Ordinarily the news of a new mechanical keyboard having been revealed would prompt little more than a “Slow news day, huh guys?” internal dialogue, and a moment of self-congratulation for having made an incredibly funny joke that never, ever gets old. Logitech’s new G410 board, though, commands a good deal more respect, y’hear?
Based on the popular (and preposterously named) G910 Orion Spark keyboard, the new model loses the numpad and a good deal of weight, but keeps the colourful RGB backlighting (which is customisable per-key) and “Romer-G” mechanical switches.
Logitech reckon their own mechanical switch design is superior to the popular Cherry design, requiring a 45 gram actuation force and 1.5mm actuation point to register a keystroke, which in theory makes them easier to press.
Also new is the shape of the keys themselves. The G910 Orion Spark’s custom angled keycaps have been given the boot in favour of a more ergonomic design.
The most notable feature of this new iteration is the smaller, more practical size – it’s a tenkeyless board, which is to say there’s no numpad or bank of macro keys invading your desk space, and as a result the weight’s been slimmed right down to 1.8 pound. If you’re in the habit of transporting PC peripherals around in a backpack, because your friends have painstakingly been maintaining a longstanding practical joke that LAN parties are still a thing, it’s ideal.
Like several other Logitech devices, the G410 is compatible with the company’s Arx Control app for iOS and Android, which allows you to load important HUD elements onto your phone and pop it onto a little phone stand (not included) so you can, er, see the things your in-game HUD would be telling you, but on your phone. Whee!
Logitech plan to release the G410 in Europe and the US this October with a pretty reasonable retail price of$130 / €149.