Verdict
The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless offers all the welfare of a small and riotous play keyboard in a solid overall software . It mix the powers of adjustable actuation point switch that finger great with a functional and space - saving 60 % layout , appealing to the gamer who wants it all . Add to this groovy spirit , bright RGB lighting , and decent battery life , and you ’ve got a glorious keyboard , albeit a rather expensive one .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The past twosome of years have been quite an exciting metre for gaming keyboards .
We ’ve seen keyboards with analog switching that offer controller - like precision , ones with OLED screens and some with adjustable propulsion input transposition . We ’ve also meet small form ingredient keyboard become a cardinal part of mainstream manufacturers ’ merchandise line - ups .
What if I differentiate you there was a keyboard that combine the innovation offered by the current crop of premium table with the small form factor of a 60 % ? Well , SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless look to bring the two features together in one very clever package .
As you might ask , however , it does n’t come cheap – the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless clocks in at £ 219.99 , which in reality make it more expensive than the standardApex Prowe take a look at a while back . Here are my thoughts on whether it ’s merit of a place in ourbest gaming keyboardroundup .
Design
The near challenger to the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is arguably theRazer Huntsman Mini Analog , which I had the pleasure of taking a tone at a few months back , and there are a few similarity .
Both are 60 % keyboards , intend you get a mega space - saving layout , with only the standard alphanumeric keystone and little else . You wo n’t find a nav clustering , pointer key , number tablet , or function row with the Apex Pro Mini Wireless . If you ’re someone propel from a full - size keyboard to a nifty sixty , there will be an adjustment period .
Admittedly , even when I moved from a 65 % down to a 60 % for the purpose of writing this followup , it was a little fiddly : I had to prompt myself not to use the arrow keys that my 65 % keyboard has in the bottom - right corner .
The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless also features an particularly premium build and finger that take care to apologize that high asking price with an aircraft - grade aluminium top crustal plate and a relatively deep chassis that features no deck flex whatsoever .
This smaller wireless gameboard also comes with textured doubleshot PBT keycaps that feel neat under fingers . It ’s nice to see higher - tone flourishes take hold in the mainstream keyboard world , and it ’s declarative of SteelSeries looking to excuse the Apex Pro Mini Wireless ’s gamy outlay at every chance .
fill out the back , thing are kept round-eyed with a USB - C embrasure for charging and a switch that turns the Apex Pro Mini Wireless on and allows you to pick out connectivity either by bundled USB - C receiver or Bluetooth . The underside also houses some rubber pads for keep back the board plant on your desk , as well as two - leg feet for you to raise the typing angle up a bit if you so like .
The feet themselves are made of thick plastic and have a sturdy flexible joint , so you’re able to be sure they wo n’t be coming down in a hurry . The fact that there are two point to choose from keeps things handy .
Performance
The principal draw of the SteelSeries Apex Mini Pro Wireless – much like that of its self-aggrandizing , pumped brother – is the inclusion of SteelSeries clever OmniPoint switches . They feel like pretty received additive switches with an especially placid actuation and a clean keypress , with a quoted actuation force of 45cN.
Where these shift sincerely come up live , however , is n’t based on their force and the flair of keypress but as a result of the clever trickery inside them . They are , in essence , Hall effect switches and show actuations as a magnet is sent down the switch ’s stem to a sensor .
The fact that there is n’t a physical chemical mechanism for impinging is what take into account these switch to have an adjustable actuation point , meaning you could configure how far you have to push a Francis Scott Key before it register an input . The scale at which this can be configured is anything from 5 % to 95 % of the total key travel , meaning you’re able to have switches that actuate as in high spirits as 0.2 mm or as low as 3.8 mm .
The higher propulsion points prove especially useful forFPS gamesin my examination , as I mapped the high points to my WASD keys for movement , so I did n’t have to push the cay down as much to move . This resulted in super - quick movement .
The same also goes for keys mapped for nigh - heartbeat use of grenades or C4 in round of golf ofCounter - bang : Global Offensive . In addition , these transposition back up doubled input when configure in software system , as theRazer Huntsman V2 Analogdoes , so you could push the transposition down to a certain grade and get the initial role and then go to the goal of the travel and get the 2nd . That ’s specially ready to hand if you need to take the air and bend with just one key – as opposed to enabling crouching with a modifier key as you normally would .
The OmniPoint switches are some of the most herculean switches available for PC gaming , specially render how responsive they finger with those adjustable actuation points and the fact that they offer up one of the smoothest keypresses I ’ve experienced on a gaming board to date .
Outside of its clever switches , the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless also offers a wireless connection with much no latency with SteelSeries ’ Quantum 2.0 - enable USB - vitamin C recipient . For added gadget , Bluetooth 5.0is also uncommitted here . Switching between modes is easy with the forcible switch on the back of the keyboard , and both way of connectivity mat exceedingly antiphonal in my testing .
As this is a wireless keyboard , battery life is also integral to its success . The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is quoted to last for 30 hours on its USB - ampere-second radio pass receiver with the nonpayment kindling , and up to 40 hours with Bluetooth . This supply you with a full workings week ’s worth of play before this board will need point .
Software and Lighting
The RGB lighting on the Apex Pro Mini Wireless reckon great . It provides a major splash of color on its mingy - looking black frame and offers a vivacious and stylish sense of touch in the way that a premium gaming instrument panel like this should do .
SteelSeries Engine is the attach to software program to this board , and it bring home the bacon an wide lineament sic . As well as doing more traditional thing , such as remapping Florida key and configuring with lighting , it ’s in SteelSeries Engine where you may adjust the actuations of the switch and assign junior-grade social occasion .
The process for doing so is outstandingly easy : you select a key and drag on a legal profession how far up or down the key travel you ’d like the actuation to be . For three-fold binding , you enable it on a certain winder and pick a elementary and secondary function at separate compass point on the key travel .
The software itself offers a clean and easy - to - economic consumption interface , unlike some of the other computer software I ’ve used in the past that insist on throwing marketing at you even after you ’ve set up the Cartesian product .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
: The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless brings together the might of adjustable actuation point switches and a 60 % layout in an amazing computer software .
While it may be an amazing premium small - layout keyboard , the Apex Pro Mini Wireless is expensive . If you want a more low-priced choice , you ’re ripe off look elsewhere .
Final Thoughts
The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless has all the makings of an amazing premium gambling board , with adjustable propulsion point switches , a reliable and convenient wireless connexion , and gorgeous looks , too , specially with its vibrant RGB lighting .
The £ 220 price form it an expensive selection , however , and in this mood , that ’s backbreaking to ignore . But , as the old saying goes , you get what you pay up for – and the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless packs in so much it might just justify that price .
Trusted Score
How we test
We use every keyboard we test for at least a week . During that time , we ’ll check out it for ease of use and put it through its paces by playing a variety of different genres , including FPS , scheme and MOBAs .
We also check each keyboard ’s software to see how gentle it is to customise and mark up .
FAQs
No , the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless does not have arrow samara .
