ASUS ROG Azoth Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

[VSG]

ASUS adds to its flagship keyboard line with the new ROG Azoth which is a 75% form factor keyboard with features to attract ROG fans, the mainstream gaming crowd, and the enthusiast keyboard community too. It uses a clever combination of first-party switches, a gasket mount, an integrated OLED display, and software to make for a highly customizable and enjoyable typing experience.

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[Chrispy_]

I took a look at the keyboard, features, and decided it was a $120 keyboard if it had a Keychron sticker on it. Then I took a shortcut to the conclusion to check what Asus wanted for it. More than double! Of course I'm not surprised. I'd be finding out who makes it for Asus, and buying it from them instead because unless you're doubling down on Asus' software ecosystem, Armory crate is more of a negative point in the pros/cons list than anything else.

Just going back through the review now, but it looks like there's no metal baseplate, this is a $249 plastic keyboard?!

I guess OLED isn't something you'd find on a cheaper keyboard, but if you need to install all the bloatware anyway, what's the point of it? It'd be great if the OLED was actually enough to let you program the keyboard without bloatware but it just seems like a superfluous animated gimmick given the necessity of Armory Crate to even use it. At least it partly justifies the cost and I guess the rest of it goes on the fancy unboxing experience.

 

[TotallyRandomPerson]

$249.....one year warranty?!

 

[evernessince]

ASUS's switch selection alone is enough to keep me away from this. 45g and 1.8mm is the lightest switch they offer with this board. Meanwhile you can get as light as 40 - 35g switches with adjustable actuation from Wooting and SteelSeries with the 60HE and Apex Pro products. Wooting offers a 4 year warranty on their product. Those are cheaper as well. ASUS has had a long time to study these products but instead it comes up with an LED screen that hardly adds any value and a price tag more expensive than it's competitor's products. At least the battery life is good here but it could have been better if they dropped the screen.

 

[bonehead123]

where people actively look out for ROG products based on the effective marketing done over the past few years

Yep, marketing/e-peen is about all this thing is good for IMO.....

Yet ANUTHA kiddie-toy keeb made for those who (still) play with pleeb toys

 

[Garrus]

It should come with a wrist wrest. Fail.

 

[Cheeseball]

This should've been a $99 keyboard. The form factor is perfect for me (70%/72%) and the connectivity is spot on.

Sadly the stock keycaps, Armoury Crate (I hate this even on my G14) and $250+ price tag makes this a no go, although you technically can workaround the first two issues.

 

[Selaya]

so basically $200 for the unboxing experience.
iN sEaRcH oF tHe InCrEdIbLe (ScAm)
fOr ThOsE wHo DaRe (To EmPtY tHeIr WaLlEtS!!11)

 

[EatingDirt]

Nothing about this keyboard says $250 to me.

1. Only a half-metal case.
2. Mediocre quality keycaps (printed legends on the 1-0 keys, seriously?) in a basic OEM profile.
2. Renamed basic cherry switches without dust stems.
3. The crappy plastic keycap puller.

If you're going to spend $200+, you're better off with basically anything else. Pick almost any keyboard on the market for between $150-250 and it'll look better, be more unique and be a better value than this.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Best I can do is $50

 

[katzi]

This review isn't entirely accurate - you've missed/cut out the whole section on trying to install Armorycrate without it breaking IMMEDIATELY, or getting it to run after the first use.

 

[VSG]

This review isn't entirely accurate - you've missed/cut out the whole section on trying to install Armorycrate without it breaking IMMEDIATELY, or getting it to run after the first use.

I've actually mentioned that too.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

The sad part about pretty much anything Asus-branded is, while the products may be good (some, not all)m they are all inherently ruined by the bastard known as Armoury Crate. I'd rather deal with iCUE over it, and that's saying something. Armoury Crate is literally the Achilles Heel when it comes to me and Asus peripherals (other than the price of course).

 

[silapakorn]

75% keyboards should cost 75% of its full sized variation.

 

[VSG]

75% keyboards should cost 75% of its full sized variation.

This is a terrible argument.

 

[demps709]

So I stupidly bought this keyboard not realizing just how bad Armory Crate is. The keyboard itself is fantastic but I'm going to return it since you have the have Armory Crate installed. It has randomly caused my PC to hard lock to the point that the power button doesn't even work. I have to turn off the PSU, wait a few seconds for the caps to drain, and power it back on. It's ridiculous.

Thoughts on any comparable keyboards? I'm looking at the Keychron Q1 Pro but I've heard the latency can suck.

 

[VSG]

So I stupidly bought this keyboard not realizing just how bad Armory Crate is. The keyboard itself is fantastic but I'm going to return it since you have the have Armory Crate installed. It has randomly caused my PC to hard lock to the point that the power button doesn't even work. I have to turn off the PSU, wait a few seconds for the caps to drain, and power it back on. It's ridiculous.

Thoughts on any comparable keyboards? I'm looking at the Keychron Q1 Pro but I've heard the latency can suck.

Not as feature-rich, but the Epomaker EP75 is good for the money: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/epomaker-ep75-triple-mode-wireless-mechanical-keyboard/

BTW you don't need to have Armory Crate installed. Most of its functions are stored on the keyboard itself.

 

[demps709]

BTW you don't need to have Armory Crate installed. Most of its functions are stored on the keyboard itself.

You need to have it installed to use the live functions of the OLED like CPU/GPU temps right? And the actual battery %? Are macros/rebinds stored on the keyboard?

It would be one thing if you could just not have the software run and open it every once and a while for updates/making changes but it's basically malware and a pain to install/uninstall. Such a same to cripple such good hardware.

 

[VSG]

You need to have it installed to use the live functions of the OLED like CPU/GPU temps right? And the actual battery %? Are macros/rebinds stored on the keyboard?

It would be one thing if you could just not have the software run and open it every once and a while for updates/making changes but it's basically malware and a pain to install/uninstall. Such a same to cripple such good hardware.

Key maps are stored on the keyboard, and most lighting effects are too. The live functions are tied to Armory Crate, although I believe battery % should be displayed regardless. It's been a while though!

 

[Menersar]

Heyhou!

Might be a bit late, but since I was searching for the battery installed in the ASUS ROG Azoth, I just wanted to quickly share my insights here:

On Page 4 (Disassembly) of the review it is written “in the middle is the battery itself which unfortunately comes well-taped to where I can't easily tell you the battery capacity”.
However, after observing the provided photo of the battery, I could actually spot a small label indicating a capacity of 3820 mAh (as marked in the attached picture).
Also, searching for the Model identifier (C11P1707) did support my assumption / discovery.

So perhaps, should anyone be looking for this information, as I did, in the future, this finding might help to get to them a bit quicker.


Anyhow: Thanks for the review and provided photos.
It really helped me getting those information I was looking for rather quickly!

 

[VSG]

Heyhou!

Might be a bit late, but since I was searching for the battery installed in the ASUS ROG Azoth, I just wanted to quickly share my insights here:

On Page 4 (Disassembly) of the review it is written “in the middle is the battery itself which unfortunately comes well-taped to where I can't easily tell you the battery capacity”.
However, after observing the provided photo of the battery, I could actually spot a small label indicating a capacity of 3820 mAh (as marked in the attached picture).
Also, searching for the Model identifier (C11P1707) did support my assumption / discovery.

So perhaps, should anyone be looking for this information, as I did, in the future, this finding might help to get to them a bit quicker.


Anyhow: Thanks for the review and provided photos.
It really helped me getting those information I was looking for rather quickly!

Thanks for sharing this info!