The SteelSeries Apex M750 is a top-of-the-range gaming keyboard that’s built with custom mechanical switches and individual-key lighting that doesn’t cease to impress. With a simple design, but complex lighting, the Apex M750 is priced at just the exact price one would expect for a peripheral of its caliber.
For gaming tasks, the keyboard performs exceptionally well. It’s highly reliable and features a solid construction. One thing that, however, stops it from being the absolution choice is its weakness when it comes to typing.
Design
The Apex M750 is designed with floating keycaps, thus making cleaning tasks simple. This also helps to showcase the lighting effects through and below the keys. The backlighting is truly incredible.
The SteelSeries Engine equips the keyboard with a wide range of customizable lighting options, including individual key colorization, simple static lighting, as well as a combination of stacked lighting effects.
The remainder of the design has a simple feel. Beneath its keys, the board incorporates a fairly dark aluminum back plate. Durable plastic is also used. The sides incorporate small metallic plates, though nothing concerning the visual design would make the keyboard unsuitable for use in the office. Nevertheless, the mechanical switches and floating key design result in generation of noticeably loud noise. In fact, when compared to the Apex M500 that uses Cherry MX Red switches, the SteelSeries Apex M750 is louder.
Although the backlighting is great, it’s characterized by a rather non-uniform lighting, since the board’s keycaps are lit using an LED directly above the keyswitch. Lighting on some of the keycaps is dimmer because light is blocked by the switch stems.
Unfortunately, the cable simply sticks out through the rear of the board. There’s no cable routing below it. While the bottom includes swappable rubber feet for angle adjustment, a better option would have been to use foldable legs. The lack of labels on the Scroll lock, Caps, and Num lights is also a concern.
Performance
The mechanical switches included in the Apex M750 prove to be reliable for gaming. They’re similar to the Cherry MX Red switches, though some users find them somewhat touchier, stating that they sometimes actuate even from light touches. After some hand recalibration, however, the reliability of the keys should improve. The board’s full N-key rollover works well.
SteelSeries’ Engine Software is responsible for a good number of the keyboard’s features, which enable custom lighting. This introduces per-game lighting profiles that prove useful to users who like to switch between many games or are not yet familiar with some popular titles. It features pre-made profiles for Rainbow Six Siege, PUBG, Overwatch, and more. The incorporated profiles help to illuminate only the keys one needs. Different colors are designated for different features, tools, or actions within the games.
Generally, the SteelSeries Engine makes customization more user-friendly, by including various options that are simple to switch between and view via a live preview.
Since the Apex M750 uses key switches that are more or less identical to the Cherry MX reds, they’re bound to present the user with some difficulty when it comes to typing tasks. Nevertheless, in comparison with the M500, the keyboard’s keys don’t wiggle so much. A few of the larger keys, for example Backspace, Enter, and Space feature distinct sounds, something that contributes to confident typing. However, the excessively small guide bumps present on the Num 5, F, and H keys don’t leave much to be desired. They make it more difficult for the user to orient their fingers.
Conclusion
There’s absolutely no doubt that the Apex M750 is an excellent gaming keyboard. It’s both reliable and boasts of great aesthetics. Moreover, the incorporated sturdy construction aids to boost confidence in the peripheral. It’s certainly a gaming keyboard worth recommending. Click here to read more informative keyboard reviews.
