Race 3 - Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - Grey - PBT DSA Profile Dye Sub - Grey CNC Aluminium Casing (Cherry Mx-Brown)

This is my review after one week or so of using the keyboard. I may add some more in the future after six months of usage.I think it's important to say that this is my first mechanical keyboard. I wanted a layout that was TKL, but was drawn to the Vortex Race 3 for its staggered FN row, the small bezel and how compact it was. I've been using a laptop for the past years, so I think it was going to a fairly easy transition to do. I decided to go with Brown switches, because I was afraid the clear would be too heavy for daily typing and gaming. It really depends on each person.The good:- It's a solid keyboard, with a nice weight to it. You can definitely tell it isn't flimsy.- The Brown switches are nice to type on as a first-time user. The sound is quite soothing for me.- The stabilizers for the bigger keys are great. I don't hear some annoying sound from the spacebar if I'm just touching it.- There's other good stuff such as Dvorak layout and Colemak, three different layouts to change the keys, media keys through Fn, some additional keys to customize it a little bit.- The PBT keys are really nice to type on. The legends shouldn't fade as fast (if at all) as some other keyboards.- Seriously, it feels really nice to type with this keyboard!The bad:- No key puller. I strongly recommend getting one to go with this keyboard if you don't have one. I read some issues that the keys were tight (especially on Clear switches), so you'll want to be extremely careful when pulling (tip: wiggle, wiggle, wiggle).- The micro USB cable it came with was no good. It's a good thing I had another one available.- While I thought the Mac keys were a nice addition, I was bothered that they were lowercase. I understand it's how Mac keyboards are, but every other keys are capitalized. (Good thing I use a PC, because it would definitely bother me.)- Some of the keys do not vertically align properly/look a little bit raised on the keyboard (see the photo with the spacebar and the red Ctrl key). I read it may be due to the fact that they're PBT so there might be some warping.- Some keys are not super cleanly cut (see the photo with the reversed FN row). Again, not a big deal to me, but may bother some people.- There is a line around the case (see the dark third photo with the case—it was hard to take a photo of the line). This is barely noticeable, but it's there. I know I am being nit-picky, but just wanted to point it out because I know it will bother some people!- Due to some unconventional keys, it is hard to customize it.- The alignment of some keys may not be perfectly centered (the "9" on mine is slightly to the left).The verdict:- I personally really am happy with my purchase, despite the small flaws. I was also a bit concerned when ordering that my keyboard was not going to have the correct switches, so hooray for that. I think it was worth the price and made typing so much better for me! I think it will last for years due to the material used. If you were looking to customize the keyboard, don't get this keyboard because you'll be disappointed. That said, if you like the DSA profile and the granite scheme, I would get the keyboard.

The design of this keyboard gives you the compactness between a 60% keyboard and a tenkey less. But, you still have all the F keys, all the 'navigation' keys home, delete, etc) and arrow keys. The included 'colored' key caps have a vibrant color and really pop out against the white/gray keys. The brown keys are amazing (previously used red keys) and I appreciate its subtle attractiveness due to it's lack of LEDs. The floating keys are great for blowing air through them to clean out any dust and the metal frame is quite heavy and sturdy (so sturdy that I feel like i could use it effectively as a weapon) so you don't have to worry about it sliding around when in use. I feel like the placement of the delete key (at the top right corner of the backspace key) makes so much sense since now you have both directions of 'delete' in the same place.The macro programming is good, but there is a caveat. It's not a 'recorded action' type of macro, but more of a 'repeating action' type of macro. Once you program a key, it will continue to do what you programmed it to do as long as you hold down that key. If that's not what you wanted, you could kind of work around this by putting in a bunch of delays after your sequence, so you can just let go of the key once it's done what you want. However, It would be REALLY great if I had the option to do both kinds of macros (It wasn't enough to take off a star because there are easy enough ways to work around it, and the build quality of the unit just makes up for everything). It's impressive that it's all done through the keyboard itself (no additional software to install), so you can carry it around with you with all your macros and program new ones away from your home machine.Even with that limited functionality of the macro programming (which can be worked around by using delays or a third party software like auto hot key - which doesn't require you to sign up for anything) this is my favorite keyboard to date.

This keyboard is terrible. I had the Pok3r but wanted the arrow buttons so I sold the Pok3r on ebay & bought this one to replace it.At first everything worked well. The keyboard appeared well built. The MX Browns are solid. The metal backing of the keyboard means that when you depress keys it feels great. Easy micro usb connection. Weird little screw in feet at the bottom to lift and angle the keyboard to suit your needs.BUT after 6 monthss, random keys began to stop working. First it was the ESC key, then the 8 key. Now some of the letter keys don't work. Initially I would just unplug and plug it in again and that would reset the problem (briefly). Now that doesn't even work. I don't understand how keyboards can stop working. It doesn't make sense to me. But there you have it. I should have listened to other reviewers who experienced similar issues.

Perfect keyboard for me! I use it for work on a daily basis as an IT professional, writing code and documentation. It is heavy with good rubber feet, so it is very stable and never moves. I like the cherry mx brown keys better than the clears (which I also have and use at home), but that is probabbly a personal prefference. The clears make my fingers tired after a days work, the browns dont at all. It is one of the few keyboards that has all the keys that I use (home, end, pgup, crsr keys, etc) but does not occupy the space where my mouse should be AND does not change the shape/position of the main keys (shift, enter). I type blind, so I can use the same muscle memory as on most full key boards. I really love this keyboard!