Review on 💡 EVGA Z15 RGB Gaming Keyboard: Backlit LED, Hotswappable Kaihl Speed Bronze Switches by Sergio Guardado

In short: My opinion on keyboards is mostly based on functionality/specs and I might be missing out on some things if that allows me to get better performance, although I don't think this keyboard disappoints me as it does feels when used. Also, having experienced the reduced input lag of an optical switch board, I'll probably never go back to a traditional mechanical one, so I'm stuck in the limited market for a keyboard with an optical/Hall effect switch. I have tried several other optical switch keyboards as more brands are offering them and so far I have concluded that Bloody offers the best performing optical switch boards for my use. Leveraging the functionality of Bloody's optical switches, the Z20 offers better build quality and feel. The Bloody B820 (linear) was my favorite keyboard before, and the reason the Z20 caught my eye was that it's also a 3mm travel optical switch keyboard, of which very few exist. I'm very picky about keyboards with optical switches, which for me can make or break a keyboard no matter how good it is otherwise. I mainly solve very difficult puzzles in precision platform games and play osu!mania. This puts me in the group that will probably benefit the most from the lowest latency/fastest/most stable hardware. For the things I do in platform games I need to be able to input data for at least 2 frames (at least 16-17ms) continuously. I was surprised that almost EVERY other keyboard with an optical switch was limited to a minimum input of 22-28 ms (which actually makes it about half the time I'm typing the lowest input the keyboard is capable of , actually how input 3 is output frame). The reason I liked the Bloody keyboards was that they had no limits and could input data in as little as 1ms which gave me complete control. The Z20 can take input in as little as 1ms, just like Bloody's optical switches, which is more than fine but doesn't really matter as anything under 15ms is essentially useless. The second thing that worries me about optical keyboard switching is how little travel it has. Ever since I experienced 3.0mm of travel I almost can't go back, at least for the keyboard I use for osu!mania; The distance makes a big difference in terms of speed and endurance in rhythm games or in general in any game where you have to knead as fast as possible. The Z20 Linear has 3.0mm of travel, which is incredible, not only because I feel at home with it again, but because so few other brands offer it, and Bloody has been the only other as far as I know. In other games, the small travel doesn't really matter, but it's nice to know that I'm not limited in how fast I can press the keys. of: - Keystrokes are as responsive as other optical switches, very low input lag - 45g actuation force is great for mixing speed/endurance; I wish brands would make switches with less actuation force, but as far as key benchmarks go, this is as low as one could hope for - I like that the buttons are softer to press and have a lower click distance than the Bloody B820 , which I used before. (typing doesn't sound like a rattlesnake to me lol) - 4000Hz doesn't matter for the games I play - don't bother with dedicated hotkeys or media keys - Top Sensor feature is cool but not very important I feel - it rings a key but I can't hear it in the headphones or you'll have to listen to it - I don't usually use wrist rests so I can't tell you how good I think it is. All I can say is that it is soft, soft and made of leather material. RGB looks good with side stripes. The RGB software is more limited than others, but I can get by with any of the standard rainbow effects. (At least it's not as bad as the Bloody software, lmao). The Z20 is basically a keyboard that performs the same as the Bloody B820 but feels better and has many additional features that may or may not be important to you. However, this is the best keyboard I've ever used and I've used it a lot. If you think you need a keyboard like this but don't want to go broke, I'd recommend just getting the Bloody B820.