Thermaltake Level 20 RGB Titanium
Fully loaded, and full of flair
OUR FAVORITE FEATURE of the Level 20 RGB is the kitchen sink Thermaltake has thoughtfully included on the underside. Oh ho! No. Just our little joke. There’s no kitchen sink. But that’s about the only modern convenience the company has deemed unworthy of this heavy, huge collection of features masquerading as a keyboard. Really: It is crazy stacked, like the foot-wide Swiss Army knife they keep in that one case at the front of the outdoors store. But this is not just a gimmick. It’s a keyboard. And it’s good.
Let’s get its big annoyance out of the way. There’s a notched cutout, as is the fashion, but Thermaltake has placed it on the front, in line with the top-mounted RGB strip, which separates the main body of the keyboard from the navigation cluster and 10-keys. Sure, this looks great, but it has incredibly sharp corners; depending on the size of your hands and the angle at which you hold your wrists to type, you may find that it irritates your delicate right palm. Reminds you that you’re alive, we suppose. There’s also no wrist rest, possibly because of the awkwardness of that notch.
Apart from that, it’s a cavalcade of features worthy of Thermaltake’s traditionally exorbitant Level 20 line. Dedicated media cluster with volume roller? Check. Full RGB? Check. And let’s add a light ring around the base of the keyboard (and the aforementioned topmounted light bar) for good measure. Game mode and Windows key lock? Psh, of course. On-board profiles? Six, and you can customize them either on the keyboard itself, through the driver, or with TT’s somewhat wonky smartphone app. There’s N-key rollover with antighosting, because of course there is. Would it be churlish for us to moan that there are no analog keys, given that’s the new tech on the block? It would, because analog keys are silly and niche.
The real question is how well this big brown paper bag of features has been packed. We’re happy to say that the bottom of the bag remains intact, and the bread hasn’t been crushed: The combo has been pulled off perfectly. That lighting, through clear-based Cherry MX Speed Silver switches on a matt black base, looks glorious, beaming out lurid brights and pastel shades with equal aplomb. The switches, Cherry’s high-actuating version of its moderately resistant silent Red switches, feel beautiful and act fast, and they’re mounted on a heavy and sturdy case, which offers more than enough stiffness while typing, along with reassurance while thrashing around in games. They also sound pleasant when bottoming out—this could well be the best experience we’ve had with Silver switches yet.
Around the back, we’re impressed (though unsurprised) that Thermaltake has also crammed in both USB 2.0 passthrough and the same for a four-pole jack, meaning you can easily extend a headset—though, if we must pick on something, the wired-in braided cable is thick and unwieldy, and given that we’re starting to see USB 3 keyboards that can carry pass-through with a thinner, replaceable cable, we’d say that’s a notable omission. The volume roller could probably be smoother (it feels a little cheap), and the on-board effect controls, while numerous, aren’t exactly intuitive. Plus points, though, for the ability to hook it up to both TT’s RGB Plus system and, through that, Razer’s Chroma lighting, for those who like their rainbows to be all in sync.
All in all, this is a very decent and accomplished keyboard that inevitably has the features you want. We’re happy to recommend it. If we didn’t feel like we needed every one of these features, we’d likely choose something cheaper (and there’s plenty cheaper), or more special (such as Razer’s optical Huntsman, which we’re still a little obsessed with), but there’s something about having everything that’s attractive.
VERDICT 8 Thermaltake Level 20 RGB Titanium
TITANIUM Absolutely dripping with features; pleasing key feel and sound; great lighting.
WHYTANIUM Uncomfortable cutout; thick cable; slightly confusing.
$150, www.thermaltake.com