A lot of mechanical keyboards struggle with aesthetics. It’s hard to get right! If the styling is overdone, you might inhibit functionality or just have too much going on visually. If you stick to the basics, you might end up with a bland keyboard. Whichever way you go, there’s still a chance you’ll get it wrong and have something that doesn’t look good.
But there’s been an influx of really well-designed keyboards of late: Keychron’s K2 HE Special Edition is a great example, along with the Mchose GX87 Ultra, not to mention the countless high-end custom keyboard kits available today. With most of these keyboards, keycaps take a backseat—even if they look good, they’re usually fairly standard and minimal.
Asus takes the opposite approach with the ROG Azoth X: A simple white case, but colorful and stylized keycaps. It’s not the most conventional design, but they look really good and manage to liven up a desk without taking over your setup. This keyboard manages to look good without sacrificing substance—the Azoth X has 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, 1,000-Hz polling, and an internal assembly that makes it both fun to type on and easy to modify. It’s available in white with either click or linear NX switches, and includes a silicone wrist rest. All that costs a pretty penny, though, at $300.
Deep and Snappy Typing
Photograph: Henri Robbins
This keyboard is most comparable to Razer’s BlackWidow V4 75% in typing experience. Both use a metal top case and a plastic bottom case with a gasket mount system and a plastic plate. The stiffness is similar, as are the sound profiles. The biggest difference is the switch options: Razer’s 75% keyboard is only available with tactile switches, while Asus offers linear and clicky switches.
The unit I received came with Asus’s Snow linear switches. These are a fairly light linear switch with a deeper typing sound and a consistent smoothness throughout the entire keypress. They aren’t the smoothest switches I’ve tested, but the friction felt when typing is both minimal and consistent, resulting in a typing experience that’s still enjoyable. These switches also have minimal stem wobble, meaning keypresses feel stable and confident when typing. They require less force than a Cherry MX Red switch, requiring 53 grams of force to fully bottom out compared to the MX Red’s 60 grams. This difference is noticeable and makes the switches feel more responsive without as much risk of mis-inputs compared to a truly lightweight (sub-50g) spring.
The gasket-mounting system that holds the keyboard in place feels like a mix between a gasket mount and an o-ring mount, since the rubber gaskets are pressed tightly into the inside of the case. This means the typing feel is consistent across the entire keyboard, and feels more connected to the case compared to a standard foam gasket. It still has some of the bounce and softness expected from a gasket mount, but it is less than many comparable keyboards.
The stabilizers in the Azoth X are standard plate-mounted, lubed from the factory. While plate-mount stabilizers are typically going to feel less stable than PCB-mount, the ones used here still feel good and have no rattle out of the box.
Space-Age Aesthetics
Photograph: Henri Robbins
There are a lot of things I like about the design. The keycaps are slightly flatter than the average keycap and have a two-piece assembly with a transparent back for RGB diffusion. The case has a sleek and angular design that looks stylish and space-age without taking up a lot of room.
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