Steelseries Apex Raw keyboard (or Apex [Raw] as the company likes to style it) is supposed to be the bargain basement version of its Apex gaming keyboard. It’s hard to tell that by anything except the price.
True, the Raw’s frame is built entirely from moulded plastic. It isn’t as sturdy as metal-backed keyboards — but then, you’re resting it on a table top. Unless you plan to clobber someone or something with it, this is not a major issue.
Nor are there the extra ports one might expect a more expensive keyboard to have; it doesn’t double as a USB hub, nor can you plug your headset into it.
What it does have is a full set of backlit keys (with variable brightness set through software), a clean, low profile set of keys which are extremely comfortable to type on as well as game on, and more macro keys than you’ll need — 18 of them, arranged with six down the left and 12 at the top of the keyboard, plus a couple of diagonal movement keys between the main keyboard and number pad.
There are no pre-built profiles for the macro keys but it’s pretty easy to record or write your own once you download the Steelseries software. No coding skills are required.
The keyboard’s tilt is controlled in a pretty old school way: two enlarged rubber rests are provided to replace the low-profile ones attached to the back of the keyboard in the box.
It’s stylish, smooth, fun to use and about half the price of Razer’s Black Widow, the full Apex and other gaming keyboards. That’s cheap enough that there is simply no need for any PC gamer to continue to wrestle with the office-optimised boards you pick up at the supermarket.
It is rather bigger than a typical office keyboard. Keys are a little larger, which suits my chunky fingers, and there’s a built-in wrist rest which makes the Apex Raw very comfortable to use.
Top marks to Steelseries for spotting gap in the market and moving to plug it.
Steelseries Sensei mouse and Siberia V2 headset
There’s a lovely irony about being asked to review Steelseries’s Sensei gaming mouse and Siberia V2 gaming headphones: I already use them.
So, I dutifully unplugged my regular Sensei and put it in the drawer next to the spare one I keep for emergencies, unplugged the audio-jack version of the Siberia V2 and hung it next to the USB version I keep for dictating on my laptop, and plugged the new ones in.
You know what, I like them just as much as the ones I already use.
The Sensei mouse has a clean, curved profile that sits very easily in the hand. Its macro and resolution adjustment buttons are set into the mouse, making them a little difficult to press in a pinch — but, to be honest, I don’t use the macro buttons anyway.
It also uses low-friction silicon rests which glide across your table top or mouse mat oh so very smoothly — perfect for when you need to make a snapshot to the head.
The USB headset is, similar to its audio-jack counterpart, extremely comfortable to wear. The Siberia V2 is an over-ear model, ideal for using for several hours of night-time gaming, even for a spectacles-wearer such as me. It’s got built-in surround sound, which is very useful for games such as CounterStrike and stealth-shooters.
But I can’t recommend them more highly than to say that these are my mouse and headset of choice.
Steelseries gaming accessories are available in Geekay and other good gaming shops throughout the UAE.