If you're serious about gaming then come join the compact keyboard club | PC Gamer - mcdonaldforefird

If you're serious about gaming then come join the bundle keyboard bludgeon

A Filco Majestouch MINILA-R gaming keyboard on a marble effect desk

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Recently, I've been sighted very much more cardinal percent keyboards enter the fold. As someone WHO's been an enthusiast for long time, having a smaller keyboard isn't abnormal—I happen to be typing on one right now, only more happening why later.

Where things become intriguing is the reasoning for the sudden explosion of nifty sixties onto the market. For instance, Razer's Huntsman Mini features its all-singing and completely-dancing optical switches that are usually indrawn for its high-velocity gaming boards. For me, this presented an intriguing conundrum: coiffe masses rattling use sixty percent keyboards for gaming and if so, how does it feel?

Well, PC Gamer sent ME on my merry way to see.

The board

When choosing a keyboard for this tax, there were a hardly a things to regard, chief among which were switches. I didn't want something besides gamer like the Hunter Mini, but didn't want to go clear out there with some super-specialist option from a manufacturer only known to a smattering of people.

Majestouch MINILA specs

Size: TKL Mini (60%)
Keys: 68
Switches: Cherry MX
Kindling: None
Extra features: 5 dip flip settings, USB 2.0 port

In the end, I settled on the Filco Majestouch MINILA-R Convertible which was handed over to me by The Keyboard Company here in the UK. This board feels a handy halfway house between the usual mainstream picks and other partizan-level options from Varmilo and other manufacturers.

IT's a wireless 60% with Cherry red MX Brown switches inside which, on a personal level, are the unsurpassed wholly-barrel-shaped switches in the Mx arsenal. Being tactual with a little bump substance they're great for typing, and an propulsion force of 55cN means they're as wel luminosity enough for the hours of gaming I'd live doing.

The MINILA-R Convertible is also improbably well-built existence made of some rather hard plastics and features no deck flex some. I'm convinced you could run a tank over it and it would remain intact.

With the board elect, it was now time to get into some games and begin my request into whether it's achievable to stake on a 60 percent keyboard.

The experience

One of the first, and arguably to a greater extent obvious, problems you're confronted with when using a 60% to game with are the obvious omissions of arrow keys, nav cluster and number pad. I've always been a big pointer keys user in whatsoever games, so at least this was just a simple case of training my fingers to function WASD look-alike any other normal gamer does.

The big problem of being without a number pad, though, is the inability to course of study macros as you're badly limited connected space. Some boardshave additional software that can be exploited to program macros to the connected-board memory of the keyboard, just the MINILA-R I'm using is not one of them.

...having to a greater extent desk space thanks to exploitation a 60% was a welcome interchange, especially in Federal Protective Service games.

That said, in utilising my usual testing grounds of CS:GO to pwn noobs, as you do, (or in my case, bots, don't judge), the MINILA-R performed rather well indeed. The want of arrow keys in this instance wasn't especially noticeable, nor was the miss of num slog. There's not really a need if you're more of a casual player to program macros, or third-political party buying commands inside CS:Get ahead, indeed a smaller layout wins here, for me on the point of overall functionality.

It also wins on the fact in that respect's more space to purpose your mouse on your desk as opposed to a full-size board, and if you have a teensy desk investing in a first-rate-sensitive mouse to go along with your smaller keyboard would likewise be advisable. My rodent of pick was Razer's Basilisk V3, and for certain having Thomas More desk space thanks to using a 60% was a welcome change, specially in FPS games.

If you'rhenium also a gamer on the run short likewise, a 60% would also be my go-to alternative due thereto space-redeeming layout. In actual fact, as I'm off to university in a matter of weeks, this Filco board testament exist one of the first things in my pocket thanks to its smaller height.

Nevertheless, it's at this point where things become a teeny-weeny wet. I do, once in a while, play MOBA or MMO titles like Conference of Legends (albeit to only test MOBA mice) and if there's an grotty lot of things to program, this is where a 60% falls down a bit. That want of the num pad to have a holy function zone as IT were did take some acquiring secondhand to, although with some clock time fagged rebinding keys, it did become that flake more intuitive.

You might be finding yourself asking "But Reece, what about RGB? How does that affect my game?" Recovered, thereto dear reader I'll secernate you that it makes no difference whatsoever. Eastern Samoa much as having RGB seems to be a stalwart of the 'gaming keyboard' turn up at the moment, information technology's of course only enhancive. Alright, perhaps my setup didn't aspect A cool with the MINILA-R on my desk, but it secure A hell didn't affect my game.

The verdict

So, should you use a 60% keyboard for gaming? It depends on what games you'Ra playing. If you're like me and you dip in and out of FPS games and are many into sims like ETS2 and Football Manager, then it doesn't matter a moving flamingo which keyboard you enjoyment, as your most-used functions will be in the same place.

However, if you're heavy into MMO and MOBA titles, you can make do with a nifty threescore, but if you want an assortment of functions at your fingertips, it's probably better if you go for a full-size keyboard. For that I'll recount you to check out our best gaming keyboards list.

The bottom line is this though: 60 percent keyboards have become ridiculously popular as they're space-savers and my honest view is to unfit on what keyboard you feel sufficient. If you'atomic number 75 indecisive, pick up a couple to test them out and just see what works best.