A great gaming keyboard can make a huge difference in how well you play your favorite games. The best options combine high-quality switches for a tactile experience, custom lighting and programmable key functions with a wide range of customization settings to suit your personal style.
You’ll also want to choose a keyboard that fits your budget. If you’re on a tighter budget, look for models with a brushed aluminum or plastic finish and removable keys to keep costs down. If you have a bit more money to spend, you can find full-size keyboards with superior build quality and features like dedicated media controls, wrist rests, hot-swappable switches and more.
If you’re a serious gamer, there’s no question that a mechanical keyboard is the way to go. They offer a more precise and customizable feel than membrane or butterfly-switch models, and they last much longer than cheaper keyboards. Many of the best gaming keyboards have a wide selection of switch types, including those that feel clicky and tactile and those that are quieter with a shorter pre-travel distance. Some even let you customize the actuation point on a per-key basis for optimal performance in specific games.
The Corsair K70 Pro Mini Wireless is one of the best gaming keyboards you can buy for under $200. Its compact 60% form factor saves space on your desk and is perfect for those who play mostly shooters or other action-based games. Despite its small size, it still offers plenty of extras for gamers, like RGB lighting that’s customizable on a per-key basis, an ultra-fast polling rate and N-key rollover.
If your budget is a little more flexible, you can get a better pinterest gaming keyboard by investing in a model with a top-of-the-line Cherry MX Red switch. This is the same type of switch that professional gamers use, and it’s available on a few of our favorite keyboards for gamers. The Wooting 60 HE has the same Lekker switches as the other models on this list, but its superior software and incredibly smooth Hall effect sensors make it a standout choice for FPS gamers.
This keyboard has a higher latency than the more expensive alternatives on this list, so we don’t recommend it for high-stakes competitive play. However, it’s an impressive pick for casual gaming in any genre and has a few extras that are rare around this price, including the ability to set macros to any key, dedicated media keys and a volume wheel. Its RGB lighting isn’t as customizable as some other options, though, with only eight zones that you can adjust in the software.
