SteelSeries 6Gv2 Keyboard Review

Conclusion

So now we’ve established what the visual differences are between the 6Gv2 and the 7G, what are the differences in the typing experience?

None. Absolutely zero. Nil. Nothing whatsoever.

We’ve spent plenty of time behind the SteelSeries 7G and it is as crisp and glorious to type on as it was the first day we had it. The 6Gv2 felt exactly the same the moment we took it out of the box and got typing.

Every key is weighted the same and the quality of the Cherry Black MX switches is emphasised by the consistent actuation pressure needed across the whole layout. This also is a cute segue into the main selling point of the 6Gv2, namely its 50 million keystroke durability.

Going back to our first page we mentioned the importance of a mechanical keyboard in giving a quality typing experience. There are many ways that manufacturers go about the whole business of transferring a key press into a letter appearing on your screen. The cheaper varieties rely upon a rubber membrane which, as rubber isn’t the longest lasting product in the world, very quickly starts to degrade so you end up with the very undesirable situation in which some keys require much larger pressure to activate, assuming they still work at all.

Mechanical keyboards such as the 6Gv2 get around this as every key has its own switch, and in the SteelSeries they are made by Cherry who are famous for the quality of their switches. Now the differences between the types of switch are in the pressure needed to get a key press recognised otherwise known as the actuation weight, whether you get an audible click upon each key press, and if there is a noticeable bump beneath your finger when the key is depressed.

The Cherry Black MX used in the 6Gv2 are referred to as ‘non tactile, non click’. Which is to say that the key doesn’t make a noise when you press it, and feels the same at the start of the key stroke as it does at the end. Whilst it would be easy to assume that by virtue of the amount of travel available, it will be slower and more strenuous to type upon this style rather than the flatter, scissor switch laptop keyboard style. This absolutely isn’t the case as you’ll obtain a successful key press about halfway down. So the combination of the excellent gold plated switches, and standard key layout, actually means you quickly end up typing faster, and with more accuracy than you’d expect.

Of course speed is useless if you have a keyboard that suffers from ghosting. Thankfully the SteelSeries 6Gv2 has such fearsome anti-ghosting technology that you cannot get it to miss a key press.

If you don’t think your keyboard has ghosting either and so this is a pointless feature, hold down both shift keys and then type the alphabet. Go on, I’ll wait. Exactly. Anti-ghosting technology is a seriously important thing.

If there are a couple of little niggles, and they are little, it’s that you’ll need to invest in a wrist rest if you plan on doing any serious typing and that at just under £70 it’s still quite expensive if you look at a glance. However this will last for 10 times the length of time of any standard keyboard, and when compared to most other Cherry equipped typing behemoths (Das Keyboard, the 7G etc) it’s actually cheap.

So all in all we have a keyboard that is every bit as good as any keyboard available today, including its bigger brother the 7G. It’s a keyboard distilled to its purest essence, and that’s delivering a flawless typing experience under any circumstances. Sure it’s not the prettiest girl at the dance, but she can mambo with the best. In the event of a nuclear explosion the only things left will be cockroaches, and the SteelSeries 6Gv2. Highly recommended if you’ve got even the slightest desire to give your fingertips the reward they deserve.

   

Thanks to SteelSeries for supplying the 6Gv2 for review. Discuss in our forums.