Buying a keyboard is somewhat similar to picking a wife or life partner. You touch them all over, and over time, learn to understand what makes them tick. For that reason, it’s not something you should decide on without experiencing first… Enter Logitech.
During the horrible period of COVID lockdowns and home working, I tried desperately to improve my set-up. I worked through several keyboards, from basic keyboards that were wireless to fancy-looking gaming ones and even mechanical ones on the cheaper end of the price scale. Overall, even as not a great typer, I wasn’t very impressed. As such, I started to look at more expensive options that were reviewed well.
That would lead down the line to buying both wired options (which would eventually become my work keyboard), then getting tired of the wires on my home set-up and looking for something wireless. I spent countless hours looking at Razer products, but ultimately, up would settle on Logitech. Razer makes pretty good products, but they tend to flatter to deceive more often than not.
Ultimately, I decided I’d head the Logitech route, but I was a little put off by the high prices for the G815 and G915. Their prices are high unless they are on offer. At launch, they cost upwards of £150, with the Wireless G915 reaching over £200 depending on the seller.
The Logitech G815
They are a little older now and can be picked up on offer regularly, but the cheapest I could find was a second-hand (also missing a key) version on the G815. The G815 is a low-profile, backlit keyboard with a USB pass-through. I got a great price on eBay (under half of the RRSP) and decided to place my order.
I thought getting replacement keycaps would be easy, but I was wrong. Getting a left shift key, especially in the G815 low profile and UK format, turned into a bit of a search for a needle in a haystack. I eventually found one in white rather than black like my purchase. It stuck out badly, so I quickly searched for anything else in the right colour. Unfortunately, my second search for keycaps would result in a duplicate Windows key, which fitted but still looked slightly out of place.
I love the feel and look of the keyboard, with the beautiful materials used in its build being considered a true highlight. The brushed silver metal and black keys look lovely together, and the wide range of coloured backlighting hights this in all the right ways. The central unit is solid and has little to no flex, and often, this hampers cheaper costing keyboards.
Although hard to replace as they are proprietary, the keycaps feel pretty good during use and have no wobble in their action. One downside, though, is that the second function on the caps doesn’t allow the backlighting to shine through. They are acceptable for use in most rooms, but if you like to game or type in a completely dark room, it’s quite the oversight on Logitech’s part and a disappointment considering the cost.
I’ve got the version with the number pad, but there’s also a TKL (Ten Key Less) version if you’re looking to preserve a little desk space; this version also helps save a little on the cost of your purchase. Another point worth mentioning is the USB wire for the keyboard. The high-quality braided cable is made to last but also makes cable management a nightmare due to its thickness and is a dual USB plug (so the pass-through works).
The Logitech G915
I struggled with this so badly that I’d pick up the wireless G915 version of the keyboard as soon as I could find it on offer. Outside of the lack of USB pass-through, it’s the same keyboard but with much less hassle.
Picking up almost the same keyboard twice clearly shows how much I love everything on offer. Both keyboards have multiple G function keys that can be assigned to whatever you want, an excellent feature for any gamers looking for more options on how they play. The scrollable volume control also comes in handy more often than I expected, and I’d find it hard to have a keyboard without this now in the future.
One place where the keyboards flex their premium feel is in the backlight options. The number of different settings and customisation options is endless, but the Logitech app for doing so, G-Hub, can be a little glitchy. I’m particularly fond of the screen matching option. Here the colours of the keyboard will match choose sample sections of your screen. It can be pretty beautiful in action and creates an emersion in games. Turn off all the lights and it helps games like Cyberpunk 2077 become even more impressive.
The G815 and G915 are both extremely well made and offer a great typing and gaming experience with a huge amount of options for personalisation. Outside of the symbol keys not letting the backlights shine through, I don’t have any complaints. Keep in mind the low-profile keycaps might not be to everyone’s taste, but otherwise, they could be a huge upgrade to any PC set-up. With their prices dropping fairly regularly, I can’t recommend either keyboard enough.