CONCLUSION

   It's not often that we begin our cooperation with a brand new manufacturer and the very first product we receive by them happens to be top notch so the HERMES Ultimate Black mechanical gaming keyboard was a good surprise. Overall build quality is very high, the 13 macro keys can come in handy quite a bit in multiplayer games (especially since you get to use them with each of the 10 available profiles), the wrist rest is very comfortable (although a bit too long for my taste), the illumination of the keys works as advertised and the Cherry MX Blue mechanical switches are once again solid and only second to their red brothers (for me at least). The "Element" feature however along with the «thin» key caps reduces the feedback from the keys and it almost feels that you're using a membrane keyboard instead. For some people this "soft" feeling may be just what they are looking for especially since it does allow for faster typing but personally i like to have a good amount of feedback especially in games and while typing and this version of the HERMES Ultimate Black didn't offer that to me at least in the degree that I’d like (perhaps the version with the Cherry MX Red switches will). The HERA control software offers more options than any other keyboard control software we've seen to date but the strange font along with the many colors and images make it very hard to navigate and so we truly hope that GAMDIAS can "revamp" (or simplify) its skin to make things easier.

   Strong competition results in higher quality feature-rich products and lower prices something which is especially true for new players in the market and so the HERMES Ultimate Black mechanical gaming keyboard (GKB2010) by GAMDIAS currently retails for USD172.21 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 132Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Now i do realize that some people may not like the price tag of the HERMES Ultimate Black much but let's not forget that for example the Hassium Pro by Deck costs roughly 15% less but doesn't offer the same amount of features and although for regular consumers and professionals I’d obviously recommend the Hassium Pro because of its looks and quality for gamers the GAMDIAS solution is a clear winner and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (For Some)
- Cherry MX Mechanical Switches
- 13 Macro Keys
- 10 Onboard Profiles
- 6-Key & Full N-Key Rollover
- 6 Brightness Key Levels
- USB Port
- Headphones & Microphone 3.5mm Ports
- Gold Plated USB Plug & 3.5mm Jacks
- Double Braided Cable
- Removable Wrist Rest
- HERA Control Software (Available Options)

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Reduced Key Feedback (For My Taste)
- HERA Control Software Design