IBeatItFirst.com has had the pleasure of reviewing a number of Bloody Gaming’s peripherals and the B820R Light Strike RGB Gaming Keyboard is next in line.

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Like their other recent keyboard releases the B820R features LK Optic Switch Technology. In this case is across all 104 keys which have a mechanical equivalent feel. Instead of using a normal mechanical switch to detect a keypress it utilizes A4Tech’s LK optical switch. Bloody has a lot of buzz around this and holds that they are the world’s fastest; with zero lag and a quicker keystroke than a comparable mechanical switch. They’ve accomplished this in two ways: by replacing the traditional metal contact with a freaking laser and then reducing the travel distance of the switch by 1mm (in comparable Cherry mechanical switches). I didn’t do a comparative analysis but nothing felt off and lasers are awesome.

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In practice this keyboard feels very similarly to an old mechanical I have equipped with Cherry MX Blues so if you have used any tactile switch you’re in familiar territory. There’s a small difference in the auditory characteristics as it’s a tad bit louder and sharper sounding than the Cherry Blues but otherwise similar. The rest of the package is really what has made it the only keyboard I use at home.

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Looks

It looks modern, stylish, and pretty sleek. Especially compared to a lot of other gaming keyboards which can look like props from low rent 80s sci-fi sets. If that’s your taste, great, but in this case it’s a much more subtle affair with the lights off and won’t embarrasses your girlfriend or dog. This keyboard can be right at home in mixed company while also letting loose in full chromatic glory when you feel the need – the need for RGB.

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Build

The top panel features a full aluminum alloy sheet finished in all black. It feels durable, looks fancy, and sets the keyboard ahead of the rest of it’s plastic clad competitors. The keys are individually backlit and the font is injected into the plastic keycap which means there is nothing to wear off. That happened to my old keyboard after a year or two which only had the lettering silk screened on. Also included are eight interchangeable soft silicon covered keycaps which cover the ‘QWERASDF’ keys to protect your fragile, overused, and game abused fingertips. Taking a cue from laptop keyboards Bloody has integrated spillproof channels into the design to flow water down and out of the bezel and protect the electronics. Finally, cord is braided and completes the high quality build.

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Function

There is full n-key rollover which means there’s no ghosting and all your precious key presses are registered. If you fail to faceroll your way through another round of Overwatch it’s definitely operator error. Each RGB backlit key is customizable through the included Keydominator2 software. I easily modified one of the presets into the synthwave inspired scheme pictured and it seems like it would accommodate most things you’d want a glowy PC peripheral to do.

 

All together the B820R is a great design that’s well thought out and very much worth the $99 pricepoint it’s available at.

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