SteelSeries Shift Keyboard and Keyset Review

Up Close

The Shift is definitely a full-size keyboard coming in a sturdy box that has all the SteelSeries hallmarks of black and grey, with a burnt-orange hue for the model title. It’s as instantly recognisable as a Coke.

On the rear SteelSeries have done a great job in getting across the major elements of the Shift. After all the ability to just pull your keyboard off isn’t something the average person will be used to, and it does open a world of possibility.

      

Inside we have the standard SteelSeries guide and driver disk alongside a sticker for those who wear their hardware affiliations with pride.

The Shift itself is definitely a big boy, with a plethora of configurable keys. Thankfully for the vanilla keyset SteelSeries have kept a standard layout so it will stand up perfectly well as just a keyboard, should the current choice of keysets not tickle your fancy.

      

The media keys are on the left which is very handy. Most of the keyboards have dual-purpose media keys which involve holding a modifier and pressing an F-key but the Shift has a dedicated set within easy reach. Above the F-Keys are a bunch of keys you can set to anything you desire without having to take away assignments from other keys. A nice touch.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now the split in the space bar. This will become clear on the next page.