Closer Examination

Looking at the Tesoro Gram Spectrum RGB Keyboard, we can see that it looks very clean, without any aggressive aesthetics or over-the-top branding, which is a change from some of their earlier keyboard models. I personally prefer a minimalistic design for the keyboard as a whole, and it does allow for its other features to shine through better. One nice addition to the Gram Spectrum is that it is available in both black and white, which isn't something we see often.


The keycaps have doubleshot legends, which are not seamless, and this was to be expected. Seamless doubleshot legends are very new to the keyboard market, introduced by Ducky Keyboards late last year and after the introduction of the Gram Spectrum RGB. As such, you might notice that the lettering on some legends appears to not be complete in that a loop is not finished, but this is due to the inherent limitation of the standard double-injection process. On the plus side, this does mean that the legends will not wear out before the keycaps themselves do, allowing for good durability. Overall, these are on the better side of average as far as stock keycaps go.


Using the FN key, we gain access to many features with the Tesoro Gram; F1 to F5 are used to switch profiles on the fly, F6 is a keyboard lock key, and F7 to F12 are the media and volume control keys. Any indication for when the keyboard lock key is in use is missing, however, and this can result in some confusion as the keyboard has onboard memory to store any settings, including this one. An LED indicator would easily solve the potential issue of people forgetting a setting was changed and getting confused as to why the product was not performing as expected. The lock key is a nice addition, though, and works great, as do all other media and volume keys.


There are also some other keys that are enabled by using the FN key; on the fly macro recording is available using FN + Home, and you can select 6-key or N-key rollover using FN + INS or DEL. The FN + arrow keys allow you to change how bright the LEDs are and allow you to change lighting effects quickly without the drivers. As always, take a look at the manual provided, especially as this one in particular is well written.


Turning the keyboard over, we can see these rubber-tipped feet at the back, which allows the keyboard to be placed at an angle if so desired. These worked perfectly fine and the addition of the rubber allowed for a stable platform to type on. Another mention goes out to the little rubber corner pads which work great at holding the keyboard on a slippery surface; I was surprised at how much of a difference these made compared to those on some competing keyboards.


The cable for the Tesoro Gram Spectrum RGB is detachable and measures 1.8 meters in length. It is braided in a reasonable quality braid and features a molded USB connector on one end and a mini-USB connector on the other. The mold on them is of good quality, and you shouldn't be able to bend these or damage them without a good amount of force. The keyboard has a mini-USB port on the rear-right to make connecting it easier.


Looking at the keyboard from the side and front, we can see just how low profile it is; there are not many options available when it comes to low profile boards, and it is nice to see companies tackling the gap in the market. There is also next to no sculpting of the individual rows, allowing for an easy swap of individual keycaps if you end up re-assigning keys. Tesoro has gone for the ever-popular "floating keys" look with the Gram Spectrum, and it looks good here with these low profile keycaps. The iron fascia plate can also be seen from this angle - it not only adds strength and weight, but also creates a stunning aesthetic, and the coating on the iron is very resilient to fingerprints, unlike with some other materials.


Removing the keycaps again shows just how very low profile Tesoro has made this keyboard as its keycaps are approximately half the size of standard ones. We can see the Tesoro Agile switches under these, and as mentioned, I have a sample with Blue switches. These switches follow a very similar path to Cherry MX switches in terms of color to spec, but there is a slight difference since Agile switches have a lower actuation point; Instead of 2 mm, these are set at 1.5 mm, which is getting more and more common lately. Companies like Corsair, SteelSeries, and Logitech have all been working on switches that actuate at a higher point so gamers don't have to press the keys as far to send the signal. This could in theory increases the keyboard's speed, although the keystroke registration itself is but one part of a multi-step process before you see the keystroke on your display. Even so, games such as Osu! will see benefits from switches such as these - especially the Agile Red linear switch.


The eagle-eyed of you might have noticed that the AGILE switches are actually made by Kailh, a company that makes Cherry MX clones, which isn't surprising as switches are certainly a specialized industry and using Kailh as an OEM should bring down the cost of the keyboard over Tesoro creating their own.


Something that you may notice if you take a close look at the keycaps here is that most of the keycaps have what looks to be a small crack at the bottom of their letters, more visible on letters that have vertical lines, such as l, H, F, and T. These are just a by-product of the double injection process, and not a physical issue in itself. It would have been nice had Tesoro taken the time to clean out these manufacturing remnants, but as mentioned, these would rarely be seen with the naked eye and are not a deal breaker by any means in my opinion.