Omen 1100 Keyboard
We gotta bad feeling about this
Kailh switches are pretty common in peripherals nowadays and it’s becoming progressively more difficult to tell the difference between original Cherry MX switches and Kailh switches of the same colour. The HP Omen 1100 is the first keyboard we’ve seen from a big manufacturer to feature Greetech keys. Much like Kailh, Greetech makes mechanical switches that emulate Cherry MX switches, but in the case of the blue switches used in the 1100, the difference between the Cherry originals and the Greetech switches is marked. The switches are tactile and clicky, but don’t have the solid feel of the Cherry Blues. The keys feel wobbly, a little squishy and generally a little slow. They are also louder than the Cherry counterparts. We couldn’t fully test for hysteresis, but anecdotally there definitely seemed to be lag between actuation and reset when double tapping keys. It’s not particularly pleasant to use as a result. The choice of switch is unfortunate as the keyboard is otherwise solidly put together.
While not the most expensive keyboard on the market, the Omen 1100 is still seriously overpriced when compared to other keyboards in the same bracket, such as the excellent HyperX Alloy Pro (reviewed opposite), a keyboard with genuine Cherry switches, AV controls and a USB passthrough, three features the 1100 lacks. For their first Omen gaming keyboard, HP have failed to impress, but given the quality of their first mouse and how impressed we’ve been with their new range of hardware, we expect the next keyboard to be a lot better. DANIEL WILKS