a lot of Mechanical keyboards struggle with aesthetics. It’s hard to be correct! If the style is too high, you may suppress the functionality, or just do too much visually. If you stick to the basics, you may end up with a bland keyboard. No matter which way you go, there is still a chance that you will get it wrong and it doesn’t look good.
However, there are a lot of well-designed keyboards lately: KeyChron’s K2 He Special Edition is a great example, along with the MCHOSE GX87 Ultra, not to mention the myriad high-end custom keyboard suites available today. With most of these keyboards, the keychains can be backwards-even if they look good, they are usually standard and minimal.
Asus takes the opposite approach to the Rog Azoth X: a simple white case, but colorful and stylized keychain. This isn’t the most traditional design, but they look really nice and can lift the table without taking over your setup. The keyboard looks good without sacrificing substances – the Azoth X has 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, 1,000 Hz voting, and internal components, which make it both fun and easy to modify. It has white, click or linear NX switch available and includes silicone wrists. All of this costs a cent, though, and costs $300.
Deep and lively typing
Photo: Henri Robbins
This keyboard is most comparable to Razer’s Blackwidow V4 75% in the typing experience. Both use metal tops and plastic bottom boxes with a washer mounting system and plastic sheets. The stiffness is similar to the sound profile. The biggest difference is the switch option: The Razer’s 75% keyboard is only available in haptic switches, while Asus offers linear and clicking sounds.
The unit I received was equipped with Asus’ snow linear switch. These are a fairly light linear switch with deeper typing sound and consistent smoothness throughout the keyboard. They aren’t the smoothest switch I’ve ever tested, but the friction when typing is both minimal and consistent, resulting in a still pleasant typing experience. These switches also have minimal stem swing, which means the keys feel stable and confident when typing. They require less force compared to the cherry MX red switches, and 53 grams of force is required to fully move down the bottom compared to the 60 grams of the MX Red. This difference is obvious and the switch is more responsive without much input risk compared to a truly lightweight (under 50G) spring.
The spacer mounting system that holds the keyboard in place feels like a mixture between the washer mount and the O-ring seat, as the rubber washer is pressed tightly inside the box. This means the typing feels consistent across the keyboard and it connects more to the feel of the case than the standard foam washer. It still has some bounce and softness of the washer stand, but it’s less than many comparable keyboards.
The stabilizers in Azoth X are standard board mounted and are factory-lubricated. While the board rack stabilizer will usually be less stable than the PCB installation, the stabilizer used here still feels good and the box doesn’t rattle.
Aesthetics of the Space Age
Photo: Henri Robbins
I like a lot of things about design. The keychain is slightly better than the average keychain and has two-piece components with RGB diffusion with a clear back. The case has a stylish and angled design that looks fashionable and timeless without taking up a lot of space.
