Driver

This is the MXX's default custom-lighting setup. Its other non-static lighting modes are:

• Reactive: The key you press lights up and fades out at a configurable speed
• Wave: A wave effect runs the length of the keyboard from left to right; its travel speed is configurable.
• Breathing: All keys cycle between being lit and being dark at a user-determinable speed
• Reactive Pulse: Sends a pulse of light out that originates from the key you've pressed; its travel speed is configurable.
• Inverse Reactive: Same as Reactive mode, but the whole keyboard is lit and the key you press goes dark.

There are no drivers. All the keyboard's extra functionality is available by pressing the FN key and another regular key. Most of these functions are indicated on the keyboard as little graphics under the F keys; however, some of the more advanced features, like custom-lighting-mode control and lighting-effect speed are not, which is why I've listed them below:

• FN + page up or page down allows you to switch between the six default lighting effects
• FN + up or down arrow key will change the speed of a lighting effect
• FN + DELETE allows you to choose which keys glow in your specified custom lighting mode, which is done by pressing them. Pressing this combination again will save your lighting setup to the keyboard's on-board memory.

This approach's benefit to the keyboard's functionality is obvious as you do not have to install a driver to make the most of the MXX. You can just plug it into any PC and it'll work. However, macros and new key bindings are not possible. There is also no function to save custom lightning profiles, so if you are one for several lighting profiles, like an FPS, MOBA, and RTS lighting layout, you'd have to configure them separately every time. This significantly detracts from the custom lighting layout functionality as I've run several different layouts I found to be helpful in certain situations. Here are two custom layouts I created:

Performance

The Gateron blue switches are geared toward typing as they have tactile feedback and that clicky sound the Cherry MX Blues are either loved or hated for. The Gaterons are no different—they are just as loud, and the spacebar on the MXX is even a little louder than a regular key since Rantopad chose not to use a wire stabilizer with their spacebar. The feel of the keyboard is excellent, and after a couple months of usage, I can get the same typing speed on it as on any other keyboard I regularly use. As for gaming performance, I have always preferred tactile switches to linear ones, and this keyboard does not change that. Being driverless, the keyboard does not offer any macro functionality. However, that issue can be resolved with 3rd party software.

The different lighting modes have benefits for both typing and gaming. If you're a touch-typer, they don't really help since you won't be looking at your keyboard, so its lighting scheme won't matter to you. However, for me, reactive and custom lighting both have their uses as visual aids to catch typos or to make finding the WASD and various functional keys easier. The non-static lighting modes are flawed since these LEDs only have four brightness levels, which makes them stutter at their slowest effect-speed setting since there is a large pause between each illumination level.

The main reasons to use a tenkeyless keyboard are for more desk space and added portability. With a footprint of 384mm x 120mm and a height of 46mm, the MXX takes up very little space, fitting well into bags designed to hold 15'' or larger laptops. Its portability also benefits from the fact that it only weighs 645g. The downside to the tenkeyless layout is the lack of a numpad. This only really comes up as a major flaw if you do a lot of data entry as the numpad is much faster than the numbered row and can be used with one hand. For gaming, you loose 18 keys that could have been used for macros. If you're considering switching to a tenkeyless keyboard, you should first think about how often you use the numpad: if you do so on a daily basis, a tenkeyless keyboard will certainly detract from your usage scenario as opposed to those who only use it once every few weeks.

My biggest complaint about this keyboard is that if you press a certain combination of keys, the WASD and arrow keys swap functionality until you unplug and plug the keyboard back in again.