Steelseries APEX M800 Keyboard Review _ New QS1 Switch is Awesome!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis video is brought to you by nc.com great technology selection and service hey guys Eber here with hux and in every keyboard review we mention how saturated the market is you either focus on design or release a new switch to attract attention and steel series with this new keyboard has done both meet the steel series Apex m800 mechanical gaming keyboard that retails for surprisingly high and most likely white won't sell $200 price I mean we have a wide range of Corsair and coola master keyboards that cost south of $150 so at first side the m800 feels completely overpriced I say this because the build quality of the Apex didn't quite match our expectations the plastic exterior feels cheap that's also a huge fingerprint magnet and compared to robust plastic or even aluminum frames found on competing gaming keyboards the flexing frame will seriously hinder the appeal of the m800 at the bottom we have the swappable rubber feet that can be used to adjust the height of the keyboard although without a compartment to store the extras steel series also includes a set of key caps that you can replace for OS 1070 since the Apex is Mac friendly although they haven't included a key Pooler plus the proprietary and virgin nature of the switch means key cap customization is off limits for now I found the enlarged space bar a huge bonus for FPS Shooters as the pressure point is pretty consistent throughout plus the new mechanical switch complements easier actuation ations as I noticed my thumb to be less tired after gaming compared to my Corsair k95 at the front you'll find two USB 2.0 ports that can be used for connecting other perils like your gaming mouse or even charge mobile devices the cable is braided and it ends with two USB plugs it comes with a proper logo at the tip to help differentiate between other cables that you may have plugged in into your machine there are six programmable macros located on the far left side of the keyboard which can be assigned through the driver software the media playback keys are assigned with the function keys with play pause skip track and volume adjust considering how large the Apex is we would have preferred dedicated media buttons instead so this keyboard is a big deal because of one thing a new mechanical switch has emerged the qs1 switch developed by Steel series it's advertised to be 25% smoother than a typical MX Cherry switch actuations felt much faster than MX red switches since the travel distance is only 3 mm compared to four on MX red and actuation point at 1.5 mm compared to two on MX red it requires 45 G of actuation force and the switch is linear there's no clicky feedback to tell when your registration occurs but the fast response and super quick bounce all account for satisfactory fingers it doesn't feel like a mechanical switch though it actually kind of reminds me of a membrane keyboard but would redesign Mechanics for longetivity and eliminate all the mushy and sticky problems you experience with a membrane the keys are extremely low profile and I have to mention how quiet they are compared to my k95 they are by far the quietest mechanical switches I've experienced let's take a listen moving on the lighting system on the Apex screams attention this is by far the most in-depth color customization on a keyboard we've ever reviewed you can change the color of every individual key so creating gaming zones productivity zones or writing zones with only preferred Keys lit up is awesome these LEDs have received the RGB treatment with 16.8 million colors and the LED is centralized to eliminate that common brightness gradient found on MX switches and overall quality of Vibrance and brightness is fantastic plus the subtle side lighting and the logo can change color as well that looks gorgeous there are multiple color templates to choose from for different patterns but some of my favorites includes the Disco mode vertical wave down and even an American flag pattern that truly represents the custom nature of this backlight all of this can be configured within the steel series engine 3 software that acts as a main hub for All Steel series peripherals you are graded with a very clean and simple simple design with the physical layout of the keyboard in the center and the adjustable settings on both the left and right sides you can assign macros to any key on the keyboard thanks to the built-in dual microprocessors although the six dedicated macro buttons are there for a reason but it's still awesome to see steel series not restrict this customization the macro editor is a useful tool if you want to make changes to your macro setting the illumination tab is where I spend most of my time playing around with lighting patterns and flexible customization ation as I mentioned earlier you can personalize each and every key of the color to your choice with a plethora of lighting effects so steel Series has brought us one hell of an expensive keyboard sure the new qs1 Switch is an almost perfect hybrid between a membrane key but with proper mechanics for 60 million keystrokes the switch is incredibly quiet that we consider a major positive plus not skimping out on lighting customization is appreciated really the major complaint we have is the build quality for thect price it's not at all what we were expecting for $200 and I'm hoping steel series will take a hint and also focus on compact more robust version of the Apex to be released in the near future we like the new Switch but we're hoping for a more aggressive entrance to compete against the MX Cherry offerings while that concludes our review of the steel series Apex m800 let us know what you think about the keyboard and what you will see in the appropriate price point for this product thanks for watching make sure to subscribe for more similar content and we'll see you in the next onethis video is brought to you by nc.com great technology selection and service hey guys Eber here with hux and in every keyboard review we mention how saturated the market is you either focus on design or release a new switch to attract attention and steel series with this new keyboard has done both meet the steel series Apex m800 mechanical gaming keyboard that retails for surprisingly high and most likely white won't sell $200 price I mean we have a wide range of Corsair and coola master keyboards that cost south of $150 so at first side the m800 feels completely overpriced I say this because the build quality of the Apex didn't quite match our expectations the plastic exterior feels cheap that's also a huge fingerprint magnet and compared to robust plastic or even aluminum frames found on competing gaming keyboards the flexing frame will seriously hinder the appeal of the m800 at the bottom we have the swappable rubber feet that can be used to adjust the height of the keyboard although without a compartment to store the extras steel series also includes a set of key caps that you can replace for OS 1070 since the Apex is Mac friendly although they haven't included a key Pooler plus the proprietary and virgin nature of the switch means key cap customization is off limits for now I found the enlarged space bar a huge bonus for FPS Shooters as the pressure point is pretty consistent throughout plus the new mechanical switch complements easier actuation ations as I noticed my thumb to be less tired after gaming compared to my Corsair k95 at the front you'll find two USB 2.0 ports that can be used for connecting other perils like your gaming mouse or even charge mobile devices the cable is braided and it ends with two USB plugs it comes with a proper logo at the tip to help differentiate between other cables that you may have plugged in into your machine there are six programmable macros located on the far left side of the keyboard which can be assigned through the driver software the media playback keys are assigned with the function keys with play pause skip track and volume adjust considering how large the Apex is we would have preferred dedicated media buttons instead so this keyboard is a big deal because of one thing a new mechanical switch has emerged the qs1 switch developed by Steel series it's advertised to be 25% smoother than a typical MX Cherry switch actuations felt much faster than MX red switches since the travel distance is only 3 mm compared to four on MX red and actuation point at 1.5 mm compared to two on MX red it requires 45 G of actuation force and the switch is linear there's no clicky feedback to tell when your registration occurs but the fast response and super quick bounce all account for satisfactory fingers it doesn't feel like a mechanical switch though it actually kind of reminds me of a membrane keyboard but would redesign Mechanics for longetivity and eliminate all the mushy and sticky problems you experience with a membrane the keys are extremely low profile and I have to mention how quiet they are compared to my k95 they are by far the quietest mechanical switches I've experienced let's take a listen moving on the lighting system on the Apex screams attention this is by far the most in-depth color customization on a keyboard we've ever reviewed you can change the color of every individual key so creating gaming zones productivity zones or writing zones with only preferred Keys lit up is awesome these LEDs have received the RGB treatment with 16.8 million colors and the LED is centralized to eliminate that common brightness gradient found on MX switches and overall quality of Vibrance and brightness is fantastic plus the subtle side lighting and the logo can change color as well that looks gorgeous there are multiple color templates to choose from for different patterns but some of my favorites includes the Disco mode vertical wave down and even an American flag pattern that truly represents the custom nature of this backlight all of this can be configured within the steel series engine 3 software that acts as a main hub for All Steel series peripherals you are graded with a very clean and simple simple design with the physical layout of the keyboard in the center and the adjustable settings on both the left and right sides you can assign macros to any key on the keyboard thanks to the built-in dual microprocessors although the six dedicated macro buttons are there for a reason but it's still awesome to see steel series not restrict this customization the macro editor is a useful tool if you want to make changes to your macro setting the illumination tab is where I spend most of my time playing around with lighting patterns and flexible customization ation as I mentioned earlier you can personalize each and every key of the color to your choice with a plethora of lighting effects so steel Series has brought us one hell of an expensive keyboard sure the new qs1 Switch is an almost perfect hybrid between a membrane key but with proper mechanics for 60 million keystrokes the switch is incredibly quiet that we consider a major positive plus not skimping out on lighting customization is appreciated really the major complaint we have is the build quality for thect price it's not at all what we were expecting for $200 and I'm hoping steel series will take a hint and also focus on compact more robust version of the Apex to be released in the near future we like the new Switch but we're hoping for a more aggressive entrance to compete against the MX Cherry offerings while that concludes our review of the steel series Apex m800 let us know what you think about the keyboard and what you will see in the appropriate price point for this product thanks for watching make sure to subscribe for more similar content and we'll see you in the next one\n"