ASUS ROG Falchion Wireless 65% Mechanical Gaming Keyboard | 68 Keys, Aura Sync RGB, Extended Battery Life, Interactive Touch Panel, PBT Keycaps, Cherry MX Blue Switches, Keyboard Cover Case

I have always enjoyed using keyboards with number pads and my professional life makes it mandatory. But being able to push the work keyboard to the side and pull this out for gaming has changed much of my perspective on compact keyboards. This being 65% and not 60% has made the learning curve for using a compact keyboard much easier and the volume control on the side is such a useful tool to have. I like this keyboard so much I decided to buy two of them. I have the Cherry Mx blue and the Asus Nx blue clicky models. I will say the keys feel very similar, (I don't care about sound, I almost always have headphones on, it's all about the key press feedback for me) but the space bar. I don't know why, but he Asus Nx blue space bar feels horrible, I am not sure if it is the stabilizers or the key itself, but I hate pressing it, it feels wrong. So I do not type on that keyboard ever. I use the Cherry Mx blue model for all of my gaming. It took some time to get used to especially with muscle memory needing to be built up.The battery lasts all day for me, I charge it every night since I have the lights go 100% brightness without turning off. I will say the usb dongle single is not great. So make sure you use the charging cable to bring the usb dongle closer to the keyboard. I was getting noticeable latency when having it further than 2 feet away. Also with the usb dongle being less than 6 inches away from the keyboard, playing a game like league of legends that require very accurate key presses in a very short amount of time, the wireless feature is not recommended. Whenever I play league I connect the keyboard to the cable so I can get zero latency. If not entire key presses will not register.

To start off, I want to point out that this keyboard (if you purchase the NX red option) has some of the smoothest linear switches that I've ever used.I have used many $400+ custom keyboards, some of which I hand build myself and lubed, all using various linear switches (the Zeal Tealios being the top of the line). ASUS's NX red switches come factory lubed (not the same as hand lubing) but are insanely smooth and consistent. I think these are easily my second favorite switches that I've ever used on any keyboard, custom or prebuilt.Compared to your average Cherry red keyboard, this keyboard is far smoother, less scratchy, and surprisingly, it sounds much less high pitched and plasticky. I love the way this keyboard sounds.The RGB is very nice, and the layout is also great. The only significant problem that I would point out is that the layout is non-standard, which ends up meaning that you cannot use most custom keycap sets with this keyboard, unless they are one of the extremely fancy few keycap sets that come with options to buy specific space bar lengths.The software is typical of any gaming keyboard. You have to use ROG Armory crate, which I don't mind because I use all-ROG parts in my custom computer, since they are the highest end most of the time.If you want a keyboard with smooth linear switches, good RGB, great macro customization, a 65% layout, the option for wireless connection, and a ROG aesthetic, then this is perfect.Edit: My initial model came with a scratch on it, but I simply returned it. There will always be defects in some products.

Pros:1. Very nice keyboard: materials, size, battery (in full Light it takes maybe 10-20 hours on WiFi before it reaches 20%), Light Modes, keyboard cover when not in use.Cons:1. Armoury Crate software only available on Windows; some features, like some specific Light Modes, are also only available on Windows;2. Keyboard modifiers:- Fn + Left Alt: triggers Macro registration mode, so if you have to trigger a macro that needs both Fn and Alt modifiers - like Alt + F1 - you need to use the Right Alt in order not to enter the Macro registration mode;- Fn + Right Ctrl: trigger contextual menu, so if you have to trigger a macro that needs both Fn and Ctrl modifiers - like Ctrl + W - you need to use the Left Ctrl in order not to pop up the contextual menu;- to summarise: if you want to trigger Ctrl + Alt + F1, when the Fn-Lk is off, you need to use Left Ctrl + Right Alt + Fn + 1;- this is a smart way to add extra functionality on to the modifiers when used together with Fn, but it gets sometimes difficult to trigger a combination; the alternative is to define Macros for the most used combinations;3. The slider can be accidentally touched sometimes (e.g. keyboard not on a horizontal surface), but you can disable the slider with Fn + Tab.

I really like this keyboard for what it is. I like the small form factor and the convenience of it being wireless and rechargeable. Wireless is using the 2.4 GHz dongle and not Bluetooth. There is NO Bluetooth. This is fine for me because I've had issues with Bluetooth connectivity. The innovation that was engineered in this keyboard was what also sold me. The interactive touch volume panel and the polycarbonate cover that doubles as a high profile look base that allows the RGB to be diffused in a different way really spoke to me. Doubleshot PBT caps, an aluminum top plate blended with high quality plastics, and the cover provides a perfect balance in weight were it feels premium and not so cheap at the same time. Although this keyboard is geared towards gamers because of the gamer aesthetics and the Cherry MX Red switches, I find it easier for me, in my own experience, to type on this. This whole summary was actually typed using the ROG Falchion at my average speed of 71 WPM with 100% accuracy.