INTRODUCTION

   Mechanical keyboards have been around for decades mainly used in areas of the industry where reliability is of the outmost importance and it really goes without saying that those models were as plain as they could possibly be and never featured any of the bells and whistles we see with all the new gaming ones. The funny part is that although mechanical keyboard sales skyrocketed when the very first gaming models appeared in the market it seems that many people still prefer the regular sized ones that lack all the bells and whistles that actually placed them on the gaming map in the first place years ago. Gaming peripherals manufacturers are not oblivious of that fact and so lately we see more and more "plain" mechanical keyboards aimed towards gamers of all ages who are after durability and don't want a keyboard that stands out and takes lots of desktop space. Tt eSPORTS recently updated their Poseidon Z keyboard line with the new Poseidon Z RGB model which basically pairs the all-time classic design and durability of its predecessors with full RGB color illumination for its keys.

   “Challenge is the game” highlights the philosophy to bring out gamers’ addiction in gaming and the ambition of reaching to the extreme. Tt eSPORTS, a gaming obsessed division from Thermaltake, is uniting gamers from all over the world in a unique & fascinating eSPORTS culture, inherited the spirits of Thermaltake, is an energetic, powerful, bold and intelligent challenger who never says “no” to the extreme competition. We do not only provide gamers the ultimate gaming gears but also fulfills the passion to achieve the ultimate success. Thermaltake has been a well-known brand in the gaming & DIY market for PC Chassis, Coolers and Power Supplies PSU for many years. The brand personality of unique, aggressive, vivid and stylish makes Thermaltake an expert in creating exciting things and fascinating environment for gamers and enthusiasts. Tt eSPORTS inherited the brand personality with unique and creative design by observing users’ behaviors and requirements. The fan cooling design on Tt eSPORTS Challenger keyboard demonstrate the brand spirit. It is the worldwide first keyboard with fan cooling function that could dry your hand sweats and blow tension away during cut-throat competition.

   The relatively recent partnership between Tt eSPORTS and Kailh seems to be going very well so once again the new member of the Poseidon Z line of mechanical keyboards wears TT Certified gold plated mechanical blue and brown switches by Kailh which feature a lifetime of up to 60 million actuations. The Poseidon Z RGB mechanical keyboard also features a 32bit ARM Cortex-m0 micro controller unit, 512Kb of onboard memory (to store the 5 available profiles), full RGB LED backlight illumination (16.8 million colors with 5 levels of brightness and several effects), 6-Key and N-Key rollover, 1000Hz polling rate, full key anti-ghosting and the ability to program every key as a macro (5 profiles x 102 macros). We have seen a few Poseidon keyboards by Tt eSPORTS in the past but I’m indeed curious to see just how nice the new RGB version looks.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Poseidon Z RGB mechanical gaming keyboard is shipped inside a long box that has a large product picture at the front, the company logo, RGB illumination feature, 5 years warranty and the type of switches used.

You can find the serial number and barcodes for the keyboard at the base of the box.

A large product picture is placed at the rear right next to the main product features.

The keyboard is placed inside a bubble wrap and kept in place via two pieces of cardboard.

In terms of bundle the Poseidon Z RGB lacks behind since inside the box Tt eSPORTS has only placed a quick installation guide and a warranty policy paper.

THE POSEIDON Z RGB

Since the Poseidon Z RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard has no extra macro keys and extra navigation keys it's quite small (and very sturdy) so it measures just 440mm in length, 133mm in width and 37mm in height (weighs just 995g).

The company logo is placed on the upper right corner right next to the windows lock key and the lock, gaming mode and N-Kro activity/indication LEDs.

Via the Fn key you can also use the F1 through F7 keys as media navigation keys.

F9 also doubles as the on-the-fly macro recording key while F11 and F12 can be used to switch between the 5 available brightness levels.

Tt eSPORTS has also placed their logo on the space bar.

Just like the previous Poseidon Z keyboards the RGB version also has two pieces of rubber at the front for increased protection (for example if you push it on a wall or something like that).

Here we see the Kailh blue mechanical switches with their RGB LEDs.

There are 5 rubber feet at the base of the keyboard and two height adjusters.

Both height adjusters feature rubber coating and raise the keyboard roughly 12mm from the desk.

The 1.8 meter long cable is not braided and doesn't have a gold plated USB connector at the end.

CONTROL SOFTWARE

Once again you will need to visit the official Tt eSPORTS product page to download the latest drivers for the keyboard.

Once you do that and install them your keyboard will be upgraded to the latest firmware (ours had v.38 installed and got upgraded to v.40).

Using the keyboard control panel is easy so from the initial screen you can program your own macros and then assign them to any of the 102 available keys, program the buttons with different commands and also assign programs to them.

From the light option tab you can adjust the brightness level of the keys, select a color from the RGB pallet, select one of the 4 effects, adjust the speed of the 3 available mods and of course choose between single and RGB illumination.

Here you can see the Poseidon Z RGB in single and RGB backlight LED illumination (highest available brightness level).

AUDIBLE FEEDBACK

Many people ask my opinion on what keyboard they should get for their needs. Some want a “silent” model for use in their living room or even in their bedroom while others ask for a model with good audible feedback for use in the office or for gaming. Because of this I decided to test keyboards by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically over each keyboard (5cm distance) and typing NikKTech a total of 6 times with each (after that the max recorded number - max hold - is placed in the graph). I have to admit that this may not be 100% accurate but it does give a good idea on what you can expect from each model since aside the type of switches used keycaps and keyboard material also matter.

CONCLUSION

   When we reviewed the original Poseidon Z Mechanical Gaming Keyboard we found out that it was a very sturdy keyboard not only because of its enclosure quality but also because of its Kailh mechanical switches which have proven themselves time and again. However even though we liked it a lot it didn’t offer RGB backlight LED illumination for the keys and although back then we didn’t care much about that feature since not many keyboards came with it today it’s a must and this is where the Poseidon Z RGB comes in. So you’re getting the same high quality enclosure and mechanical switches plus full RGB 16.8m color backlight LED illumination all in the same package. You will have to forget about extra macro keys but via the available control software you can still assign your very own macros to any of the 102 available keys. As for the keys well leaving out the audible feedback numbers (quite high but natural for blue switches) I have to say that Kailh has improved its switches even more and comparing the Poseidon Z RGB with the Das Keyboard Professional Model S I think they are not that far away from the ones provided by Cherry (both models feature Blue type switches).

   Right now the Poseidon Z RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Kailh Blue switches by Tt eSPORTS is available online for USD145.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 119Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Unfortunately pricing in the USA is way off especially since the model with Kailh brown switches costs almost half as much so I sincerely hope Tt eSPORTS looks into this and makes the necessary adjustments. Putting price aside however the Poseidon Z RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard has everything most gamers would look for in a keyboard including build quality and RGB backlight LED illumination for the keys and that’s why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Kailh Mechanical Switches (60 Million Actuations)
- Full RGB Key Illumination (5 Levels/4 Effects/3 Modes)
- Driverless
- 5 Years Warranty
- 5 Available Profiles
- Up To 502 Macro Keys (102 Per Profile)
- Price (EU)

CONS

- No Macro Keys
- Price (USA)