Backlit keyboards: reasons to choose one ⌨️✔️

Backlit keyboards: customization

There is not much we can do on a standard keyboard unless we enter the universe of making handcrafted switches or "tuning" of standard keyboards with new layers of screen printing or sprays. Backlit keyboards, even if they are bought by brand, find the advantage that thanks to RGB lighting you can establish a style similar to yours. Or if you have software, create your own original light combinations. Do you want a button of a different color for your ultimate or ultimate ability? done. Do you want only the buttons containing commands in the game lit? Done*.

Example of personalization software * This type of options can be created by means of softwares or options on the fly in keyboards that have the capacity to do so since we are not only talking about color effects but also settings by individual key. Some examples are found in Razer, Corsair or Cooler Master models.

RGB is an extension of the keyboard itself, an addition that gives us a specific aesthetic line regardless of the model we have chosen: size, weight, membrane, mechanical, wrist rest… The lighting as an addition gives a special character to our keyboard, even more so if the model we have purchased has software with which to customize the effects or light patterns.

CoolerMaster SK621 backlit key display

We can buy backlit keyboards from € 15. However, in general, the fact that the keyboard is backlit is so closely associated with gaming that we want it or not, they will tend to present extras that will raise their price. This is not necessarily a bad thing: the qualities and finishes of its components are usually better, as is the catalog variety. Basically it is impossible not to find a backlit keyboard that fits what we are looking for:

Membrane or mechanical Format: 100%, TKL or 60%. Types of switches Software for RGB lighting and macros Prevention against Ghosting, either key rollover or NKRO. Wrist rests or lifting legs

Backlight and darkness

All night owls or people who hate to type in environments where they need light to see working characters know what I'm talking about. Without going any further, I usually leave only a small lava lamp in the room, and that is that we who like the main light source to be our monitor, a backlit keyboard is a fantastic accessory. The same happens if we share the room with someone else and prefer to maintain a subdued environment without being forced to have a lamp to see.

CoolerMaster SK621

The buttons on this type of keyboard are easy to locate, and if at any time we have to look down just at a glance we find the symbol we are looking for. The same can happen during the day by calibrating the intensity of the backlight.

Keyboards and wear

Characters that never fade away. Something that can happen to all of us is that our soul keyboard is so crushed that the A, W, S and D keys are about to rub off completely or the Enter arrow is halfway to disappear with a Thanos snap. In the backlit keyboards it will never happen since the color and intensity that we perceive comes from the back lighting.

Example backlight in broad daylight

This is because the characters are made through the double mold process: there is a lower mold with the base color (generally white so as not to alter the effects of the backlight) and an upper one that fixes it. Of all the forms of printing this is the most expensive, but also the one with the highest quality and durability.

No slimy keys

Sometimes it is inevitable and surely you already know what I am talking about. That gloss that appears on keys that was previously matte due to continued use, or how the color has lost strength or dirtied in some parts. The natural fat on our skin and therefore our fingers works as a natural solvent that will not only make characters disappear from the keyboard, but can also undermine the surface of the keys themselves. In general it is in all the mechanical keyboards that the aspect of the materials is taken more care, not only in the matter of the RGB, but as we said before, both share the fact that a greater expense brings better benefits.

Mars Gaming MK218

As a general rule, we will find that the material of which the keys of our backlit keyboard are made is PBT (polybutylene terephthalate). It is a type of plastic that is more resistant to solvents than those that are used in a more standard way or for lower quality products such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene).

Conclusions on backlit keyboards

Considering that you do not have to throw a lot of money on them if you do not want it and that there are both membrane and mechanical, if the disco party is going for you there is no reason not to buy one. There are people who prefer an eclectic and minimal atmosphere, but those keyboards that attract us like these moths attract us. Not only can they give your rig a special touch, but if you are a person with night habits they will come as a ring to your finger.

Related to the backlight topic we have a couple of articles about keyboards that may interest you, all of them with RGB: