Let's face it, the word "keyboard" is not likely to get anyone's heart pumping with excitment. They tend to be the most boring products imaginable, which is why on Driver Heaven we tend to review only the quality products like this Enermax Aurora model or the funky gaming versions like this Wolfclaw board.

Today we are looking at a product from the german based Raptor-Gaming, the "Raptor Gaming K2" which is the follow up to the successful (and rather expensive) K1 model. Interestingly, the price has been reduced from almost £100 (for the K1) in the UK to around £32 (for the K2) so if the quality is in the same area as before, we might have quite the bargain.

The Raptor K2 keyboard doesn't have a dramatic, and some might say unintuitive keyboard design, it is firmly planted in the traditional QWERTY shape which everyone will know and love. The Raptor K1 was probably one of the greatest keyboards ever released as it used Cherry Gold Crosspoint contacts, which are widely regarded as the highest quality contacts available. This technology however came with a very high asking price and it wasn't uncommon to see these boards selling for well over £100, almost double the price of other high end boards. Price aside, having used a K1 for a short period of time, I will say that I felt it was as close to perfect as possible, with a sharp responsive design and an amazing level of feedback from every key press. The Cherry gold contacts really did deliver an amazing experience and it wasn't until I spilt a cup of coffee over it that i realised just what I had lost.
It is all sounding great to this point and I am sure everyone is already salivating at the thought of picking up a similar experience for a mere £30. However, before I delve into the technology and keyboard experience to see how it compares with its more expensive predecessor, here is the marketing blurb from Raptor's site.

"The buttons of the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 have a very soft and particularly short keystroke.
This feature offers utmost velocity and extreme reactivity advantages when playing games on the PC while at the same time increasing the entry speed and reactivity.
The included handrest offers more comfort for your wrists even in long battles. In addition, the button surface of the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 is by 20% larger than on common keyboards, enabling you to reach the buttons fast and easily even in hectical and intensive situations.
Due to its intended use in video games on your computer, the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 has been designed for long durability with a minimum of 20 million button operations, making the RAPTORGAMING K2 one of the must durable keyboards available.
Additional buttons for accessing the Windows calculator, the email program, the Internet browser and the standby button are also included in the RAPTOR-GAMING K2, as well as 4 central additional buttons for volume control and selecting the multimedia program.
The included RAPTOR-LOAD software enables you to individually block, configure or remap buttons (e.g. button A to button R) and to program complete button sequences and combinations on a single button. The manifold features for customizing the RAPTOR-GAMING K2 are complemented by the option to program and save up to 40 macros."

The Raptor comes in a relatively attractive box, and as ours came straight from the factory in Germany you will notice a distinct lack of english text. As well as the keyboard which we will detail in a moment, you get a manual, a corny "alliance of the best" sheet of paper (their alliance with Cherry for the contacts) and a driver CD with the software for button assignment and macro modes.

It would be fair to say that my initial impressions of the keyboard were medicrore at best, especially after using the K1 model for quite some time. The K2 feels light (even though it weighs 800g) and the finish is also built distinctively to a price point. Differences from a standard keyboard lay around the addition of "game mode" buttons and lights at the top center and some nicely positioned volume and mute/media buttons which do exactly as they say on the tin.

While it may seem like a small issue and an aspect many people will never even discuss, I felt somewhat disappointed by the attention to finish at the rear of the keyboard, it really does looks quite shoddy and unfinished. The keyboard risers are also clunky and awkward to get at.

Negatives aside the wrist support is quite comfortable and fits snuggly to the main base without dropping off at every chance. So at least we have a plus point there. Another plus point would be the long 2.5 metre USB cable they supply, which should be more than adequate for all users.

It also became quite apparent after the first touch that this keyboard is not using the Cherry Gold Crosspoint Contacts, which only added to my initial disappointment with this product. Obviously looking at the bigger picture, you are saving around £70 between K1 and K2 models so sacrifices are being made to accommodate this pricepoint. This is further backed up by the information posted on Raptor's Site.

Raptor K1 - Extremely high durability with up to 50 million button operations
Raptor K2 - Lifecycle of the individual standard buttons: > 20 million operations

Now im not going to profess to know exactly how long 20 million key presses will last the average person, but a 30 million deduction is certainly a clear indication of how costs have been cut. I was unable at time of press to get detailed information regarding the contacts used, however the manual states "Improved button guidance with ATK technology (Advanced Technology Keyboard). Your guess is as good as mine.

I have already discussed that Raptor are no longer using the Cherry Gold Crosspoint contacts with the K2 model but the all important question is "how does it feel?" After all if its almost as good for one third the price who cares, right? My answer to this would be rather short and straight to the point. "Distinctly average". The keys have a rather spongy feel to them and while some might like the additional play Raptor have incorporated i found the keyboard was slowing up my typing speed and I was missing letters. I would class myself as a competent typist averaging around 80 words per minute, but I measured in the first day I was losing 20-30 wpm using this keyboard. Obviously it may very well be a case of taking time to adapt, but I am one of those impatient tech guys who just wants something to work the way I like it, without me having to adapt to the product. I also remember quite clearly not having this same issue with the K1 version, so it is obviously down to the cheaper contacts being used on this board to reach a lower target price range.

Installing the software is a straightforward affair and a reboot is required after completion.

The software supplied is one of the nicer aspects to the package as it lets you remap and reprogram keys to suit a specific game. Those of you familar with the K1 keyboard will remember that the bundle also included a key remover tool and some "blank" keys. This would allow you to forceably block a key from being pressed within a game title (this is called "button lock"). This software package is basically a much easier method of doing the same thing without the hassle of removing keys. This only effects the keyboard in "game mode", not in normal windows use. You just hit the GAME MODE button to toggle between modes. As you can see above you can also reprogram keys for further modifications, these are colour coded:
Dark grey - not programmable, but can be deactivated.
Light grey - programmable
Blue - deactivated
Orange - selected by mouse-click
Yellow - programmed

You can also configure button sequences so pressing a single button will transmit the key code for a specific array of button presses. This may prove useful to some although I can't help but feel it is a gimmick.

For example: Button "A" is replaced by the key code of the buttons, "B", "C" and "D". When pressing "A", the software will replace the code of "A" with the codes of "B", "C" and "D" and sends these codes to the operating system and/or application. The codes are sent in the order, as if the user would have pressed the buttons simultaneously, i.e. pressing and holding "B", pressing and holding "C", pressing and holding "D" and then releasing all the buttons. There is a limitation on the USB protocol of 6 characters being pressed simultaneously (and/or buttons and configured combinations).

For those interested you can store a maximum of 40 different macros with the K2 keyboard. You can switch to the "game mode" with a press of the button, activating the configurations. An LED indicates that the gamemode has been activated. There is also a KEYM@N buttom to access the double assignment of the function buttons F1 to F11 with multimedia and internet functions.

F1 Return to the previous website
F2 Go to the next website
F3 Cancel current transmission
F4 Reload internet page
F5 Start/pause playing media files
F6 Stop playing media files
F7 Press shortly: go to the previous title. Press and Hold: Rewind (not supported by all programs)
F8 Press shortly: skip forward. Press and Hold: Fast forward (not supported by all programs)
F9 Open/Close Internet browser search.
F10 Open folder: "My Computer"
F11 Open/close favourites in the internet browser.

Closing Thoughts:

If I was being totally honest I would have to say I have been thoroughly disappointed with this keyboard, even taking into consideration that it is built to a specific cost (£33). Having used the much superior K1 model before, I was expecting a similar quality of build and feel based around the Cherry Gold Crosspoint contacts. The Raptor K2 is basically a much cheaper and inferior product which will appease only those gamers on a budget. Quite honestly if I was marketing this product I would call it the K0.5 as the numbers are misleading.

The software side redeems the package slightly with a powerful and intuitive means of tailoring the keyboard to your requirements, however in the grand scheme of things, especially considering the spongy feel of the key movement and the rather poor finish I would find it hard to recommend this board to anyone especially when the Logitech G15 can be picked up for around £15 more. This is a much wiser choice for an enthusiast gamer.