NZXT Function Review: A Mechanical Keyboard for Noobs

Half the nerds I do know are into customizing their very own mechanical keyboards. As an individual who has constructed his personal PCs since childhood, I really feel like I ought to be one among them, however I by no means needed to spend the time or effort to get too far into bespoke keyboards. This, because it seems, made the NZXT Function excellent for me.

Customizable mechanical keyboards are the sort of interest that may damage your capability to speak to different folks after you discover the subreddit for it. Are your keys tactile or linear? How’s the actuation force? Have you lubed your switches correctly? It’s so much to soak up, particularly for newbies who’re sort of fascinated about customizing the {hardware} however aren’t certain find out how to get began.

People like that (me) are precisely NZXT’s demographic. The firm is finest recognized for making PC circumstances and elements, and extra just lately letting folks customise PC builds then assembling the product in-house (which earned it one among our top picks for gaming PCs). Now, NZXT is making use of that very same streamlined course of to boutique keyboards. It may simply be sufficient to get me to care about which switches are inside my board.

Hardware for Everyone

So what precisely is a swap? It’s the mechanism beneath the keycaps in your keyboard. Every time you press a key, you are urgent the swap. Not all keyboards have the identical switches—that is why folks like customizing keyboards. Switches are available in dozens of sorts, and every gives various ranges of tactile and audio sensations. Want that old-school clickety-clackety really feel? No downside. Want a quieter but nonetheless satisfying typing expertise? Done! 

It’s this degree of {hardware} customization that is the true star of the present on the NZXT Function. Like many mechanical keyboards, NZXT’s presents a number of swap choices (5, to be exact). It ranges from smoother, extra delicate switches to sharp and clicky ones; you select your choice whereas ordering.

Even after you get the keyboard, you possibly can maintain customizing. You get further switches and an array of other keycaps to swap in (together with instruments for eradicating each keycaps and switches). Among the various choices are, for instance, a set of WASD keys with a grippier texture and slight curve that feels extra pure for gaming.

This felt a bit like getting an electronics starter kit. The field has all the things a newcomer to keyboard customization would want to study eradicating and customizing keycaps, or find out how to substitute switches, whereas nonetheless leaving room to broaden sooner or later. On the opposite hand, for those who simply desire a good keyboard with out a lot fuss, the NZXT Function works completely proper out of the field.

NZXT is way from the primary firm on this house to supply an expertise like this. The Drop Ctrl keyboard, for instance, equally contains hot-swappable switches and keycaps, plus all of the instruments to switch them. Most kits like this (together with the Drop Ctrl) lack further options like the quantity wheel or mute button and are sometimes costlier.

One space the place NZXT goes a bit additional is with its NZXT CAM software program. This allows you to remap each key, which enhances the detachable keycaps properly. Don’t like the place the Delete secret’s? Move its cap and remap it within the software program. It’s not that this is not doable on different keyboards, however NZXT’s strategy makes this type of tweaking really feel accessible in a approach that different keyboards do not. That mentioned, NZXT CAM is not very strong in comparison with rivals like Logitech’s G Hub or Razer Synapse. But for a primary effort, it covers the fundamentals nicely sufficient. You can set LED patterns, remap each key, and file primary macros.

Color Coordination

One of the very best causes to customise your personal mechanical keyboard is pure self-importance: Regular black or white keycaps are boring. Sure, you possibly can throw some RGB LEDs in there like each different mass-produced mechanical keyboard (together with most of our favorites). But selecting some colourful accent keys is the way in which to go.

The Function makes this simple by together with a set of colours for your accent keys (like Esc, Enter, and arrow keys) which you can select when ordering from the positioning. For my evaluation unit, I requested cyan, however in addition they are available in yellow, purple, blue, and purple. The keyboard’s chassis is available in black, white, or gunmetal grey, and common keys are black or grey. It’s not an enormous choice in comparison with the broader keyboard hobbyist house, however it’s a superb start line.

If you are actually dedicated to the palette of your selection, the corporate sells accent keyboard cables in the identical 5 colours because the accent keys. And sure, the NZXT Function contains RGB LEDs beneath each key. (You can flip off the backlighting.) Altogether, it is a trendy package deal that also looks like you can also make it your personal. 

Thoughtful Extras

Plenty of keyboards include media keys to manage quantity, however I’ve all the time discovered {that a} quantity curler is most handy. Somehow, NZXT managed to enhance on that concept past what I’d already come to count on. Most boards with a quantity curler have it on the far-right nook, near the place your mouse hand could be (for right-handed customers, anyway); the Function places it on the left, proper subsequent to the Escape key.