Software

We saw Akko add in software support for its recently released keyboards and this keyboard is no different with direct support for Akko Cloud Driver. The installer can be found as a zip file on this page. At the time of testing, v240.2.64 was the latest available public release for Windows, with there being a separate installer for macOS, and the installer is ~80 MB in size. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of installation options, with the executable choosing to do everything by default, including any T&C you inadvertently agreed to, adding shortcuts to the desktop and start menu, as well as the install location itself. Clearly nothing has changed in this regard compared to the previous Akko review, and I want this to be updated as soon as possible. Some discrepancy in version numbering exists as well, with Windows seeing this ~273 MB installed program as version 1.0.0.


Once installed, Akko Cloud Driver is fairly light on system resources, but not as fast as most other programs. There have been some improvements in this regard in the time since I last used this software, but more work needs to be done wherein everything you do initiates an action, whether you intended for it to be saved or not. With the keyboard connected, it takes ~5 seconds to detect the device and bring up the appropriate module full of specific menus and options. I will give Akko some credit for making the program scalable enough with high DPI displays despite the lack of a Windows maximize option, and it's not full of poorly translated English or errors, so this is already a step up from many generic, re-skinned software drivers we have seen other brands use. But the program when minimized in the system tray still doesn't have English menu options, so you need to use some guesswork to pull it back to the front or close it completely.

I hope you like that loading animation Akko is using, because you will be seeing it a lot. Every single action is immediately executed, and there is a 2-3 sec processing time to get anything done. This can make for a somewhat frustrating experience when just playing around with the various available options, and I want to see Akko adopt a preview system with dedicated apply and cancel buttons to proceed after having decided what to do. It's the exact same complaint I had previously, and Akko has not done anything yet unfortunately. On the plus side, the various menus are well laid out to where the interface is logical, and there are extensive options as it pertains to key mapping, macro recording, and of course the RGB lighting effects, with associated options including selecting the exact color from among the 16.8 million on offer, speed and brightness of the effects in discrete steps, direction of some dynamic effects, and per-key lighting for more customization in addition to side lighting via the extra set of LEDs on the PCB as we saw on the previous page. These come with their own lighting effects to choose from, which are fewer in number, and unfortunately there does not seem to be an easy way to sync the LEDs together which is a real shame.