If you're a PC gamer, you're likely familiar with the likes of Razer, Corsair, and Logitech who offering gaming keyboards and other related solutions. But if you lot're a true calculator enthusiast, allow alone a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, so yous enter into a unlike territory of high quality niche players. Das Keyboard is arguably the most renowned brand inside this group.

We reviewed the first revision of the Das Keyboard back in 2008 and we still have that same device working perfectly in ane of our office's computers. With that kind of reputation, Das built a following and many other players started to notice. Even so equally competition has cropped up and the playing field has leveled with reputable manufacturers relying on trusty switches from the likes of Crimson MX, the industry feels a flake stagnant.

Case in betoken, nosotros reviewed the concluding iteration of the Das Keyboard (iv Professional person) in 2022 and that remains the company's get-to offering for most enthusiast users. Over the years Das has brought u.s. a few other offerings, like the Prime thirteen or the gaming-oriented X40, though for a while we've also been waiting for their "next big thing." They appear it on mid 2022, with a Kickstarter to build the first "cloud-connected" keyboard. They also said they would work with Nihon-based Omron to build the best possible and about durable switches, that would differentiate them further. Finally, the claimed those keyboards would exist set to ship by January 2022, only plain that did not happen.

You might recall a couple months dorsum I reviewed the Wooting 1, the first of its kind analog mechanical keyboard. Despite a few flaws, I loved the device, and I was fascinated by the engineering science behind it. I bring this up, because in a ocean of good, bad, and great keyboard offerings, claiming yours is unique is condign next to impossible. So we see this "cloud-connected" functionality as Das' endeavor to offer something unique that appeals to its post-obit of PC ability users.

The new Das Keyboard 5Q and the X50Q, both promise a similar level of innovation as the "globe's first smart keyboards." The company claims the keyboards were designed to heave productivity and "[stream] information from the Internet" directly to a user's fingertips. But what does that mean exactly? Those are certainly some lofty ambitions, simply do the keyboards deliver? Nosotros'll cover that soon.

Design and Feel

Earlier getting into the real meat of this slice, I should hash out the build quality of the keyboards. If yous've always purchased gear from Das Keyboard in the past, y'all probably already know what to await with the 5Q and X50Q. Both keyboards feel very well-built, courtesy of what I assume to be an all-aluminum top plate, a firm plastic bottom, and a heavy-duty braided cable.

When I attempted to bend and twist the keyboards, they were both surprisingly resistant to my manipulations. To that end, while I don't recommend testing this for yourself (the folks over at Das are probably shaking their heads as I write this) it does seem like both the 5Q and X50Q could withstand a off-white amount of abuse before their functionality would be diminished. Naturally, information technology's all-time to avoid dropping or otherwise damaging your keyboards in the starting time place, but accidents practise happen.

Moving on from general build quality, how practice the keyboards themselves feel? In a word, fantabulous.

The 5Q and X50Q both feature Das Keyboard's Gamma Zulu key switches made past Omron. Das says these switches feature ane.5mm travel times, faster spring dorsum, and 100 meg actuation lifespans (twice as much as Cherry's). They're also transparent in lodge to piece of work best with RGB lighting. Though the switches are mostly identical between the 5Q and the X50Q, Das claims the 5Q has a "Real Time One" (RTO) ms response time, which the visitor says is faster than the X50Q. I can't comment on that myself, even so, as the difference between the 2 wasn't noticeable for gaming or writing.

In trying to pinpoint an industry equivalent -- say, one of Cherry's MX switches -- for the Gamma Zulus, they certainly feel great to type with. When given a choice, I go for a firm, loud, and clicky key switch, like Red's MX Blue, just the Gamma Zulus are softer and much closer to the MX Brown'south. If you want to geek out on switches, actuations and other such details, this comparison nautical chart should give you a complete answer on where the Gamma Zulus stand.

The 5Q and X50Q switches are remarkably repose, which I'm not too used to coming from clickier switches. Even when I took off my headphones, the sound they made quickly faded into the background, and with them on, keystrokes were nigh inaudible.

Despite my complaints, my typing accuracy did increment substantially compared to what I was capable of with the Wooting ane, which was my daily driver for many months. Whether or not that'southward a result of moving away from the one'southward analog switch technology, I cannot say.

From a design perspective, the Das 5Q and the X50Q are pretty similar to i some other. The 5Q is the more serious of the two, while the X50Q is more gamer oriented and comes with an additional set of WASD textured keycaps (silver with cherry highlights). Otherwise, the most notable differences between the two are the wrist rests and the book wheels -- these double as "Point" carte hotkeys, more on that later.

The Das 5Q has an ultra-comfortable, rubberized magnetic wrist rest but a bulky, hard-to-utilize volume punch. Past dissimilarity, the X50Q has a smaller, grippier volume bike that I plant much easier to handle, but it also has an underwhelming plastic wrist rest. In that location's one last pattern element I should mention: the X50Q has several foreign plastic rivets jutting out from effectually the keyboard. I don't see a purpose for them other than to wait more "gamer," but they're a fleck unpleasant to wait at and disrupt the artful of what is otherwise a pretty attractive piece of tech.

Cloud Connectivity: Innovative or Gimmicky?

With my thoughts on the keyboards' pattern, immovability, and switches out of the way, we can go to the major selling bespeak of these keyboards - the internet streaming features Das boasts virtually. These features piece of work much the aforementioned across both keyboards - users are able to adhere custom alerts to their device's diverse keys by integrating their keyboard with IFTTT and Zapier via the "Das Keyboard Q" customization software.

I won't get into details about IFTTT or Zapier in this review, just the gist is that they allow yous create custom "if this, do that"-blazon commands that trigger an activeness -- in this example, a keyboard alert -- based on a pre-adamant criteria.

For example, the keyboards can alarm you when you've left the garage door open (I didn't test that one myself), when your favorite streamer goes live on Twitch, or when ane of your colleagues mentions you lot in a Slack message. You tin can even prepare your keyboard to tell you lot when a package has been delivered or when the president sends out a Tweet. Think Bone notifications see RGB keycaps.

With the ability of IFTTT and Zapier, users tin can hands create their own custom "Signals" that integrate with a wide multifariousness of services, including various email clients, Discord, websites similar YouTube, and much more than.

To create a signal, visit Zapier or IFTTT to choose a trigger, attach it to a specific central, and so choose a colour and lighting event to get with it. Das has helpful video tutorials that explain the entire procedure in the "Getting Started" section of their website. Equally an case, though, you could make a blinking bluish Signal appear on your "W" key whenever someone mentions yous on Twitter.

If you lot happen to miss an warning, or you accept several active at once and you don't want to check each one individually, the X50Q and the 5Q's volume wheels double equally notification buttons. Only press the button down, and it will open the Signal Center, allowing you lot to view all active and past alerts. All of these functions are bang-up for a while, and the possibilities are extensive, but I'grand not sure how much utilise the average user would go out of them.

Is it actually necessary for your keyboard to tell you lot when y'all've received a new e-mail when you could accept two minutes to open up Gmail and cheque for yourself?

Information technology's not but limited use cases that drag the Q-series keyboards' cloud features downward - their implementation could as well apply some work. The bug begin with the 3rd-party integrations the Das Keyboard Q software suite requires in society for its unique features to function.

To set up anything but the most elementary alerts, you lot're going to need to visit the dedicated websites for IFTTT and Zapier, create dissever accounts (in addition to a Das Keyboard Q Cloud business relationship) for each of them, so create custom Signal integrations within said accounts. This may non seem like a large deal at beginning (the websites are fairly easy to utilise), but information technology starts to experience like a flake of a juggling human activity the more you employ the features. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't typically like to make more than than one business relationship for a newly-purchased product.

Additionally, when my Slack bulletin notification Signal started acting a bit buggy and began triggering even when none of my colleagues had typed anything, I had to dig my way through Das' slightly-disruptive software interface likewise as Zapier's website to figure out what was going on. After about 20 minutes of frustration, I realized the Indicate was triggering off of old letters I'd already been notified near hours before.

To fix it, I had to visit Zapier's website, delete the integration, and then recreate it. I haven't had any issues since, but it was still an abrasive situation. Being that Zapier and IFTTT are clearly essential in order for users to become the full experience from their 5Q or X50Q, how can Das improve the state of affairs?

Ideally, I'd similar to see a Signal creation menu within the Das Keyboard Q app itself. If users must sign upwards for Zapier and IFTTT (which many probably won't take consequence with), they should at to the lowest degree not exist forced to visit the tools' websites every time they want to brand a new Signal. However, I'm not sure if that'southward technically or legally feasible for Das to pull off, then I suppose I won't hold my jiff.

Customization Software

Cloud connectivity features bated, let's talk in more full general terms about the Das Keyboard Q software interface. Both the 5Q and the X50Q offer full RGB backlighting, and it's far easier to customize information technology within Das Keyboard Q than it is to create signals using IFTTT and Zapier.

All you have to do is create a new RGB contour and suit each key's lighting to your eye'southward content. It'due south even possible to change the colors of the two calorie-free bars built into either side of the keyboard. They're hard to see during the twenty-four hour period, just at nighttime, they look pretty neat.

The color customization of the 5Q and X50Q is about equally robust as you'd await for high-cease keyboards, just its held dorsum by its small selection of "Active Effects." For now, users just have access to breathe, ripple, "laser," color bicycle, and inwards ripple effects. However, that's something that can exist expanded upon down the line as more users offering their feedback to Das.

From an aesthetic perspective, the backlighting quality for both the X50Q and the 5Q is to a higher place-average. The lights are vibrant, and you tin toggle through 10 brightness levels using a dedicated hardware key. Frankly, there isn't much in the way of feedback I can give Das about its software, perhaps calculation macro customization down the line, as well as an RGB "painting" feature like Wooting's Wootility software offers.

Closing Thoughts

Nosotros've covered a lot of ground at present, so it'due south a good time to summarize my thoughts on the Das 5Q and X50Q.

First, if yous're wondering why I haven't made many distinctions between the two keyboards throughout this review, information technology's because at that place but aren't that many differences to begin with.

Ane of the key selling points of the devices, the cloud features, have been fun to experiment with, but in their current state, I don't call back they'll appeal to anyone but the most hardcore users, due in no small part to the headaches associated with setting upward Signals. Power users and hardcore gamers might observe the features intriguing plenty to await past their faults, whereas a casual user probably wouldn't apply them at all. Ultimately, I feel similar the 5Q and the X50Q are trying to solve a trouble that merely doesn't exist at the moment, though it'll be up to users to figure out what potential uses you could requite to this kind of keyboard-based notification.

Looking across this characteristic, the build quality of the keyboards is almost plenty to justify their price tag alone, and if you are interested in the technology Das offers here, either of the keyboards might exist worth a purchase. Just to reiterate, I found the difference betwixt the two keyboards to be almost indistinguishable. If you tin can bargain with a downgraded wrist rest, and slightly different styling you can't go wrong with the X50Q either.

So, in the cease, are the keyboards worth the coin? Information technology'southward tough to say, because their value is largely dependent on how much utilize you think you could get out of the cloud features. On top of that you lot have Das' latest and greatest hardware however, new exclusive switches that are non just good merely should be super durable, and full RGB lighting (with optional bare and translucent keycaps) which is kind of unique for a Das production. On the other hand, no USB hub, a downgrade from the two USB 3.0 ports found on the Das Professional four.

The Das Keyboard 5Q is currently priced at $250 and the X50Q is $200. You tin can pre-club the keyboards right now.

Pros: Typing experience and build quality are top notch. Key switches feel smashing and solid, are unique to this Das serial. RGB backlighting is very good.

Cons: Not a big fan of the cloud connectivity features, and the cost is a tad high as a result. No USB hub.