Lighting and Performance

The Redragon K599 supports full N-key rollover by default over USB and 2.4 GHz wireless mode, and can be switched to 16KRO as seen on the previous page if you need it for some reason. Both tested successfully using Aqua's test. Switch Hitter confirmed no chatter with these keys either, and you can see above what functions get dedicated keys on the base layer.


What Redragon does get right is the layers on top of the base layer, and their experience with several other such smaller form factor keyboards done thus far certainly shows here. The Fn layer in particular is what is employed here, and the laser-etched legends on the keycaps further show what this layer does. You get back lost functionality from a TKL keyboard, including all the Fn keys and the other five keys in logically placed positions, and the fourth row gets a few more shortcuts for media playback and volume control. All of these are handy in the absence of any key mapping or macro functionality, which does make the three onboard profiles somewhat redundant, though.


When first plugged in, the Redragon K599 lights up in a rainbow wave effect that confirms the keyboard is powered on and working, while also giving a quick demonstration of the backlighting show on offer. 18 lighting effects are stored onboard, with the manual walking you through how to navigate between them well enough, as well as changing the backlighting brightness. The software drivers are best used for fine-tuning, and seen above are some of the lighting effects. There is some light bleed, but overall brightness just is not that high compared to other such backlit keyboards, which also hurts when testing for color fidelity as the lower brightness makes for a cooler white. One issue I have is that Redragon told me they had no idea why some of the names used for the lighting effects were not translated properly, yet nothing has changed in the time since. The names are still ridiculously hard to place properly for English speakers, and I would have liked more control over the colors as well as some other options for the lighting effects, including direction of effect and better-coordinated side-lighting effects.

There are two connectivity modes—the typical wired mode using Type-C connectivity that is always nice to see and a wireless mode using a dedicated 2.4 GHz dongle. The latter works better than just Bluetooth for lower latency and also allows for a stronger signal through bottlenecks, including walls. The included 3000 mAh battery is bigger than average even for larger keyboards, though it's best to turn off the backlighting entirely since RGB lighting will eat that battery up like nothing else on the keyboard. With lighting turned off, again done through a quick key combination, battery life is in the order of weeks—I only charged it after deliberately draining the battery by leaving the lights on. Charging sadly takes forever, though, with the battery restricted to what appears to be the 500 mA limit of USB 2 in charge mode. So it's an overnight affair, which is not a big deal since it is done once a month or so on average, or in short segments when moving between wired and wireless modes.


As we discussed before, the Redragon K599 is only available with the Redragon-branded Outemu Red switch as this is written. This is a linear switch that was originally a clone of the MX Red down to the design, but has since changed slightly with the walled column seen above. The rated specifications will be similar to most low-medium weight linear mechanical switches, with an actuation force of 45 gf at 2 mm and a total travel of 4 mm, although the peak force is actually closer to the Cherry MX Black than the MX Red, which testing from Input Club shows. What this means is that you don't bottom out with as much force as lighter switches, which results in slightly reduced downstroke noise. Travel is also quite smooth, but I think much better switches to type on are available today. Outemu (Gaote) is predominantly a budget switch manufacturer, and these no doubt were used to hit a bottom line for the keyboard bill of materials.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the Redragon K599 keyboard sample at ~85 WPM as it comes out of the box with the Outemu Red switches. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. The ABS keycaps and cheap stabilizers don't help much; there is a rattle, and the typing experience is mushy on the larger keys in particular. On a positive note, I did not notice much pinging or reverberation here, so the empty case and steel plate aren't penalized much in the absence of any sound-dampening. The switches will likely bottom out, so that will be the dominant sound signature.