EVGA had aggressively marketed the launch of the Z20 and Z15 keyboards with massive discounts for their Elite members, which itself is a loyalty program of sorts. With the all-new Z12, the company still offers the introductory 50% discount, but seemingly for everyone and for the first two weeks. This may just be the case from EVGA.com right now, but a few other retailers may follow suit. I expect pricing to revert back to MSRP soon after before eventually dropping down somewhere between the two. As such, and knowing that this review will be published on August 31, people have ~15 days to decide if they want to shell out $25 for this keyboard if in the US. Unfortunately, things get far more ambiguous in other regions, including those EVGA directly operates in.

As such, things are fairly distinct in terms of treating the EVGA Z12 for value. If you can get it for $25, it's a very good deal for the feature set. There are competing keyboards employing similar strategies of taking features from higher-end mechanical keyboards and putting them on membrane switch keyboards to target those who want the looks and general features without the price tag attached to them. Indeed, there are also many who prefer membrane switches to begin with. Unfortunately this is where EVGA's gamble may prove unsuccessful. I don't really see people buying this keyboard and then purchasing aftermarket keycap sets unless they have one lying around. Those customers tend to go with mechanical keyboards already, and attempting to get a similar typing experience to a tactile switch but not really doing so makes this feel stuck in the middle of nowhere.

At $50, the EVGA Z12 competes with the likes of the CORSAIR K55 RGB PRO with similar five-zone RGB lighting. The Z12 does better with onboard profiles, but the K55 RGB PRO is better with the software and dedicated controls. I would probably go the K55 route if I had $50 to spend and needed a membrane keyboard. But at $25, perhaps slightly more depending on what the Z12 settles in at by the time you read this review, EVGA certainly wins even with the caveats. That said, there are just too many variables at play here to arrive at a definite, singular conclusion, and thus I leave you with my experiences to decide if this is for you based on its price at this time.