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Best mechanical keyboards: the top picks for gaming in 2021
Trust us: one of the best mechanical keyboards 2021 has to offer will change your life, whether you’re only using your keyboard to type up emails or utilizing it for more involved undertakings like coding and playing the best PC games. Most mechanical keyboards are not just built to last but also be comfortable, accurate, and reliable, which means they’re usually a much better choice for more users over their non-mechanical counterparts.
Not only is the typing experience much better with improved tactile feedback and faster actuation. Thanks to their mechanical switches, mechanical keyboards tend to last longer, are more reliable, and are able to offer extra thoughtful features like swappable switches, customizable RGB lighting, and remappable keys. Better yet, they come in different sizes, forms, and price tags too, which means there’s going to be something for everyone.
From gaming keyboards to ones that make video or photo editing a lot more seamless, we found the best mechanical keyboards out there and put them on this list. If you haven’t invested in one before, one of these will change your life. We even included our price comparison tool in case you’re interested in scoring some keyboard deals.
As if having mechanical switches isn’t enough, Razer takes the switches’ best qualities and combines them with lightspeed optical technology, resulting in the opto-mechanical switches that make the Razer Huntsman Elite the keyboard to beat. True to its namesake, this mechanical keyboard is as fast and as precise as a huntsman, delivering blazing fast actuation thanks to an optical light sensor that’s inside every switch.Â
However, it’s not just performance that makes it the best mechanical keyboard of 2019. The Razer Huntsman Elite is also rich in features – namely, a multi-function digital dial with three tactile media keys, a luxurious leatherette magnetic wrist rest, on-the-fly macros, and hybrid on-board memory and cloud storage for saving all your profile configurations. This isn’t the cheapest of mechanical keyboards, but it’s certainly worth every penny.
Read the full review: Razer Huntsman EliteÂ
Like Razer, SteelSeries also has a trick up its sleeve when it comes to its mechanical switches. This time, the peripherals manufacturer takes mechanical switches and gives them the ability for customization. These first-of-their-kind adjustable switches have customizable sensitivity levels, which means that you can fine tune per-key actuation to really personalize your gaming and typing experience. Whether you prefer featherlight touches or deep presses, you can adjust the SteelSeries Apex Pro to cater to your preferences.
But that’s not all. This keyboard also boasts a blazing fast response time and is twice as durable as its rivals. Its OLED Smart Display and integrated command center displays pertinent information like settings, profiles and updates. Finally, its Dedicated Multimedia Controls are also unique in that one of them is a clickable metal roller. Also like the Razer Huntsman Elite, this one isn’t cheap, so just be ready to shell out some silver.
Read the full review: SteelSeries Apex Pro Â
Who says you can’t look stylish sporting a gamer’s look? Roccat’s Vulcan 122 Aimo certainly proves the naysayers wrong. This gaming keyboard – one of the best by far – isn’t only a pleasure to game on and comfortable to type on, but it’s also one of the smartest looking mechanical keyboards we’ve ever beheld with its floating keys, lit up Titan switches, anodized aluminum plate and Roccat’s AIMO lighting engine. And, did we mention that instead of the usual black, it’s sporting a silver on white color scheme? You’d happily pay its somewhat premium price for its design alone.
Of course, it takes more than just good looks to make our best mechanical keyboards list. Performance is still key, which this keyboard more than delivers. Those speedy and precise Titan switches are built for gamers, with a tactile and silent 1.8mm actuation point and a 1,000Hz polling rate to start.
Read the full review: Roccat Vulcan 122 AimoÂ
When it comes to gaming, whether it’s gaming laptops or gaming peripherals, Razer is at the top of its, well, game. So it’s no surprise that two of theirs made our list of the best mechanical keyboards, with the Huntsman Tournament Edition taking the fourth spot. While many gaming keyboards boast a complete set of keys, including the numeric keypad, this one takes the small and compact approach forgoing those aforementioned keys altogether.
If you’re looking for a small keyboard for your small desk, this one’s a winner, as it doesn’t compromise on speed and accuracy despite its tiny frame. The Huntsman Tournament Edition, of course, boasts Razer’s impressive opto-mechanical switches as well as durability up to 100 million keystrokes, proving yet again that big things can come in small packages. There’s not a lot of features here, but sometimes, simplicity is king.
Read the full review: Razer Huntsman Tournament EditionÂ
The Varmilo Keyboard with EC Switches V1 may not have all the bells and whistles that gaming mechanical keyboards have – namely, RGB lighting and fully programmable keys. However, writers and artists will appreciate having this mechanical keyboard in their arsenal. It’s a fantastic keyboard to type on and comes with attractive designs that will appeal to the creative in you. It keeps things simple, but it keeps them extremely reliable as well.
Read the full review: Varmilo Keyboard with EC Switches V2
Those who aren’t looking to pay top dollar for a gaming keyboard may find mileage out of the Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard. Despite some arguably odd placement of the macro keys and no dedicated media buttons, it offers some great gaming performance. This is due to the Cherry MX Brown switches delivering a 1 millisecond polling rate. Durability is also acceptable with keys rated to last up to 50 million keystrokes. With a look more inspired by Alienware’s own feature packed gaming desktops like the Aurora R7, this keyboard offers affordable brains and beauty.Â
Read the full review: Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard
Individuals interested in spending somewhere around 50 bucks or quid for a keyboard should look into the Logitech G213 Prodigy. For daily typing and occasional gaming, it’s  above average. It helps that the keyboard has an awesome volume rocker and other fantastic media control keys. Logitech’s G Hub is also compatible with the keyboard for setting RGB lighting and function keys amongst other features. Also, the G213 is also spill resistant despite a mediocre build quality.
Read the full review: Logitech G213 Prodigy
Most keyboards that come out of Corsair’s drawing board are truly impressive, and their latest TKL offering doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Corsair K70 TKL delivers hyper-responsiveness, resulting in buttery-smooth gaming, and robustness made for button mashing. On top of its super-fast performance, it boasts full N-key rollover and 100% anti-ghosting, making it esports worthy. To make it really worth your money – and because it is Corsair – customizations abound, from RGB lighting to macro recording.
Read the full review: Corsair K70 TKL keyboard
Don’t underestimate the Corsair K65 just because it’s tiny. This 60% gaming keyboard packs a punch – more than many full-sized gaming keyboards, in fact – without missing out on those basic full-sized keyboard functions. This being a Corsair product, customizations naturally abound, and when combined with its tough exterior, satisfying feedback, and hyperresponsiveness due to its up to 8,000Hz polling rate, you won’t be missing out on anything. Plus, you’re getting a bit of extra space on your desk. It’s a win-win.
Read the full review: Corsair K65 Mini Keyboard
The TKL design may have been making its rounds in the gaming keyboard department, but it has cemented its place in the world of productivity keyboards. In fact, the Das Keyboard 4C TKL isn’t exactly doing anything new. The one thing that does separate it from the rest is its incredibly comfortable keys. It’s also the kind of mechanical keyboard that makes you realize that colored switches actually do mean something and that empowers your typing, thanks in part to its NKRO functionality. If you spend a whole lot of time pounding away on your keyboard, whether you’re coding or typing up pages upon pages of documents, this is the keyboard you want assisting you.
Read the full review: Das Keyboard 4C TKL
Date
17 Sep 2021Sources
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Mozilla removes popular Firefox add-ons used by nearly a million people
Read MoreMozilla's Firefox browser team has cracked the whip on malicious add-ons, blocking access to them despite their large user base of about 455,000 installations.
Mozilla hasn’t shared what led them to the offering software, but its developers discovered that the malicious add-ons were misusing the proxy API in the popular web browser, which helps govern how it connects to the internet.
In a blog post, Mozilla’s Rachel Tublitz and Stuart Colville explain that the add-ons misused the proxy API to interfere with the browser's update functionality, in essence preventing users of the add-ons from downloading updates for the browser, and even prevented them from accessing updated blocklists, and updates to any remotely configured Firefox content.
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As soon as it discovered the ploy, Mozilla zapped the add-ons, and also paused approvals for any add-ons that relied on the proxy API, in order to prevent them from blocking updates for users, until a fix was available.
Malicious intent
BleepingComputer identified the offending add-ons as Bypass and Bypass XM, while revealing that they were likely using a reverse proxy to bypass paywalled sites.
The fix came shipped with Firefox 91.1, which as per the developers will now fall back to establishing a direct connection to the internet for any important request (such as for an update) in case going through the proxy configuration fails.
Furthermore, the developers note that they’ve also deployed a new system add-on named “Proxy Failover” that includes additional mitigations, to both current and older Firefox releases.
In the post, the developers urge users to make sure they are using the latest Firefox release, while also suggesting a best practice for web developers who want to make use of the proxy API in their add-ons to expedite reviews.
“We take user security very seriously at Mozilla. Our add-on submission process includes automated and manual reviews that we continue to evolve and improve in order to protect Firefox users,” conclude the duo.
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White House set to host quantum computing summit
Read MoreSome of the biggest names in the IT industry are headed to the White House to discuss quantum computing with the Biden administration.
As reported by Reuters, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will host an event in which the participants will discuss not only all the good, but also potential cyber-risks associated with computers infinitely faster than the ones around today.
Among the reported participants are Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Boeing, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, and Northrop Grumman, as well as ColdQuanta, D-Wave, IonQ, QC Ware, Quantum Economic Development-Consortium, Rigetti Computing, Vector Atomic and Zapata.
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"There's a lot of excitement about quantum computers and quantum sensors, and there's some hype associated with that," Charlie Tahan, assistant director for quantum information science at OSTP, told Reuters. "But what we really want to get down to: what are the applications that a future quantum computer could run that could really benefit our society."
Keeping up with China
According to the report, the Biden administration seems to be particularly interested in the cybersecurity implications of quantum computing. Word on the street is that quantum computing could easily crack even the strongest encryptions today, and with China making strides in quantum computing, the US does not want to play catch-up.
The US government also wants to learn how to motivate more students to enter the field, as well.
A classical computer is written in binary code (zeros and ones), and that code is translated into electricity (low voltage are zeros, high voltage are ones). So, in a classical computer, there are only two states in which the elements can be.
For quantum computers, the basic unit (called qubit) can take multiple forms - they can be, for example, ones, zeroes, or ones *and* zeroes, at the same time. This change allows these computers to perform calculations at speeds inconceivable to classical computers.
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Via: Reuters
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