Closer Examination

Before we look at anything else, I want to show you the differences between the available colors. A look at the front shows that the differences are minuscule; there's just a small rim around the edge where the brushed aluminum meets the case. It makes for a rather nice effect that isn't too bright, but still shows the color off nicely. You can also see that AZiO has actually continued the color scheme around the volume wheel, which is a very nice touch.


The real difference in color is instantly apparent when you turn the keyboard over as each keyboard is instantly recognizable, the whole of the shell either a vibrant blue or red or, for the RGB variant, a stylish black. This rear plastic bit does feel a little thin and plasticky, but that feeling subsides once it is on the desk.


If you have read some of my previous reviews, you will know that I am a big fan of clear concise fonts with no silly "gamer" stylization. For the most part, AZiO managed to make me happy, but there are one or two characters that make me cringe a little. Letters which would usually be closed, like an 'o', are missing bits; you can see what I mean by looking at the F8 key. A personal preference of mine since I prefer keycap fonts to be simple, most of us actually don't look at the keyboard whilst typing, and keycaps can always be changed!


As with most keyboards nowadays, the AZiO MGK L80 has a function key to allow for far more actions than with the standard layout alone. FN + F1 to F4 are for the four macro keys, FN + F5 to F8 are for the email, home, calculator and search keys. It is always nice to get extra functions out of 104 keys!


On all of the versions of the AZiO MGK L80, F9 to F12 are the media-control keys, and FN + the up and down arrows control how bright the LEDs are.


On the RGB version only, these keys allow you to control the LED modes when combined with the FN key; these take some time to get used to, but it does get easier once you work things out. I tried to go over all the modes below.

FN + End: Pressing this key once will bring up your saved customized key selections. Pressing it twice allows you to choose a color per key by just pressing the key; to scroll to different colors, keep pressing the letter you wish to change the color of. This mode allows you to set WASD to a different color than all the other keys, for instance.

FN + Del: This enables scrolling mode, pressing it twice pauses the effect.

FN + PGDN: This enables reactive mode; each time you press a key, it lights up, and pressing it twice changes the LED color.

FN + PGUP: This enables color fade mode; pressing it twice pauses it.

FN + Home: This enables a ripple effect that originates at the center of the keyboard; pressing it twice changes it from a pastel to a set of solid, bright colors.

FN+INS: This mode scrolls through the colors; pressing it twice keeps it on the chosen color.


I really like it when there is such an independent volume control option as this one since it is just so much easier to use than anything else. With the AZiO MGK L80, you can increase or decrease the volume with this wheel, or mute the volume entirely by pressing it down; unmute it by simply pressing it again.


Here we start to see another difference as all the macros are recorded by using the keyboard; there is no software at all. There are two different ways to record these macros depending on which keyboard you have. I will run through the recording process a bit later on, but what we can see here is that the two buttons are slightly different. First, we have the RGB keyboard with little 'G' and 'M' keys; the 'G' is for Game Mode, which allows macros to be used, and the 'M' is to start the macro recording process. This differs from both the red and blue versions as macros are recorded differently with those since the key that previously had the "M" on it now comes with another symbol and controls the keyboard's LED functions instead.


These L80 RGB and Red will have Kalih Brown switches where as the L80 Blue has Blue switches; as you know, these are Cherry MX clones and are a good , cheap alternative with their colors indicating different properties. Whilst using the AZiO MGK L80, the switches performed very well, and as long as AZiO passes the savings due to these on to the customer, I welcome the use of Kailh switches.


The 1.8 m cable is entirely sleeved from the keyboard to the USB connector, with a good quality sleeve. It is somewhat stiff, which isn't necessarily bad since it makes managing your cables easier. The USB connector has a plastic surround to ensure it is well protected.


Flipping the keyboard over, we can see that there are two sets of feet; those at the rear are plastic flip-out feet which click into place and are very sturdy. The front feet are nice and out of simple rubber, which stops the keyboard from slipping, ensuring good contact with the surface it rests upon.


Looking at the keyboard from the side, we can see that it uses the standard key profile to ensure comfort and ease of use.



The wrist rest is a nice and simple rest with the words "Elegantly Fierce" on it - this is the AZiO motto and actually does describe this product quite well; it is quite elegant, but has some properties which are usually only found on more aggressive keyboards. The wrist rest is held on by quite strong magnets. As you can see by the GIF, it just clicks into place in quite a satisfying way. The wrist rest will stay attached if you lift the keyboard up, but it will hinge forward rather than stay rigid, so be careful about moving the keyboard around with the wrist rest attached.


Now, I will start by saying that the LEDs are a lot brighter to the naked eye than they are in these pictures. The colors are vibrant on all three keyboards; I have no idea why my camera didn't pick the RGB colors up too well. There are multiple modes on all three keyboards; on the red and blue versions you have the breathing, reactive, and solid color modes, and a few modes which illuminate the keys used in FPS and MOBA games. With the RGB MGK L80, there are quite a few more lighting modes; you have a ripple effect, scrolling colors, a wave effect, selectively programmable colors, and more. You can see some of these modes in action a little later on.


The LEDs can be seen well in even a bright environment. You can turn their brightness down if you don't like bright LEDs.