Unboxing: Strix Tactic Pro Gaming Keyboard

A single keystroke can easily mean the difference between winner and loser.  Having a smooth framerate and lag-free connection to the network is all well and good, but do you have absolute control over your game?  If you ran directly into your enemy's knife unarmed, or watched your whole army being slaughtered because your front line of defense stood there like stunned mullets; then no, you do not have absolute control.  Here's something to help you with that, today we open up a Strix Tactic Pro to have a gander inside.  The box follows the Strix theme with black and orange.

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Just holding the box and you can tell it's much heavier than the average keyboard. It's as heavy, if not heavier, than some other keyboard and mouse combos out there just by itself. There's nothing worse than a keyboard that moves while you type on (or bash) it.  That's why this keyboard has been engineered with such sturdiness and fitted with 8 rubber feet, so it will stay where it should be.  The rectangular feet are large enough so that over time they won't fall off either; a wobbly keyboard may lead to a broken keyboard.  Inside the box you will also find the warranty, user's guide, software disc and orange WASD keys along with the tool to change the keys, if you wish to do so.

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As you run your fingers over the keys and begin to type quickly, the sturdiness of the keyboard combined with the smooth and thick texture feels like that of a fine piano.  The keystrokes are sure and definite, the space bar is well-balanced and works flawlessly even if you press on either end, this is because this keyboard employs full Cherry MX mechanical switches. You are offered 4 choices of mechanical switch types: black, blue, brown or red, choose according to your favorite game, preference of whether you like your keys to be linear, tactile, clicky or non-clicky, or depends if you want your boss or mum to think you're working extra hard.  These keys are not only ideal for gamers, but also durable, with a life-span of 50 million keystrokes; that's around 10 times the life-expectancy of conventional keyboards, in other words; it's gonna last so long you can pass it onto your grandkids (if USB is still around then).

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There are four orange keys and a key removal tool included in the box, so you can swap out your WASD keys, like so:

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Strix Tactic Pro utilizes N-Key Rollover (NKRO) technology over USB, so your actions per minute (APM) has been maximized with the help of anti-ghosting capability, which registers up to 100 keys simultaneously (so, practically every one), maybe now we can find out what your cat is trying to tell us while it occupies the keyboard. If people start to complain about your flawless victories there is the NKRO/6KRO switch, you can prove to them that you can still win even without the Tactic Pro advantage by switching to 'older' 6 key roll over (6KRO).  An orange outline lets you see quickly the NKRO key plus some other useful keys which are not as close to the action.  Multimedia keys can be accessed quickly when somebody is at the door complaining about the neighbourhood sounding like a war zone. If you have better concentration in the dark with less distractions.  Strix Tactic Pro offers three different levels of key back lights and a breathing light mode to remind you to not to hold your breath too long. There are macro keys in three different areas surrounding the WASD keys.  It  has 13 dedicated and easy-to-reach macro keys, and you can also re-assign F1-F8 keys to use them as macro keys for a total of 21 one-touch commands.  There are 10 standard left-side macro keys to bind complicated commands, or simple short-cut keys for programs when not gaming.

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Three thumb-access macro keys are under the space bar for twitch-action.  There is a small bump on the middle thumb button for reference (like the F and J keys) so you never need to look down.  On the right on the space bar there is the Macro Record button to record your new macros on-the-fly, even delays can be recorded or preset for perfectly-timed moves, complicated combinations, taunts, commands, messaging, victory dances, possibilities are endless. F1 to F8 keys can also be used as macro buttons.  And above these F keys are the profile, mode and NKRO indicators.  You can configure up to 3 profiles (P1/P2/P3), The Game Mode (G) disables the Windows button to prevent accidental o-my-g-NNOOOooooooooooo.  The Macro Mode (M) enables the F keys to be used as macro keys.  There is also the Recording Key (Rec) for on-the-fly macro configuration.

 

 

Just like the new Strix Claw gaming mouse, the Tactic Pro offers a choice of software or plug-and-play hardware modes.  Which means the macros and profiles you have meticulously configured go wherever you take your keyboard, regardless of what computer your are using.  There's not need to reconfigure or settle for gaming without the feel of your own keyboard.  You can save up to three profiles using the on-board 4MB memory, if you save them in hardware mode.  In software mode, you can create as many profiles as you want and link them to specific programs, so that when you open the program; the specific profile will be loaded automatically.

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The 180cm braided cord with the gold-plated USB connector matches the Strix Claw mouse. The keyboard, mouse and mouse pad come in the Strix theme colours, as shown below. Game on!