Logitech G915 & G915 TKL (ALL SWITCHES) - Expensive, But Worth It? - Detailed Review

this is the logitech g915 it's been out for about a year now so it's by no means a new keyboard however what is new is the 10 keyless or the tkl model i have all three switches with the full-size g915s having the tactile and clicky switches and the tkl model having the linear switches the keyboard i'll be comparing it to is the corsair k95 rgb platinum which i've had for a little over three years there's nothing wrong with it i just like new stuff so i decided to try the g915 mainly because it's wireless also i have the kikron k1 coming in because it looks almost identical minus some of the media and volume controls not being there and uses the same style switches so i'll be making a separate video comparing that to the g915 and seeing if this is worth the three times higher price difference now you may be wondering or not why did you get the full size keyboard and the ten keyless don't you already know which one you want well being that i have both obviously not i always felt i needed a full size keyboard so i decided to try the 10 keyless life to see if i'm able to deal without having a number pad and lastly this is my first ever keyboard review so if you guys have any feedback let me know what i missed what i should keep including in the next keyboard review and any other feedback okay enough jibber-jabber let's start with some of the features i like and dislike starting with the likes all g915 variants are wireless via bluetooth or logitech's light speed wireless technology you can control which of the two wireless modes you want to be on by pressing either the wireless receiver or bluetooth buttons on the top of the keyboard if you already paired the keyboard to a computer and want to put the keyboard in pair mode to connect it to another computer hold the bluetooth button until it starts flashing blue violently the good thing about having both options is that if you lose your receiver or if you're the type of person who travels a lot with your setup you don't need to bring the dongle because the input lag on bluetooth versus the lightspeed wireless was surprisingly not perceptible to my eye and didn't hurt my performance at all in fact the bluetooth is so responsive that when i was testing it for this review i always forgot i was on bluetooth until i looked down at the keyboard now if you still want to bring the receiver the tkl model is better for two reasons it's smaller so it's just easier to put into a bag duh and also includes a receiver slot on the bottom of the keyboard whereas the full size g915 does not making it easier for you to lose which again won't hurt performance but will hurt resale value if you're trying to sell it later on there's also an arcade stick button next to the bluetooth button which by default disables the windows function and menu key on the keyboard as well as any other keys you want to disable by just simply clicking on it on logitech's ghub software this is great if you don't want to make the common mistake of minimizing your game by accidentally hitting your windows key when trying to go for the control key which happens a lot to me now in practice this is great the reason why i say that is because i always forgot to press it when playing games just because i don't have that muscle memory yet i'm sure over time i will but i would like to see logitech add more functionality to their profile settings on their g-hub software to enable the game mode when a specific game or program is opened next to the game mode button you have your quick brightness adjustment button which goes from 100 brightness to 75 then 50 then 25 then off speaking of the backlight plays a massive roll on battery life on a full charge on the tkl model logitech's g-hub software projects that you'll get 40 hours with 100 brightness 105 hours with 50 brightness and a whopping 1124 hours with no backlight on for the full-size model it's about 35 hours per charge with 100 brightness 95 hours at 50 brightness and 1102 hours with no backlight insane to give you an idea of how long that is you can use this keyboard for eight hours a day seven days a week four months straight without needing to recharge but let's be real i'm sure that you're going to keep the rgb enabled anyways speaking of i wouldn't personally recommend using anything under 100 brightness because 75 or lower is just too dark to complement the keyboard at least in my opinion some of you just might not care how good the colors look and would prefer to see what keys you're hitting instead while having a longer battery life also the keyboard by default goes to low power mode once the battery hits 15 with every possible led breathing red by default but it can be turned off if you don't want it disrupting your beautiful rgb party sadly though you can't tell the software what battery percentage you want the keyboard to go into low power mode because i feel like 15 is just too high i prefer something like five percent we're not done with the lights just yet though because if you hold the brightness button and click anywhere from 1 through 9 you can change between a bunch of the preset lighting modes so you don't need logitech's g-hub software unless you want to do something custom you can also press the plus or minus key while still holding the brightness button to change the speed of the rgb if the lighting mode has some kind of movement next if we move all the way to the right of the keyboard you have your media controls with the volume scroller right next to it the volume scroller doesn't have any tactility and i've heard some people say that it feels cheap because of that and i have to disagree i personally like the free movement of the volume wheel but that's probably because that's how my k95 was so i'm just used to it and likely because i've never felt a tactile volume scroller on any keyboard anyway moving to the left side of the keyboard the g915 has three mode buttons which allows you to set whichever macros commands actions etc to any of the g keys on the left side of the keyboard you can have up to five different functions per each mode for the g keys as well as one g shift in replacement of a function giving you a total of 19 different functions now i know that sounds confusing so let me show you what i mean on the ghub software if you go to the assignments tab you can go to any of these menus to drag whatever key or macro or function to any of the g keys so i set 5 for the first mode another 5 for the second mode and another 5 for the third mode but what if i want to do 16 different things on the g keys that's where the g shift comes in to set it up go to systems find or type shift for the g shift and drag it to whatever g key you want keep in mind it'll only be in the mode that you're currently in but this essentially lets you create a folder for more functions but weirdly enough you can only do one of these you can't add more than one and it makes no sense why i mean it doesn't bother me because i never use keyboard macros but i can see where this can be useful for someone like taran from linus media group or maybe mmo players i don't know on the tkl version there is no dedicated mode buttons or even g keys so what gives the modes are combined with f1 f2 and f3 to activate those modes you have to hold the function button while pressing f1 f2 or f3 and if you're wondering even with the game mode enabled which disables your function key switching modes still works okay so you know how to switch modes but how do you use those functions there are no g keys ah well those are the f keys all the way from f1 to f12 setup is the same as the full size model drag whatever you want to whatever function key and activate them when needed lastly we have the mr key which is just a macro record button now all these round buttons are nice and all but one thing i really didn't like is the way they felt when pushing them they're made out of rubber which is fine but when you push the button with a regular amount of force only part of the button goes down while the rest stays popped up even if you push it from the center this feels super cheap and just pleases my fingers to the point where now when i want to press any of those buttons i actually just quickly hard tap it so i don't feel the cheapness on the subject of buttons the keycaps are nothing special they're made out of your typical abs plastics which is fine but they don't match the rest of the high quality design of the keyboard but i can forgive them for that because what can they do use metal keycaps and design wise personally i think this is one of the best designs i've seen for a gaming keyboard so far it's made out of aluminum has a very low profile as well as a relatively minimalistic design with a very nice font now all those features aren't anything new but what is hard to find is all those features into into one keyboard keep in mind though that this is all subjective and you may prefer a more gamer styled keyboard build on the other hand was a mixed bag sure the chassis is made out of beautiful aluminum but other than that you have the rubber buttons on the top that i mentioned earlier plastic keycaps which again wasn't too big of a deal but what was a big deal was the keycap stability as well as the legs on the keycap the keycaps are only held in by these two little legs so there's no support on the top or the bottom of the keycap just the sides so it wobbles very easily especially the bigger keys now if i compare that to the k95 the k95 looks like it has a similar plate to the g915 but that's all switch movement these switches on the g915 don't move when you're moving the keycap the keycaps themselves do because of the lack of support so it just doesn't feel as high quality as i would expect for the price as for the legs i have no clue of the actual rated strength for the k-cap legs but these little legs feel very fragile compared to your standard cherry style keycaps this becomes very apparent and a big issue when you say want to take your keycaps out and clean your keyboard the logitech's manual says you have to slide both legs in evenly which okay fine but you have to do it so slow and precise otherwise you'll only get one leg in then you have to take it out and try again otherwise you'll risk breaking the legs if you just force it in this is obviously a disadvantage compared to something like a cherry style switch a couple other things i didn't like it charges via micro usb not usb-c i don't know why logitech absolutely refuses to change their peripherals to usb-c the caps lock button has this weird divot so the full keycap isn't raised and i have no clue why they did that all i know is that my pinky doesn't like it and it just sunk into that empty space at least in the beginning there's also no indicator to tell you if scroll lock or numeric lock is on or off you have the space you could do it one thing i appreciate about the tkl model is that when i had my keyboard centered in front of me for non-gaming use i had much more space and was able to use my mouse closer to the center rather than extending my arm all the way out to use it i mean duh this is obvious less keyboard means more space but what wasn't obvious until i used it is how much better it made my keyboard and mouse experience on a day-to-day basis when i wasn't gaming for example when gaming on any full-size keyboard it's not an issue because i tilt my keyboard about 30 degrees or so this allows me to hit all the buttons for hours straight without stressing my wrist instead of keeping my wrist angled to the left all the time if my keyboard was straight however if my keyboard is angled and i want to say use my pc for general use it's super awkward typing with my arm and hands like this so i very much appreciate the tkl model for the extra space as for not having the number pad did i miss it as much as i thought i would in the beginning yes the main uses for the number pad for me was one being able to type numbers easily duh and two quickly hitting the enter button when i typed in the first letter of a website i want to go to since my hand was super close to the number pad enter key when i started using the tkl model i tried hitting numbers that just weren't there anymore and kept hitting the right arrow as if it were the enter key for the number pad but after two days i got used to it no problem and the added space i got far outweighs the benefits of having a number pad sitting there just being useless about 99 of the time the only time i really needed a number pad is when i needed to enter a two-factor authentication code well other than that though i don't crunch numbers often or ever so the number pad is pretty much dead to me now now what about the switches well let me begin with the sound samples logitech uses on their websites because it sounds nowhere near what they actually sound like let's start with the linear big difference right what about the tactile same thing and clicky i think what logitech did is place the microphone right next to the switches when recording these because they sound nothing alike what about fuel though two things about that one being that this is a youtube video and there yet isn't a technology that lets you feel what i feel i'll do my best to explain how they feel you should still go to your local tech store so you can get a feel for yourself and two keep in mind these are my thoughts you may feel differently than i do i'll start off by saying that i like all three of these switches each of these switches have their pros and their cons and all of them are very close to being first place when compared to each other at first i thought i would like the tactile switches the most mainly because the name sounds like they would feel the best but that wasn't the case for me as the name suggests it has some tactility towards the top at the actuation point then it gets smooth the rest of the way down once you've actuated the key because of the tactility i feel like it requires the most force of the three but if my very unscientific food scale gram test is anything to go by all keyboards have about the same actuation force at about 55 grams but we'll get to that the linear switches are linear what else would you expect they have no resistance in terms of tactility and feel super smooth the entire way down the sounds of the linear switches sounds the most satisfying out of all these to me making more of a lower tone thump compared to the tactile switches slightly higher pitch and because of the lack of tactility this feels like it requires less force than the tactile switches but again the food scale shows that it required the same amount of force one thing i do want to note about the linear and tactile switches though is that when i first started using them they gave me huge rubber switch vibes i'm talking about crappy 20 work keyboard switch vibes which really threw me off making me avoid them at first which brings me to the clicky switches which are clicky are you noticing a trend here the clicky switches gave me the best first impressions by far taking the rubber feeling away completely but replacing it with a clicking sound which i'm not too crazy about now as i mentioned all switches had about 55 grams of force but because of how the brain works when you type on the clicky switch the clicking sound tricks your brain into thinking that it feels much lighter than the other two even though they all require about 55 grams of force back to the rubber feel though after i forced myself to use the tactile and linear switches over time i felt that that's not a bad feel even though i initially associated the switch feel of the tactile and linear switches with a 20 keyboard i got over it after a few hours and preferred the linear switches over the rest of the other switches but what if i had to choose between the linear gl switches and the cherry mx browns well i would choose the gl linear switches not only because of the feel and sound but also because of how low the key sits which brings me to my next point because of the low profileness of the g915 i have to do a lot less wrist arching to tap keys compared to the much higher profile of the k95 which as a result increased typing accuracy and lowered fatigue i'm getting old here guys remember i'm 26. to understand what i mean let's take my k95 and put it up next to the g915 the k95 has a much higher profile and because of that my wrist has to arch much higher to be able to have some space to move from kitaki without accidentally tapping them now it doesn't sound like much but the higher your wrist arches the more stressed out your wrist will be give it a try start with your hand flat and slowly arch it higher while moving your fingers like this and maybe even move your wrist left or right to simulate wrist pivot when you go for farther switches the higher you go the more stressed your wrist will feel and the less free movement your fingers will have this is a non-issue with the g915's lower profile which means you can have your hands resting lower eliminating most if not all that stress as well as having more free finger movements this also applies to games not just regular typing and use this also isn't anything specific to the g915 just low profile keyboards in general but this is my first experience with a low profile keyboard and after using it i very much appreciate this benefit so in conclusion which of these three would i choose is it worth at least 230 plus tax and should you get one well this is a definite mixed bag if i had to choose between all these i would personally go for the linear switches for a couple of reasons they're overall the best for my fingers with the most satisfying sound of the bunch as well as a linear smooth slide from top to bottom with no tactility which i prefer on top of that it just so happens that the linear switch is the one that has the tkl form factor which after using it for two weeks i much more prefer over the full size keyboards but is it actually worth the price well i don't know yet as i mentioned in the beginning of the video i have the kikron k1 on its way here and that looks about the same as the g915s minus the buttons up top but also being one-third the cost and if you don't care about the lack of dedicated media controls and the mode selectors it's worth waiting for that video as for the g915 and its smaller brother should you get one well again that depends there is a wired version of the full size model called the g815 which is normally 200 but 180 at the time of this recording and if you don't care about having wires it's definitely not a bad option but if you're dead set on wireless there aren't many options if any at all that provide everything this does with having switches as good as the gl switches that are on these logitech keyboards just make sure that if you do want one you know how to handle the fragile keycaps you're okay with the rubber buttons not depressing all around the free-flowing volume scroller the abs plastic keycaps the lack of support for the top and the bottom of the keycaps and you're sure that you want to spend 230 or more now this list seems pretty bad but to be honest it's not all keyboards have their flaws and i'm just a super critical and nitpicky person so you know how to spend your money wisely personally if i were to choose a new gaming keyboard today good quality ones go from 120 to 200 anyways and because i'm on a quest for a mostly wireless if not completely wireless setup i think the g915 is a good keyboard thanks for watching if you guys enjoyed the video please leave a like if you disliked it you can leave a dislike you have on the channel anyways i don't really care subscribe if you guys want to see more detailed reviews also follow me on my show souls which will be in the description below as well as in a pinned comment and other than that have a great day every day peace [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Bijan Jamshidi

Views: 175,343

Rating: 4.8645205 out of 5

Keywords: wireless gaming keyboard, gaming keyboard, low profile keyboard, logitech g915 keyboard review, logitech g915 tkl, logitech g915, wireless mechanical keyboard, wireless gaming keyboard review, logitech wireless keyboard and mouse combo, logitech wireless keyboard and mouse, wireless gaming keyboard 2020, logitech g915 tkl sound test, wireless keyboard review, gaming keyboard review, wireless keyboard, wireless keyboard with touchpad, pc gaming

Id: DcJ_Xomo3MQ

Length: 17min 41sec (1061 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 16 2020