INTRODUCTION

   Choosing the right gaming peripherals to accompany your brand new (or old) gaming PC is currently not as easy as some may think. The reason for that is not only the vast number of gaming peripherals in the market or the large number of manufacturers but the various components used which in many cases are just enough to confuse most consumers (especially all of you who really like to do some research prior to purchasing such products). Take for example mechanical gaming keyboards which currently feature not only the original Cherry MX mechanical switches but also ones by other mechanical switch manufacturers like Kailh, Gateron and Outemu and even gaming peripheral manufacturers like Logitech with their Romer-G mechanical switches, SteelSeries with their QS1 mechanical switches and Razer with their very own line of mechanical switches (green, orange, yellow and ultra-low profile models). Das Keyboard is the latest gaming keyboard manufacturer to join with their very own Alpha-Zulu (DZERO) mechanical switches (linear olive and tactile yellow) and the X40 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard is the very first model to feature them.

   Best in speed, precision, durability and design is our motto. With Das Keyboard Gaming, we create top performing premium products designed entirely for gamers to outlast the competition. Our products are designed for professionals tapping away for more than 10 hours each day, as well as gamers who just really want to have an amazing and durable product with an experience that will push the limits. Over the course of the countless phases that come with building a product, Das Keyboard Gaming became so much more than that. It became a great beast that somehow took on a life of its own. All of the hardware is equipped with metal detailing to increase the durability and provide everyone who touched it with an unmatched experience. Each piece of equipment has the Das Keyboard detailing and design that makes each piece work together and flow magnificently together. And although look is important, every detail was measured on its ability to take the gaming experience to the next level.

   The Alpha-Zulu switches used in the X40 Pro feature gold plated contacts, red backlight with standby mode (surprised to see no RGB illumination) and are rated for up to 60 million keystrokes just like most of their competition as we speak. They also feature an short actuation point of 1.7mm (compared to the usual 2mm) and as mentioned earlier they are currently available in two "flavors", the linear non-tactile and non-clicky Olive ones (equivalent to Cherry MX Red) and the tactile and non-clicky Yellow ones (equivalent to Cherry MX Brown). As for the rest of the keyboard the X40 Pro features a interchangeable anodized aluminum top panel (extra ones sold separately), internal steel plate, 5 programmable macro keys with on-the-fly recording, Full NKRO (N-Key rollover) and a USB 2.0 passthrough port. True at first glance the X40 Pro doesn't seem to land that far away from other models offered by Das Keyboard but let's take a closer look and see.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

We received the X40 Pro inside a large red box with its name at the front right under the new gaming line name.

The mechanical switches used are printed at the base of the box.

You can find the main product features at the top of the box printed in 10 languages.

Most of the rear is taken by a large product picture used to showcase its main features.

Both the keyboard and its bundle are placed inside a piece of foam.

Along with the X40 Pro you will also get a keycap puller, Division Zero sticker and a piece of paper congratulating you on your purchase.

THE X40 PRO

Measuring 486mm in length, 72mm in width and 31mm in height the 1.48Kg heavy X40 Pro is far from the smallest keyboard around (the top aluminum panel can be removed via the 8 screws found on it).

Division Zero has placed their logo right over the lock LEDs.

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

F1 and F2 can be used to increase/decrease illumination while F3 is the usual Windows lock key (via the FN key).

F5 through F7 double as media navigation keys (previous/play/pause/next) while F9 through F12 can be used to mute, decrease/increase audio and program the macro keys (without the need for software).

At the front we find a USB 2.0 passthrough port and the microphone and headphone ports.

The X40 Pro sits on two rubber feet and two flip-down feet.

The two flip-down feet raise the keyboard roughly 12mm from the desk.

Here we see the Alpha-Zulu (DZERO) Olive mechanical switches (also notice the red steel plate beneath them).

Das Keyboard has given the X40 Pro a 2 meter long braided cable that ends on two USB plugs and the microphone and headphone plugs (all are gold plated).

CONTROL SOFTWARE

You can download the control software directly from the Das Keyboard / Division Zero support page as seen above.

Via the very easy to use and somewhat basic control software you can adjust the polling rate, remap the keys and save your settings in a total of 5 profiles.

You can also assign macros (commands, programs and more) to the 5 available keys from within the control software.

Above we've taken pictures of the lowest and highest available brightness levels.

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

   Das Keyboard has a long history of professional grade keyboards that lack the usual bells and whistles we find in gaming models and that's why they originally launched Division Zero. Now the reason i say originally is that since our sample arrived here in the end of 2016 Division Zero seems to have been dropped and so right now the X40 Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is under the Das Keyboard brand (the Division Zero page still exists however). Of course since the product remains unchanged this shouldn't matter to anyone but we obviously needed to point that out. So with that out of the way how did the X40 Pro do in our tests? In terms of build quality Das Keyboard remains true to their long history since both the internal metal plate and the top anodized aluminum plate make the X40 Pro very sturdy. Now i can't comment on the longevity of the Alpha-Zulu mechanical switches since they are still very new in the market but the Olive ones come very close to the Cherry MX Red mechanical switches and although the actuation point of 1.7mm is not that different compared to the 2.0mm of the reds in time you will notice they feel just a tad faster. Unfortunately although we don’t care much about such things in a sea of RGB illuminated keyboards just red may not be enough to some people (luckily people like us place quality and performance above looks that’s also why we have the Das Keyboard Model S in our lab) although the standby mode is a nice touch. Worth pointing out is that you don’t need the control software to record macros and adjust the brightness levels but it does make things easier. Finally the interchangeable top anodized aluminum plate may be a nice touch but getting a different one costs quite a bit and i just don't know how many people will end up doing so.

   I was happy to see that Das Keyboard reduced the price of the X40 Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard recently so you can currently find it for just USD129 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 129Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Needless to say you can find numerous RGB models at around the same price point and with Cherry MX switches but if you’ve ever used a keyboard by Das Keyboard than you should know that they don’t have much competition in the quality area. At the end of the day the X40 Pro may not become a best seller among young gamers but it does offer excellent build quality with very fast backlit linear mechanical switches (our version) and a total of 5 dedicated macro keys so for people like us who know what Das Keyboard is all about this will be a great keyboard and that’s enough to get our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Design (Interchangeable Top Anodized Aluminum Plate)
- Alpha Zulu Mechanical Switches (Linear/60.000.000+ Operations/Gold Plated Contacts)
- USB 2.0 Passthrough Port
- Headphone And Microphone Ports
- Full N-Key Rollover (NKRO)
- 5 Dedicated Macro Keys
- Braided Cable With Gold Plated Plugs

CONS

- Single Color Key Illumination
- Interchangeable Anodized Aluminum Plate Cost (For Some)