Introduction

The Das Keyboard brand has history and reputation on its side, simply by virtue of existing before the vast majority of gaming keyboard companies that rose out of nowhere these last few years and offering solid typing experiences for mechanical keyboards with Cherry MX switches. Things started to change slowly, beginning with the Prime 13 that added in backlighting and USB pass-through, among other things, and then we saw the short-lived Division Zero gaming brand that used non-Cherry switches. In a world where RGB backlighting and software drivers are ruling the market, and even hardcore enthusiasts found other alluring options, Das Keyboard had to do something different, something unique. Enter then the Das Keyboard 5Q—a cloud-powered keyboard that attempts to do more than just about any other keyboard today.


The Das Keyboard 5Q originated as a Kickstarter project which, as even Das Keyboard would agree, could have gone smoother. Indeed, a look at the status updates and comments tells you that the vocal fraction of backers were not pleased with the delays and changes that happened from when the project was announced and was finished with units shipping out. In a way, that alone makes this a better crowd-funded project than most others, but we are not here to discuss why this was the chosen route. As it is, this review is of the retail product in its current configuration, and we can see from the preview image above that the Das Keyboard 5Q is an evolution of the company's ID—different and yet relatable. We will explore the keyboard in more detail as we begin the review with a look at the specifications below, and thanks again to Das Keyboard for providing us with a review sample.

Specifications