Lighting and Performance

The ASUS ROG Falchion supports N-key rollover for both USB and 2.4 GHz, which tested successfully using Aqua's test. I will mention that I had to get a couple of firmware updates in for N-key rollover, with 8KRO being it until then. Switch Hitter confirmed no chatter with these keys, and you can see above which functions get dedicated keys on this 65% form factor keyboard. As per usual, R. Win is replaced by an Fn key.

This is where I do have a complaint. I don't know what market research was done here, but I just don't agree with the decision to dedicate a key to Insert by default instead of, say, Home or End for further navigation. Even a volume mute toggle would have been more useful to the average user than Ins, and ASUS is sadly not the only one who does this on 65–80% keyboards. The shorter R. Shift will also have some trigger-happy fingers re-training muscle memory, but it is an extremely functional keyboard for typing otherwise. The ability to remap the keys also helps further customize things, including the removal of Ins as needed. There are also plenty of layered functions on the Fn layer, which brings back all the missing functions and then some, and these are placed quite logically too, such as the Fn key row with the number key row.

When first connected, the keyboard lights up in a rainbow wave effect that is quite impressive to look at while also acting as a quick test to confirm things are powered on and working. But I have a bone to pick with ASUS even here—whether in wired or wireless mode, LED brightness is set to 50% by default, and you need to change it via onboard controls or the software drivers each time. I understand doing so on wireless mode to preserve battery life, but having it as the default regardless of whether you are in wired mode or not results in potential lost to get a better reaction.


The default effect also helps test for light bleed, of which there is some courtesy the floating keycaps. The indicator LED plate, if you will, on the side also adds cosmetic flair on top of being functional. It shows battery life and is a pulsing charging indicator with the color dependent on whether there is quick charging ongoing or not. I then used the software to set all LEDs to white to test for color fidelity, which RGB LEDs can have an issue with. I am happy to report that the ROG Falchion outputs an impressively accurate white, which gets quite bright if set to 100% brightness.

Seen above are a few other videos of the keyboard lit up, but there aren't many lighting effects to choose from as mentioned before. Per-key lighting requires using Aura Creator, and there is both wired and wireless Aura Sync, which works quite well too.



The key-assignment options in Armoury Crate allow for users to also go with layouts other than QWERTY, and here, I used the source code from an older keyboard review in a layout tester (courtesy of Patrick Gillespie). The results above indicate that QWERTY is not even close to the most efficient layout for me and very likely you as well. If you are willing, try out Colemak or Dvorak as they will result in lower finger travel and fatigue overall. As such, the software drivers offer a significant functional tool if you are willing to devote some time to adopting either Colemak or Dvorak. Here is the link to the full results if you are interested, including a detailed analysis on key presses and distances moved.

Battery life in wireless mode is quite impressive, but keep in mind that some of the promise of 450-hours is based on no lights on and the controller not having a lot of extra functions to run. Even with lights on, the 50% brightness levels by default are clearly there with this in mind. The 3820 mAh battery is quite large for the form factor, but not out of the ordinary with a few brands, including AZIO, doing it similarly, if not even more in some cases. In practice, I had to turn backlighting on to get the battery to drain enough to merit a charge, where both the indicator LEDs and quick-charging option allowing for a 30 min charge to provide enough power for a week of typing (32 hours) without backlighting proved handy. There is no Bluetooth support with ASUS clearly marketing this as an ROG gaming keyboard with lower latency. The included USB dongle comes pre-paired and provides excellent wireless support that works nicely for couch gaming as well. In fact, combined with the provided polycarbonate cover as a base, the ROG Falchion makes for a comfortable lap board, too!


As we saw before, the ROG Falchion comes in multiple mechanical switch options, and mine uses the venerable MX Red in its latest iteration of a lifetime of 100 M keystrokes before a drop in specified actuation travel and force performance. This switch is rated at 2.0 mm actuation with 45 cN and 4.00 mm total travel, and it has quickly become the most popular mechanical switch in use today, which can at least partially be attributed to the many keyboards marketed as "gaming keyboards" using linear mechanical switches instead of tactile or clicky ones. Actuation and peak forces were well within rated values based on my testing of twenty random switches with a tension gauge. In the case of the gaming-centric ROG Falchion, there is also the option to go with the Cherry MX Speed (Silver) switch in addition to the MX Brown for tactile feedback or MX Blue for tactile and clicky feedback. There is also the newer ROG Falchion NX using ASUS's own new ROG NX mechanical switches, but I have no experience with any of those at this point.


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 ROG Falchion sample at ~110 WPM as it comes out of the box with the Cherry MX Red RGB switches. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. I bottomed out more often than not owing to the relatively lightweight switches, but also note that the case being somewhat filled out with other components minimizes reverberations as well. The thick PBT keycaps coupled with the plastic case result in a deeper sound, which sounds fine. I don't particularly think the MX Red switches are the best linear switches by any means, especially as they ship directly to keyboard makers, so I am curious how the ROG NX switches sound.