Driver

There is no software driver support for the Cougar PURI TKL since all functionality is hardware based. As such, I have chosen to combine the Driver and Performance pages into one.

Performance

There is full N-key rollover over here out of the box, as Aqua's test confirms. Similarly, no key chatter was detected on all the keys using Switch Hitter.


When first connected, the keyboard lights up in a static white color for all the keys at maximum brightness. I suggest going through the manual to learn more about the onboard controls for lighting, be it static or dynamic. Fn + Up/Down arrow keys control the brightness of the LEDs since at maximum brightness, they are quite bright and you may want to turn it down if working in a dimly lit environment. Per-key lighting is also possible by pressing Fn + 1-0 (either number in the row will work) to then use Fn + End to initiate it, wherein you can then hit the specific keys you want lit up; finish by pressing Fn + End again. In case you messed up and want to reset the keyboard, Fn + Esc does the trick.

There are several dynamic lighting effects pre-programmed on the keyboard as well, which can be accessed by Fn + 1-5 and then hitting each combination to toggle between sub-effects under each set. Depending on the nature of the effect, there are also other options, including brightness control, speed of the effect, and direction of the effect, as also outlined in the manual. Shown above are four examples to demonstrate how the keyboard fares in such cases, and the bright single-color LEDs used help with an effective transition with no flickering.

The rest of the keyboard is pretty much another QWERTY TKL keyboard in the US ANSI layout, at least for this review sample. There are some more pre-programmed functions tied to the Fn keys, which can be seen by the legends printed on them or in the manual that goes over them again. Here, you find quick access to volume and media controls, as well as the ability to quickly perform other tasks, including bringing up a calculator or the default email client. You can also lock the Windows key if you so desire, which might well be the only "gaming" functionality, and even that is a bit of a stretch.


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 Cougar PURI TKL review sample at ~105 WPM. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile and clicky switches. I bottomed out in some sections and did not in others to show how it would sound in most situations. There is some ping from the keys hitting the steel plate, but most of what you hear otherwise is the clicky sound integrated into the Cherry MX Blue. You can also get this with Cherry MX Red linear switches, which are also lighter in general and will be harder to avoid bottoming out. The switches themselves were very consistent, with an average actuation force of 58.7 cN (rated at 60 cN) at a little over 2 mm travel measured across twenty randomly chosen switches.