Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard

Not quite premium

The naming of the Advanced and Pro keyboards from Alienware sounds a little topsyturvy to us, but the pro is a more appealing prospect, even though it costs $80 more. One of the problems we had with the Advanced keyboard remains with the Pro – the wrist rest is an optional extra that costs more – but it does feature backlighting. It also features the same Kailh Brown switches. Rather disappointingly, although the top plate of the keyboard has a metallic sheen, it’s just different coloured plastic. The build quality is still good, but for the price of a premium keyboard some aluminium for added rigidity isn’t much to ask. The only real change to the overall design of the Pro is that the three volume buttons of the Advanced keyboard have been replaced by a scroll bar and mute button. It’s a nice change but is it enough to justify the price tag?

Like the Advanced, the Pro has a nice, slightly stiff, tactile feel. The switches are good as is the key spacing. The AlienFX RGB lighting is bright and looks good and the macroable keys are easy to program. All in all the Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard is a good gaming keyboard, but as with the other Alienware branded peripherals, it’s priced at a point too high when compared to other similarly featured keyboards, like the MK750 and X1 RGB (both reviewed this issue), and isn’t as premium featured as many similarly priced keyboards like the K95 Platinum, Blackwidow V2 RGB, or Steelseries Apex M800. Also be warned, if you are on Windows 7 you can’t use any of the drivers for the keyboard as they only work on Windows 10. DANIEL WILKS