Closer Examination

As we saw before, the Thermaltake Level 20 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 and about identical in shape and size to the GT version. As before, there is little practical reason for the bezels to be this large, making it a design choice only. 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 adding to this larger-than-full-size form factor, and the bottom edge is beveled and has a cutout under the arrow-key cluster for cable management we will get to soon. There is also a Level 20 RGB Titanium version with a more gunmetal gray color scheme to the aluminium frame; it is certainly not made out of titanium should you be wondering.

Differentiating this from the Level 20 GT RGB keyboard is an RGB LED strip not only between the top and bottom case panels all around the sides, but also on the top of the keyboard facing the user. An interesting choice to say the least, this strip is between the arrow key cluster column and the alphanumeric section. 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; that is, if you don't mind the larger size and turn off the RGB.


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 are 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 Tt Level 20 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. The provided puller works well enough, but 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 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 Cherry MX Blue RGB switch which uses a transparent switch housing and an RGB LED located underneath each switch. The larger keycaps adopt a Cherry-style stabilizer, and the space bar in particular was more mushy than I would have liked, albeit less rattly than on the Level 20 GT RGB keyboard sample with the Razer Green switches.


Here is a look at the keyboard with the replacement keycaps on the 1234/QWER/ASD keys. You end up with a predominantly black color scheme with white legends and the red base for a quick visual grab during gaming.