Tt Esports X1 RGB

A big slab of goodness

If it weren’t for the existence of a Tt Esports mousepad, the X1 RGB would be more aptly titled the XL RGB. It’s a big keyboard – full-sized with a large bezel on each side, a fairly large magnetic wrist rest and dedicated AV keys and controls for game mode, a Windows lock and lighting. The thing has a footprint that takes up a large part of a desk – 465 x 170 x 40mm ( approximately). Despite the fact that the keyboard is much bigger than we usually prefer our keyboards to be, we can’t but help sing the praises of this well-built board,

Rather than offering the full range of Cherry MX switches (or Kailh switches that have appeared in previous Thermaltake keyboards), the X1 RGB instead focusses on two – Cherry Blue clicky switches, and Cherry Silver speed switches. As clicky switches are banned in the office we instead opted to grab a review model with the speed switches. The shorter throw and actuation point of the speed switches make the keyboard feel fast and premium, an idea backed up by the rock-solid build quality. In addition to the regular keys, the X1 RGB also features six dedicated AV controls, including a volume scroll wheel. The keyboard also features a handy USB passthrough as well as a headphone passthrough. As the name suggests, there is also some fairly excellent lighting that not only comes with 12 preset modes, it can also be controlled through a mobile phone app. On that front the keyboard falls a little short – if you’re an iPhone user then you’re good, but if you’re on Android then it’s traditional lighting controls for you. DANIEL WILKS