AUKEY LED Mechanical Keyboard LED with Blue Switches Review

Design

While the keyboard has a lot of lighting effects and customization options, one important thing to note is that the colors you see in the image are set in stone.

• The top row of keys will always be blue
• The second row will always be purple
• The third row will always be green
• The fourth row will always be orange
• The fifth row will always be magenta
• The bottom row will always be red

However, you have two options for the LED lights: non-animated and animated.

Non-animated lighting effect

You can forgo the animated lighting effects and just have keys specific to a certain game light up.

You can press “FN + 1” through “FN + 8” to show some pre-defined options. In addition, you can customize the last two slots (“FN + 9” and “FN + 0”):

1. Press “FN + 9” or “FN + 0” to show the default effect in that slot.
2. Press “FN + Home” to enter customization mode.
3. Press the keys you would like to light up.
4. Press “FN + End” to save the changes. They will save in the slot you selected in the first step (“FN + 9” or “FN + 0”).

If you mess up, you can always hit “FN + PgUp” to reset the keyboard back to factory settings.

Animated lighting effects

Pressing “FN + Insert” will switch between the 9 animated lighting modes. You can adjust the speed of the animation by pressing “FN + Right Arrow” and “FN + Left Arrow.”

Performance

Each key press gives a very satisfying “click,” even more so than the AmazonBasics gaming keyboard I also have. The Outemu Blue Switches used in this keyboard provide great tactile feedback and feel great while typing or playing games. This keyboard is definitely not quiet, and if you decide to bring it to the office, you’ll likely distract your coworkers.

I’m a fairly fast typer (around 60-70 WPM) and have not noticed any missed letters while using this keyboard.

Features

As described above, this keyboard can be used to only light up certain keys for games or it can be used with an animated lighting effect. If you prefer no lights, you can press “FN + Down Arrow” to dim the keyboard to darkness.

The top row of keys can be used as shortcuts and media controls. Hold down the “FN” key while pressing:

• F1 for My Computer
• F2 for Search
• F3 for Calculator
• F4 for Media Player
• F5 for Previous Track
• F6 for Next track
• F7 for Play / Pause
• F8 for Stop
• F9 for Mute
• F10 for Volume Down
• F11 for Volume Up
• F12 for Key Lock/Unlock