Distinctive Switches
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
The Falchion has one of many deepest typing sounds in comparison with different Corridor impact keyboards. That is probably a mixture of the keyboard’s distinctive HFX magnetic switches, one of many few I’ve examined that aren’t made by Gateron, and the sound dampening inside. It consists of a number of layers of froth, Poron, and silicone, and a sheet of small rubber domes.
The switches really feel extremely clean, even when pressed slowly, with a constant really feel all through the complete keypress. They use a polycarbonate prime housing, a POM stem, and a POM backside housing, contributing to the deeper typing sound and guaranteeing smoothness throughout the complete keystroke. Not like most Corridor impact switches, the HFX doesn’t have a gap within the middle, as an alternative, it strikes the magnet to the entrance, the place the metallic contact leaf would sometimes be on a mechanical swap. This makes the Falchion incompatible with commonplace Corridor impact switches, however probably improves the sound profile as properly: Open-bottom switches are likely to have a extra hole typing sound, which might be heard on opponents.
The springs are weighted to 55 grams of whole power, which is 5 grams lighter than the Gateron Nebula dual-rail switches utilized by Keychron, and 10 grams lighter than the usual Cherry MX Crimson. There aren’t another switches obtainable for this keyboard, however as a result of Corridor impact switches are contactless, the present switches might be eliminated with none desoldering or intensive disassembly.
I didn’t discover myself wanting to alter the switches, although—they’ve a poppy and deep sound that’s extremely crisp, and so they really feel responsive and clean, particularly with speedy set off enabled. My largest difficulty with the typing expertise was the keycaps. They’ve a tough texture that, whereas grippy, felt noticeably coarse and ugly when typing. It comes all the way down to desire, however I discovered them much less fulfilling than clean or frivolously textured keycaps.
