The SteelSeries Apex M750 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review: Set Apart by Software

Conclusion

The Apex M750 currently represents the best mechanical keyboard that SteelSeries has to offer. As a flagship product, this keyboard is designed to characterize the company's vision, embodying their most advanced technologies and features with little regard for the retail cost. SteelSeries is a company known for their high quality but subtle designs, usually preferring practicality over aesthetics. The Apex M750 is the avatar of this concept, with a modern, simplistic design, yet paired with a lot of software-based advanced features.

SteelSeries's Engine software is practically the main feature of this keyboard. It is a very nicely written and presented software package, with plenty of features and options. Most of them are for the programming of fancy illumination effects, but the option to program multiple layout profiles and tether them to specific applications is there, as well as advanced per-key programmability options. SteelSeries could upgrade their macro recorder to be more flexible and to include relative/absolute mouse movements, but we cannot complain about the current state of the software. The only downside here is that the Apex M750 does not have any dedicated keys for profile switching, so either profiles will have to be tethered to specific applications and launch automatically or the user must be switching them manually via the software's interface.

In terms of quality, the SteelSeries Apex M750 left us with mixed feelings. The keyboard itself is well made, with a beautifully machined aluminum top frame and an immaculate assembly. Its electronics are also of top quality, as expected from a product of this tier. The only downside is the SteelSeries QX2 switches, which essentially are a clone of the Cherry MX Red switch. Producing a clone is not necessarily a bad thing, but the difference between the QX2 and the MX Red is quite obvious, with the former displaying much greater key-to-key disparity than the originals. Furthermore, the keys wobble significantly, enough to question the premium character of the keyboard and making the difference between the clone and the original switch all too apparent.

Another problem that the users of the Apex M750 will have to deal with is the lack of any extra media/programmable keys. Resorting to keystroke combinations just to lower the sound volume is at the very least impractical during a gaming session, especially if some of the keys have been reprogrammed to serve other functions. We believe that at least dedicated sound volume controls are a must with a keyboard of this class.

Ultimately, the SteelSeries Apex M750 is an excellent mechanical keyboard that is supported by an even better software package. However, it faces incredibly stiff competition from the dozens of companies offering similar products. If the keyboard sold for the company's suggested retail price of $140/170€, that price would essentially place the Apex M750 out of the market. But in practice the keyboard can currently be found for around $110, a relatively reasonable retail price for an advanced mechanical keyboard. This allows the Apex M750 to be more of a threat towards mid-range mechanical keyboards, and avoid competing directly with the significantly more expensive top-tier products of other manufacturers.