Steelseries Apex Pro TKL 2023 Review

When it comes to mechanical keyboards, the Apex Pro TKL 2023 stands out as a game-changer. In this comprehensive Steelseries Apex Pro TKL (2023) Review , we delve into the intricacies of this compact mechanical keyboard, highlighting its remarkable features, build quality, and customization options that set it apart in the competitive keyboard market.

Design It looks and feels great

As a writer, my connection with keyboards is profound. I’ve had my fair share of mechanical keyboards, each offering a unique typing experience. However, my affair with the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL has been nothing short of love at first type. Unlike my previous keyboard, the Razer Ornata V2, which sported a mix of mechanical and membrane switches, the Apex Pro TKL introduces me to a whole new world of typing satisfaction with its OmniPoint 2.0 Adjustable Switches.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

The SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL impresses right from the moment you lay your eyes on it. Featuring a 5000 series aluminum top plate, it exudes a premium look and feel. While most of its construction is plastic, it doesn’t feel cheap in any way. The black keycaps not only look sleek but also effectively minimize light bleed, ensuring that the RGB lighting is visually pleasing without being overwhelming. This keyboard provides adjustable feet with two different heights (three options in total if you prefer it flat), allowing you to find your optimal typing angle. A unique touch is the inclusion of a rubber cover that conceals the keycap puller, a thoughtful addition for enthusiasts who may wish to experiment with different keycaps.

Body Table

Attribute	Specification
Size	TenKeyLess (80%)
Height	1.7″ (4.2 cm)
Width	13.9″ (35.4 cm)
Depth	5.1″ (12.8 cm)
Depth With Wrist Rest	8.3″ (21.1 cm)
Weight	1.62 lbs (0.737 kg)

Adjustable Feet and Keycap Puller

Flipping the keyboard over reveals adjustable feet with two different height options (three if you prefer a flat configuration). These feet allow you to find the perfect typing angle for your comfort. What’s interesting here is the rubber cover that conceals the included keycap puller. It’s a thoughtful addition that makes exploring different keycap options more enticing.

Ergonomics Table

Ergonomics	Specification
Curved/Angled	No
Split Keyboard	No
Key Alignment	Staggered
Minimum Incline	4°
Medium Incline	7°
Maximum Incline	11°
Home Row Height	34.1 mm (1.3″)

Wrist Rest

While the SteelSeries Apex Pro excels in many areas, there’s one aspect where it falls slightly short – the wrist rest. It’s functional, with a rubber coating that feels nice and aids in comfort. However, it lacks the cushioning found in some other premium keyboards. It’s not a deal-breaker, but a touch of extra cushioning would have been appreciated. The wrist rest attaches magnetically to the keyboard, making it easy to remove and reattach. The magnets are robust, ensuring that it stays firmly in place, even when you make small adjustments to the keyboard’s position.

Steelseries Apex Pro TKL OmniPoint 2.0 Switches

Typing on the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL is a revelation. Unlike traditional mechanical keyboards, it utilizes SteelSeries’ proprietary OmniPoint 2.0 Adjustable Switches. These switches offer a linear, smooth keypress experience, with a travel distance of up to 4mm. What makes them truly exceptional is the ability to customize the actuation point.
With a magnetic hall effect sensor in each key, you can adjust the actuation point to suit your preferences, ranging from 0.1mm to 4.0mm in 0.1mm increments. This level of precision ensures that your keyboard responds precisely as you desire. Furthermore, you can customize the actuation point individually for each key, accommodating different typing styles or gaming needs.
The OmniPoint 2.0 switches also support dual actuation, allowing a key to perform a secondary action when pressed further down. This feature has tremendous potential for gaming, such as triggering multiple actions with a single keypress. While full analog control may be beyond reach, this implementation is a testament to the keyboard’s versatility.

Dual Actuation: One Key, Two Functions

Now, here’s where the OmniPoint 2.0 switches get even more exciting. Since they can activate at multiple points within their travel distance, most keys allow you to set up dual actuation. Imagine pressing a key normally at a designated point but triggering a secondary action if you press it further down. For example, in games like Fortnite, I configured the W key to activate normally at 1.8mm but perform an additional action at 3.8mm, making it a breeze to sprint in the game using just one key.
This dual actuation isn’t limited to gaming; you can map almost any action to any key through this second layer of control. While it would be intriguing to have some form of full analog control, this implementation is already remarkably versatile.

RAPID TRIGGER

The term “RAPID TRIGGER” in the context of the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL HyperMagnetic Gaming Keyboard refers to a sophisticated technology designed to eliminate latency or delays that can occur when pressing keys on a traditional mechanical keyboard. In a standard mechanical keyboard, each keypress is registered when the keycap physically makes contact with a fixed point in the key travel. This fixed point is known as the “actuation point.” The actuation point is the distance the keycap must travel downward before the keyboard registers the keypress and sends the corresponding input signal to the computer. This fixed actuation point is the same for all keys on the keyboard.

Steelseries Apex Pro TKL OLED Display

The standout feature of the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL 2023 is undoubtedly its OLED display. Located in the corner of the keyboard, this display serves multiple purposes. It can showcase system information, custom animations, and game-specific content, all of which can be customized using the SteelSeries GG app.
The app takes customization to another level. Not only can you personalize RGB lighting effects, but you can also integrate various apps to display information through the keyboard’s lighting or the OLED display. For instance, a Discord app can indicate voice activity in a group chat, while a system monitor app provide sreal-time CPU, GPU, and RAM usage data. This versatility allows you to tailor the keyboard to your specific needs, be it gaming or productivity.

RGB Lightings

RGB lighting enthusiasts won’t be disappointed. The keyboard offers stunning RGB lighting effects that can be customized to match your gaming setup. Each key on the keyboard is equipped with individual RGB LEDs, allowing for precise control over the color and lighting effects of every key. The RGB lighting system offers a vast palette of 16.8 million colors, providing limitless possibilities for creating unique and stunning lighting setups. SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL comes with the dynamic lighting effects, including waves, color shifts, and reactive effects, which can be customized to suit your preferences. Some games and applications can integrate with the keyboard’s lighting system, providing in game lighting cues, such as health status, ammo, or cooldown timers, for an immersive gaming experience. Users can create and save custom lighting profiles, allowing them to switch between different lighting setups with ease, whether for gaming, productivity, or personalization.

SteelSeries GG

This Steelseries Apex Pro TKL 2023 harnesses the power of SteelSeries GG software. The software boasts an impeccably structured interface, rendering it effortlessly navigable. It extends a plethora of customizable features at your fingertips. Among its array of capabilities, you have the liberty to reconfigure keybindings, craft intricate macros, fine-tune the pre-travel distance of individual switches, and orchestrate the RGB lighting to your aesthetic preferences. Furthermore, you possess the autonomy to calibrate the actuation point of these switches or chronicle macros directly on the keyboard sans reliance on external software. It’s worth noting, however, that specific configurations, notably the bespoke RGB settings, elude storage within the onboard memory, necessitating the software’s persistent presence in the system’s background. Parallel to analogous software offerings by other eminent manufacturers, this software has drawn censure for its penchant for recurrent updates and its voracious consumption of system resources. If your inclinations lean towards leaner software alternatives or a software-agnostic approach, you might discover this software’s resource-intensive nature to be a source of vexation.

My Opinions

My enchantment with the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL was absolute during my time with it. The sensation of typing on these keys, owing to the linear switch and the customizable actuation feature, proved impeccably tailored to my requirements. Furthermore, it maintains a commendable level of discretion while typing, and its overall structural integrity exudes excellence. Some keyboard aficionados might raise an eyebrow at the absence of interchangeable switches, but given the bespoke implementation here, such a limitation appears justified. It stands as the solitary demerit I can summon for this hardware. Excluding its non-wireless nature, which, I must confess, doesn’t perturb me significantly in a keyboard.

My sole dissatisfaction resides in the form of SteelSeries GG, a somewhat bloated application. It is my hope that the company may consider addressing this issue. My desire is for the application to adopt a more modular approach, affording users the liberty to curtail resource consumption according to their specific requirements. Apart from this minor vexation, I hold nothing but adoration for this product, unequivocally ranking it among the finest keyboards I’ve ever had the pleasure of employing.

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