Creative BlasterX Vanguard K08

Not entirely imPRESsed

PRICE $ 229.95 au.creative.com The

Siege M04, the new gaming mouse from Creative is excellent, but it’s a fairly safe first stab at the mouse market. With the Vanguard K08, Creative is not playing it safe. Not by a long shot. Rather than opting to go with the well-known and widely accepted keys of a brand like Cherry or Kailh, Creative has instead opted to work with switch maker Omron to create their own unique mechanical switches. The PRES keys (Perceive-React-Execute Switch) have an actuation of 45g - the same as Cherry Brown and Red - but a throw distance of only 1.5mm. It’s a linear switch so there is no mechanical actuation point or noise; it’s just straight up and down. The feel of the switch is a little hard to describe. It feels somewhat similar the excellent Romer-G switch from Logitech, but are a little stiffer and springier. If you didn’t know the switch was mechanical you might think that it’s a good example of high end scissor membrane. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but not necessarily what you want from a mechanical switch.

The body of the keyboard is plastic but very sturdy, and the row or macro keys down the left hand side immediately identify it as a gaming keyboard. To the right are some good, straightforward media controls that appear to be compatible with just about everything you can throw at them. As expected with anything labelled gaming, the Vanguard K08 features RGB lighting that can be customised through drivers. Not a bad first stab at a gaming keyboard overall. DANIEL WILKS