This Gaming Keypad Is Just CRAZY!

alright enough with the creepy music I just thought it was appropriate given what came out of the package this is something actually quite special from a small brand called Azeron and it's unlike anything I've used for gaming so far both and the good and a bad way what started out as a unique showcase of DIY talent back in 2017 has now evolved in something much more market friendly when we talk about the small niche of users who like to macro everything onto their keyboards and also beyond so gamepads and now with these gaming keypads and the Azeron product is about that too but it's also about experimentation customization on the whole new level with a few really interesting quirks so let me tell you about my experience using this thing in-game which is both extremely frustrating and fantastic at the same time right after this power up your PC with be quite straight power Levin platinum series featuring 80 plus platinum efficiency a fully modular design high quality Japanese capacitors and a styling Lynx fan that's optimized for air flow and silence choose be quiet and your components will thank you alright so let's start from the beginning Azeron gets huge props for trying to cater to all gamers this means you get to choose left or right-handed option choosing the size of the gamepad based on your hand size with a handy printout then choosing the right wrist rest either a flat or curved I get both but prefer the curved one because for my hand size it just gives me much better ergonomics the flat one is a bit too flat and finally you choose the color combination to fit your setup that doesn't cost extra so there is no bling no RGB illumination the color you choose is what sets it apart in terms of peripherals and design and I don't mind that to finally have a gaming peripheral without RGB nice the downside here is wait time as it may take up to 25 days for this thing to be produced however given this whole thing is 3d printed I think the price pretty fair given this thing is the most unique gaming keypad on the market right now so let's take a closer look I don't know how you guys feel about this but I kind of like the rough texture on the body and on the nail triggers it doesn't feel as polished as like some mass-produced accessories but it is one of the unique quirks and there is no gloss the plastic frame feels good the extensions on the fingers have some density to them and when adjusting the button towers they get into position very well that you can fully secure with this cute screwdriver it's well grounded - with rubber pads at the bottom and the way to the whole thing here is next to my ducky one too many for size reference so if you're looking to save on desk space this should satisfy now the first hiccup I encountered with this thing when plugging it in is that my computer did not actually recognize it and that is it because I plugged it into a USB 3 port and I had to plug in to USB 2 port update the firmware and install the drivers for it to finally work on a USB 3 port so something to keep in mind but now let's get to the fun part the 26 custom buttons the 5 way directional pad and the full analog joystick so everything is customizable with 2 onboard profiles that you can switch on the fly with this button on the side or endless profiles through the software and more on that later the switches are not your traditional keyboard switches though instead they're using micro switches the same type used in mice very tactile short travel distance easy to press and fairly quiet with a few unconventional locations on the button towers giving you 6 buttons for the point finger 5 for the middle and 4 for the rest and then the bottom here you can loosen them up adjust the actual distance of each finger tower based on your hand size and based on your finger length which is actually perfect you can literally customize this to fall into your hand when you put it down without anything feeling weird or out of place and for that Azeron gets another huge prop and finally here what the switches sound like actually a very close sound profile to the G305 now the button towers for your point and middle fingers are slightly larger giving you extra buttons for the top over here and they are a little bit awkward to learn how to press and not forget to use them actually whereas everything else is a bit more in reach and a little bit more comfortable to use than these two buttons but you definitely have to train yourself on figuring out how to use these in the most efficient way possible for your playstyle and for what games you play and so it is precisely because of the switches I had to completely rethink my gaming hand the three fingers that are normally around the wast area now had to activate all other key binds and my thumb instead of hitting spacebar all the time was in charge of movement with this analog stick and this is where the frustration kicked in because my finger memory for FPS was totally messed up I'm not used to moving with my thumb because I've never owned the console so this actually would be a great transition from a console towards PC gaming because it's kind of like combining the two in terms of ergonomics and customization and giving you a little bit of that old-school joystick analog movement and I literally spend hours reassigning keybinds for these four fingers that are normally around the was the area I mean that was a bit unnatural especially for fps for example I cannot strafe as fast as I can with a keyboard because going left to right requires so much movement on the joystick and my thumb would eventually slip even with these textured rubber pads which are included and remapping movement to my natural was the area was really unnatural because of the switch type perhaps if you're coming from a console the analog joystick will feel totally natural to you but not having that instant reaction between a and D on the keyboard I mean this is a lot of movement for for me to do a left and right strafing which I just couldn't do with the analog joystick but it is absolutely much easier and much faster to do on the keyboard this also includes going forward and backwards too so it's not just strafing left and right it's not having that like instantaneous control of my character movement for FPS I will say that if you want to skip the whole Anna like joystick navigation you could also remap Waze to like your three fingers over here and navigate that way but for me personally the travel distance and just not having the tactility that I'm used to on a mechanical keyboard is a bit strange to program was into this area but it is definitely an option but how about the games where it is fantastic so basically any third-person perspective that will take advantage of that analog stick witcher 3 is a perfect example so movement and that game is just much better with the as our own gamepad and having spent time on my shortcuts made a huge difference to enjoy this product versus being frustrated by it Witcher 3 is fantastic with the controller and now with the gamepad having that analog movement gives you just a little bit more precise navigation with your horse with your character and reconfiguring those shortcuts it's all rewarding in the end right Dead Redemption 2 is another perfect example where the joystick lets you do this and generally more precise movement while utilizing all 26 buttons after a few hours of reconfiguring Mikey binds and honestly that has been the most frustrating and time-consuming experience I like trying to see what works and what doesn't in terms of all these buttons for your main fingers because the thumb is pretty occupied with movement but like where do you map how its spacebar where do you map out shift ctrl and alt like having spacebar that I press with my middle finger it's it kind of bizarre and you have to retrain physical memory thing your memory and just like literally spend time training your hand so that your traditional was the area and spacebar mashing is totally different which is why this thing did not work for me in FPS games like Call of Duty no way I just go back to the keyboard immediately but for other games I can kind of myself and force myself to use this thing where it actually becomes enjoyable I didn't have to deactivate some of the keys in the beginning because I would activate them by accident again having not trained the finger memory to let's say not click the buttons which are kind of like out of sight where you press press them in and also these top buttons for your point and make a middle fingers they're just kind of so awkward and for me I don't know it feels unnatural for me to be lifting my fingers away from the buttons that are mostly used but it's kind of still nice to have in case you want to program something that you don't often use but you might and you don't want to like reach for the keyboard shortcut and the way I would customize the switches as I would go into the game see what shortcut does what I'll tab into the as run software reconfigure those buttons to the switches and go back into the game and this way I don't mess up with any of my keyboard shortcuts because if I go back to the keyboard all those things are different and the keypad is lets you do everything that you wanted to do without any of the hassle on the software and lastly the software package is still in the early stages but I love the simplicity approach to this complicated product you click a button assign the key bind save to a profile and here's what you can do with the joystick to either have full analog Xbox stick keyboard was or them together you can even calibrate the joystick for motion sensitivity and direction so instead of moving forward when you pressed forward if you move feel more comfortable changing a direction when you click up that goes forward you can do that easily in the software I have noticed a few instances and games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey where enabling the joystick motion disables Mouse support which is strange I did not experience that with Witcher 3 so that is something to keep in mind therefore I had to disable the joystick and just keep the was activated when I move the joystick around otherwise in all other games Mouse was enabled while also giving me full joystick control and what this product made me realize is how I am never leaving in keyboard behind for FPS gaming but also how I've been kind of miss the totally unique approach to button mapping is both brilliant and the drawback and having to like reprogram your physical memory and all the software keys and the fact that it's also 3d printed and so custom made to you order is well worth the asking price if you don't feel natural with a keyboard and one something that is a bit of a hybrid between like mallow switches and a full analog joystick control this thing would definitely be on my recommendation list as long as you commit and kind of accept the challenges that it comes with this kind of unconventional and almost unnatural way of clicking your binds but yeah you just got a train and give it all alright I'm Dimitri thanks so much for watching check out this other relevant content let me know if you are using gamepad or you know how is this like catering to a very small niche of users I mean yes it does and I wouldn't necessarily use this for like a Productivity one I probably rather just get something that is like the Tartarus v2 that is slightly cheaper and has a bit more conventional way of finding keys for that one area alright thanks much for watching and I'll talk to you next you

Channel: Hardware Canucks

Views: 3,216,230

Rating: 4.8736162 out of 5

Keywords: azeron gaming keypad, azeron keypad, azeron, azeron gaming keypad fortnite, azeron compact, azeron gaming pad, review, azeron keypad review, azeron fortnite, gaming keypad, best gaming keypad, hardwarecanucks, hardware canucks, gaming keypad review, razer tartarus v2, razer tartarus pro

Id: DX1ifYxzr3M

Length: 12min 10sec (730 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Zero_Senki]

This guy actually raised the possibilities of this with me on the Discord. If the remapping software for this can be ported, then I am all the way down for this to become part of the decking community. It is also 3D printed apparently, so new parts could be made for it too.

[u/gioseba]

Pretty neat, thought it was going to be more similar to this product though

[u/VOIDPCB]

A split ergo board attached to the ab area of a vest would be more portable.

[u/Bystroushaak]

Crossposted to /r/DataHand