Performance

Testing a keyboard is relatively tricky because there are no benchmarks to rely on. In order to see and feel what this keyboard is capable of we tested it over two weeks.
One of the major advantages of a mechanical keyboard is the feedback you get from it. With a conventional keyboard with rubber dome switches the resistance to pressure is more or less linear, whereas with mechanical switches they are lighter to begin with and hardens up on the way down.

Gaming

The Zowie Celeritas keyboard lets you control the lights and it even lets you set the repeat response speed by the press of two buttons. For games the 8x option is probably the best since it gives you the most precise feel in FPS games where the input is not capped. In RTS games this feature is probably even more valuable since it allows for faster double taps. These features are only available on PS/2 which is due to the design of the protocol.

I am not a big RTS gamer so I cannot comment on the performance improvement in such games, but I suspect that the fact that the repeat limit can be altered could give you an advantage.

In an FPS game like CounterStrike:Source the difference is marginal, however, with the RTR speed set to 8x the response to strafes feels a bit quicker. It does not give you a huge advantage, but it is noticeable.

The superior feedback from a mechanical keyboard definitely improves your efficiency because you are never left doubting whether you have hit a key or not. We suspect that this will be a major benefit in RTS as well.
One important feature that is absent on the Celeritas is the ability to record and use macros on it. This is a major drawback if your style of play involves the use of macros. Another small issue is that every time you press the “Caps Lock”-button all the lights come back on even though they are disabled via the Zowie-key + F8 function. This reduces the amount of buttons you can easily reach with your left hand while gaming, if you want to keep the lights off.

Typing

For typing accuracy and speed tactile feedback is essential. The type of feedback a mechanical keyboard gives you enables you to type faster due to the tactile feedback. Coming from a rubber dome keyboard to a mechanical one like the Zowie Celeritas is a bit of shock. The feel is just radically different and after a while anything but a mechanical keyboard will feel odd. The difference in the key mechanism makes a huge difference. The acclimatization period was relatively short and the benefit is in our opinion massive.

During the past weeks the Celeritas has proven to be extremely comfortable. It really boils down to how the keys respond to you pressing them. And the spring like reaction of the mechanical keys definitely makes the Zowie Celeritas a very comfortable keyboard.

Design wise it is very simple. The fact that it has no wrist rest might turn some people off. For someone like me with large hands the wrist rest is not essential, but some people might find it a bit annoying.

Durability

The key mechanisms themselves have proven to be almost indestructible. The Cherry MX Brown keys will undoubtedly last a very long time, but when it comes to the lettering on top it is an entirely different story. Since the Celeritas has the usual printed letters on top of the keys they will be gone way before the keyboard is dead. This is a shame because on a €120 you would expect the lettering to be top notch as the rest.