INTRODUCTION

   If you happen to be looking for a new mechanical gaming keyboard and don't have a specific model in mind then in all likelihood you'll be confused by the massive number of available ones in the market today. A few years ago things would be way simpler but today between all the different mechanical switch manufacturers (Cherry, Kailh, Gateron, Outemu, OMRON, Topre and Matias), single and RGB key illumination, macro keys, dedicated media keys and other somewhat lesser important features things can get a bit tricky. It goes without saying really that price is also a very decisive factor for some people so if you care about that too things will not get much easier. Sandberg has released numerous products in the recent years aimed towards people on a budget so when they released their very first mechanical gaming keyboard called the Hailstorm a while back we just had to check it out.

   Sandberg stands for quality and user-friendliness. If it is important for you that accessories are high quality and easy to figure out how to use, then choose Sandberg. Our ideology "IT is for everybody" is part of everything we do. Since its inception in 1985, private consumers, institutions and companies have benefited from this simple philosophy. Distributors and dealers appreciate the availability, range, simple procedures and the exceptionally low failure rate. Every year over half a million Sandberg products find their way to users in more than 30 countries. Choosing Sandberg means choosing a safe and conscientious product that meets all applicable regulatory requirements. A product manufactured by subcontractors who are committed to following Sandberg's Code of Conduct to ensure decent working conditions and reduce the environmental impact of the production and waste disposal.

   Unlike the majority of mechanical gaming keyboards in the market today (that use Cherry and Kailh switches) Sandberg decided to equip the Hailstorm with the less popular Outemu Blue switches which are certified for up to 50 million actuations, require 30 grams of actuation force and provide both significant audible and tactile feedback (clicky). Other features include a floating key design (easier cleaning), RGB illumination (7 colors selection) for all of its keys with 10 lighting effects, intergrated wrist rest, metal plate beneath the keys for increased durability and several blue LEDs all over its sides (adding to the overall design/looks of the keyboard). The list of features may not be as long as with some other models in the market but since this is the first mechanical keyboard by Sandberg let's take a closer look and see what it has to offer.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The main product features are all listed at the front of the box right next to a large product picture with a storm in the background.

You can open the front of the box to take a look at the keyboard itself as seen above.

A product description is printed at the rear of the box in 24 languages.

I was surprised to see that Sandberg has done a bad job packing the keyboard since as you can see inside the box there are no pieces of cardboard or foam (could be just our sample however).

Along with the Hailstorm keyboard you'll also get two company stickers, quick guide and a mini software CD.

THE HAILSTORM

Measuring 478mm in length, 216.5mm in width and 42.2mm in height the 1.4Kg heavy Sandberg Hailstorm is not a small keyboard.

The floating key design makes it easy to clean the keyboard so this was a good move by Sandberg.

Sandberg has also placed their logo on the upper far right corner.

From the escape key you can reset all lighting options and typically F1 through F8 also act as media navigation keys with the help of the function key (launch media player, decrease/increase volume, mute audio, previous/next track, play/pause and stop). Also worth pointing out is that via the 1 through 5 keys (and the FN key) you can create your very own lighting effect (or just choose specific keys to light up with specific colors).

F9 through F12 can also be used to launch the email program, internet browser, open my computer and launch the windows calculator.

You can turn off the lighting of the keys entirely from the Print Screen key.

Switching modes and colors is very easy and can be done via the insert and delete keys (with the FN key of course).

Brightness levels are controlled via the up and down keys (increase/decrease) while the speed of the effects is controlled by the left and right keys (slow/fast).

There are several LEDs placed around the keyboard which unfortunately feature a single color, blue.

Here we see the Outemu Blue clicky switches.

Moving at the base of the keyboard we see 4 rubber feet and two rubber coated height adjusters.

The hailstorm height adjusters raise the top end of the keyboard 14mm from the desk.

Sandberg has used a 1.8 meter long braided cable with a gold plated USB plug.

CONTROL SOFTWARE

You can either use the bundled CD to install the bundled control software or download it from the official support page.

This is a single page software from where you can load each of the 3 available profiles, enable/disable key illumination, select one of the 10 lighting effects, change the speed and brightness levels of the effect used, choose one of the 7 available colors, restore the keyboard to its factory state and record macros.

Here we see the Hailstorm with its key illumination disabled.

Minimum and maximum brightness levels are showcased above.

We also wanted to show some of the available colors and effects.

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

   I was quite intrigued when the Hailstorm arrived in our lab but after testing it for roughly 10 days I can’t say it left us with the best impressions. First of all Sandberg says that the wrist rest is rubber coated making it softer and more comfortable. Well our sample had nothing of the sort since the wrist rest was just two pieces of plastic. Now I don’t know if Sandberg changed the end product after sending the sample over to us so I will ask for a new one and will update this review if that’s the case. Right now however things are just how we described. Luckily build quality is quite good (although we’ve obviously seen higher quality ones), the Outemu Blue switches feel quite sturdy (although way too loud for my taste) and its brightness levels are very strong. Unfortunately although the Hailstorm is marketed as an RGB keyboard that’s only partially true since you can only choose a total of 7 different colors. I don’t know why Sandberg didn’t make a color palette available with their control software (perhaps it’s not supported by the LEDs used?) but it would be great had they done so. Another good feature would be to allow the end user to adjust the color of the surrounding LEDs either individually or tied with the color of the keys. Again we have no idea as to why Sandberg chose to skip on that.

   One of the things that have elevated Sandberg products over the years is their very aggressive pricing policy something which I’m afraid doesn’t apply for the Hailstorm (at least not in the same degree). To be more specific as I type these lines the Hailstorm Mechanical Gaming Keyboard retails for USD87 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 80Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag that lands it right in the middle of a large number of similar models. True you will not find a large number of RGB mechanical keyboards at around the same price point but you will find quite a bit some of which offer more compared to the Hailstorm both in terms of features and quality (some even use Cherry MX switches). That being said overall the Hailstorm is a good gaming keyboard but it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table and although we do recommend taking a look it will probably not be hard for you to get more for around the same price.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality
- Outemu Blue RGB Switches (50 Million Actuations)
- Intergrated Wrist Rest
- 7 Color Key Illumination With 10 Effects
- Individual Key Illumination (Manual Effect)
- Hardware & Software Controlled
- Braided Cable With Gold Plated USB Plug

CONS

- Price (Compared To Its Competition)
- Only 7 Available Colors
- Wrist Rest Not Rubber Coated (Our Sample?)
- Bad Packaging (Our Sample?)
- No Dedicated Macro Keys