SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard Review

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Overview

The Apex Pro Mini Wireless is of course a 60% keyboard, and as I’ve said before I think 60% is as low as you can go before you really start losing major functionality of the keyboard itself. If you are not familiar with the 60% form factor imagine taking a tenkeyless keyboard and cutting off the right section where the arrow keys are as well as the entire top function row.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

For those who are dependent on something like the function row or other buttons that may be missing on this keyboard there are alternate functions which are labeled on the side of the keycaps that face towards you.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

For those wondering about size this keyboard has official dimensions of 293mm x 103mm x 40.3mm (WxDxH). The actual frame of the keyboard has just enough room to fit your keys and there really is no extra space on the keyboard for indication LEDs or anything like that, so if you are a minimalist you are going to love this keyboard. When you first pick the keyboard up you’ll notice that it does have some weight to it, weighing in at 1.2 lbs. This is in part due to the aluminum alloy top plate.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

For those wondering about keycaps, SteelSeries is making use of double-shot PBT keycaps. Once you use a keyboard with double-shot PBT keycaps you won’t go back to using standard ABS keycaps. They feel better and don’t wear or carry shine.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Removing the keycaps we find the SteelSeries OmniPoint 2.0 adjustable mechanical switches. These are very different from your traditional mechanical switch or even optical switches which use a laser to detect a keypress. These switches use a magnetic sensor. This allows for the keyboard to know how for down you are actually pressing each key. Because of this you can set your own custom actuation point as well as set two different actions to a single key depending on how you press it. On most mechanical keyboards switches you have a total travel distance of 4mm and an actuation at 2mm. With these switches you can set the actuation from 0.2mm to 3.8mm. We will get more into this once we get into the software.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Looking at the keyboard from the side we can see it does sit pretty flat by default, but there are pop-out feet which do allow two different levels of adjustment.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Flipping the keyboard over we find those feet along with four more rubber feet which will keep the keyboard from moving around on your desk.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Along the top edge of the keyboard there is a SteelSeries logo and and then a small switch, and USB-C connection. The switch allows you to choose between wired, Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz wireless modes. The Type-C connection can be used with the included cable to either charge the keyboard or use it in wired mode.

SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard

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