Performance

The SteelSeries Apex Pro keyboard supports N-key rollover USB out of the box, which tested successfully using Aqua's test. Switch Hitter confirmed no chatter with these keys either, and the right Windows keys is actually retained here, which is a rarity these days.

When first connected, regardless of whether the software driver is installed or even running, the Apex M750 lights up in a ColorPrism (rainbow wave) effect set to medium speed and moving from left to right.


We also see the OLED display come to good use immediately, notifying us of the available firmware update we went through on the previous page. Once that was done, I set the keyboard to the ColorShift effect to test for light bleed, and it was definitely present at the common edges because of the floating keycaps, but not to where it is distracting. I then manually set all the keys to white using the software driver to test for color fidelity since RGB LEDs have a hard time depicting white, and it was a very good white without any noticeable warm or cool tones. Finally, I simply had to see what the TechPowerUp logo looks like on the OLED display and, well, I suppose it's something.

Here are some more of the lighting effects demonstrated, making full use of the hardware and software alike. There is onboard control over the backlighting brightness via Menu (with the SteelSeries logo on it) + F11/F12, but you otherwise need to rely on the drivers for more customization. The other set of onboard controls, aside from the pre-programmed media controls, come in the form of on-the-fly macro recording and configuration switching.


There are two different switches on the SteelSeries Apex Pro out of the box, including their OmniPoint switches in the alphanumeric section and their older QX2 "regular" mechanical switches elsewhere. Both are linear switches based on the Cherry MX Red with 45 cN actuation at 2 mm travel by default and a total travel distance of 4 mm. The QX2 switches have a red stem too, just so you know exactly what is going on here. Of course, the showstoppers in this section are the OmniPoint switches, which rely on the Hall effect to measure switch travel to a finer degree and reliability, while also reducing debounce time. Honeywell used Hall effect switches in keyboards over 50 years ago, and these have been adopted in one-off keyboards by XMIT, as well as upcoming analog keyboards from Wooting (Lekker switch) and the Input Club (Keystone). SteelSeries has not yet explained to me how they plan to counter the increase in spring force with travel for the different actuation points, since they claim only the actuation point is changed, not the typing experience (sorry, this is not happening). They also give a +/-0.2 mm tolerance for each step, which is wise as each step of customization is a mere 0.32 mm. They do get the benefit of inherently longer lifetimes, theoretically up to multiple orders of magnitude higher than a mechanical switch with metal contacts, and SteelSeries rates these for 100 million keystrokes.


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 Apex Pro keyboard sample at ~120 WPM as it comes out of the box. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. I did bottom out more often than not because of the relatively light springs. But the alphanumeric section with its customizable actuation point actually comes in handy for touch typing, once you've taken the time to train yourself. At the same time, trigger happy users would want to increase the actuation distance to minimize errors or have deliberate actions, such as macros. The sound profile from the two switch types here is very similar, but there is of course a small difference in actuation distance and force depending on the OmniPoint customization.