SteelSeries 6GV2 Keyboard Review
In most cases, products don’t get critical acclaim for no reason. Some would argue that products get overrated often, but SteelSeries’s 6Gv2 professional gaming mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches is not one of those products. This keyboard kicks ass.
I’m new to the formality of mechanical keyboards, but not to keyboards or gaming keyboards on the whole. When I was younger I actually spent a lot of time wanting the “old-school” original mechanical keyboards (from back when that was basically the only option) to become a thing again as they were much easier to use. Naturally, I leaped at the opportunity to try out and review a Cherry MX Red keyboard from SteelSeries and put their legendary “professional gaming keyboard” to the test.
The 6Gv2 passed. I’d say with flying colors, but the only color I’m concerned about is red, the color of the switches.
Build Quality
The 6GV2 is the most rugged gaming keyboard I’ve ever used. It’s heavy (considered a “heavyweight keyboard,” actually) made of thick, rugged plastic, everything is tightly put together and it has virtually no flex to it.
Plenty of keyboards - gaming or not - I’ve used in the past have been made of cheap plastic, had lots of flex, and/or had a pretty fragile feeling to it. I don’t experience this with the 6Gv2 at all.
The bottom of the 6Gv2 features four very large rubber no-slip pads to keep the keyboard from sliding around, no matter how hard a player’s gaming hands are going to work. Most keyboards feature very small, ineffective grips on the bottom, so this is a huge plus.
The USB cable is a great length. It also is very thick as to not pinch or break, but this also lends itself negatively to me.
The thickness of the USB cable actually becomes problematic for the first couple weeks of use, as the plastic doesn’t want to un-bend from the crease of it’s shipped folding. Instead of having a nice, long USB cable running straight to the back of my desk, it was pointing in many different directions until the cable adjusted to its new form.
The thick plastic has a nice texture to it which also helps avoid fingerprinting or smearing.
The keys feel very sturdy and none are loose.
Compatibility
I ran into zero compatibility issues when using the 6Gv2 keyboard with USB or PS/2, outside of motherboards that simply don’t have a PS/2 port.
Even the SteelSeries button and media keys work with plug-and-play - something most keyboards struggle with even using their own software.
Usability
So how well does the mechanical nature of the keyboard hold up? My inner nostalgia to the old-school keyboards is very satisfied.
Repetitive strain injury is one of many issues that both gamers and regular computer users face. Add that to my weak joints and thin, sensitive hands - many keyboards can be outright painful to use.
Thankfully, the mechanical switches inside the keys of the SteelSeries 6Gv2 make typing much, much easier. Taking easily half the effort or less to press each key, using a mechanical keyboard takes some getting used to, but it’s well worth it in the end.
Gaming, of course, produces the most repetitive motions of them all. With my fingers constantly on WASD, my left hand typically is in a lot of pain after long gaming sessions.
Surprisingly, I have yet to experience this feeling at all whilst gaming with the 6Gv2 mechanical keyboard. I think this is the first time in my life I can put a few hours into gaming in a shooter or similar genre game and not want to tear off my left hand fingers.
I do still experience wrist pain and discomfort while using it, though - but this is most likely due to a pre-existing condition and could likely be combated with a proper wrist rest.
With typing, however, the lightness of the key presses can lead to many typos and losing track of what is being typed. From what I hear, Blue mechanical switches take the mechanical keyboard one step further and makes typing even better with solid response and feedback on key presses, so I can’t wait to try those out next.
Conclusion
Overall, the SteelSeries 6Gv2 pro gaming mechanical keyboard is a very powerful keyboard. It’s rugged, heavy, durable, and very easy to use. Its only downfalls really lie in the stubbornness of the USB cable and getting used to using it - with using mechanical switches for the first time and not having the Windows key on the left when it’s actually expected.
This keyboard has replaced my primary desktop’s keyboard and will continue to hold that position until a keyboard with MX Blue switches makes itself available to me.
If you’d like to check out the SteelSeries 6Gv2, you can find it here: http://amzn.to/1i5NPO5