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ROCCAT Ryos MK Glow Review

By - | Views: 36,766
Its a time to give my personal review about my new keyboard.
ROCCAT Ryos MK Glow - a Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with good open source Linux driver support.

Lets start with Technical Specs:
  • Illuminated mechanical keyboard with 113 keys
  • Advanced antighosting with N-key rollover
  • Cherry MX key switches
  • 3 programmable thumbster keys (T1 – T3)
  • 5 programmable macro keys (M1 – M5)
  • 94 other programmable keys
  • 1000hz polling rate, 1 ms response time
  • 1.8m cable and integrated cable channel


Dimensions
23.4 cm X 50.8 cm

Price
~139€

image


Look and Feel:
Plugging in the keyboard brings out the beautiful blue LED lighting on the ROCCAT Ryos MK Glow. It is super bright however. So you better start tuning your settings from the ROCCAT tools software to adjust it.
With regards to ergonomics, the ROCCAT Ryos MK Glow is arguably one of the best i have ever used. The wrist rest remains comfortably below my palms despite being pretty big on size. All the buttons are nicely in reach, specially those 3 thumb buttons below spacebar. 5 Macro buttons from the left side of the keyboard might need some hand misplacement, for some people, to reach them, but I have pretty flexible pinky (small) finger.The keys themselves are also very comfortable in use, with a soft touch finish that provides enough grip.

image

Software:
Big Thanks to Stefan Achatz who provides Linux tools for your ROCCAT devices.
Configuration tools are pretty solid and seem to have all the necessary features available by hardware.

List of software features.
  • Macro Management
  • Profile/Settings Notifications (visual and/or audio)
  • Firmware Updater
  • Timers
  • Brightness/Dimness configuration for LED
  • Game files/Scripts support


image

Gaming:
Gaming with this device is making you smile, countless ways to bind your keys. Macros/Scripts to make your gaming absolutely enjoyable with quick access to your spell rotations, easy chat functions, etc.
Keyboard Buttons also feel good under your fingers when pressed, giving you nice feedback and the response time seems to be better than many regular keyboards.

Rating:
I would give it 9/10
1 point lost due high price and somewhat noisy buttons

image Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Alzarath Apr 28, 2014
I've actually been sporting a Ryos Mk Pro for the past ~five months. I was completely unaware of ROCCAT's existence 'til I looked up gaming keyboards for Linux. I feel it's wasting some of its potential on me, since I don't really use macros or anything like that. I love the per-key lighting and on-board bindings. Full reformat and I didn't have to change my keys at all (Maybe this is a standard and I'm just used to not using fancy keyboards, though). If money isn't an issue, I can definitely recommend it. I look forward to getting a ROCCAT mouse someday to go along with it.
Xpander Apr 28, 2014
Quoting: SabunWow, I had no idea the software for Roccat was that developed for Linux. Xpander, do you have any Roccat mice? Would you care to do a review for them if you do?

I would like to see pictures of the software, how you feel the mice function on Linux and your overall feeling to whether it's a great buy for FPS and competitive play (if it's not too much trouble) :)

i actualy have Roccat Kova+ mouse as well. can try to make some review when i have more time.. until then:
[

macro and stuff editor is the same as for keyboard.
killx_den Apr 29, 2014
It is the same with my Roccat Kone Pure Color, works great :)

I didn't like the MX Black Switches from the Ryos Glow. I really prefer MX Red or MX Brown, but these are only available in the 169€ version.
Apart from that it was a nice keyboard :)
Anonymous Apr 29, 2014
Quoting: SkullyAlthough there is no Official Support from Logitech, I still absolutely
love my old G15 keyboard http://pandas.darrennolan.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/1.jpg

It works fine out of the box in Linux except for the LCD screen and macro recording, but
there are multiple projects to get it working as good as it did in windows. Minus the
specific game support.

I could never live with 1 column of m-keys like that, I need 3 columns. With this I map games to use the
middle section as
q w e
a s d
and then I have 6 immediately above and below. Makes playing games so much more comfy,
and even more so if they use alot of buttons like a mmo.

With the Ryos using locked easyshift layer you could completely surround your wasd with macro keys (except the shift-lock key).
Xpander Apr 29, 2014
Quoting: killx_denI didn't like the MX Black Switches from the Ryos Glow. I really prefer MX Red or MX Brown, but these are only available in the 169€ version.
Apart from that it was a nice keyboard :)

thats probably a matter of personal taste i guess.. i feel like black and red are the best... rest of them i dont like that much... spacebar and enter have different switches however.. i think green ones.. they feel quite different... but they fit exactly for those keys
fabertawe May 2, 2014
Bah! I'm very jealous and annoyed. I bought a Gigabyte Osmium keyboard. There is zero Linux support for it. And to think I actually thought I'd reviewed the options pretty well (at the time)
bisbyx May 19, 2014
Quoting: Half-Shot
Quotesomewhat noisy buttons
Ahem, isn't that the point of Cherry MX switches. So you can hear the music of your fingers tapping out gaming poetry?

MOT:
Really really want one now because it has chery MX switches AND Linux support. Will be my next keyboard.

No. that's the point of Cherry MX BLUE switches. reds and blacks are actually quieter than the few membrane keyboards I have.
lem18 Aug 1, 2014
Hey Xpander,

Can you try holding down the \ key on the Ryos, does it repeat? Also when it's held down, if you press other keys, what happens?

Here's what happens with other NKRO keyboards under Linux (in this case a Deck Hassium in NKRO mode, switchable by a key on the board itself):

Holding down backslash: \
Holding down backslash and typing roccat: \r\\o\\c\\c\\a\\t\\

Linux has issues with USB NKRO keyboards in general, but this Roccat Ryos seems not to have the issues that the others do.

Cheers
Xpander Aug 1, 2014
Quoting: lem18Hey Xpander,

Can you try holding down the \ key on the Ryos, does it repeat? Also when it's held down, if you press other keys, what happens?

Here's what happens with other NKRO keyboards under Linux (in this case a Deck Hassium in NKRO mode, switchable by a key on the board itself):

Holding down backslash: \
Holding down backslash and typing roccat: \r\\o\\c\\c\\a\\t\\

Linux has issues with USB NKRO keyboards in general, but this Roccat Ryos seems not to have the issues that the others do.

Cheers

holding it down and typing roccat brings me: \roccat

if i hold it down it does repeat, but when its held down and i press other keys it stops repeating and wont return anymore unless i release and press again
lem18 Aug 1, 2014
Quoting: Xpander
Quoting: lem18Holding down backslash: \
Holding down backslash and typing roccat: \r\\o\\c\\c\\a\\t\\

Linux has issues with USB NKRO keyboards in general, but this Roccat Ryos seems not to have the issues that the others do.
holding it down and typing roccat brings me: \roccat

if i hold it down it does repeat, but when its held down and i press other keys it stops repeating and wont return anymore unless i release and press again
I think we have a winner. Thanks for the feedback!

This suggests that other NKRO keyboards might have bugs in their firmware, or are designed around Windows' HID drivers, or both..
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