Closer Examination

Before I go any further, I am going to have to apologize about the dust on the keyboard, this is my fault and is not an issue with the keyboard, I have been refitting my home and office recently and I didn't realize it was so dusty until I finished cropping my pictures!


Looking first at the font, we can see that Rosewill has opted for a very simplistic, no frills legend. I favor this far more than the "gaming" style font, it makes everything far easier to read and just works a lot better than the more aggressive looking styles.


As with all keyboards that are hardware controlled, but still have a range of functions, the Rosewill RK-9000 v2 RGB has a function key that enables us to access multiple functions. The function key on this keyboard is in a pretty standard position, between the right Ctrl and right Windows key, making it easily accessible.


Using the function key, we can turn this cluster of keys into media and volume controls, the image is pretty self-explanatory, Insert - previous track, PgUp - next track, Home - pause track, Delete - volume mute, PgDn - volume up and End - volume down.


On the Numpad you have four repeat rate keys, FN + Num Lock has a repeat rate of 1x (standard key press) FN + / gives us a repeat rate of 2x, FN+ * gives us a repeat rate of 4x and finally, FN + - gives us a repeat rate of 8x.


Using the function button with the F keys gives us another eleven features (F4 isn't used). F1 to F3 increase or decrease a the amount of red, blue or green you are using for the LEDs, each one has nine different levels and with these it allows you to select whichever colors you like, it does get a little tricky getting the correct color at first, especially if you are doing per-key lighting and want to match a color you previously set another key. F5 - F8 are all to do with LED profiles, F5 allows you to record profile 1, whilst F6 allows you to record profile 2. F7 and F8 allow you to select profile 1 or 2 respectively. F9 - F11 allows you to record or delete a macro as well as change the macro behavior such as making it trigger once, loop or toggle. Fn + F12 is windows lock.


The last few keys I am going to mention are the arrow keys, these actually differ depending on what you are doing. Usually, using the left and right arrow along with the FN key will increase or decrease the speed of the dynamic LED profiles and using the UP and down arrow along with the FN key will allow you to select one of the previously mentioned profiles. Whilst using macro record however, you can insert delays using the left and right arrow, it adds a 0.5 second delay per press.


The cable that comes bundled with the Rosewill RK-9000 V2 RGB is 1.8 meters in length and has been sleeved with a nice soft braid, it has a good quality feel and gold plated connectors, the connector that plugs into the keyboard is at a right angle. The port for the cable is located on the rear side of the keyboard towards the right-hand side.


Using a right angle connector can be both excellent or terrible. If your computer is located on the same side as the cable direction, they are fine and means your cable management will look great, if however your computer is on the opposite side, it means you have to bend the cable back on itself which looks horrible and makes your desk look messy. Luckily, the mini USB cable can be swapped out if you do have your computer on the wrong side, but it can be a problem for some people.


The Rosewill RK-9000 V2 RGB uses Cherry MX switches, I was sent Browns, but I believe there is a choice of Reds, Blacks or Blues too. Cherry switches are always nice to see and they feel great as expected. The keycaps are of good quality although the walls are a little thinner than some competitors.


Flipping the keyboard over, we can see that there are rubber pads to stop the keyboard from slipping and to also dampen any noise that can be caused placing the plastic shell onto a hard surface. There are also flip out feet that have a rubber tip to stop them from slipping.


Looking at the keyboard from the side, we can see that the Rosewill RK-9000 V2 RGB takes a pretty standard profile although it does look a little flatter than usual.