Capsule Review: SteelSeries Apex M500 Gaming Mechanical Keyboard
by E. Fylladitakis on June 10, 2016 10:00 AM ESTConclusion
I always try to use every keyboard that we review as my personal keyboard for at least a week. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. I personally prefer Cherry MX Brown or similar (tactile) switches for such tasks, but I do not consider linear switches to be inconvenient either. The Apex M500 was actually a little tiring for such use, not because of the switches but because the height of the keyboard and the lack of a palm rest place a lot of stress on the wrists. It does work just fine for the occasional typing of an essay/report or any other <10-page text with a couple of breaks, but I would not recommend it to professional writers and typists.
The intended market of the Apex M500 however is advanced and professional gamers. As far as gaming goes, assuming that the left wrist will require limited movement, the Apex M500 is highly responsive and very convenient to use. Even though it lacks a palm/wrist rest, the Apex M500 did not feel uncomfortable after an hourly gaming session for me.
The software left me with mixed feelings. As I use a few complex macros that include mouse movements and button presses, I had to use a third party macro programming software, compile the macros to .exe files and program the keyboard to launch them as external applications. For simpler macros and layout changes however, the SteelSeries Engine works great. It is a very simple, smooth and stable piece of software that has great potential should the company decides to throw some more resources into it.
As a keyboard, the Apex M500 has a very specific market and design focus. It is minimalistic, without extra buttons, USB ports, or even custom keycaps. In terms of durability however, the Apex M500 is very solid and the high quality of Cherry’s MX switches is widely known. Even though its external body is plastic, the Apex M500 does not feel “cheap” at all, yet it probably does lose in terms of visual prowess and prestige against aluminum-based models. The designer was truly focused on designing a simple, solid mechanical keyboard specifically for gaming.
In summary, the Apex M500 is a durable, no-frills mechanical keyboard that is an excellent choice for casual and advanced gamers alike. Although the macro recording capabilities of the supplied software are limited, it is smooth and very stable. Hopefully the company will invest more on it as they release more mechanical/programmable models, as it has great potential.
The only issue that the Apex M500 has is its very high retail price. SteelSeries suggests an MSPR price of $120 for the Apex M500, which is very steep and has virtually no hope against the competition. We found the Apex M500 currently retailing for $100 including shipping, a more reasonable price, and yet it still has many direct competitors retailing for significantly less. For example, the aluminum frame and Cherry MX based Cougar Attack X3 is currently retailing for just $70, a difference of about 30%. The Apex M500 is a very good choice for a gaming mechanical keyboard, but as keyboards are very much a commodity market, we feel that its retail price needs to be lowered if it is to stand a chance against the strong competition.
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MamiyaOtaru - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link
*edit* more like 6 years ago (been a while anyway). Was the 7g. Fortunately the packaging was clear so I could see the layout before opening it. Yeah I'd seen pictures of it on the web, but I just figured they were shots of the board meant for non-US distribution. Nope!Samus - Monday, June 13, 2016 - link
Some people prefer a carriage return with a reduced backspace/backslash, others prefer an "enter" key with extended backspace/backslash keys.In the USA, the later is most common. But a few companies have historically favored the carriage return over the enter key, especially in Asian markets.
The joke in IT has always been the Asian markets don't need such a large backspace key because they make fewer mistakes ;)
kaidenshi - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
A reverse-L shaped Enter/Return key pushes the backslash/pipe key either up into the Backspace key's area (making the Backspace smaller and highly error prone -- backslashes typed instead of characters backspaced), or else below the Enter/Return, cutting the right Shift key in half.Of the two, I'd prefer below, but in practice I never buy a keyboard with a reverse-L Enter/Return key. I like my full size Backspace and R-Shift, and I like my Pipe where muscle memory says it should be for piping *nix commands.
bigboxes - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link
Fully agree. I can understand ddriver's penchant for an enlarged Enter key. However, I hate small backspace keys and definitely prefer the ANSI layout. I've got a couple of Cherry keyboards (one Chinese/one US) and both have the ANSI layout. I would consider myself a heavy typer (MX Blue user here).colinstu - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
A large US enter key = a tiny backspace key, which SUCKS. EU keyboards have a two row enter key in a slightly different shape & the backspace maintains its normal/large size.TomSal74 - Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - link
To each their own but since I'm so used to the (size/shape) of the enter key on this keyboard it honestly doesn't bother me (or hinder my gaming performance or comfortable in any way I might add).Olaf van der Spek - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
Wouldn't a TenKeyLess version or one with the numpad on the left make (more) sense for hardcore gamers?JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
Really depends on the keyboard layout someone wants and is comfortable with.Some people use the numpad for keybinds or macros. Others use a multi-button "MMO" type mouse. Some people _always_ use the numpad for any number typing.
inighthawki - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link
Due to a really old and bad habit I play many FPS games using the arrow keys and the numpad provides some keys which are convenient for miscellaneous functionality.In addition, I also do a lot of programming and I almost always use the numpad for numeric entry. I find it far more convenient.
Given that the numpad isn't really that large, it always struck me as odd that so many people are so passionate about finding a keyboard specifically without it - buying something that specifically has less functionality to save a few inches of desk space. To each their own - that's why we have variety!
Death666Angel - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link
"Due to a really old and bad habit I play many FPS games using the arrow keys and the numpad provides some keys which are convenient for miscellaneous functionality."That reminds me of my starting days! 12 years old, brand new Pentium III 500MHz computer with an Nvidia TNT 2 M64 model, which barely played Half-Life at 800x600. It was my whole pride, because I paid for it with all the money I'd earned and saved up at that point. A friend of mine brought over this game called Half-Life and was gushing all over it. He changed the key bindings to fit the arrow keys and the surrounding keys for crouching, jumping etc. So I grew up with that. It was years later that I saw the superiority of WASD. :D