Lighting and Performance

The Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming keyboard supports N-key rollover USB and 2.4 GHz which tested successfully using Aqua's test. It defaults to 6KRO with Bluetooth as expected. Switch Hitter confirmed no chatter with these keys either, and seen above are all the functions with dedicated keys on the base layer. This 83-key unit gives you most of the functionality of a TKL-size keyboard in a smaller footprint, albeit you can see that some of those 83 keys have gone towards other functions, including three for volume control as opposed to, say, having a volume scroll wheel on the top or side as a few others went with.


The good news is Alienware has already programmed in several quality-of-life improvements in the form of a Fn layer. Hold down the Fn key and the switches listed in the table above to access the other functions, including those you were missing from the TKL layout. More on this can be found in the highly detailed user guide available online.


Some of the onboard controls are directly related to the LEDs on board and here is where I think going for the Lunar Light color version is the way to go. The all-white keyboard makes for a much brighter light show, even at 50-60% LED brightness, compared to black keyboards, so you can get the full benefits of backlit keycap legends, enjoy an eye-grabbing light show, and extend the keyboard's battery life in wireless mode too. In fact, I found the keyboard at 100% LED brightness to be too bright in a darker environment, and I mostly had them off in daylight anyway given the keycap legends have good contrast against the lighter background already. The default lighting profile is a static blue on all keys as seen above. The profile key helps toggle through up to five onboard effects and the software allows for finer customization. I set all the keys to white to test for color fidelity and noticed it has a slightly pink hue to the color, Alienware could perhaps improve its programming of the hardware LED drivers thus. There is some color bleed too, although this is to be expected given the increased reflectance from the white keyboard in addition to the floating keycaps.

The 2.4 GHz dongle was already paired to the keyboard out of the box and I had no issues getting a similar typing experience with wireless, as I did with wired. Battery life is ~30 hours with the LEDs on at full brightness in this mode which increases to ~40 hours with Bluetooth. With the LEDs at 50% brightness, expect closer to 65-70 hours on 2.4 GHz and nearly 100 hours over Bluetooth, which is quite incredible. Keep the default sleep settings that turn off the LEDs and then the keyboard after certain periods of inactivity, and now you can get the keyboard to last over a week of regular use. If you end up not having the LEDs on at all, that now jumps to multiple weeks of use, if not months in some cases. This is one of the most efficient keyboards for wireless use, which is saying a lot given it is also targeting pro gaming. Of course, you'd do that wired predominantly, but I will be remiss if I didn't say I had a good time using it on 2.4 GHz for light gaming too. Charging the battery takes only 2-3 hours thanks to some quick charging higher current input tech (~2 A max compared to the usual <500 mA) so you do get a rather good wireless keyboard experience here.

The space savings over a TKL-size keyboard as well as most other 75% keyboards can also be handy should you be the kind to prefer a large mouse pad and plenty of room to quickly move your mouse around. There are also inherent ergonomic benefits in that your fingers do not have to travel as much to hit the required keys, and you can also have the mouse placed closer to the keyboard to have your arms be in line with your shoulder width. I also noticed the switches to be about perfect for my preference of games where I am not the biggest fan of "speed" switches which are better for multi-tapping and not as much for deliberate keystrokes. Lighter switches (<35 gf) are also too trigger-prone and anything over 50 gf can be fatiguing over time. The Alienware Linear switch is a full-size mechanical switch with a rated actuation force of 40 gf at 2 mm and I measured a peak force of ~60 gf at 4 mm. This is lighter than the Cherry MX Red thus, as well as pretty much any other clone of said switch, so it can be handy for FPS and MOBA gaming sessions. At the same time, I do feel Alienware should have invested into the likes of analog or Hall effect switches from the get-go rather than going for mechanical switches if it is targeting gamers primarily. There are competing products from other mainstream brands which offer analog switches too, let alone features such as instant/rapid triggers, so this will be a case of finding out whether the customer base cares about switch type or even is aware of them as much as simply buying keyboards because their favorite esport player is using one.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming keyboard sample at ~90 WPM as it comes out of the box with these Alienware Linear switches. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. I did bottom out constantly here which also helps demonstrate how reasonably quiet this keyboard is. These are extremely smooth switches which helps of course, but they are complemented well by the foam sheets used which dampen the keystrokes to where it's not as high-pitched as it would be without them, in addition to absorbing noise. The thicker PBT keycaps also help here, although I still think the plate mounted stabilizers should have been better lubed as well as potentially being of higher quality in the first place. Overall I am satisfied with the typing feel and sound of the keyboard, especially given the targeted use case where these are not as critical purchasing factors.