STEELSERIES APEX M750
A keyboard for those who love life’s little luxuries
WHEN AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS design a new car, they don’t just focus on the tiny explosion box under the hood. Every aspect of design is taken into consideration, every sense of the potential owner checked off. And while SteelSeries hasn’t imbued the Apex M750 with New Keyboard Smell (though, there’s an idea for future editions) it’s covered just about every other base. Visually, for example, it looks absolutely magnificent. Smooth curves have been panel-beaten out of its aircraft-grade aluminum base, though it’s so richly coated that only the weight and overall sturdiness really give away that this matt black slab is made of metal. There’s nothing superfluous or even slightly gamer-centric about its outward appearance; no harsh angles, no obnoxious media keys, just smooth lines, and a standard layout with readable, well-lit keys.
SteelSeries’s Prism lighting system has long been one of our favorites, and it’s in full effect here, with a stack of reactive and wavy RGB functions that can be switched (and stored) on the keyboard itself, or more delicately customized through the SteelSeries Engine software. In truth, many of these are more suitable as showroom demos than anything you’ll want on your desk, but damn if they don’t look impressive for the five seconds you’ll have them active. SteelSeries’s new QX2 mechanical keyswitches, debuting here, are housed in transparent plastic, which allows the light from the upper-mounted LED to bleed through to the bottom, creating a strong glow, even with a black base beneath. They’re designed to be fully compatible with Cherry keycaps, though the included caps (despite their slightly sharp edges) are smart enough that you won’t want to replace them any time soon.
One of the more subtle aspects of motor manufacturing is sound. The engine note, the clunk as you slam the door—it’s all designed just as carefully as the rest of the auto. We can’t help but feel that SteelSeries has done its own audio engineering work on the rattle of these keys. The QX2s are, technically, silent—press them gingerly enough and take advantage of the halfpress actuation distance, and there’s little to no noise. Hammer them in normal typing, though, and you’re in for a true aural treat. It’s a seriously satisfying clatter, which we’d rate above most other keyboards, and even if you really go to town on it, there’s none of the harmonic springringing that plagues some other switches.
Not that these switches are perfect for every user, though. They feel amazing to use and are easy enough on the hands, but more than once we found ourselves resting our digits on the M750’s keys and activating them by accident; that supershallow 2mm actuation depth, coupled with a not quite strong enough spring, makes the QX2 switches unsuitable for the more heavy-fingered among us. Plus, if you’re not entirely deft, the light touch could lead to an increase in inadvertent typing errors. We do try to avoid the clichéd “personal preference” argument in reviews, but this foible of what are otherwise exemplary switches is something to be aware of.
We can’t argue that SteelSeries has gotten everything else right, either. The Apex M750 lacks a few of those luxury options that would really make it a top-line driver. There’s no braided or detachable cable, for instance, and we don’t have supreme confidence in the long-term integrity of the one that’s included. There’s no USB or media pass-through, either. And the height adjustment just consists of an alternate pair of rubber feet, included in the box—sure, this grips the desk and doesn’t let go, but swapping feet is a tricky solution to a problem that was adequately solved 30 years ago by clip-out legs. However, for all the M750’s little issues, SteelSeries has done the big things just right, and satisfied all our senses. –ALEX COX