INTRODUCTION

   Even though the PC peripherals market is overflowing with gaming keyboards it's not that easy to find a full sized model that combines Cherry MX mechanical switches with a long list of features and a rather affordable price tag. Like if things weren't difficult enough already it's even harder when you're looking for such a keyboard manufactured by a popular and established company which gamers can trust. Thermaltake expanded into the PC gaming peripherals market several years ago with the introduction of their Tt eSPORTS brand which thanks to its high quality and performance products didn't take long to take its place right next to other leading gaming peripherals manufacturers like Logitech and Razer. However, in a surprising move early last year Thermaltake released the X1 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard into the market not under the Tt eSPORTS brand name but their newest TT Premium one and today we're taking a closer look at it.

   The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   The X1 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is currently available in two "flavours" one with the linear Cherry MX RGB Silver Speed (which is also the version we'll be reviewing today - up until 2017 these were exclusive to CORSAIR keyboards) and one with the clicky Cherry MX RGB Blue mechanical switches (both have a lifespan of up to 50 million actuations). As expected, since the Cherry MX RGB Silver Speed switches have an shorter/lower actuation point and require less force compared to other models (1.2mm with 45g actuation force) they are primarily targeted towards gamers looking for speed (up to 40% faster according to Cherry) whereas the Cherry MX RGB Blue switches (2.2mm actuation point with 50g actuation force) are mostly for gamers who also type a lot. Other features include per-key RGB illumination (12 different effects and 5 pre-configured game genre modes), N-key rollover (NKRO), dedicated media controls, audio and USB 2.0 pass throughs, detachable magnetic wrist rest, six onboard profiles, 8 extra red keycaps and compatibility with Thermaltake's RGB Sync system (automatically sync the color and effect of all your RGB products by Thermaltake) and with Amazon's Alexa (an smartphone app from where you can easily control aspects of the keyboard like its RGB effects is also available).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The X1 RGB is placed inside a black box that has a product picture at the front along with the type of switches used and the company logo.

At the bottom of the box we find the technical specifications of the product.

Four large pictures placed at the rear of the box are used to showcase the 4 main product features.

The keyboard is wrapped inside a synthetic cover and placed between a large piece of cardboard.

Along with the keyboard and its detachable wrist rest (once again we forgot to place it in the picture) you will also get 8 extra red keycaps, keycap puller, quick installation guide and the warranty policy paper.

THE X1 RGB

The X1 RGB is a medium sized keyboard that measures 464.98mm in length, 170.52mm in width and 40.39mm in height (without the magnetic wrist rest).

Once again, we see the floating keys design used for easier cleaning and brighter keys.

The company logo/name is placed on the top left corner right over the ESC key (and yes, it's part of the RGB lighting system) which can also be used to reset all settings to their factory defaults.

F1 through F5 are also the windows shortcut keys so via the Fn key you can open outlook, IE, my computer, calculator and the media player.

From F6 all the way to F12 you can change the lighting effects, adjust the speed of the lighting effects, change the colors and switch between static color and effects.

The print screen, screen lock and pause keys (we got the German version of the X1 RGB) can also be used to record macros on the fly, use the default zone backlight mode for the keys and use per-key lighting.

There are also three round buttons just over the lock keys which can be used to enable gaming mode, adjust brightness levels and lock windows keys.

The X1 RGB also has 5 dedicated media keys on the top right corner right next to a volume control roller.

You can switch between the 6 available onboard profiles from the insert, home, delete, end and page up/down keys.

Here we see the Cherry MX RGB Silver Speed mechanical switches.

The USB 2.0 and 3.5mm pass-through ports are all placed at the front of the keyboard.

Turning the keyboard over we see 4 rubber feet and 4 height adjusters.

The small height-adjusters raise the top end of the keyboard roughly 7mm from your desk while the larger ones raise it roughly 13mm.

Bundling 9 red keycaps was a nice touch but it would be even nicer had Thermaltake bundled 4 more for the arrow keys.

The magnetic wrist rest has two rubber feet on its base.

With the magnetic wrist rest attached the X1 RGB width increases to roughly 236mm.

The 1.8 meter long braided cable (actually slightly longer than that) has two gold plated USB plugs on its end and a gold plated 3.5mm plug.

X1 GAMING SOFTWARE

Although most aspects of the X1 RGB can be used directly from the keyboard if you want more control you can download the gaming software from the official product page.

Just like with our sample chances are that once you launch the gaming software it will update the firmware of the keyboard.

From the very first screen you can program any one of the keys with either different key functions, macros, program shortcuts, media playback, mode switching and of course you can also disable them entirely.

You can record macros from the top selection seen above.

The lighting tab allows you to switch between the 12 available effects, change the brightness levels, use per-key illumination, enable RGB Sync (if you have other Thermaltake compatible devices) and of course change the lighting color.

From the above pictures you can see the minimum and maximum brightness levels.

Some of the available effects are showcased above.

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 methodology 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

   Thermaltake has released several good mechanical keyboard models over the years via their Tt eSPORTS brand so when they announced the X1 RGB under their new TT Premium brand I was very interested to see what changed. Well for starters the X1 RGB is among a handful of keyboards released with the Cherry MX RGB Silver Speed by a manufacturer other than CORSAIR and yes, they are indeed faster when playing games (not sure if I’d call it 40% faster however - unfortunately the DE layout required quite a bit of getting used to). Controlling the keyboard both from its keys and from the gaming software is also a plus and honestly unless you like using macros and per-key illumination the software isn’t really needed. As mentioned in the intro page Thermaltake also offers a smartphone app from where you can control various keyboard functions like its RGB system but it’s really not one of its strong selling points (for example in our book the dual height adjusters are far more important). Also, as with most gaming keyboards that feature one the magnetic wrist rest of the X1 RGB may not be as steady as the usual clip models but it’s far more stable than most we’ve seen to date.

   Currently the X1 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard by TT Premium retails for USD127 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 120Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which is balanced for what you’re getting. Of course the X1 RGB may be far from the perfect keyboard (for example for some strange reason the brightness level of some effects is not maxed out and the keycaps used in the lower rows of keys are not as ergonomic as the top - check the above picture for more on that) but it still offers a very good price/performance/features ratio and for people looking for a full sized model with plenty of features and Cherry MX RGB Silver or Blue switches this might just be the one and since we feel it delivers on everything Thermaltake promises it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Full RGB Individual Key Illumination With 12 Effects
- Cherry MX Silver Speed Mechanical Switches (Linear With 50M Actuations)
- Fully Programmable Keys
- NKey Rollover With 100% Anti Ghosting
- RGB Sync & Alexa Compatible
- Dedicated Media Controls
- Detachable Magnetic Wrist Rest
- USB 2.0 & 3.5mm Pass Throughs
- Small & Large Height Adjusters
- Smartphone App

CONS

- Brightness Levels (For Some Effects)
- Lower Key Rows Keycaps (Not As Ergonomic As The Top)