Driver

There is no dedicated software driver support for the Velocifire TKL02WS keyboard—all functionality is hardware based. As such, I have chosen to combine the Driver and Performance pages into one. There is a firmware updater tool, however, linked on the product page and located on a shared Google Drive. It has instructions on how to complete the process, and I highly recommend everyone check whether they have the latest firmware, and do update it if not.

Performance

The TKL02WS keyboard supports N-key rollover USB out of the box, which tested successfully using Aqua's test. Note that you may be in 16KRO mode, which means you need to hit Fn + G for NKRO mode (Fn + N initiates 16KRO mode). Switch Hitter confirmed no chatter with these keys either.


Backlighting is extremely simple here in that we either have it or we don't. Indeed, Fn + Up/Down arrow keys toggles backlighting on/off respectively, and there is no brightness control. The TKL02WS has white backlighting instead of the ice blue lighting the manual currently mentions (again, another thing that needs to be updated), and it works out well enough for the application of backlit keys in a dim environment. No fancy lighting effects here, so keep that in mind if that is important to you. There is a multi-color LED for the space bar, which acts to tell you whether the keyboard is on in wireless mode or not.

There are a few more options when it comes to onboard controls, including Fn + Win to toggle Win lock on and off. More relevant to users might be the on-the-fly macro recording, which works as described in the manual, but is limited as with most such implementations. There is no control over repeat keystrokes or delay times in the recording, for example, and it is best used for simpler macros for your work or game routines. There are also pre-programmed functions tied into the Fn row, marked by the secondary legends there, including media control, and shortcuts to tasks, including email and calculator, all accessible via Fn and the respective function key. In case you messed up a macro assigned to a key, and there are no dedicated macro keys, so perhaps you simply want that key back, Fn + Control + Escape held for a second restores factory settings, and the keyboard lighting flickers once for visual confirmation.

Right, on to the wireless part of this wireless mechanical keyboard then. I do not have a lot of good things to say here, unfortunately. The keyboard uses 2.4 GHz over a USB dongle for wireless connectivity and, well, it just kept losing connection. I tested the keyboard with my HTPC that is ~6' away from my couch, with line of sight between dongle and keyboard, and there is nothing more frustrating than when you are typing something and either experience lag galore or nothing responds for seconds at a time. I even had to disconnect and re-connect the dongle a few times before I saw action again, so things were looking bleak. At this point, I remembered there was likely a firmware update available, and the keyboard with the updated firmware did improve. Gone were the worst of disconnects; I did not have to reconnect the dongle again, but it was still laggy at times, and random disconnects, even while far fewer than before, also occurred—even one is one too many for when it affects the basic functionality of a keyboard. Indeed, disconnects appear to be the biggest complaint from other customers who expressed this very issue online, so it is a good thing that there is a wired mode option. The TKL02WS works flawlessly over USB, but then so does Velocifire's own TKL02 non-wireless keyboard I presume, which comes in at a lower price point.


At this point, Velocifire offered to send a second sample, which I usually don't allow but accepted in case this was a one-off after all. The second sample was arguably better, with fewer disconnects, but it still did disconnect, and that remains one too many. They also sent along a summary (excuse their English errors, it is of course not their native tongue) of their own test results, seen above, which can be used as a general reference, but is still better than what I experienced myself.

Battery life in itself is not an issue, although how much of this is because of the disconnects remains to be seen. Rated battery life is ~3 days with backlighting on and ~3 weeks with it off. I did try it in both situations, and had the keyboard give me 65-70 hours with backlighting on with two charge cycles, and I am yet to charge it after 15 days of intermittent use with backlighting off. Charging is slow mostly because of the basic cable, and the keyboard automatically switches to wireless mode once fully charged if the dongle is connected. Backlighting turns off automatically after a minute of inactivity, and the entire keyboard goes to sleep after three minutes of inactivity. I suspect the keyboard is triggering sleep mode inadvertently here, leading to the random disconnects, or their USB dongle is just not good enough regardless of however much they want to promise a 1 ms response time.


Ah, and then we have the mechanical part of this wireless mechanical keyboard. I am still not over the bait-and-switch (see what I did there?) pulled here with samples until I brought it up with them, and I am sure it was a mistake and not out of malicious intent, but these random "CONTENT" switches mean nothing to me if they are indeed Gaote's MX Tea switch, which Velocifire's own rating of >16.5 M keystrokes supports (as opposed to the >50 M with every other switch type today). There is a force-travel diagram available on the product page, shown above, which does not tell us much beyond a jittery tactile feedback mechanism resulting in actuation at around 2 mm, with a travel distance of 4 mm. The rated characteristics are similar to the Outemu Brown, which in turn is rated similar to the Cherry MX Brown; however, there were definite inconsistencies in actuation force, as well as peak force, when I used my tension gauge on 20 random switches. Velocifire tells me they found some problems with the Outemu Brown switches which had led to this silent change, but I don't buy it.


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 Velocifire TKL02WS sample at ~95 WPM as it comes out of the box. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out here, which is not hard to do given the relatively light spring, but touch typing is definitely possible via the tactile feedback in these switches.