- [Scharon] Asus announced its first animated mechanical keyboard. It has a lot of the trendiest specs found in modern premium gaming keyboards today, like ultra-low input lag, but it's the programmable LEDs that really make it stand out. And no, I'm not talking about RGB keys. The ROG Strix Flare II Animate is a full-sized mechanical keyboard aimed at gamers. It includes onboard memory, programmable keys, a detachable wrist rest and media keys. Now most keyboards have their media keys, if they have them, on the right side of the keyboard, above the numpad, but this keyboard's programmable metal volume roller and hot keys are on the left side. The space above the numpad is instead, reserved for the keyboard's so-called "AniMe Matrix LED display". The AniMe Matrix is comprised of 312 mini-LEDs, that you can program to display animations Asus pre-loaded, like a heart or ROG eye logo. You can also upload your own images or even program it to show text. Alternatively, you can set the mini-LEDs to react to sounds coming from your game or provide information that might come in handy, like how much battery life your laptop has, the date and the year, or when you get an email in Windows. It'll also keep you current with what's going on in the keyboard itself. So it'll flash a pause symbol, for example, when you hit the pause button, or the number three, when you switch to your third onboard memory profile. For mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, who like to play with different switches to see what they prefer for typing or gaming, the ROG Strix Flare II Animate is hot-swappable. So that means you can pluck the mechanical switches right out of the keyboard and insert new ones without using a soldering iron. However, Asus does recommend you turn the keyboard off before you start swapping. In general, a hot-swappable keyboard is helpful, because it can make the keyboard last longer, since you don't have to toss it out just because a single key stopped working. Of course, as a premium gaming keyboard the Strix Flare II Animate also has programmable RGB LEDs under each key, so the preset effects are actually pretty vibrant, and if you download the software you get a lot more options, including some unique, dazzling color schemes. There's also a light diffuser on the bottom of the keyboard, that you can remove and add to the wrist rest, which is actually more comfortable than the average included wrist rest by the way. Targeting hardcore gamers, the keyboard's input lag claims to be as low as 0.125 millisecond, while most keyboards are at one millisecond. So in a pro-level gaming scenario, that 0.875 millisecond could be the difference between a W and an L, but don't expect to see words you're typing appear on your monitor at a wildly unprecedented rate. The Flare II Animate reduces input lag by having a polling rate of 8,000 Hertz, while most keyboards are at 1,000 Hertz. That means the keyboard reports to your PC 8,000 times per second versus the average keyboard's 1,000 times a second. The difference is hard to notice immediately, but for serious or pro-level gamers, minimizing delay everywhere possible is critical. There are a few other mechanical keyboards with 8,000 Hertz pulling rates, but if you want a full-size keyboard with a numpad the Flare II Animate's greatest rival is the Razer Huntsman V2. Both hit 8,000 Hertz, and both let you adjust the pulling rate to bring it down if you want, but because it's so hard to tell the difference between 8,000 Hertz and 1000 Hertz with the naked eye, it's hard to say which one is speedier than the other, or if one would offer you a greater gaming advantage. If you're after 8,000 Hertz, your best bet is to just pick the keyboard that has other features that appeal to you most. All of the keyboard's keys are programmable, meaning you can go into Asus' software and reprogram the keys to register different inputs when pressed. You can also store all of your settings in different profiles, you get six profiles in total and they store on the keyboard, so you could bring in the keyboard to a different computer and load up those profiles you made without having to download software all over again. The Flare II Animate is one of, if not the flashiest keyboards you can get right now, if that's your thing. The LED display is a unique touch that'll certainly grab attention, and the RGB, meanwhile is super vivid and you can actually get some unique color schemes if you download Asus' software, but for writers and gamers what's really important is how it feels to press those keys and Asus didn't overlook this. So I tested the keyboard with Asus' red linear switches, and in a side-by-side comparison with Cherry red switches, which are probably still the most common linear switches around today, they felt really similar, but the Cherry switches felt scratchier as I pressed them. They also had more of a plastic noise to them than Asus' switches. So specs wise, Asus' linear switch actuates when pressed down 1.8 millimeters with 45 grams of force, and they brought 'em out at four millimeters, with 55 grams of force. Cherry reds, on the other hand, are similar, but you have to press 'em down two millimeters to register an input and they brought 'em out with around 60 grams of force. So Asus also makes other switches, these are their ROG NX line of switches, and their gimmick is "Zero actuation versus reset point". And that's how they, you know, market it. Cherry red switches have 0.5 millimeters separation between their actuation point and their reset point, but you'd have to be very particular to actually notice a difference when gaming or typing. The keyboards sound profile's also pretty impressive. I didn't hear any obvious metallic pinging or plastic rattling when pressing large keys, [keys clacking] and that's because Asus used sound dampening foam on the bottom of the keys and also made its own stabilizers. It's hard to find a pre-built gaming keyboard that sounds this pure, but the Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate can actually compete with custom-made mechanical keyboards when it comes to sound. I expect high-quality key caps from a $220 keyboard, Asus at least sprung for PBT plastic over ABS plastic. Generally, good PBT key caps are more durable and textured than ABS, which helps to resist shine and slipperiness. These key caps in particular nail that famous PBT texture with a roughness I could see and feel and it just misses being excessively rough. Interestingly, Asus designed the key caps to be mid-height, with a shorter stem than average. The company claims this reduces key cap wobble and makes them comfier. Now the key caps are comfortable, but I attribute that more to the deep dishes and pleasant texture of the key caps than the height of them. And while there's less key cap wobble than average, I've seen less wobbly key caps. The key caps do help the RGB stand out more though, and they also reveal a bit more of the mechanical switches underneath for a shameless mechanical keyboard look. While the LED matrix is a unique touch, there are only a handful of preset effects that are clear enough to see. For example, the basketball effect looks like a man dribbling until he takes it to the hoop, and then the animation just looks like a random splash of light. Worse, the water effect just looks like abstract lights flashing. I wish Asus would just add more static images or even just simpler animations. Ultimately, there are only a handful that are clear enough to use frequently, and too many of those effects were just some form of Asus branding anyway. Plus, none of the images I uploaded were usable on the display. I tried to upload some of my own images to the keyboard like an Ars technical logo, a heart, a simple sun, but it all just looked like blobs of light randomly appearing on the keyboard, and you couldn't tell what the image was at all. Low input lag is exciting and it contributes to the keyboard's high price tag, but the vast majority of consumers won't actually notice a difference between this keyboard's 8,000 Hertz pulling rate and the typical 1000 Hertz rate. The ultra-high pulling rate is really for serious, professional-level gamers, with high-end gaming PCs, built for as low input lag as possible. What's the point of a low lag keyboard if there are plenty of other bottlenecks elsewhere in your system? If you're looking for a keyboard with a lot of personality, this is a great option. The AniMe Matrix isn't perfect, but there are definitely some usable effects here, plus it's great for typing, thanks to quality key caps and mechanical switches and a quiet sound profile. If you're a power user it's great to have all these programmable keys and a lot of onboard memory. And then for serious gamers, competitive players the ultra-low input lag is a great benefit to have. It's an expensive keyboard, but if you love its look there are a lot of great other benefits as well. [bright electro music] Anyway, I'm Scharon Harding, Senior Products Expert with Ars Technica. We'll see you next time.