Introduction
The market for PC peripherals is bigger than ever, especially when it comes to the gaming scene, looking back just a few years there weren’t that many manufacturers out there, this is no longer the case. Today there are plently of choises when you’re buying new peripherals to your PC, be it mice, keyboards, headsets or what have you. Many of them target the teenage computer gamers, with lots of flashy lights and “cool” effects, unfortunately these have a tendency to break within a short period of time because the company spent too much time on the looks instead of durability. Today I will be reviewing a mechanical keyboard from the, here in Sweden, lesser known company: Zowie.
The switch from standard to mechanical
I’ve been using the Celeritas for one month now and I must say that so far it’s been a pleasure testing this product. Switching from a “normal” keyboard to a mechanical one is a big change. The feel of the keyboard is entirely different, when I was using my old keyboard I thought it was perfectly fine, I had no big complaints apart from the fact that they seemed to break every few years. I won’t mention brands or models but I’ve covered pretty much every “gaming” peripheral brands all with similar impressions.
With that being said, naturally I was reluctant to spend €99 on a new keyboard that didn’t have any of the features that my old one had: No audio or microphone ports and no usb ports either. What made me take the step unto mechanical keyboards were the what seemed unanimous satisfaction of the people who had made the switch to mechanical.
So what did I get?
This is what arrived in the mail, possibly the cleanest presentation of a gaming keyboard, ever.
Simple & Stylish
What I found inside the box was the keyboard itself, well protected by styrofoam and a ps2/usb adapter… that’s it. There were no stickers or membership cards to some “exclusive gamer’s club”. This instantly gave me a really good feeling as it shows that they’ve put all their effort into the product itself instead of miscellaneous ”fanboy” items.
The keyboard is very clean looking, with only a subtly lit logo as well as the standard led lighting for the different locks (caps etc) and on the F9 key.
Cleanliness Keyboardified
The bottom of the keyboard is fitted with four rubber strips to prevent the keyboard from accidentally moving. There are two on the top and two on the bottom, each one about 1/4th the length of the keyboard, which is very nice to see.
Onto the keyboard itself
The Zowie Celeritas Pro is built with Cherry MX mechanical switches, specifically the Cherry MX Brown (if you want to read about the different switches have a read over here). The brown switches are pretty much the middle ground when it comes to switches, it requires a medium amount to actuate (press) and it does give you a “clicky” feedback sound everytime you press the key but it is not as loud as on other keyboards that uses other switches. As a first keyboard it felt safe going for the middle ground when treading new waters.
Using the keyboard while gaming I felt it being more responsive than my old one and it registered every keystroke without fail. I played some Starcraft 2 and I just wanted to push my APM (actions per minute) higher and higher because of the feedback I got from the keyboard. Just like everyone else I’ve also had my finals this month and I caught myself actually enjoying writing my papers, simply because it’s so easy to write on the keyboard.
While being a very simplistic keyboard the Celeritas does boast some features. Using the Zowie-Key, located where the right windows button usually is, you get access to simple media buttons (play, pause, next, previous). You can also change the speed at of which the keys register from 1x to 8x to make the keyboard even more usable in games (not recommended to use anything but x1 for typing as that’d completely mess it up for you).
Verdict
While the Celeritas Pro is fairly expensive at €99 if you’re used to the prices of standard keyboards it’s fairly square in the middle when compared to the market of mechanical ones. So how has this mid-range mechanical keyboard fared in our testing?
The build quality of Zowie’s Celeritas Pro is excellent, it is quite heavy and feels extremely sturdy, if you’re prone to nerd-raging I am confident this bad boy could take quite the beating.
The rubber strips on the bottom along with the weight results in a close to immovable object unless you’re lifting it. Which is really appreciated as accidentally moving your keyboard while typing or playing is extremely frustrating.
The mechanical keys are a pleasure to use and the sound it makes when you press the keys actually become really enjoyable after a while, especially when you’re typing as you kind of get into a rhythm. The feedback you get from pressing the keys is unmatched by non-mechanical keyboards, using the Celeritas feels a lot better than using a non mechanical keyboard and now when I use my laptop I miss the feel of the keyboard. If I’m gaming or typing, as I am doing now, I can honestly say I strongly prefer the Celeritas over my old keyboard and after using it for a month I would not go back to a non-mechanical keyboard.
It might be more expensive, yes but you actually do feel the difference, and I’m confident I’ve made the correct choice making the switch. Therefore I highly recommend everyone to at least try out a mechanical keyboard at the local electronics store and see how you like it, remember there are a lot of different switches to choose from, so find the type that suits you the best!
Performance: 5/5
Design: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Features: 2/5
Price: 3/5
Overall:
