Steel Series Apex M800 Keyboard Review

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R2662.00

What we think you should know:

Blah. Sam is writing about gadgets again. It says Steel series so she’ll rave about this one. No, I promise I’m going to be a bit tougher on this keyboard.

The Steel Series M800 Apex keyboard is their top of the line offering. The selling factor here is that it illuminates up (a bit like the Razer and Logitech competition). I thought the concept of rainbow lighting on the keyboards was always a bit showy-offish & unnecessary. I’ve always just used a simple blue or red backlight or none at all. I didn’t see the point. But damn did Steel Series make me want one… DAMMIT. I’m going to be strict, strict!

Back lighting aside, the keyboard comes with its own software. It’s stupid. I’ve said it before and I’ll keeping saying it. Unless you’re a professional gamer forced to compete on a different designated setup every other week, you don’t need to save your settings online. Oh, and in South Africa, if your net happens to drop, guess who loses mouse settings? This girl. Sade face.

You can use the software to customise the light on each individual key, which is rad if you have a lot of time on your hands. The presets are pretty much all you need. Why would you want anything other than something that looks like a warp field from Star Trek?

Fully mechanical, but tweaked slightly to give it a softer/quicker response, the M800 feels incredible under-hand. My reactions felt quicker when playing a couple FPS games which would be caused by the hair-trigger response time mechanical keyboards offer. However, that sensitivity will bite you in the bum if you’re aiming to use the keyboard for work stuff too. Keys just need a slight brush over and you’re seeing letters on screen. Don’t even try work on it.

The Steel Series M800 Apex keyboard is a gaming keyboard through and through. It’s bigger than it really needs to be but that can be forgiven because – bigger warp field. I would not suggest picking one up for anything other than competitive gaming, the key sensitivity is just in another world. If you’re a gamer and think your hardware is holding you back – take a look at the M800, drool, wish for it and then slowly back away as you notice the price. Yup, unfortunately this baby is ridiculously expensive.