SteelSeries Apex Pro HyperMagnetic Gaming Keyboard - Black

When a rogue Win 10 update took out my Gskill KM780 RGB unexpectedly, I had to pull the trigger fast on a new KB instead of having to endure using my spare membrane board. After a solid day of research, I took a chance on the Apex Pro. Coming from Cherry MX Browns, I had some reservations about OmniPoint. The Browns have a tactile point which I liked. I had tried MX Reds, and wasn't a fan of the linear feel. With these Omni switches being linear, I was unsure but somehow compelled to pass on the Apex 7 with MX Browns and go Pro. TBH, I was half expecting to return it. Needless to say.... I was surprised when I hooked this up! First off... dat switch. Wow. SUPER smooth. The inherent scratchiness of linear MX switches is GONE. It feels like the keycaps are just sort of floating over the brushed aluminum base. The adjustment ability is unique compared to most mechanical boards, bringing a true Hall Effect switch to people. (Look up Hall Effect... gets a little complex for explanation here, but very cool) Actuation can be adjusted from a light brush on the keys (probably overkill) to making the switch bottom out completely. This can also be done on a per key basis. Lot of range to play with! Another key strength... the RGB lighting. Its nothing short of fantastic. The raised caps let the bright and vibrant lighting spill over the board itself, creating a very cool and clean lighting effect. Even for those who don't much care about RGB lighting, it's very tastefully done here. Typing is unreal. I spent 15 mins just typing random weirdness on a word doc just for them feels when I first hooked it up. And for some reason, I find myself with a lot less errors compared to old board with the Browns. I'd commonly get keypress duplication (as if I held the key down) with that switch, and with these Omni switches, it doesn't happen anymore. Of course, these Omni switches are much quieter than the tactile Browns given their linear nature. Not much bad to say here. Some minor gripes would be somewhat "meh" software from Steelseries and the keycaps being ABS instead of something like double-shot PBT caps. The latter feel much sturdier and more premium, and I suppose one could buy some PBT caps if it was a huge issue. Not sure how that would affect the lighting though. The small B&W OLED screen in the upper right doesn't add much in reality, but its kind of a geeky fun thing that you can customize with whatever you want. It does have some functionality with brightness and other features, which is nice to have versus having to use the software. Also, only the primary keys have Omni switches. All the F keys, num pad, and extra function keys are on a generic linear switch that feels good enough. Would be nice to have all keys on omni switches, but it makes sense from a cost perspective and isn't a big deal to me. All in all, fantastic keyboard that towers over my old Gskill in every respect. I really wish MS terrible updates hadn't bricked old board, but I guess things happen for a reason. If you have the cash and want a great analog-based mechanical keyboard with adjustable hall effect switches.... this is the one for you. Very hard to fault this board. Steelseries done good here.

I got this and a Rival wired mouse for my son’s birthday. He plays a lot of Roblox with his friends and I constantly hear him hammer fisting his desk in anger because his wireless keyboard and mouse would lag and make him vulnerable in shooter games. He was so excited to get the keyboard and mouse. Not only does it look super cool, but you can adjust the actuation of the keys. You can make it so you barely have to touch the key, to fully pressing the key all the way down in order to send the command. The keyboard feels like it's built to last, nice and sturdy, and has a real nice mechanical feel when typing. I pop in every now and then when he's playing a Roblox shooter game with his friends and ask if the keyboard and mouse are working alright. He always tells me they work flawlessly, in fact he said his click speed is a lot faster now. I'm not gamer, but I understand your competition will kick your butt if you're playing with sub par tools. It's been a week and I have yet to hear any angry hammer fisting of his desk.😁 In fact, I was watching him play the other night when a Roblox YouTuber joined his server. He got all excited and said the person was one of the highest ranked players in the game he was playing. He took out the YouTuber several times, but ultimately came in second to him each round until the YouTuber moved on. My son was totally stoked and said there's no way he would have been able to compete with the old wireless keyboard and mouse. Awesome, you don't always hit a home run with presents, but this might be one. If only it would make him excited to do his homework.🙄

This keyboard is great. It's good for typing or gaming. The whole board feels well made and solid, I think it'll last a while. The dual USB (one connector for keyboard and one for USB passthrough) is a bit thick and stiff, but not unmanageable by any means. The programmable keys make a HUGE difference when going between typing and gaming, and with the Steelseries software it's extremely easy to set up. I went into it assuming the programmable keys were more of a marketing gimmick and never actually intended on adjusting them...but that changed when I realized that they're definitely a feature I'll use. The RGB is nice and bright and very customizable with the software. Lots of options for colors. Something to note, they board turns on/off keys white when active (caps lock, num lock, etc stay white when on). This confused me at first, I thought the LEDs in my NumLock key were broken because it stayed white. Definitely not an issue, but not a feature that's pointed out anywhere either. The OLED screen is the one part of the keyboard that I'll admit, while cool, is a bit gimmicky. It does have it's use for sure, like changing saved profiles without the software, but it's not necessary. It's a neat little addition that allows another level of customization, but I feel Steelseries could have left it off and made they keyboard $10 less or something. It gives the "pro" keyboard a premium feel, but seems wholly unnecessary once the "neatness" wears off. Overall it's a great keyboard, definitely a purchase I'm glad I made. If the board holds up, which I think it will, I'll definitely look into other Steelseries products in the future.

This keyboard has it all. I played around with the sensitivity settings of the keys and it is day and night. If I want the slightest touch to activate it then it works. If I want that mushy feel it does it also, that is just awesome how you can adjust the travel of the keys. The LED colors are also very good and they have fun settings. Like for instance if you press a key I have my keyboard to give the affect of a splash effect so the other keys ripple away from the one I depressed. The small LCD screen is good enough to read and I hope in the future they build off of that. The palm rest is good, but I can see that it attracts everything. So wiping it down from time to time is a good thing. I was asked how to keep the gaps of the keys so clean? A paint brush will get all those food particles, dust and anything else out and it is gentle on the keys. The volume control is great to have and the USB ports are also a good measure to add peripherals. You can change the LED patterns and what they do; lots to choose from. On thing though is that if you are not use to seeing no indicators of CAPS on or Number Lock ON then you will need to get use to this keyboard as this is handled by color. Caps on will have the CAPS button turn white. When it is off it just becomes what color your scheme is. Same with numbers lock. It is not cheap, but if you are gamer and love keyboards like this then it is worth the cost; I am loving it.

i have two main gaming systems i spent about 6k on each both were using (other brand) k95 keyboards, i had to replace one with one of their newer keyboards and after about a month 5 of the new cherry mx silvers its came with started to double press each time i pressed one,was not a problem with gaming as they were not in the wasd area but was hell to type with... this new board with these new switches are just amazing i can not recommend this keyboard enough if you want the best of the best,they feel a bit smoother then cherry mx switches but have about the same resistance but you can adjust the actuation point on them so that your barely have to touch them or make it so you need to bottom out good for typing,i tend to leave mine right in the middle and they are perfection. About my only gripe with this board is the little Oled screen on it its pretty much useless as it is,i mean it can be handy at times but you have to open the software each time you restart your pc and activate what app you want to run on it,i just wanted to leave it on GPU temp display..no such luck i have to open their software each time i want it to display that very annoying so i just stopped using that. i would just pretend it didnt come with that little screen and you'll be perfectly happy with the board. i have owned just about every mainstream keyboard you can get and this one takes the cake,give it a try you wont be disappointed.

great keyboard. lots of features. great lighting, letters on the keys arent painted on so they dont wear out. my only complaints: after less than a year, i have failing LEDS, the ESC button is continuously red no matter what. the steelseries app can be quite slow to startup and also isnt very user friendly

Bought one to replace an aging Corsair K-70 Mk.2 RGB. Comparing the two, the Steelseries has easier to use software (less buggy or resource heavy) and the color range and intensity of the LEDs is greater than on the Corsair. The Corsair software seems to allow you to do a bit more with regards to effects, but I am still learning the ins and outs of the SS app. The cons to this keyboard is the LCD menu has various options (like brightness) buried several levels deep and I miss having a dedicated brightness key that I could just tap. Also, for some odd reason the Enter, Tab and Caps Lock keys are not labeled but rather just use symbols. A very small nit to pic but I would have preferred these were still labeled as on other keyboards. I really like the wrist guard with its slightly pliable rubber coating. the keys are sufficiently clicky without being too loud. As for the adjustable sensitivity setting, seems a bit overhyped. I just left everything at the default and seems to work ok but then I am not trying any competition gaming so YMMV. One last comment is with the scroll wheel. It can be clicked or scrolled but I have found that if you try and rotate it away from the edge, it can seem to *stick* a bit. You have to scroll it from just the top edge and then it scrolls more or less freely, but never as smoothly as the one on the Corsair keyboards.

I love this keyboard. Been daily driving this for months now. And I love this keyboard. The customization is amazing but does require steelseries software. But the software is incredible. It comes with steelseries sonar which by itself is one of my favorite computer applications ever. I love the keys. Feels just like a traditional mechanical keyboard but with a more satisfying sound in my opinion. Keyboard is very high quality. I’ve had it for close to 6 months and have had zero issues. Includes a USB pass through which is very handy. The usb cable is super high quality. The included wrist wrest is magnetic for easy removal and ease of use. Just snap it on and it isn’t sliding anywhere. Colors are great. The rgb has endless presets and customization options. Their software isn’t intrusive or bloatware like some companies (razer) I love all of my steelseries products. And I want more!!!

I am writing this after my kid dumped a large mug of chocolate milk on his SteelSeries Apex Pro. He didn't clean it up immediately so it had time to spread. When he tried it, about the only thing that worked was the tilde key. I've been in IT for years so I figured I'd try to clean it up before trashing it. It was already totaled so why not try, eh? Liability statement: If you try to clean a keyboard this way, it is at your own risk. Don't blame me if something doesn't work. So, I decided to take this apart and literally wash it. I was impressed with how sturdy the keyboard is. They have tons of screws that create a strong attachment from the circuit board to the casing. The USB/power cable is anchored really well inside the case. The casing was also very solidly screwed together. There are good protectors keeping the cable from shorting the main board and also good guides for the smaller wires. Some engineers put some time into the design of this and did a good job imho. Taking off all the keycaps was easy. But I found the switches couldn't be removed without dealing with desoldering, etc. which I've never tried before. So they stayed in. After I got the main circuit board removed, I literally washed it - twice. I could see areas where the chocolate milk was dried on the board and it was a bit goopy. I put the board in a large sink with a bit of dishwasher soap and some vinegar and shook it around. There were some areas the milk needed to be scrubbed off with a gentle brush. It was a testament to being a good product since none of the board solders came loose or seemed impacted by the scrubbing. Then I rinsed it well under cold water. I did this twice. I also did this with the top portion of the case which included the led display in the upper right corner. Then I let both dry outside in the heat but not in direct sun for 2 days. I hand scrubbed the bottom part of the case since it had tape that was working as vents or something I didn't want to ruin. I put it back together with very low hopes. Son of a .... if the thing didn't work perfectly. Even the LED screen worked and had retained the memory with my kid's macros and custom mini led screen drawing. So, this review doesn't address all the advertised features. There are many video reviews that can tell you more. My kid thinks it is great and leaves the thing on all night so he can see the leds flashing. His macros work well. The keycaps washed off well. The switches literally were soaked goopy liquid that dried and then in water and worked just fine after proper drying. My kid got pissed off once and banged the space bar hard enough to break it in two but even that didn't hurt the switch or the risers. (Some superglue fixed the space keycap). I'm not an expert in keyboards like this but I can say this thing is a beast, solidly built. For us, this was a great choice. I hope this helps you make a decision on your keyboard. Good luck.

Great and recommend

The Apex Pro.. Right away with the cons.. •price is too high! Unfortunately the Magnetic Switches not across all the switches just the main side which is the Numbers above the letters and the letters and SpaceBar..etc the Functions key are Red Switches. Even the Arrow are red switches. •the Keycaps aren’t Doubleshot and they feel cheap. •I don’t call this a con, but I don’t like the placement of the LED. I prefer the hidden one PCB Mount. The Pro.. •The Magnificent Switches (Magnetic) is Amazing! •The Quality of the keyboard. •the Included Rubber WristRest is Amazing! ••• 3 points for the Key Switches and stabilizers! They feel lubed and the stabilizers I barely can hear Rattling!! I no longer enjoy using my Corsair K70 feels so cheap! I modded the K70 But even with the mods, doesn’t have a chance against the apex Pro. •Plug and play no need for software! I just feel bad i paid this price and it is near perfect! Glad I own a Doubleshot keycaps! feels much better and sounds a lot better!

Ótimo produto, resistente, teclas confortáveis e macias, porém, o ponto fraco é o software que é extremamente bugado e não salva muitas vezes a configuração do teclado, minha recomendação é alterar e fechar o software, não deixa-lo iniciar com o windows e apenas abri-lo quando necessário. O teclado apresenta erros com teclas piscando, é bom dar uma lida na internet de como lidar com eles, tive problemas com o software (teclas piscam azul) e com o hardware (teclas piscam vermelho) e solucionei facilmente, o suporte da Steelseries já é inexistente lá fora, aqui no Brasil então, desiste.

Good Switches for typing and also for Gaming Does everything that Is needed also fun profiles that can be adjusted without needed software updates but software updates make this keyboard even better with the fact that every key that's needed can be individually customized.