INTRODUCTION

   Although most recent games have been huge disappointments there is light at the end of the tunnel and so after the latest Tomb Raider, Warframe, Planetside 2, Crysis 3 and the expansion packs for The Elder Scrolls IV Skyrim (Dragonborn) and StarCraft 2 (Heart Of The Swarm) both EA and DICE have also joined the fun by releasing the quite impressive trailer of the upcoming Battlefield 4 FPS. On top of these latest and soon to be released game titles add the fact that the summer is not far away and the result is no other than consumers heading out to purchase both hardware parts to make their computers capable of supporting these games and of course gaming peripherals to help them have the best possible experience when playing. Now a keyboard may not be as important as the mouse when playing fast passed games (i think we can all agree to that) but that doesn't mean that a good keyboard can't help you win your battles. Today on our test bench we have the latest Isku FX illuminated gaming keyboard by ROCCAT which judging by its name and design it's an improved version of the original Isku.

       ROCCAT is the snow storm to the gaming industry. Everything called gaming before needs to be redefined. You will enter a world in which three attributes will keep you on the right path: alliance, independence and truth. DO IT YOUR OWN WAY AND DON'T TALK SHIT – this is the statement ROCCAT follows. The ROCCATEERS can be found all over the world. And it was a revelation which led them together to energize the crucial benefit. The lake Inari long kept the secret our ROCCAT scientists call "Aimo". With every ROCCAT tool you will more and more internalize its Energy. Become part of our alliance.

   As mentioned above the Isku FX is an updated version of the membrane based original Isku and so basically ROCCAT replaced the single blue key illumination with a fully adjustable 16.8m color key illumination and also added their TALK FX technology which basically changes the illumination of the keys according to the environment of the game you are currently playing (something like the amBX lights). Everything else however pretty much remains as is and so you still have 6 different brightness levels to choose from, a grand total of 36 macro keys, the extra-large granular wrist rest and finally the ROCCAT TALK technology that allows you to use the Easy-Shift[+]/Easy-Aim features for your Kone XTD/Pure mouse directly from the keyboard. So let's continue to see exactly just what ROCCAT has done with the latest Isku FX.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Isku FX gets packed inside a large flat box with one very large and three smaller product images at the front right beneath the ROCCAT logo and several drawings pointing to the main features of the Isku FX.

Moving at the rear we see the features list printed in 9 languages along with several pictures and details regarding the features and specifications of the Isku FX.

Expand the spectrum of possibility with the illumination of diversity. This is a phrase recorded and printed on the base of the box by one of the people who designed the Isku FX.

ROCCAT packs the Isku FX inside a secondary cardboard section and a reflective protective bag.

Compared to the original Isku the bundle of the Isku FX is even smaller (something i didn't expect) and so aside the keyboard itself you are also getting a quick installation guide.

THE ROCCAT ISKU FX

Much like the original Isku the wrist rest of the Isku FX is an extension of the main body resulting in a rather large keyboard that measures 509mm length and 247mm in with.

The ROCCAT logo is engraved onto the granular wrist rest.

Right above the wrist rest we see the three programmable Thumbster keys.

5 more programmable macro keys are placed on the far left side of the keyboard.

Just like with the original Isku the 5 profile selection LEDs (P1-P5) are placed at the top left side right next to the live macro recording button.

At the top center we see the multimedia keys (mute, volume up/down, backwards/forwards) along with the web browser and windows explorer launch keys.

Moving at the far right corner we see the ROCCAT TALK FX logo, the Num/scroll/caps lock LEDs and the illumination button used to control the brightness level of the keys.

There are 6 cable channels at the base of the Isku FX along with 2 height adjusters and 6 rubber feet.

Since the Isku FX is also very thin like its predecessor the height adjusters naturally feel somewhat short, although thanks to the wrist rest we had no issues at all.

Unfortunately once again we see a plain USB connector at the end of the cable.

USING THE ISKU FX

Since this time over ROCCAT didn't even place a software CD in the bundle you have no other choice but to head over to their official support page in order to get the latest drivers.

ROCCAT as usual has placed a huge number of functions you can toy around with inside the control software such as macro key assignments, Easy-Shift[+] key assignments (which in turn doubles the number of available macro keys), key illumination settings (including brightness levels), media key assignment, character repeat, total statistics, contact the ROCCAT support team and also check for available updates.

The keys may have a total of 16.8m colors for you to choose from but blue, red, green and yellow are the ones i liked the most.

CONCLUSION

   We used the ROCCAT Isku FX for a total of 12 days not only for our daily activities but also to play various game titles like Planetside 2, Warframe, Tomb Raider, Aliens Colonial Marines and Crysis 3. Now as some of you know we use the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 gaming keyboard by Mad Catz and the Professional Model S by Das Keyboard with our main test rigs so all of us are quite used to mechanical keyboards (the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 is not really mechanical but it does a good job mimicking the feeling of mechanical keys) and so because of that the keys of the Isku FX felt way too soft with almost no feedback at all. We did get used to the soft membrane design but that took quite a few days and so for people who are used to using mechanical keyboards the Isku FX just won't feel right at home (the new Ryos line however should). That aside the new illumination feature works like a charm and you can even set it to color flow which means that it will rotate between colors on its own. The TALK FX feature on the other hand we didn't find to be very useful and although it actually does work and it's rather impressive at first in the end it makes no real difference when playing games.

   Luckily the ROCCAT Isku FX retails for almost the same price as the original Isku when it got released and so currently you can find it at USD99.99 inside the USA (Purchase Directly From Amazon.com) and at around 99Euros inside the EU (Purchase Directly From Amazon.co.uk). The only downside is that you can find quite a few mechanical gaming keyboards for slightly more so in the end it all comes down to what you want and what you are used to using. If you've been using a cheap membrane keyboard until now then the Isku FX is on a whole different level and there's no way you will be disappointed by its performance. On the other hand if you've been using a mechanical gaming keyboard for a long time then it may not cover your needs and so you would be better off checking the new Ryos line of mechanical gaming keyboards by ROCCAT. Personally the lack of feedback from the membrane keys is the only real issue i have with the Isku FX (something which I obviously wouldn’t have I not used several mechanical gaming keyboards). Still it's a very good looking and quality gaming keyboard with a wide range of features which are enough for us to award it with our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- 16.8m Colors Key Illumination
- Large Wrist Rest
- Control Panel
- ROCCAT TALK/TALK FX

CONS

- Membrane Keys (Not Mechanical)
- Plain USB Connector
- Price (For Some)