Introduction

Redragon has been showing why it merits strong recommendations for its keyboards as it offers generally good value but also interesting form factors, such as the feature-rich K596 Vishnu TKL, K585 Diti gamepad, and K530 Draconic 60% keyboard. The naming scheme is a weird mix of numbers, and some Hindu gods at times as well, but things have generally stayed competitive with the likes of Aukey and Monoprice. Looks like Redragon thought that was enough playing around and has sent us probably the least expensive RGB-backlit keyboard I have had my hands on to date. Thanks again to the brand for sending TechPowerUp a review sample!


Perhaps now is the time to let you know that there have been two K552 keyboards from Redragon: a single-color red LED backlit model and the newer K552-R that since replaced it to where it is simply referred to as the Redragon K552 more often than not. The -R in the name is for the RGB backlighting, which is quite misleading too since there is only multi-color (1 color per row) lighting support. I will subsequently refer to the keyboard as the K552, also as everyone else seems to be doing the same. As with the K596 Vishnu we last saw from Redragon, the K552 Kumara is a TKL form factor keyboard, but there are more differences than commonalities between the two, especially as this unit occupies far less space; no media keys or volume wheel and extra macro keys, and gone is the software support and side-lighting customization. Not only is there no wireless connectivity, but it appears the wire is fixed in place, too. Does the absence of these features hurt the odds of the K552? Join us in this review to find out, and we begin by taking a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications