The Fastest Keyboard I've Ever Used ⌨️
I’m pretty sure whenever you come across the term “Gaming Keyboard”, the first image that pops in your head would be of a keyboard screaming “Gamer aesthetic” at your face with RGB lights and fancy lighting patterns.
Zowie attempts to subtly break free from that stereotype with Celeritas II.
The word “Celeritas” literally translates to “Swiftness” or “Speed” which bares true for BenQ Zowie Celeritas II.
How so? Allow me to ellaborate.
Design
Donning a black & red colourway, Zowie Celeritas II is a full sized keyboard with a plastic build. One might equate plastic build with cheap quality, but this plastic is pretty rigid with zero flex. With great build, comes great weight; this behemoth weighs ~2kg. Be rest assured, it’ll be sitting comfortably on your desk without getting budged aside.
Have a look at the keyboard layout and you see how it lacks dedicated media control buttons. Is it a major downer? Not in my opinion. You can easily use those via the function keys, but the inclusion of a volume dial would’ve been flawless.
One specific oddity which stuck out to me like a sore thumb was the placement of “back slash” key. These days, the enter key is split on the horizontal axis which then makes space for the aforementioned key on top. But here, it’s placed adjacent to the right shift key which was pretty annoying while typing.
Although it follows a black & red color scheme, certain buttons have bluish-white backlit colour when enabled (eg: Caps Lock, Num lock, etc). Talking about keys being backlit, you get multiple levels of light intensity so that you can tune it to your liking. You can bling it all the way or literally switch it off and make it look like a normal black keyboard with white keys. Pretty stealthy, IMO.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t come with adjustable feet. Hence, rendering you unable to lift the keyboard and tilt it to your preference. If you look at the silhouette from the sides, you’ll notice how it is tapered, giving it a slight tilt. Something is better than nothing, I guess? At least you’re not typing on a flat keyboard. It lacks the support for adding a wrist rest (or including one in the box for that matter), so you’ll be stuck using your own or making use of the desk on which you’ll be using the keyboard.
Performance
You might be wondering, “Shimon, what’s an optical switch?” 🤔
Unlike mechanical switches, where moving parts and physical contact is involved, optical switches (literally) use light to trigger input commands.
It uses an IR emitter which constantly emits signals. When you press a button, the light gets refracted by the prism into the photo sensor, which accepts it as an input.
How is this better than mechanical switches? Well, there are two major takeaways:
Since there are less moving parts and physical contact, the longevity of the switches is prolonged. Hence, your keyboard lasts longer.
Light is fast. Like really fast: 300,000,000 meters per second, to be precise. This equates to less input latency.
Specifications for nerds:
Interface: USB + PS/2
Key Switch: Flaretech Optical (linear)
Key Travel: 1.9mm
Actuation Force: 33g initial, 55g +/- peak
Polling Rate: 1000Hz
N-Key Rollover: Yes
Real-Time Response: 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x over PS/2
Backlit Illumination: Red LED
Size: 44.2 x 17 x 3.8 cm
Weight: 1.89 kg
Considering how I’ve always been accustomed to typing on a tactile keyboard, shifting to Celetitas II (which houses a linear switch) was quite polarizing.
You don’t get to feel the classic CLICK-CLACKS of regular mechanical keyboards. The only feedback you get is when the key bottoms out (i.e. it hits the baseplate). It took me a couple of days to get used to it, and now I don’t think I’d be going back to tactile switches.
Gaming, on the other hand, was an absolute joy! I played a multitude of games with it ranging from Apex Legends, Rocket League to even Mortal Kombat 11. These fast paced games require precise input commands and Celeritas II was a worthy companion. Every keystroke was registered correctly with no mishaps.
Now, the question remains…
Should you buy it?
Priced at Rs. 4,500, BenQ Zowie Celeritas II gives you a rollercoaster ride.
On one hand, it does away from RGB zone/per key lighting but then provides optical switches in the sea of traditional mechanical gaming keyboards.
All things considered, it’s a well rounded keyboard, albeit a bit pricey when compared to other mechanical keyboards.
Just like everything in life, it’s subjective and comes down to your personal preference. If you ask me, I’m currently using Redragon Kumara K552 with Outemu Red linear switches which is not only cheaper, but also dons a TKL (TenKeyLess, full-sized keyboard sans numpad) form factor.
Maybe you like the muted black & red look; Maybe you prefer the flashy RGB look.
Maybe you like the multi function keys; Maybe you prefer dedicated media controls.
Maybe you like the quieter optical switches; Maybe you prefer the click-clacks of mechanical switches.
I’ve shared my experience, now it’s time for you to decide if it fits your bill.