Roccat Vulcan II review

The Roccat Vulcan II is the successor to Roccat’s extremely praised Vulcan 120 collection, which was launched in 2018. So far as specs go, this newest mannequin is spectacular.

It’s a full-size keyboard with a USB-A connection and a completely connected 1.8m braided USB 2.0 cable. It operates with a 32-bit “ARM Cortex M0” processor and a polling fee of normal 1,000 hertz. 4 profiles could be saved within the 4Mb onboard reminiscence.

The keyboard is obtainable in black or white and weighs 949g with out the detachable wrist relaxation and 1.14g with it. Its dimensions are 46.3 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm with out and 46.3 x 23.6 x 3.3 cm with.

However can the gaming keyboard additionally persuade in on a regular basis use? Right here’s our full overview.

Design

The Roccat Vulcan II boasts a powerful design. Its flat keycaps, screwless aluminium prime plate and the diamond-milled edges look nice.

However none of these items are new, and except for a couple of small particulars, there are hardly any variations in comparison with its predecessors. We’d have most well-liked Roccat to be slightly extra daring right here – as an alternative, it depends on the tried and examined.

Consequently, there are nonetheless areas for enchancment. Although the flat keycaps exhibit the RGB lighting to its greatest benefit, they’re solely made from standard ABS plastic. This makes them really feel a bit uninteresting and uninspiring.

We’d have most well-liked richer acoustics and tactile really feel, as you’ll discover on some opponents within the type of insulated keyboard housings and PBT keycaps.

The wrist relaxation isn’t nice, both. Though utterly detachable, it’s solely made from a easy piece of plastic and has no padding. Different producers on this value vary are inclined to do higher.

As with its predecessors, the Vulcan II additionally provides a devoted media management within the higher proper nook to conveniently set off primary multimedia features. Quantity management is by way of a rotary knob, which we all the time discover notably intuitive.

The RGB lighting on the keyboard, utilizing Roccat’s ‘AIMO’ know-how, is a pleasant characteristic and may look very enticing. However let’s face it, it’s extra of a gimmick than of any actual worth.

AIMO provides particular person illumination for every key with a claimed 16.8 million colors. It may be synchronised with different AIMO-compatible peripherals. You’ll be able to’t do with out RGB today!

Friedrich Stiemer

Options

The Roccat Vulcan II is supplied with Roccat’s Simple-Shift know-how, which unlocks a second perform for many keys – offered you retain the (freely assignable) Simple-Shift button pressed. That sounds thrilling, however is it actually helpful?

Whereas it may be moderately complicated for PC avid gamers who already need to grasp a mess of key mixtures, Simple-Shift could be nice for on a regular basis productiveness. For instance, making modifying movies even faster.

Moreover, the Vulcan II provides N-key rollover and 100% anti-ghosting. Each are plus factors for PC avid gamers who depend on quick and exact inputs. In our opinion, these are mandatory options for gaming keyboards.

Friedrich Stiemer

Elsewhere, the Vulcan II is the Roccat’s first keyboard to be outfitted with the newly designed Titan II mechanical switches.

These come pre-lubricated from the manufacturing unit and provide a easy typing really feel and an above-average service lifetime of 80 million presses. However producers resembling Gateron and Cherry are already additional forward right here, promising 100 million keystrokes.

Friedrich Stiemer

The Titan II is obtainable in two color choices – we’ve examined the one with Pink switches. Right here, every key has a linear switching journey with an actuation level at 1.4mm and whole journey of three.6mm. This makes it nice for quick, repeated keypresses.

Moreover, the Titan II has a generic cross mount inside the plunger, which means it’s suitable with a wide range of customized keycaps.

There’s additionally a brown model of the Titan II out there, which triggers tactilely (i.e. with noticeable resistance) and solely provides 1.8mm of key journey.

Gaming efficiency

The Vulcan II reveals its strengths in gaming. The Titan II Pink switches react shortly and exactly, which might generally make the decisive distinction in heated battles. The linear switching attribute and the actuation level of just one.4mm guarantee a pleasing and responsive typing really feel.

The second perform degree due to Simple-Shift could be notably helpful when you need to carry out many alternative actions shortly in a recreation.

A small drawback: you want some house in your desk to arrange the keyboard. You’ll must nonetheless have sufficient room for a mouse, too.

Friedrich Stiemer

Verdict

The Roccat Vulcan II is a persistently stable gaming keyboard.

Its strengths lie within the responsive Titan II switches and a number of features for every key, options which signify actual benefits for severe avid gamers. Regardless of the acquainted design, it additionally nonetheless appears to be like very elegant.

However we have been hoping for some actual innovation on a premium gaming keyboard in 2023. Many different producers provide the likes of built-in noise insulation, hot-swap switches, greater polling charges and generally even further macro keys.

By way of haptics, the keys are additionally disappointing: though they set off reliably and shortly, they really feel (and sound) low-cost total.

So, if you are able to do with out the putting design, yow will discover cheaper options with an identical vary of options. With a launch value of $149.99/£149.99, the Vulcan II actually a premium product.

This text has been translated from an authentic posted on PC-Welt.