Software

There is indeed software support with the Sharkoon SKILLER SGK30, with the installer found over the downloads tab of the product page. It downloads as a compressed folder that only contains the executable file and is 80 MB. Interestingly, there appears to be a run-only option, but I went with the traditional installation route; it is not as featured as I would like, with the only option being the install directory. The installed version takes up about the same 80 MB, which makes sense given it is device-specific and not unified to support other Sharkoon peripherals. It is light on system resources, which is all the better.


I was not really sure what to expect going in and ended up pleasantly surprised. Sharkoon is a German brand, and there is no indication of English being a secondary language. There is the occasional grammar hitch, but even native speakers commit faults, and I can't say I am perfect, either. The interface is well laid out and scales nicely with high DPI displays, although there is no maximize option, so what you see is windowed mode. Given this only supports the SKILLER SGK30, we see wording of such in the bottom-left corner. An interesting touch when it comes to the attention to detail here is that the virtual keyboard has the USB cable coming out exactly where it does in real life, between F12 and Print Screen.

Using the software is quite simple, and multiple languages are supported as well. Not much to see in the settings section other than the software and keyboard firmware versions, though there is no option to update either from within the software anyway. You can create software profiles and edit them in the software, but they need the program to be running for most things. Each icon has a help cue pop up when you hover the mouse cursor over it. The rest of the functions are grouped into three sections, with the three listed in the middle on the left. The default is Lighting Effect, and we see the virtual keyboard light up accordingly. Underneath said keyboard we see the various backlighting options pop up, with the actual effects to be selected from preset options in a drop-down menu, and other effect-specific options alongside, including brightness and speed, as well as specific color choices. There are plenty of static, dynamic, and reactive effects; however, missing is a proper custom per-key lighting effect, which is a bit of a shame.

Key assignment allows for exactly what you would expect, but options I would consider necessary are missing. Indeed, the macro manager ties back to this somewhat in that you first create and record a macro, edit it accordingly in the detailed editor, and then assign it to a key. It's best to do these with profiles and keep the base layer intact, however, since there are no dedicated macro keys here. You can even assign other Windows shortcuts as well as mouse actions, in addition to the many already programmed on the keyboard. Some of the menus extend past the space occupied by the home page, so you may notice it cutting off in the video above.