Roccat Isku+ Force FX Keyboard

[VSG]

The Roccat Isku+ Force FX is a very large form-factor keyboard with 123 separate keys, a pressure-sensitive key zone offering analog control, 16.8M RGB backlighting, and an integrated wrist rest. It is complemented well by a powerful software driver to make the most of the provided hardware.

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[GreiverBlade]

"First to market with pressure-sensitive keys on a keyboard"

uh? no,

Microsoft: 2009 (didn't work it seems )
Topre: 2015 (didn't work it seems )
The Wooting: 2016 Kickstarter 130k $ pledged over 30k $ goal, TKL, full mech, MX compatible, switch swapable and analog over all keys (1st pledge was not too expensive for the type marketed, retail model is quite higher priced, 100$ vs 159/199$/€) downside DXinput compatible game for analog and probably price (tho on par with the Ryos MK FX )
Roccat: 2017

tho i love Roccat ... their Ryos TKL Pro was a real good keyboard, sturdy feeling, excellent shape and wrist rest, the original Isku's were an oddball for me .... clearly inferior to the Ryos line the price wasn't that inferior ... it was rather between standard "gaming" membranes (60-80$) and Ryos Mech (100-150$) at 90-129$, depending the retailer ... and not really an edge to justify it, that price bracket is now taken by the Isku+ at 131chf and the "edge" is the 6 pressure sensitive key this time.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Got the original Isku and it's been mostly good, apart from the fact that the metal supports for the larger keys have pathetically weak supports, so I broke one of those cleaning the keyboard. Due to its design, it collects a lot of gunk... Not going to upgrade to this one though.

 

[VSG]

"First to market with pressure-sensitive keys on a keyboard"

uh? no,

Microsoft: 2009 (didn't work it seems )
Topre: 2015 (didn't work it seems )
The Wooting: 2016 Kickstarter 130k $ pledged over 30k $ goal, TKL, full mech, MX compatible, switch swapable and analog over all keys (1st pledge was not too expensive for the type marketed, retail model is quite higher priced, 100$ vs 159/199$/€) downside DXinput compatible game for analog and probably price (tho on par with the Ryos MK FX )
Roccat: 2017

tho i love Roccat ... their Ryos TKL Pro was a real good keyboard, sturdy feeling, excellent shape and wrist rest, the original Isku's were an oddball for me .... clearly inferior to the Ryos line the price wasn't that inferior ... it was rather between standard "gaming" membranes (60-80$) and Ryos Mech (100-150$) at 90-129$, depending the retailer ... and not really an edge to justify it, that price bracket is now taken by the Isku+ at 131chf and the "edge" is the 6 pressure sensitive key this time.

The Wooting One shipped to backers beginning in August of this month, and the others didn't work. So wouldn't this not be the first to market as I said?

Got the original Isku and it's been mostly good, apart from the fact that the metal supports for the larger keys have pathetically weak supports, so I broke one of those cleaning the keyboard. Due to its design, it collects a lot of gunk... Not going to upgrade to this one though.

I haven't noticed any issues with the stabilizers here, and I was pressing hard on them too at times. Of course, longevity is an item I can't really test for.

 

[lexluthermiester]

The downsides listed are not really a dealbreaker for many users. The dimmer LED's are actually a selling point for me as I'm very much irritated by overbright LED lighting. Soft and function is preferred. The pressure-sensing thing is a nonrunner as it's only for the six keys. If it was for all keys, it would be useful in games, but not everyone uses the WASD movement config. I personally use WERD[left, forward, right, backward] as it's far more comfortable. In fact, no one I know uses WASD anymore. So restricting pressure-sensing to QWEASD is silly. All or nothing. And if you've got a big desk, a bigger KB is not a big deal[pun intended].

 

[Keullo-e]

It's fun that almost all of Roccat's product are branded with a Finnish word, like this.

Isku means a hit in English. Like a hit from a fist.

 

[jabbadap]

It's fun that almost all of Roccat's product are branded with a Finnish word, like this.

Isku means a hit in English. Like a hit from a fist.

Heh, there's have to be some Finnish bloke to troll them. Roccat Isku+ force FX and Roccat Suora(straight) FX keyboards Roccat Kone(machine), Kova(hard), Savu(smoke) gaming mouses...

 

[bogami]

Yes, it has a RGB keypad diode and an added senor layer under the keys, but this does not place it among the more expensive mechanical keypad. The price is four times higher than the real one.

 

[raptori]

$80 price is not a down side for membrane keyboard with bunch of blings ?

 

[Mescalamba]

Hm, I also own rubber dome keyboard (Topre - CM Novatouch TKL) and I would not recommend this filthy rubber domeh for gaming.

 

[lexluthermiester]

$80 price is not a down side for membrane keyboard with bunch of blings ?

Not for for the quality you're getting. Granted, it's a bit on the higher side, but not unreasonably. And some people DON'T like mechanical keyboards, for one simple reason, they are generally noisy as hell!

 

[GreiverBlade]

The Wooting One shipped to backers beginning in August of this month, and the others didn't work. So wouldn't this not be the first to market as I said?

true for the 2 i mentioned first, but August is before October afaik and it's available thru their website for orders, so the first on the market (and working) is the Wooting then

Not for for the quality you're getting. Granted, it's a bit on the higher side, but not unreasonably. And some people DON'T like mechanical keyboards, for one simple reason, they are generally noisy as hell!

well for me it's 138.89$ (tho true the quality should be good as it's from Roccat)

 

[VSG]

$80 price is not a down side for membrane keyboard with bunch of blings ?

Not with the analog/force sensitive zone and all the programming plus functionality associated with it.

true for the 2 i mentioned first, but August is before October afaik and it's available thru their website for orders, so the first on the market (and working) is the Wooting then

Ah, this actually released a lot sooner than my review. It was shown off at CES and came to market in H1 itself.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Ah, this actually released a lot sooner than my review. It was shown off at CES and came to market in H1 itself.

well then by announcement ..... i wonder (because i didn't saw the Isku+ in stock thru any of my retailer/etailer until today also ) shall we take the kickstarter campaign start as the base for the Wooting then? (didn't search extensively tho)

Not with the analog/force sensitive zone and all the programming plus functionality associated with it.

and yep for the MSRP the deal is good ..... i blame myself to live in a country where everything is between 50 and 100$ more than MSRP

 

[VSG]

well then by announcement ..... i wonder (because i didn't saw the Isku+ in stock thru any of my retailer/etailer until today also ) shall we take the kickstarter campaign start as the base for the Wooting then? (didn't search extensively tho)


and yep for the MSRP the deal is good ..... i blame myself to live in a country where everything is between 50 and 100$ more than MSRP

My definition of a product in market is when it is shipping to paying consumers (announcement vs release). But it's semantics here.

 

[GreiverBlade]

My definition of a product in market is when it is shipping to paying consumers (announcement vs release). But it's semantics here.

well then for me the Wooting is 1st since the Isku+ got in stock (and not a lot) this month.... and the 1st shipping to paying customer was in August for the Wooting (tho only the Kickstarter one ofc)

but yeah ... also location dependant

 

[Keullo-e]

Heh, there's have to be some Finnish bloke to troll them. Roccat Isku+ force FX and Roccat Suora(straight) FX keyboards Roccat Kone(machine), Kova(hard), Savu(smoke) gaming mouses...

Exactly. First I thought that it was just a coincidence, but when they relased more and more products with a Finnish word as a model name.

 

[bug]

Hm just stumbled upon SteelSeries Apex 350. For about the same price it comes with more macro keys and 2 USB ports. Plus, imho, it looks better.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Hm just stumbled upon SteelSeries Apex 350. For about the same price it comes with more macro keys and 2 USB ports. Plus, imho, it looks better.

Just checked that out. I like it! The multi-zone lighting seems like it would be interesting. The extra USB ports are a good option.

 

[bug]

Just checked that out. I like it! The multi-zone lighting seems like it would be interesting. The extra USB ports are a good option.

I really don't care about multizone. But for users that don't use a single color for all keys, zones seem way more practical than individual configuration. At the same time, I'm sure SteelSeries went for zones to cut some of the cost; I don't mid it.