Closer Examination

As we saw before, the Thermaltake Level 20 GT RGB keyboard comes in a thin foam wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is on the larger side of average primarily because of the large aluminium frame. At 2 mm, It is thicker than most other such metal keyboard frames, but there is little practical reason for the bezels to be this large, making it a design choice only. On the top, the Tt logo in the left corner is balanced out by the media and volume control keys on the right. The indicator LEDs are alongside the volume scroll wheel, with a game mode button, Windows lock key, and backlighting brightness control key further inward to add to this larger-than-full-size form factor. The bottom edge is beveled and has a cutout under the arrow-key cluster for cable management we will get to soon.

Tt boasts about high structural integrity as a result of that thick aluminium frame, and there is no flex at all, so this is an extremely solid-feeling keyboard. The numpad has secondary legends below the primary ones, with the alphanumeric section following suit, including with keyboard-specific secondary legends as seen in the Fn key row. This and the location of single legends being in the top-center is indicative of where the backlighting will be more uniform, and those at the bottom may not end up as bright as those at the top. The font typeface is large to allow more light to pass through, but not to where it is out of place in a typical work environment.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle. There are five rubber pads along the side, as well as two rubber feet which can be raised for a steeper angle for those who wish it. Both feet have two optional steps for a total of three elevation options. Nice to see is also that each step has a rubberized bottom.


The cable is non-detachable, fairly thick, and braided. It starts at the front center facing away from the user and terminates in two USB male type A ports with a marking for either the keyboard or pass-through port, as well as a 3.5 mm audio pass-through jack. It is recommended you use a USB 3.0 (3.1 Gen 1) port, which is not a big ask in 2020. The USB pass-through port and 3.5 mm port is next to where the cable extrudes at the front facing away from the user, which allows for good cable management using the cutout channel we saw before. This makes for a keyboard that also has provisions for mouse and headphones connectivity.


The Level 20 GT RGB keyboard uses the tried and tested OEM keycap profile consisting of the usual slanted rows and concave surfaces on top for compatibility with a large number of aftermarket keycaps/sets if you so desire. The provided puller works well enough, although the floating nature of the keycaps makes it fairly easy to remove and install these by hand. The stock keycaps are similar to the replacement ones we saw, composed of thin ABS plastic (average wall thickness 0.92 mm) with laser etched legends for backlighting compatibility as seen above, but these will also wear out sooner rather than later relative to PBT plastic keycaps with doubleshot injected legends, for example.


There are three switch options for the Tt Level 20 GT RGB keyboard, with two from Cherry in the form of the Cherry MX Blue and MX Speed (Silver) RGB and the third the rarely seen Razer Green RGB switch. This makes for two tactile and clicky switches and a linear switch, which is an interesting choice from Thermaltake. This version has the Razer Green switch and happens to be my first experience with them, with a construction similar to Kailh BOX switches and Outemu Blue latest-generation switches in having an external enclosure around the switch stem for added dust and spill resistance. As the name suggests, the Razer Green switch has a predominantly green color for the mouled plastic with the LED above the switch as opposed to underneath as with the Cherry MX RGB switches. The larger keycaps adopt a Cherry-style stabilizer, and the space bar in particular was more rattely and mushy than I would have liked.


Here is a look at the keyboard with the replacement keycaps, but note again that the retail Level 20 GT keyboards come with QWER/ASDF and not 1234/QWER/ASD as discussed on the previous page. You end up with a predominantly black color scheme with white legends everywhere else, with the red base for a quick visual grab during gaming.