Capsule Review: SteelSeries Apex M500 Gaming Mechanical Keyboard
by E. Fylladitakis on June 10, 2016 10:00 AM ESTConclusion
I always try to use every keyboard that we review as my personal keyboard for at least a week. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. I personally prefer Cherry MX Brown or similar (tactile) switches for such tasks, but I do not consider linear switches to be inconvenient either. The Apex M500 was actually a little tiring for such use, not because of the switches but because the height of the keyboard and the lack of a palm rest place a lot of stress on the wrists. It does work just fine for the occasional typing of an essay/report or any other <10-page text with a couple of breaks, but I would not recommend it to professional writers and typists.
The intended market of the Apex M500 however is advanced and professional gamers. As far as gaming goes, assuming that the left wrist will require limited movement, the Apex M500 is highly responsive and very convenient to use. Even though it lacks a palm/wrist rest, the Apex M500 did not feel uncomfortable after an hourly gaming session for me.
The software left me with mixed feelings. As I use a few complex macros that include mouse movements and button presses, I had to use a third party macro programming software, compile the macros to .exe files and program the keyboard to launch them as external applications. For simpler macros and layout changes however, the SteelSeries Engine works great. It is a very simple, smooth and stable piece of software that has great potential should the company decides to throw some more resources into it.
As a keyboard, the Apex M500 has a very specific market and design focus. It is minimalistic, without extra buttons, USB ports, or even custom keycaps. In terms of durability however, the Apex M500 is very solid and the high quality of Cherry’s MX switches is widely known. Even though its external body is plastic, the Apex M500 does not feel “cheap” at all, yet it probably does lose in terms of visual prowess and prestige against aluminum-based models. The designer was truly focused on designing a simple, solid mechanical keyboard specifically for gaming.
In summary, the Apex M500 is a durable, no-frills mechanical keyboard that is an excellent choice for casual and advanced gamers alike. Although the macro recording capabilities of the supplied software are limited, it is smooth and very stable. Hopefully the company will invest more on it as they release more mechanical/programmable models, as it has great potential.
The only issue that the Apex M500 has is its very high retail price. SteelSeries suggests an MSPR price of $120 for the Apex M500, which is very steep and has virtually no hope against the competition. We found the Apex M500 currently retailing for $100 including shipping, a more reasonable price, and yet it still has many direct competitors retailing for significantly less. For example, the aluminum frame and Cherry MX based Cougar Attack X3 is currently retailing for just $70, a difference of about 30%. The Apex M500 is a very good choice for a gaming mechanical keyboard, but as keyboards are very much a commodity market, we feel that its retail price needs to be lowered if it is to stand a chance against the strong competition.
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JoeyJoJo123 - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link
>it has nothing to do with blue being *bad* for you, simply that it is less efficientAnd? I already commented that who the hell cares if it's less efficient or not? The absolute majority of people are buying based on looks alone, not because inefficiencies.
versesuvius - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
"Even so, the company was a little late into the mechanical keyboards market, as they opted to focus on advanced membrane-based keyboards instead. Until recently, the company has been offering just one mechanical keyboard, the Apex M800 with their own custom QS1 switches." ....Wrong. SteelSeries 7G was a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX black switches, and was and still is one of the best mechanical keyboards ever made.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4368/steelseries_...
JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
>ISO sized enter keyYeah, nah.
azrael- - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
All Steelseries keyboards, including their mechanical offerings, have, to my knowledge, also been available in US layout. Why anyone would willingly want that tiny Return key is beyond me though.JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
By US layout, I presume you mean ANSI. And secondly, no. the US version of the Steelseries 6G, 6Gv2, and 7G were all offered in the US in the ISO layout.The only thing remarkable is that despite Steelseries being one of the first on the mechanical gaming keyboard bandwagon with the 6G and 7G back in the day (IGN has a review of the 7G dating back to May 16th, 2008, over 8 years ago), this is the FIRST mechanical keyboard they've ever offered with a standard ANSI key layout.
Even after they ditched the ISO layout in the US market, they pushed the awkward double-row spacebar, which again still wasn't standard ANSI key layout.
Why is the standard ANSI key layout important?
Because it's the only keyboard layout that almost every keycap set is almost guaranteed to be offered in. It's incredibly rare to find a full ISO layout keycap set, and even when you can find one, it's much more expensive than a comparable ANSI keycap set.
versesuvius - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link
ISO ("I" as in International)ANSI ("A" as in American) and (I'm freezin', It is 32 degrees)
By the time you come to appreciate decimal based units of measurements and completely abandon the stupid lb, ft, ... and start freezing at 0 degrees instead of 32 degrees you will also come to appreciate the ISO keyboard layouts too.
JoeyJoJo123 - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link
Nah. Enjoy being a third-world country.I'll enjoy my superior keyboard standard, which is adopted by more aftermarket keycap manufacturers than any other keyboard "standard" in the world.
Fleeb - Monday, June 13, 2016 - link
"Nah. Enjoy being a third-world country.""Question: How many countries in the world have not officially switched to the SI (International System of Units), or modern metric system?
Answer: Three - The U.S., Liberia, and Burma. "
JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, June 13, 2016 - link
"Question: Which of the following three countries, the U.S., Liberia, and Burma, are first world countries?"Only the U.S.
I find it cute that third-worlders have a habit on trying to rag on the United States for something as completely trivial as a the popular units used in measurements here. Did you know you can type "160 lbs in kg" in Google and it'll automatically calculate that answer for you? As a US citizen, I know that the math involving measurements is the exact same regardless of which units you use; If I need to transform the units to something else, that's just one extra step after the calculation to get it to whatever units I happen to need.
It doesn't matter if it's megabytes/second to megabits/second, feet to meters, etc. It literally takes less than 10 seconds to transform any measurement from any units to another set of units that's needed for the job.
Oh, and enjoy being a third-world country.
MamiyaOtaru - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link
unlikely.