Articles by Phil Iwaniuk Phil

Technology

Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL review

Remember when Turtle Beach just made headsets? The days of focusing on making headshots sound orgasmically thwacky are behind this company though, which has expanded its range to flight sim gear, controllers, and even direct drive wheels lately. And, after having acquired the quietly brilliant German innovator Roccat in 2019 and retired the brand name in 2024, it's now putting out gaming keyboard designs like the Vulcan under its own name. That brings us to this Vulcan II TKL, a full-size, tenkeyless board whose design and feature list will be like putting on comfy old shoes to anyone who tried the previous Vulcan, and whose Titan HS mechanical switches offer a really distinctive, linear sensation. Appraising gaming keyboards right now is tough, because it's become extremely specialised. Manufacturers are broadening their ranges to cater to as many preferred tactile sensations as possible, and weighing one up against another really does involve a lot of personal preference. That said, there are a few empirical factors like build quality that help the plight of poor, put-upon reviews like myself. In this case, the Vulcan II TKL makes a great first impression. The aluminium base plate makes this board look and feel much more premium than it is, and distracts you from how much lightweight plastic is used elsewhere. Not that Turtle Beach has scrimped on construction materials: when you press a key, you feel the result of hundreds of tiny design and construction decisions interacting with each other, and it's clear that the majority of those decisions were good ones in this case. As for the precise feel of those Titan HS switches, they're exactly my thing. Smooth, linear, with more resistance than most linear switches, shorter travel, and a wonderfully consistent level of resistance that makes inputting keystrokes feel stable and consistent. If you prefer a discernible 'click' when the keystroke registers, these switches aren't for you. The same's true if you're addicted to that aggressive, thwocky sound. If not, this is a great option. The tenkeyless layout is simple and un-burdened by media controls, but it does feature a clickable volume wheel on the top-right corner which is always a handy addition. When it wore Roccat colours, the top-line Vulcan came with a clear rubber wrist rest which interacted nicely with the RGB lighting emitted from the bottom edge of the board, but at this lower price point there's none of that here. In fact, since the keycaps on this board are shallow there's an 'open plan' look to the RGB, with light spilling between individual keys. That might not be to everyone's taste. Personally, I'm happy with it, and the AIMO lighting tech (which lets you sync with what's happening in-game via the Swarm app) is a fun toy to mess around with. At least for the first few hours you have it. Turtle Beach seems keen to get across that these switches are hot-swappable in the Vulcan II TKL's marketing materials, which means you can not only replace any faulty switches with the three supplied spares, but upgrade the board to switches of your preference without needing to bust out the soldering iron. Your mileage may vary on this one, but personally I don't find this a particularly useful selling point. While a keyboard may technically be 'hot-swappable' in that you can replace keys while it's connected and powered, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to, nor particularly convenient. The design of this particular board makes it quite tricky to actually prize the switches out, so I wasn't moved to experiment much. It's a customisable board in other ways, too. Using the (harmless but mediocre) Swarm software you can save and swap between up to five profiles with macros and RGB schemes attached to them. There's a game mode, which allows you to set a shift key specific to that mode and layer on a bunch of extra input assignments too. Personally, I never find myself using features like the latter. I did play around with some custom RGB schemes specific to certain games, but having this ability isn't going to move the needle much for me as a gaming keeb consumer. And yet after a couple of week of use, I really like this board. And that's largely a subjective thing, because I click—if you'll excuse the excellent pun—so well with the tactile feel. It isn't just that these switches are linear. It's that they're so smoothly, consistently linear at each point of the keypress, and that they're attached to such a sturdy frame, when you consider the price. It might not be big on the cool factor, being devoid of any standout visual differentiators, but it's a shape, size, and sensation that I get along with. While I might be more inclined to weigh up the downsides of this being a mechanical board versus analogue if it were priced higher, at this $120 mark it feels like a sensible spec.

Technology

Razer Blackwidow V4 Low-Profile Tenkeyless Hyperspeed review

It's a tricky moment to be a gaming keyboard. Do you jump on the Hall effect bandwagon to ensure you're bang on trend, and able to deliver that customisable actuation and rapid trigger response all the aspiring pros desire? Or do you stick with tried and tested mechanical keys, which still represent the vast majority of the gaming keeb market but don't offer the same customisation or response times as those analogue switch whippersnappers? Razer's latest V4 incarnation of the BlackWidow—ahem, sorry, BlackWidow Low-Profile Tenkeyless Hyperspeed—sticks in old-school mechanical territory, but pairs that ol' reliable tactical switch feel with low-profile keys that have a shorter travel from starting position to the bottom of the keypress. It can be used wired or wireless, has three control buttons and a clickable volume roller, and the stated 980-hour battery life is impressive enough. But the real crux of this product is the feel of the keypress. Which means it's a very subjective object to review. My review sample's fitted with Razer's proprietary orange low-profile mechanical switches, one of three options which also include 'crisp and clicky' green switches, and a 'smooth and silent' yellow option. That's a decent gamut of tactile options, but regardless of your switch choice, the most salient points that determine your feel are the low-profile design, and the construction quality of everything from the backplate to the keycaps. And I wish I liked that sensation more, but sadly I don't. I find the quiet keycaps a bit loud, and the actuation slightly flimsy, and that's such a shame. Because there are lots of concrete positives about this board, particularly when it comes to the aesthetics. Razer's certainly not alone in the all-black-everything design school, but few brands match the jolly green giant for the visual appeal of that look. It works particularly well in a sleek, compact tenkeyless chassis like this, which is built around a brushed aluminium frame and features a pleasing mix of finish types. Without looking so gamer-y as to tip over into cringe territory, it embodies the look of high-performance hardware. I like the layout, too, from the exact angle and height difference of the key stacks, which feel like they sit perfectly under my hands, to the volume scroller which has an extra click-down input (mute would be the most obvious choice for that). But I'm not convinced that this particular combination of low-profile actuation and mechanical switch feedback tickles the tactile sensors in my brain quite enough to justify the mid-to-high-end pricing. When does low-profile really feel like an advantage? Again, it's subjective. Personally, I find it a lot easier to type with precision using low-profile keys than traditional travel keycaps, particularly when mechanical switches are involved. That means a board like this one really hits the sweet spot for me as an all-round productivity and gaming device that I can use during the workday to write 'nothing from me' in Google Meet chat windows. And then hammer WASD late into the evening in ARC Raiders (who am I kidding? It's still Quake III Arena). In that specific scenario, I've got all the features I'd ask for and—unusually for Razer—no bloat. Just as this model's gone tenkeyless in a bid for a sleek, high-performance physical form, the specs list reflects that same mentality. I've got a wired/wireless toggle switch on the top-left of the board that lets me choose between zero-latency connectivity via the USB-A-to-USB-C cable and very, very nearly zero-latency via Razer's Hyperspeed wireless connection. So, should I get caught with my proverbial lower garments down when the battery gets low, I'm just one USB port away from uninterrupted work or play again. I'm also digging the form factor. Not working in accountancy or playing many games circa 1996 using their default keybinds, I can generally lose the numpad keys without losing too much sleep. And while 60% keyboards often feel too cramped for my fingers, this compact layout remains ergonomic The three control buttons don't offer much of use, truthfully. One is an AI button that feels like the result of someone high up at Razer saying "it needs an AI button!" and a bunch of designers scrambling to try to make some kind of sense out of that demand. I can't really fault their execution of that trend-chasing, nonsensical demand—pressing it brings up a pop-up window within the Synapse app that takes you to ChatGPT or Copilot. It's just that, y'know, nobody needs that button. Another button displays your battery status, which is semi-useful and once again brilliantly executed, turning the number keys into a charge bar when you press it. But not a feature I'd opt for one keyboard over another for, frankly. Finally, there's a universal media button that you can program to do whatever you please with. It's fine. It's absolutely fine. So, when it comes to outright gaming performance, I'm left feeling like the feature set and tactile feel simply meets my needs, rather than exceeds them. Compared to the construction quality and feel of Logitech's own low-profile board family, the G515, there's a subtle but meaningful difference in favour of the latter that makes typing and playing feel just slightly smoother, sturdier, and more enjoyable. And that's before you get into the fact that the G515 RAPID TKL has Hall effect analogue keys which let you customize your actuation point and key priority, while the BlackWidow V4's mechanical keys offer no such functionality. I can't go too hard on that last point. It's a mechanical board, for people who like the feel and reliability of mechanical keys. And it delivers on those terms. But it's priced in similar territory to another low-profile board that does more, so that makes it hard to truly enthuse about.