Manufacturer: QPAD
Where To Buy: Currys (UK)
RRP: £119.99
As noted in our recent post, we’re looking at getting more into the world of PC gaming, be that through Xbox Play Anywhere, Steam, or simply getting more acquainted with the humble mouse and keyboard. The latter is the subject of our review today, with QPAD kindly allowing us to check out the FLUX 65 Model 5 mini keyboard. As a 65%-sized version, it’s a far more snug affair than a full fat layout, but I’ll be damned if it’s not been great to use, especially once I got the settings to my liking.
Despite its small size, the Flux 65 is weighty out of the box. Typing and playing feel great, with no risk of it sliding about or feeling too light weight under our finger tips. Each key has a great, slightly muted chunk sound too, something that I always appreciate in a keyboard (even if my old co-workers were perhaps not as sold on the clacking of my emails!).
Actuation time for the keys by default is very light, with even the smallest glance giving us a key stroke. Great for gaming, but I must admit my old, clunky fingers struggled with this at first as I was hitting extra keys far more often than I have on other devices.
Thankfully, the Flux 65 is fully customisable and so we can adjust to the tenth of a millimetre how sensitive each key is. I hope to be able to train myself to bring it back up to a more sensitive setting one day, but for now I need all the help I can get to avoid accidentally typing all manner of (extra) nonsense.
We can also customize the lighting – RGB is never going to not be cool to me – and there is a plethora of patterns and speeds to choose from, from simple waves and pulsing to blasts of colour with each key stroke. I can’t say I got on with the last one because, look, I’m old and can barely see the keys at the best of times, but I can’t deny it’s a cool effect.
There are other customisations to get into with macros and fn key bindings too, and for those so inclined there is a wealth of ways to set this board up as you’d like it. For me? I’ve found a few function remaps and a slight decreasing of the sensitivity has made the world of difference, and it’s far more enjoyable to type – say, this review for example – using the Flux 65 than the regular laptop keyboard.
Other stand out features of the Flux 65 include the 8K polling rate (thanks to being a wired unit) for super fast response times, and the premium feel to the keyboard as a whole. The former is something I’m sure lighting fast FPS players will make great use of, and the latter is felt with every keystroke. Again, it’s a chunky feeling bit of kit, and really nice to type and play with.
With the smaller build of the unit we do lose dedicated keypad numbers and the like, but I’ve gotten so used to using the Flux 65 now that I don’t really notice this. I also really dig how it feels to type, and playing some Arc Raiders with it has proven it’s worth as a gaming companion in my eyes as it’s far more comfortable to play with than my laptop keyboard for me.
Conclusion
As a premium keyboard, the Flux 65 Model 5 is not the cheapest out there, but in my eyes easily justifies its worth with great build quality, excellent customisation options and a great feel in both typing and playing.
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