Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air keyboard review

Greatest Costs Immediately: Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air keyboard

$179.99

The Vulcan II Mini Air is a wi-fi model of the Vulcan II Mini. Cease me if that is getting too stunning for you. However that reductive intro doesn’t inform the entire story, as a result of there’s a number of engineering occurring within the Vulcan II Mini Air past tossing a radio and a battery within the case and calling it a day. 

The keyboard’s phenomenal battery life makes wi-fi operation with its bombastic lighting enabled an actual possibility, even if you happen to’re an influence consumer. That’s a commendable innovation, even when it solely applies to a really area of interest type of consumer. That area of interest is so particular — a small, premium, gaming, optical, wi-fi keyboard that may continually dazzle you with RGB goodness — that it nearly justifies the excessive worth. 

Virtually. On the finish of the day we’re speaking about $180/£170 for a mini keyboard, and for that type of dough, you’d higher be delivering in any respect ranges. It’s out of consideration for many customers, however for that tiny little bit of the Venn diagram, it’s value it. 

What’s new, Roccat (woah woah woah)?

At first look, not a lot has modified since I reviewed the Vulcan II Mini a yr in the past. You get the identical 65% format with full arrow keys, the identical Titan II optical switches for quick, easy operation, and the identical “floating” keycaps that exhibit Roccat’s best-in-class RGB lighting (together with the brilliant LEDs and clear swap housing). The wi-fi model is about half an inch taller on the Y axis, simply sufficient to place an illuminated Roccat emblem above the keys. It additionally well shifts the USB-C port to the left, provides an influence swap, and provides you just a little bay to stow the two.4GHz dongle. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The keyboard is heavier than the Vulcan II Mini…however shockingly, not by a lot. On my kitchen scale the wired board is 17.7 ounces, whereas the wi-fi one (sans dongle) is 20.4 ounces. Roccat managed to cram wi-fi {hardware} and a battery in there with lower than 3 ounces. For the sake of comparability, I threw the Corsair K65 Professional Mini on the size, which has the identical 65% format and optical switches however does not have a radio or battery, and it was a full ounce heavier than the Vulcan II Mini Air. Spectacular!

That type of weight-saving makes the Roccat design a wonderful moveable board, although these floating keycaps imply you’ll undoubtedly need some type of protecting case on it earlier than you throw it in a backpack. That’s one thing the Asus Falchion contains within the field, by the best way. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

To reiterate what I wrote in regards to the totally new, full-sized Vulcan II: Roccat is unbeatable in terms of eye-popping RGB lights. When it comes to brightness, visibility (due to these skinny keycaps), and animation, it’s merely peerless in the mean time. All the identical issues apply to the Vulcan II Mini Air… besides that this little board is working on a battery. Which is, counter-intuitively, an enormous deal. 

How is the Vulcan Mini II Air battery?

With the lights on full energy and in wi-fi 2.4GHz mode, the Vulcan Mini II Air lasted 5 days on a battery cost for me. That may not sound like a lot, so let me put it in context.

One, keep in mind that Roccat’s lighting system is insane — the main target and undoubtedly the spotlight of the Vulcan sequence. And two, I’m a heavy consumer to a presumably unhealthy diploma. A regular mini keyboard working totally animated RGB lights will final me someday, maaaaaybe two if it’s fortunate. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

So when Roccat claims that this keyboard can final 150 hours (on the clock, not energetic utilization) in its customary mode, or as much as 750 hours with the RGB disabled, I’m inclined to imagine it. The specs don’t say how massive the battery is, however with only a few ounces of additional weight, it may’t be capacious. That is, with out qualification, the most effective battery life I’ve ever seen from a gaming keyboard. 

And on prime of that, Roccat managed a trick I not often see: immediate wake. With the two.4GHz dongle, the keyboard immediately wakes up from sleep and begins shining, able to enter instructions. Presumably that is as a result of proximity sensors that the sunshine present will get going even earlier than you press a key, a really neat trick you want to expertise in particular person to understand. I’ve seen comparable tech on Logitech’s MX Keys line, however even these high-end boards don’t boast this sort of insane battery life. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

One final observe on the battery life. If you happen to maintain down the Fn key, the LED beneath the V key turns into your battery bar, progressively going from inexperienced to yellow to orange to pink because the battery drains. A ultimate warning, the V key and the Roccat emblem flashing pink, lets you understand demise is imminent. However even “imminent” is relative with such longevity — for me, it began flashing about two or three hours earlier than it lastly gave up the ghost. Spectacular. 

How is the Vulcan Mini II Air for gaming and typing?

Like its non-wireless variant — and in contrast to the full-sized, wired Vulcan II — the Vulcan II Mini Air comes outfitted with optical key switches. In distinction to a standard mechanical keyboard swap that closes a circuit with {an electrical} contact, these detect a key press by interrupting a beam of sunshine. This permits for (theoretically) super-fast efficiency and easy, unhindered motion from the highest of the important thing press to the underside, and again once more. 

Roccat and Corsair each provide optical switches, giving us a possibility to match the Vulcan II Mini Air to the K65 Professional Mini. And by way of typing and gaming, it isn’t nearly as good. Roccat’s switches really feel extra unfastened and chattery, with extra motion within the keycaps even after they’re not getting used. Throw within the flat, slippery ABS keycaps that Roccat makes use of on the Vulcan line versus the pleasantly tough PBT caps on the Corsair, and the latter is the clear winner by way of typing and gaming “really feel,” if not by an infinite margin. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

In fact, you possibly can at all times put PBT keycaps on the Vulcan. You would even put Corsair’s keycaps on the Vulcan, for the reason that format is almost similar. However you then wouldn’t get the total good thing about Roccat’s lighting system, and I doubt anybody considering shopping for this board is keen to go that far. You can also’t swap out the switches, however that’s typical for optical designs. 

Roccat’s format can also be much less intuitive than Corsair’s, although each commit the cardinal sin, in my view, of an unmovable Fn button. The Vulcan II Mini Air is much more restrictive than most, because the Home windows, Esc, and proper Ctrl key are additionally off-limits. By default media keys are unfold between Z and the interval, generally necessitating two fingers, and the Print Display secret is on the O, precisely one spot left of the place it ought to be (in my thoughts, anyway). In fact all of that is configurable by way of software program, with a second operate layer out there by way of the Straightforward Shift system (set to Caps Lock by default). However no quantity of software program can re-print the default format onto the keys. There’s no possibility for re-binding or programming macros on the fly. 

So far as gaming chops go, the Vulcan II Mini Air presents 1,000Hz polling and N-key rollover, greater than any mere mortal might need make use of. Apart from the slippery keycaps, I discovered it moderately cozy, although I want the single-stage keyboard toes had an possibility for a better profile. I additionally assume that for the value tag, an included and matching wrist relaxation isn’t an excessive amount of to ask for. In spite of everything, the Vulcan II — a less expensive, wired board — has one. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

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Roccat’s Swarm software program is purposeful, if unspectacular. Just like the Vulcan boards themselves, the massive draw is the lighting, and the entire included defaults are each extra attention-grabbing and rather more easily animated than any of the competitors. You may customise the pace, brightness, and coloration of every, and if that’s not sufficient, program a completely customized system your self. 

As a wi-fi board Swarm has just a little extra to handle for this system, and it does so admirably. If you’d like much more excessive battery life you possibly can modify the sensitivity of the keyboard’s proximity sensor or disable it totally. Doing so signifies that the keyboard must wake from sleep, but it surely does so in a tiny fraction of a second, so it looks as if a good trade-off to me. 

Do you have to purchase the Roccat Vulcan Mini II Air?

The Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air prices $179/£169. You should buy it from Roccat and Amazon in America, and Roccat and Amazon within the UK. You may get it in each black and white color choices.

After I reviewed the Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi, I known as its worth sky-high and dinged it for a scarcity of worth. The Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air is identical worth, with a number of the identical options, like a selection of Bluetooth or 2.4GHz dongle wi-fi. So why do I feel it’s a a lot better deal? 

Loads of causes. One, it’s only a higher board for touring, being the identical weight regardless of a bigger format that features user-friendly arrow keys. It has quicker optical switches, and it has an unbeatable battery life. That’s true whether or not or not you favor your gaming periods illuminated, and if you happen to do, the Vulcan II Mini Air will delight your eyeballs with a light-weight present that lasts for days. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

That being stated, $179/£169 remains to be some huge cash for a keyboard, particularly one which’s this small and doesn’t include extras like a wrist relaxation or case. So it’s solely value it for a really particular type of gamer. That gamer is one who desires that lovely RGB goodness, desires it to final an extended, very long time, and is okay with switches, keycaps, and format that aren’t the most effective round. 

If these caveats don’t hassle you, the Vulcan II Mini Air is well worth the excessive asking worth for a super-portable board that takes its mild present on the highway. 

This evaluate has been syndicated and localised for Tech Advisor. You may learn the original article over on PCWorld.