Logitech G513 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Palm Rest, RGB LIGHTSYNC, GX Brown Tactile Key Switches, Brushed Aluminum Case, Customizable F-Keys, USB Pass Through, QWERTY UK Layout - Carbon/Black

Product Information

This new Romer-G Linear Switch, according to Logitech, promises a quieter and 25% faster keystroke than competitors. After using the keyboard for about a week, we feel the peripheral maker has fully delivered on its claims, and has developed a key switch that’s better than the Cherry MX Red switch. The G513 is a full-sized keyboard, and unlike a lot of gaming boards, it’s actually quite suave and sophisticated. The design oozes quality, with a brushed metal plate across the entire top face that’s smooth to the touch. In combination with a plastic underbody, it forms a strong and rigid structure that’s free from any flex. We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.3, which overhauls how key input is evaluated. We've added new tests for Single Key Latency, Multi Key Latency, Data Transmission, and Chord Split. We've also introduced a new Raw Performance usage and adjusted how the Gaming and Office usage scores are calculated. You can see the full changelog here. Most brushed metal finishes on PC peripherals are fingerprint magnets, but Logitech’s blend of aluminum and magnesium seems to be built to repel them. The frameless design of this keyboard also features floating keycaps that make cleaning up dust and food crumbs with a can of compressed air a lot easier.

The only caveat I'd mention here is that the keyboard doesn't have any dedicated macro keys (although you can program macros and assign them to the F1 - F12 keys). If this is something you need for MMO play, you'll have to invest in a different model, such as the G613 or the G910. If dedicated macro keys are something you need for MMO play, you'll have to invest in a different model than the G513. Bottom LineBy comparison, the Romer-G Linear switch feels firm but without introducing too much resistance. Thanks to the boxy nature of the underlying mechanism, each key press actuates evenly and comes to a nearly silent stop. Comparatively, we’ve always felt Cherry MX Red offers so little resistance, the keys chatter and feel uneven when actuated.

The linear Romer-G is a little bit louder than a Cherry MX Red key, but it feels very similar. If you like pushing key caps all the way down before a letter appears, the Romer-G Linear switch is probably the way to go. In terms of overall quality, though, there's not much difference between the two. I tried both models and found that it really came down to individual preference. Each key appears to almost float in place, with a bright RGB LED shining through every cap. The layout is pretty minimalistic – there are no dedicated media keys – and the function keys are labelled on the lower side of each cap. They call this ‘Lightsync’, and with over 300 supported titles, there are many more games that work with it compared against the competition. Color Wave — Select this option to set the colors to change horizontally, vertically or from the center out. Use the slider to set the speed at which the color wave cycles.

Silent and deadly

Games such as Mass Effect Andromeda and Battlefield 1 light up the keyboard upon launch, changing the RGB to new patterns that reflect what’s happening in-game. It works pretty perfectly, and while it’s more subtle than Logitech RGB speakers, it’s a really nice touch. Lighting is an interesting one, since the G513 is actually my new favourite keyboard for RGB integration. This is really down to the software interface, however. The lighting customization options universally affect the G512 and G513 gaming keyboards by default. However, you can also configure lighting settings to be set on a per profile basis. Estimated delivery times are provided to us by the respective delivery companies. We pass this information onto you, the customer.