Usage & Final Thoughts
I’ve been using the Apex Pro Mini Wireless for the past few weeks as my main keyboard and I’ve really enjoyed it a lot. The biggest thing you’ll have to overcome if you are moving from a larger keyboard is losing certain keys you may use a lot. For me it was the arrow keys, for others it is a numberpad. With alternate functions (SteelSeries calls these Meta Bindings) you can set a secondary action for each key, which should help with this, but you had to hold in the function key to access these alternate functions.
When it came to typing and gaming with the keyboard it was extremely comfortable. The keyboard is extremely solid and does not have much flex at all. The double-shot PBT keycaps feel miles better than ABS keycaps and on top of that they won’t show shine or wear like ABS keycaps do. The switches felt great too, I would compare them really to a Cherry MX red, which of course is a gaming switch. For those wondering what these switches sound like below you can find a sound test.
I used the keyboard mostly with its 2.4 GHz wireless dongle and did not experience any input lag issues. I also like how fast the keyboard wakes up from sleep. Other wireless keyboards I’ve used sometimes take in excess of 5 seconds to wake back up, but the Apex Pro Mini Wireless is almost instant. The keyboard is easy enough to connect via Bluetooth and it is nice that it has this connection as sometimes you might forget to bring the dongle with you.
The SteelSeries software will allow you to completely customize the keyboard. Not only can you completely reprogram any of the keys on the keyboard, you can set the lighting, save profiles, etc. The software is very easy to navigate and I never felt like I was searching for a specific setting.
For a 60% keyboard Razer has really loaded it up with as much customization as possible, which is either going to be a good thing or bad thing for you. On the good side you have their OmniPoint 2.0 switches which allow you to set the actual actuation point for each individual switch from 0.2mm to 3.8mm. This means that this keyboard will be faster than a keyboard outfitted with mechanical speed switches. You also have the ability to set two different actions for different actuation levels (up to 8), so you can have walking set to a quick press of a button and running when you bottom out the switch. Lots of possibilities here. It does take some practice to get this working correctly, but once you master it is nice having two actions based on how hard you press a switch.
On the bad side of things you are going to pay for all of these customization features even if you aren’t going to use them. Right now this keyboard is selling at our favorite online retailer for $180, which it appears to be discounted over the MSRP of $239.99. You can find many solid 60% mechanical keyboards under this pricepoint that will get the job done, although you are not going to get the customization that the OmniPoint 2.0 switches give you.
This definitely has to be one of the most feature-packed 60% keyboards that is currently available. If you are going to make use of all of these features it is going to be worth it. Overall ThinkComputers gives the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless Gaming Keyboard a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– You can select the actuation point for each individual switch
– 2 different actions for a single key
– Solid build quality
– Double-shot PBT keycaps
– Easy to use software
– Comfortable
Cons:
– 60% might take some time to get used to
– Price
