On June 4, 2019 – Plugable, the leading developer of USB and Thunderbolt
devices launched two new Performance Mechanical Keyboards with linear red switches, the freshest additions to its PC gaming line.
The Outemu Red switches on the keyboard are definitely quieter than your typical blue switches. Outemu is the type of key switches that you’ll find in a budget keyboard. They are designed to provide the best experience at the lowest cost of production possible.
In my experience, there’s no reason to go beyond $100 for a decent gaming mechanical keyboard.
The red switches provide a shorter actuation upon keypress allowing someone to glide over the keys much quicker for a faster response time while gaming or actively typing a document.
Switches provide smooth and lightweight linear action with no tactile “bump” or audible “clicky” sound when pressed and require 60±15 grams of force with 4.0±0.2mm of keystroke travel.
The Plugable Performance Mechanical Keyboard features a high-quality build with an all-metal top and also comes with adjustable white LEDs.
Plugable’s Mechanical Keyboards enable full N-Key rollover and anti-ghosting, allowing for multiple key presses to register simultaneously. Giving gamers an edge against the competition.
Most other keyboards on the market only offer 6-key rollover or less. The full N-Key rollover is capable of hitting any key combination.
Other Gaming Function |
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Plugable’s Mechanical Keyboards can be purchased now through Amazon and are priced at $54.95 for the full-size model and $49.95 for the compact option.
The Critics and Real World Use:
The keyboard isn’t really aimed at the gamer market in some sense. There are no fun elements to this keyboard. It’s designed to be a frameless, mechanical, functional keyboard.
While being on the functional side, I would have liked to see the inclusion of a USB 3 pass through and an audio jack.
You can definitely glide over the keys real easy and this can allow you for some increase performance in your online battle royal. This is definitely an upgrade from your standard Best Buy or Staples keyboard.
The convenience keys that are built-into the keyboard with the use of the FN key allows you to toggle certain shortcuts such as volume, play, pause, email, browser, calculator etc.
If Plugable wants to hit this with an almost perfect score, they should consider the following for the next line of mechanical keyboards:
Include RGB + colour profiles
Include dedicated macro keys
Include USB 3 and audio jack passthrough
I think the price is on point for a mechanical keyboard that is entry-level. Coming just under 60$ USD it’s a good buy in my view.
