Best mechanical keyboard 2020

The hyperx alloy elite 2 also features hype
rx's own mechanical switches. It uses rubber dome switches that have a tactile bump and a fairly high pre-travel distance, which can help reduce typos but isn't ideal for a responsive gaming experience. The typing quality is only decent, but at least it should be quiet enough for noise-sensitive environments. It also offers media control with the scroll wheel and button on the top-right. With half-weight keycaps, the switches return to their original position very fast, not to mention they won’t click and clack as loudly as most mechanical keyboards.

The heart of this keyboard are those switches after all, which provide a ton of tactile and audible feedback with each key press. That makes it a poor choice if you're working at home in close quarters, but it's wonderful for banging out word after word on your own. That was the question I tried to answer in our feature on whether mechanical keyboards are good for gaming, and how they became popular in the first place. Beyond the lighting, you're getting a solidly constructed keyboard with a steel frame, dedicated media controls, room for three on-board profiles, usb passthrough, and even compatibility with ps4 and xbox one.

Most gaming keyboards worth their weight in gold use mechanical switches. A mechanical switch is simply one where each key is matched up to its own spring loaded switch.

You’ve heard of hot-swappable keyboards where you can easily swap out the switches in case you want to try something new, but steelseries have taken an entirely different approach with the apex pro. They call it ‘the biggest leap in mechanical keyboards since the invention of the mechanical switch’ and while that’s a claim that’s incredibly bold they do serve up some neat features with this board. And you’ll find a lot to love even below our best gaming keyboard, the corsair k70 rapidfire. That doesn’t have to mean picking up a budget mechanical keyboard just for the sake of it, either. A well-built mechanical is undoubtedly the best gaming mousekeyboard  out there, but the redragon k552 comes out top for budget gaming keyboards, and it offers great mechanical switches for the lowest possible price. The xtrfy k4 tkl is one of the best mechanical keyboards on the market when it comes to gaming, and given its feature set and build quality it's surprisingly affordable at less than £100.

These switches are preferred for their great tactile and audio feedback. Now, when it comes to switches, the leading company is cherry, which makes the mx line of switches. These switches are identified by their color and include the mx black, mx brown, mx blue, and mx red switches, among others. Each switch is designed slightly differently to give a different sound and feel when typing or gaming. We don't see the wrist rest or dedicated media keys that we see on more expensive models, but given the price that's a pretty reasonable omission.