Closer Examination

As we saw before, the Cougar Ultimus RGB keyboard comes in a plastic wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is on the larger side of average primarily because of the large steel frame, yet weighs less than 1 kg, which means the steel frame is not very thick or dense. We can also better see the angular design of the steel frame, with a cutout in the middle that meets the ABS plastic case with the Cougar logo in the middle. There are eight flat head screws on the sides, with bezels on the larger side of average on what is otherwise a standard 104-key full-size keyboard in the US ANSI layout. We have a metallic gray color for the steel frame and screws, and black keycaps with white legends.

Indicator LEDs are found above the numpad in the top-right corner. The numpad has secondary legends below the primary ones, and the alphanumeric section follows suit, including with keyboard-specific secondary legends as seen in the Fn key row. The only exception is with the number key row, where they are alongside the primary legends. All this and the location of single legends being in the top center is indicative of where the backlighting will be more uniform, and those at the bottom may not end up as bright as those at the top. The font typeface is large to allow more light to pass through, but not to where it is out of place in a typical work environment.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle and another larger Cougar logo above. There are six rubber pads along the side, as well as two rubber feet which can be raised for a steeper angle for those who wish it. Also nice to see is that each foot has a rubberized bottom to add friction against the resting surface and prevent scratches.


A look from the side facing away from the user gives us a better look at the frame and the cutout in the middle, with the keyboard cable coming out of the recessed section of an otherwise normally sized plastic case. The cable is non-detachable, the usual 1.8 m long, and braided in black. It terminates in a USB male type A port, and USB 2.0 will suffice for power and connectivity alike.


The Cougar Ultimus RGB uses the tried and tested OEM keycap profile consisting of the usual slanted rows and concave surfaces on top for compatibility with a large number of aftermarket keycaps/sets. A keycap puller has not been included, but the floating nature of the keycaps makes it fairly easy to remove and install these by hand. The stock keycaps are composed of thin ABS plastic (average wall thickness 0.92 mm) with laser etched legends for backlighting compatibility as seen above, and these will also wear out sooner rather than later relative to PBT plastic keycaps with doubleshot injected legends, for example.


There are four switch options for the Cougar Ultimus RGB keyboard, with the company choosing to go with a different OEM from Cherry here. These switches are branded Cougar, which no doubt is part of their agreement with the manufacturer, and the options are Cougar Red, Black, Brown, and Blue switches, which are functionally equivalent versions of the Cherry MX Red, Black, Brown, and Blue switches respectively. Differing in form, however, is the use of an associated RGB LED per switch above the switch, and an opaque housing rather than a clear housing with LEDs underneath as with Cherry MX RGB switches. I have the Cougar Red switch on my sample, and the stem is more of a burnt orange than the typical red in a linear switch from most companies. The larger keycaps adopt a Costar-style stabilizer, and all the keycaps here are generally looser than I would like on the switch stems.