It might seem that a gaming keyboard always has the same functionality, but what differentiates one from the other is how comfortable it is and the type of switches they come with (not to mention the aesthetic), now it’s time to tell you about my experience using the irocks K17R Wireless Keyboard.
irocks K71R comes in black and white color versions, it has a dual interface that can be used both wirelessly and wired. One of the great things that a keyboard can bring is the possibility of using it wirelessly unless we have a very stylish cable to avoid all those cables on our desk.
Just like the mouse, the keyboard is one of the most important tools not only when playing games but also the various functions it offers. The K71R has a number of customizations that are a little hard to take in at first but the more you use it the more you can get used to it.
Inside the box comes a non-twisted cable, the dongle for wireless connection and obviously the quick start guide. Before continuing, let’s get to know the product specifications specifically:
- Interface: wired and wireless
- Detachable USB-C cable connection
- 2.4GHz wireless connection
- Backlight: Yes, RGB
- Battery saving wireless mode: 4 modes
- Key number: 107 keys
- Smart dial wheel: 1 set
- Switch type: mechanical switch
- N-Key Transfer (NKRO)
- Multimedia keys: 15 keys
- Backlight effect keys: 8 keys
- Rated Voltage/Current (Wired): 5VDC/500mA
- Rated Voltage/Current (wireless): DC5V / 0.5 ~ 1A
- Charging interface: USB-C
- Battery life: Backlight off – 180 hours
- RGB (Keylight On/Sidelight On/Normal Brightness) Approx. 27 hours
- RGB (Keylight On/Sidelight Off/Normal Brightness) Approx. 40 hours
- Battery capacity: 3750 mAh
- Approximate weight. 1.3kg
- USB cable length: approx. 180cm
- Dimensions: 444 (L) X 155 (W) X 42 (H) mm
From the first impression we can see that it is a keyboard with many functions and this can be both an added value and a problem at the same time. At first glance we have a fairly heavy keyboard that supports up to 180 hours of battery life if you turn off the RGB, but between 27 and 40 hours if we decide to alternate the lighting a bit.
My main problem with this keyboard is that as much as I checked, I couldn’t find a way to check the battery percentage, not even through the keyboard’s software. The keyboard can be handy having a lot of shortcuts via the function key or the volume key itself (which offers many other things) but something so simple could not be solved. I would imagine that the same is also true of any other wireless device of the same brand.
In the upper part we have, as I mentioned, many shortcuts that are useful at a certain point, but at the same time it calls my attention that the multimedia buttons belong to this group and they are not the buttons that are near the volume wheel. On the top right we have this wheel with 3 buttons that activate a sub-menu that can be controlled with the same wheel.
Unfortunately, when it came to activating these buttons, I had no way of understanding what was happening and at the same time I felt that I was going to change some configuration that was a bit difficult to reset. The keyboard has different profiles to save the configuration and use it without the need to have the software installed, nothing new but it is important to know that it exists.
The software interface is quite poor, although it is useful enough to configure the RGB and other things, I can say that it is only necessary for the former. The keyboard has a quite attractive RGB to my eyes, with two areas both the sides and the keys that can be illuminated / configured individually.
As can be seen in the images, the keyboard has several lighting areas thanks to its attractive design. It cannot be lied that at least this part is very striking. The reality is that as a keyboard it has a good structure since it is full size but another problem that I found was the quality of the switches and this is practically what makes it the worst keyboard I have tried.
The keyboard has mechanical switches, these switches help to have a higher response time and although they are somewhat noisy, they give us much more durability than traditional switches. These switches are quite uncomfortable and can even seem very hard/thick when pressing any key. You can even notice how when writing at the rate that I have written this review some keys fail to press since I feel that I have to press each key hard and the idea is that this is not the case.
It is as if they lack lubrication without even having a space for this. I could say that a generic keyboard of those that come in a pre-assembled PC is softer than these and it bothers me a lot because the keyboard has a mixture of good quality things that are being wasted due to not having one of the most important things correctly. important. The same thing happened with the M36 Pure gaming mouse where, with a series of good features, the rollers (most importantly) are of very poor quality.
It is disappointing in some points and as I mentioned before, the functions that this keyboard brings are quite interesting and could be better exploited by any user if this part is better attended. But in the meantime it’s a shame to see so much potential being wasted like this.
In conclusion
The K71R is a keyboard with the features that big brands provide, only that all of this is poorly implemented, confusing and, above all, of poor quality. The switches feel quite chunky when ideally they should be smooth. Having a huge advantage when used wirelessly isn’t a big deal when you can’t even tell how much battery life you have left.
The software is useful to control the highlight of this product and it is the RGB, for everything else these functions are somewhat inconclusive and the software at the interface level feels somewhat poor. The switches feel hard or not very lubricated, it seems that you have to push harder than normal and that in some cases is somewhat complicated. In general, this is a mechanical keyboard with many functions that are not used at the same time. This review was made with a copy provided by irocks.
