Logitech G512 X 98 Review: A Hybrid Mish-Mash

Well-built. Responsive tactile switches. 8,000 Hz polling. Extensive customization. TMR Switch compatibility.

Hybrid power conception is impractical. Complicated setup. Not arsenic streamlined arsenic a dedicated Hall Effect keyboard. Only includes 9 analog switches. Rubber rings don’t emulate tactile feel. Typing connected mixed switches is unpleasant. Gimmicky plan choices.

We each remember the toys that tried to bash excessively much. The RC car with flashing lights, wailing sirens, flip-out weapons, and a spring-loaded rocket launcher—you cognize the one. That’s however the Logitech G512 X feels to me.

This gaming keyboard tries to cram successful so galore features, and astir each of them consciousness a spot half-baked. The fig of features gets successful the mode of the wide design. It’s a mechanical keyboard, with optional analog switches, and the switches besides person rings that marque them tactile, and the keyboard has built-in tools to swap retired your switches connected the fly, and the switches are held successful a small lawsuit connected the backmost of the keyboard.

I tin admit that this keyboard is attempting lick a occupation that plagues analog keyboards, but, its solution ends up creating conscionable arsenic galore caller problems.

Confused Concept

The Logitech G512 X 98 isn't a modular gaming keyboard. It's a precise pretty, stylish keyboard successful its ain right, with options for achromatic oregon achromatic with bluish accents—but what makes it unsocial is each nether the hood. As Logitech puts it, the thought present is to support the velocity of analog switches with the consciousness of mechanical switches. The largest regulation of analog switches, arsenic seen successful Hall Effect keyboards, is that they are astir ever linear, meaning there's nary tactile bump to archer you erstwhile a cardinal has triggered. Because the actuation region of an analog power tin beryllium freely adjusted, simply having a static tactile bump tin make a mismatch betwixt the “feeling” of an input and the existent input. Inaccuracy defeats the full constituent of a keyboard similar this.

Logitech’s solution is simply a hybrid keyboard: Every cardinal has the carnal hot-swap socket to judge a mechanical switch, portion immoderate besides person the sensor for an analog switch. Rather than a Hall Effect analog switch, Logitech is utilizing Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) switches, which usage magnets to execute adjacent higher precision. This means, for immoderate of the dual-purpose keys, you tin freely swap betwixt a non-customizable mechanical power with tactile feedback, and a customizable analog power without tactile feedback.

But that's not all. If you besides privation your TMR switches to besides person a tactile response, there’s a solution for that, too: The G512 X 98 besides includes a fistful of tiny rubber rings that spell betwixt the keycap and the power to make a faux tactile bump. When you instal this ringing and property a key, the keyboard (in theory) detects them and automatically adjusts the actuation constituent of the power to match. This tin beryllium utilized to make 2 chiseled inputs with 1 switch: One earlier the ring, and the 2nd aft it. But these rings consciousness thing similar a accepted tactile bump. Instead, they relation much similar a stopper. You can property further erstwhile you’ve reached the ring, but the stiffness means it doesn’t make overmuch carnal feedback erstwhile pressed. It feels similar you’re pushing your digit against dense rubber.

(Interesting note: There person really been rubber inserts for converting linear switches into tactile switches for a while. These were utilized keyboards manufactured by TG3, which are recovered successful EMS vehicles, and are sometimes compared to Topre switches. Older forums notation to this arsenic the “Raincoat mod” erstwhile installed connected enthusiast keyboards, but it’s go progressively uncommon implicit the years.)

When it comes to the mechanical switches themselves, you person the enactment for either linear oregon tactile, and the portion I received came with tactile switches. They’re comparable to a Cherry MX Brown, with a longer, rounded tactile bump that starts astatine the precise apical of the keypress, and a important magnitude of question region aft the bump. The full keypress is reasonably smooth, and the bump is somewhat pronounced without being assertive oregon fatiguing. These are immoderate of the better-feeling switches I’ve tested from a gaming-focused manufacturer, though they hardly basal retired compared to enthusiast-focused tactile switches with a much chiseled bump. They yet consciousness similar a neutral mediate crushed that volition beryllium usable for a ample fig of users with antithetic preferences.

The dependable is thing to constitute location about, being neither bonzer oregon offensive. Each keypress, with a flimsy top-end, muted mid-ranges, and precise small successful the debased end. The astir important dependable aft the power has been released, erstwhile it impacts the apical lodging of the switch. Nearly each of the stabilizers rattle to immoderate degree, with the backspace cardinal being the astir significant. I would realistically comparison the dependable of these switches to older Cherry MX switches, but lower: Both person a akin code that is palatable without having important absorption connected acoustics.

Underneath the keycaps, the sheet has a purple c fiber-like people connected it. Despite this, it appears to beryllium made from heavy ABS plastic. This creates a reasonably stiff typing feel, with a tenable magnitude of flexibility for typing.

While thing peculiar successful immoderate azygous metric, I similar these switches. They’re comfortable, dependable good, and supply capable feedback to beryllium responsive erstwhile typing. Keystrokes are smooth, and they drawback backmost rapidly erstwhile released. I tested them successful a fewer rounds of Counter-Strike 2, and recovered them to beryllium arsenic responsive arsenic immoderate different tactile switch. While you bash suffer a spot of velocity from the added absorption of a tactile bump, this besides provides a amended consciousness of erstwhile the power really registers successful input.

Going Analog

You could surely conscionable usage this arsenic a accepted mechanical keyboard, but what makes it unsocial is the quality to person immoderate of the keys to analog. Swapping to TMR switches offers actuation region adjustments, accelerated trigger functionality, and multi-input, each nether the “Analog Switches” tab. Along with this, Key Priority—Logitech’s sanction for Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Direction (SOCD) adjustments—is located successful the Analog Switches conception of the menu, but it is besides (mostly) usable with modular mechanical switches.

Actuation region is the astir applicable and self-explanatory mounting of these switches, allowing for a power to registry an input higher oregon little on the keypress. This functionality is what makes an analog power functionally antithetic from a mechanical switch.

Rapid Trigger, meanwhile, allows for an analog power to rapidly alteration the actuation constituent based connected a key’s absorption of movement. This means you don’t person to merchandise the power past the default actuation constituent to property it again, and instead, pressing the power astatine immoderate constituent volition impact the input. This allows for faster inputs and, arsenic a result, much responsive inputs. When this exertion archetypal came out, I loved utilizing it successful Titanfall 2 for incredibly precise and method parkour. While I haven’t played galore caller games that necessitate the aforesaid level of question (Marathon and Apex Legends are the lone ones that travel to mind), the added responsiveness is ne'er a atrocious happening to person — adjacent basal movements similar strafing and platforming payment from much responsive inputs.

All that is large successful theory. The occupation is successful the execution. To swap immoderate of the keys to analog, you’ll find a transparent screen connected the backside of the keyboard that holds 9 TMR switches. Each of these tin beryllium removed and swapped with 1 of the keyboard’s modular mechanical switches.

Meanwhile, wrong the keyboard, determination are a expansive full of 39 TMR sensors. This means, astatine immoderate fixed moment, you tin lone usage 25% of the analog sensors wrong this keyboard. And of those 9 switches, it lone comes with 5 rings. This feels particularly unusual erstwhile the instrumentality connected the backmost is reasonably tiny compared to the keyboard’s width.

The deficiency of included analog power ends up being my main gripe. In astir each crippled I played, I recovered myself regularly utilizing much than 9 keys (WASD, Shift, Ctrl, E, R, and F were my go-to switches), and adjacent for games that lone utilized that many, I regularly had to reconfigure wherever the switches were to lucifer antithetic default power schemes. This meant utilizing some tactile and linear switches simultaneously clip became inevitable. That ne'er felt pleasant.

The modulation from analog switches backmost to mechanical isn’t perfect, either. When you plug successful a mean power and property the “scan” fastener to reset the board, the multi-input functionality inactive stays semi-functional. In my testing, wherever I acceptable a WASD half-press to beryllium the mean letter, and a afloat property to beryllium [Shift + WASD], pressing immoderate of those keys and a 2nd cardinal instantly aft would origin the adjacent input to harvester with the Shift input, resulting successful wOrdS with raNdOMly capitaLized letters! The strangest portion is that the G-Hub app knows erstwhile a mechanical power is plugged in, and gives you an alert that the multi-input won’t enactment with a modular switch, but it doesn’t default to the key’s modular input to debar issues.

The tedium of swapping retired switches, scanning, and changing keymaps each clip you commencement up a crippled is not ideal. I recovered myself groaning astatine the prospect, and utilizing lone the mechanical switches for gaming. Much similar glasses with modulation lenses, the BMW i8, oregon a McRib, this keyboard creates a hybrid mentation of 2 things that is, crossed the board, worse than its idiosyncratic parts.

One bully interaction is that the removable angled feet connected the underside of this keyboard besides relation arsenic keycap and power pullers. If you’re traveling with this keyboard, you’ll ever person these tools with you. But it besides means, if you don’t similar utilizing your keyboard astatine an 8-degree angle, you’ll person awkwardly-designed power and keycap pullers sitting connected your desk. The mild added convenience of part-time retention is obscurity adjacent arsenic applicable arsenic the modular flip-out feet and abstracted keycap/switch puller that astir keyboards contiguous include. It’s besides not arsenic applicable arsenic Steelseries’ silicone flap to fell a keycap puller.

Internal Assembly

If you’re expecting a keyboard of this caliber to person a analyzable interior assembly, you’re close connected the money. Taking it isolated involves removing the bottommost feet and the backmost sticker, removing a fewer screws, removing the backmost panel, unscrewing different twelve screws, past separating the beforehand and mediate sections, aft which you’re near with 4 large components: The apical shell, the main assembly of the PCB and plate,, the mediate ammunition (which houses the LED bar, on with the daughterboard lodging the USB-C larboard backmost buttons), and the bottommost shell. While disassembly is reasonably lengthy, I really rather similar the assembly. Besides the adhesive feet, everything seems incredibly rigid and well-designed internally. The lone existent betterment would beryllium replacing the integrative screw posts with heat-set metallic threads.

I was amazed to find that some the mechanical and analog power components were located side-by-side connected the aforesaid PCB. That unsocial feels similar a method accomplishment, since these sensors often privation to beryllium located straight underneath the halfway of the switch.

The G512 X uses Kailh hot-swap sockets, which are 1 of the amended options connected the market. I’ve recovered them to beryllium much durable than immoderate different options connected the market, and if 1 does fail, replacement sockets are wide available.

Another astonishing item is the fig of foam layers wrong of the case. I counted 4 abstracted layers crossed the full keyboard, with sections betwixt each portion of the case. Alongside the modular foam layers, determination is besides a gasket mount-like design: Small integrative tabs extended from either broadside of the plate, surrounded by a rectangle of foam padding that isolates the internals from the case. While this isn’t a existent gasket equine (the halfway of the keyboard is inactive supported by integrative posts), it provides isolation compared to an wholly coagulated mount.

Questionable Quirks

I inactive similar the halfway conception of this keyboard. I often kick astir analog keyboards’ deficiency of power customization options, and this strategy provides immoderate relief: Even though the analog switches themselves are caller and uncommon, they tin easy beryllium swapped retired for immoderate of the hundreds of aftermarket mechanical switches available. Plus, the dual-switch exertion is truly awesome from a method standpoint. The physique prime of this keyboard is besides truly impressive. Everything is robust, and disassembly — portion tedious — inspires a batch of faith. It’s genuinely a well-built keyboard.

There are a fewer sore spots and quirks with the keyboard’s bundle and hardware. The switch/keycap pullers arsenic feet are strange, and the bundle has a fewer bugs that tin beryllium irritating erstwhile swapping betwixt switches.

The extremity effect conscionable doesn't adhd up for me, particularly considering the deficiency of included analog switches. While a instrumentality to the drafting committee whitethorn beryllium warranted, the conception is bully capable that it deserves a instrumentality to the drafting committee alternatively of being forgotten about.