Whether you’re navigating dungeons or typing up a report, the right keyboard is the most important part of your desk set. Here’s how to buy the right one, along with our top picks based on our newest in-depth reviews.
Maybe your trusty old keyboard has typed its last letter or trapped its last bagel crumb. Perhaps your gaming ambitions have outstripped the mushy, mediocre typer that came with your PC. Or maybe your hands are simply shouting: Hey, cut me some slack here! Whatever the reason, anyone can benefit from a better keyboard. After all, is any part of your computer more hands-on? Before you go shopping, though, it pays to know what makes a keyboard a good fit. Modern models come in a bunch of subtypes, from boards optimized for typing efficiency to sculpted ergonomic designs that cradle your hands and relieve stress on the joints. Let’s dig into the features to look for. Connectivity Options: Wired and Wireless The simplest way to connect a wired keyboard to your PC is via a standard USB port. Non-gaming keyboards are usually plug-and-play devices, with no additional software to install, meaning that plugging in the keyboard cable is all the setup you’ll need. Gaming keyboards, the exception, will typically work as soon as you plug them in, but come with their own software that lets you adjust features such as onboard RGB lighting and the assignment of macro keys. (More on that in a bit.) Some cheaper gaming models, though, may lack their own software and operate key backlighting and macros/shortcuts wholly through hardware. Besides transferring your keystrokes to the computer, a USB connection also powers the keyboard, so there are no batteries to worry about. Some premium gaming models with lots of customizable buttons and lights come with two USB cables, one for power delivery (and/or to feed an extra USB port or ports on the keyboard itself) and one for the data connection, which means it will occupy two available USB ports. This isn’t usually a problem, since you’ll likely be connecting one of these keyboards to a large gaming desktop with many available USB ports. If you want more freedom and less cable clutter on your desk, however, it’s hard to beat a wireless keyboard. Wireless models transmit data to your PC through one of two primary means: an RF connection to a tiny USB dongle, or via a Bluetooth connection with no dongles required. Both have their pros and cons. But if you want to reduce the number of cables on your desk and gain the flexibility to use your keyboard at a distance—whether that be on your lap at your desk, or from across the room—wireless is the way to go. Most wireless keyboards that use USB dongles transmit over the same 2.4GHz wireless frequency used for cordless phones and Wi-Fi routers. The dongle itself is usually a tiny rectangle—small enough to plug in and forget about. Not only is the dongle unobtrusive, but we find that the 2.4GHz signal tends to offer more stable connectivity than Bluetooth. Note that in some situations, these USB dongles can provide connectivity to more than one device, meaning you can use the single adapter for your wireless keyboard as well as a wireless mouse, assuming that both are the same brand and both support the same scheme. (Logitech, for example, refers to this single-dongle arrangement as „Logitech Unifying“; some, but not all, of its peripherals support it.) Bluetooth options make sense in certain situations; they don’t monopolize a USB port, and newer versions of Bluetooth—the current one is 5.0—are stable, easy to manage, and offer compatibility with more mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. In regular use, a Bluetooth connection gives you roughly 30 feet of wireless range; we find, however, that Bluetooth keyboards tend to not match devices with a USB dongle on battery life. New innovations, including hand-proximity sensors, improve the battery life versus older Bluetooth devices, which maintained an always-on link, draining battery quickly. Among the only major drawbacks of mainstream wireless keyboards is that few of them feature key backlighting, which hampers one of their most useful roles: controlling a home theater PC in a softly lit living room.
