Hardcore Desktop Chronicles Chapter 287: Flashy and practical, double the experience! ROG night devil mechanical keyboard evaluation!

ROG has recently launched a brand new ROG Nightmare mechanical keyboard, which gives it a stronger performance upgrade under the classic streamlined and neat appearance, in addition to adopting the Gasket Mount structure scheme, 2-inch OLED screen, and 3-way rotation In addition to the switch button, it also provides more advanced gameplay. Then take everyone together to learn more about this keyboard!

First of all, ROG’s e-sports style elements can be seen from the packaging. In addition to product close-ups, there are also product feature marks on the left and right sides, including support for 2.4GHz, Bluetooth, and wired three-mode connection, ROG SpeedNova wireless technology, OLED Screen, ROG NX shaft body, PBT keycaps, Armory Crate software support and other key points.

There are a lot of accessories and they are luxurious enough, including the main body of the keyboard, customized shaft kits, product manuals, promotional cards, and stickers. The shaft opener, lubricating oil, shaft brush, shaft lubrication plate and other items are included in the shaft lubrication kit. From these accessories, we can easily see the rich playability of this keyboard.

The newly-launched ROG Nightmare three-mode mechanical keyboard adopts the classic 75% layout, the appearance design is quite simple, and the value is also quite high. While ensuring the firmness of the keyboard body, it also brings a better visual effect. The first impression of its appearance is that it is exquisite, low-key and elegant, and it looks very attractive. Indeed, appearance is the best weapon to capture players' attention! Although the 75% layout design is compact, it can fully release the available space on the desktop and leave more movable range for the mouse.

In the past few years, the Gasket Mount structure has become the most popular structure in the customization circle or in the mass production keyboard circle. Since it is an inner tank structure without steel structure and screw support, the keyboard can only be occluded by the precision of the upper and lower covers, and with the silicone pad of the inner tank and the bottom case, it can minimize the bottoming when typing on the keyboard sound and cavity sound. Therefore, it is also necessary to calculate the tolerance of the silicone pad during mold opening and multiple proofing. The traditional Gasket Mount structural keyboard usually only has 2 layers of sound-absorbing material, while ROG Night Devil adds an extra layer of PORON foam, which can further It brings a pure sound and even soft percussion feel.

Explosion diagram of ROG night devil mechanical keyboard

ROG night devil mechanical keyboard silicone gasket fixed

Demo animation while typing

In the mass-produced keyboard market, the most common mechanical keyboards used by players are mainly composed of full-size and TKL keyboards, which are keyboards with numeric keypads and keyboards without numeric keypads. For the needs of most players to use the keyboard, in fact, most users may not use the number pad on the right, so the TKL keyboard is becoming more and more popular among players. And this ROG night devil mechanical keyboard is a typical 75% layout design keyboard, which reduces the number keypad of the full-size keyboard, retains the direction keys and four function keys while reducing the size, thanks to the optimized function keys , effectively saving desktop space while ensuring practicality. In terms of text entry and gaming experience, it will be more comfortable than a full-size keyboard.

The ROG Nightmare mechanical keyboard is also suitable for use with a Mac. What is more impressive is the Control, Option, ⌘ and other icons engraved on the keycaps. These are common shortcut keys on the Mac. Through the FN+Tab shortcut key, you can quickly press Switch between PC and Mac keyboard layouts to achieve mixed use of multiple platforms. In addition, the F12 key is a key with one-key hiding and one-key mute functions, which is equivalent to the BOSS key. When we need to press it, we can quickly hide all applications and adjust them to a mute state, effectively protecting the user's privacy.

The ROG Nightmare keyboard is equipped with a 2-inch OLED display screen, which can display the keyboard status in real time, and can control multiple functions of the keyboard through the rotary button on one side, which not only has visual effects, but also greatly enhances the practicality. In addition to adjusting the connection mode and RGB effect of the keyboard, it can also customize animations, or static pictures, text, etc. through Altron software.

There is a 3-way rotary switch and side buttons on the side of the OLED screen, which can control volume adjustment, multimedia, RGB brightness, RGB lighting effects, OLED brightness, and customization respectively. This is similar to the keyboards with rotary buttons on the market, but its function is better than that of the rotary buttons, and the cost of learning the functions is also very low. You can get started quickly and control various functions of the keyboard at any time.

Each function is equipped with text and icons, so you can get started quickly

Through the Armory Crate Ultron software, we can also set animations, custom banners, music modes, system time status, and rich playability.

screen animation

screen animation

Personalized custom banner

music mode

system time state

Looking from the side of the keyboard, it can be found that the ROG Night Devil mechanical keyboard has a slightly tilted design when the tripod is not erected. The height of the keycaps in different positions is different, and daily use can bring players a more comfortable use angle and avoid extra pressure on the hands and wrists. The three-stage foot support at the bottom of the keyboard is also suitable for the needs of different players.

The switch and interface of the ROG Nightmare mechanical keyboard are located on the top of the fuselage. In order to meet the needs of different users, it supports Bluetooth 5.1, 2.4GHz wireless and wired connections. If the connected device does not have a USB interface, it can be connected via Bluetooth. This is very convenient for people who use laptops or tablets when they go out. In addition, the top left side of the ROG night devil mechanical keyboard also provides a USB Type-C interface to charge the keyboard or use it as a wired keyboard. At the same time, considering the convenience of desktop cable management, the Type-C connection socket of the keyboard is built-in, so that it will not be torn off or loosened when touching the cable.

ROG Night Devil mechanical keyboard top switch and interface

Keyboard switch (from left to right are Bluetooth, wired, 2.4Ghz wireless)

The wireless receiver of the keyboard is placed on the top of the keyboard, and the magnetic suction method is very convenient

Type-C bond line separation design

The design on the back of the keyboard is quite delicate, and the design of slanted stripes and big eyes is very characteristic of ROG. The three-stage foot support provides players with different needs for use; there are anti-slip pads on all four sides of the keyboard, and when the keyboard is placed on the table, it can ensure the stability of its operation.

The switch body used by the ROG Night Devil mechanical keyboard is the NX mechanical switch developed by ROG. There are also quite a lot of switch types to choose from. There are ROG NX red/blue/brown switches. This is the ROG NX red switch. This switch The body adopts a linear feel scheme, with a total stroke of 4.0mm. It starts when a force of 45g is pressed down 1.8mm, and it bottoms out when a force of 55g is pressed down 4mm. This is slightly different from the Cherry Red switches, which have a 2mm actuation point and bottom out with about 60g of force. Speaking of the feel, the ROG NX red switch feels light to the touch and feels slightly lighter. It is relatively refreshing when pressed, and it can take into account games and daily use scenarios well. The large keys of the keyboard are all designed with satellite shafts. They have been lubricated and tuned before leaving the factory. The feel is very well tuned, and there is no obvious cavity sound. The feel is excellent and the feedback is clean and crisp.

The sound-absorbing cotton is added between the positioning board and the PCB, supplemented by the core advantages of GASKET, which can reduce the cavity sound generated during tapping, and can also filter out the noise generated during tapping. The click sound is more pleasing to the ear, bringing players a double enjoyment of feel and hearing. At the same time, there is a small detail, the space bar is also pasted with foam, whether it is the left or right side of the space bar when tapping, you can get a pure sound and a soft and even soft feel.

The keyboard is equipped with a full-key independent LED programmable RGB backlight, and the light scattering is quite uniform. It has a good visual perception and lighting atmosphere performance, which can meet the requirements of most players for RGB lighting, and can also be used for identification in dark environments.

The workmanship of the keycaps is first-class. This keyboard of ROG Nightmare is a PBT double-color injection keycap. In addition to reducing the occurrence of discoloration, its frosted surface can also increase the feel, and effectively prevent the finger from moving quickly during the game. Mis-pressing occurs due to the position. Furthermore, with the stepped structure of the keyboard, it also maintains a good feel when typing.

For novice players, ROG provides three optional NX shafts, which have been lubricated before leaving the factory, so there is no need for secondary tuning or shaft replacement. If you are keen on customization, the full-key hot-swappable structure of the ROG Daredevil mechanical keyboard allows you to enjoy plenty of DIY fun. A complete set of custom lubrication kits that come with the keyboard is very useful.

The shaft bracket can store the removed shafts in an orderly manner, which is convenient for storage

The ROG switch puller can easily disassemble the switch body, no need to use a utility knife to lift the switch cap of the switch body, very convenient

Through the disassembly of the shaft body, it can be seen that this shaft body adopts a semi-transparent upper cover, and the switch cap is a classic two-section shaft structure, and a dust-proof wall is added to prevent dust from entering. The spring is a high-elastic long spring, which is the source of the paragraph feel. Then there is the part of the shrapnel. The contacts of the shrapnel are gold-plated to effectively prevent negative effects such as oxidation. In general, ROG NX shaft body has optimized the details of each part in terms of material, so that the life of the shaft body is longer and the stability of the feel is more durable.

The keyboard of ROG Nightmare is compatible with mainstream pentapod switches, and it is very convenient to replace key switches with customized ones, such as hot TTC gold powder, quick silver and so on. The hot-swappable keyboard makes it easy to try out different switches to see which one you prefer for typing and gaming. The feature also helps the keyboard last longer, since you don't have to leave it idle just because a key is broken.

For the mixed office mode of modern urbanites, it is necessary to equip a keyboard for both home and office. The ROG Nightmare mechanical keyboard easily solves this problem for players. Not only can it be used at home, but its compact size is also easy to carry around. It can also be used with a laptop or tablet when going to work or out. In order to meet the needs of different users, it supports Bluetooth 5.1, 2.4G wireless and wired connections respectively. First of all, in terms of wireless, through the USB receiver that comes with the keyboard, it can be compatible with most PCs, Macs, Xbox, PS, Switch and other devices. For the connected device without USB interface, it can also be connected via Bluetooth.

Thanks to the blessing of ROG SpeedNova wireless technology, it can provide more than 2,000 hours of battery life when it is connected to 2.4Ghz wireless and Bluetooth (turn off the lighting effect and OLED screen). Of course, according to the different usage of each person, the power consumption is also different. The design of separated keys and wires is easy to use, and can quickly recharge the keyboard or transform it into a wired keyboard.

Although ASUS official did not indicate on the product details page whether or not this keyboard supports full keys, but I have tested it through the Keyboard Test Utility software, and there is no key that was actually pressed but was not sent. It can be seen that it does support full keys. There is no bumping of the keys, which will be very good for the experience of text input and games.

The Armory Crate software is designed to be simple and intuitive. Users can customize settings for key functions, lighting settings, macro key functions, OLED screens, knobs and levers, battery notifications, and sleep modes according to their needs.

First of all, in the custom button interface, you can set the required functions for each button, such as button function, or start a program, open a web page, multimedia, Windows shortcut, preset text input, and so on.

There are 11 basic lighting effect modes preset in the lighting library, as well as advanced special effects (can be used with other ROG products for divine light synchronization).

The OLED screen can set pictures, animations, music modes, custom banners, etc.; the lever (3-way rotary button) can not only set the corresponding multimedia functions, but also set and manage the fan of the ASUS motherboard.

Finally, in addition to the settings of power notification, sleep mode, etc., the software can also archive the set options in configuration files and map them to the keys of the keyboard, so that these configuration files can be called at any time.

The overall workmanship of the ROG Night Devil mechanical keyboard is excellent, and it is another classic of ROG. It features a personalized OLED display screen, 3-way rotary control function knob, high-speed wireless connection, 75% arrangement structure, self-developed NX axis body with excellent hand feeling, hot-swappable support, full-key independent LED programmable RGB backlight, etc. , will take you to a new milestone in the game! At the same time, the ROG Nightmare mechanical keyboard is compatible with platforms such as windows and Mac, and is a great tool for gamers, multi-platform and multi-device users. A complete set of shaft lubrication kits can also allow you to have plenty of DIY fun!

PS: The keyboard and mouse on the desktop at the end of the article are ROG Nightmare mechanical keyboard + ROG Moonblade wireless AimPoint 36K mouse. This mouse is the latest model of the popular Moonblade series. It has a classic streamlined and neat appearance. Next, give it a stronger performance upgrade. ROG Moonblade Wireless AimPoint 36K incorporates a 36000DPI (AimPoint 36K) sensor, SpeedNova wireless link technology, PBT buttons, and RGB lighting effects under a light weight of 75g, allowing the legend of the Moonblade series to evolve again! If you are interested in this mouse, you can read my previous reviews.

Or it can be used with ROG's latest Dragonscale ACE X AimLab cooperative mouse, which also uses the latest AimPoint 36K flagship sensor, supports SpeedNova wireless connection technology, supports three-mode connection, and can last up to 98.5 hours. Quantitative design, ROG second-generation plug-in mechanical micro-movement, with ROG anti-slip stickers.

The author declares that there is interest in this article, please respect the author and the content shared, communicate friendly, and make rational decisions~