EVGA Z10 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Hits Production
The EVGA Z10 Marks The Companies Entry Into The Keyboard Market
While they dominate the NVIDIA GPU graphics card market, EVGA also produces other components and peripherals, with the EVGA Z10 marking the companies first entry into the mechanical gaming keyboard market. Having been demonstrated in various forms by EVGA for a few years now, the most recent revision of the Z10 was spotted at CES back in January of 2018. Since that time, EVGA has kicked up production and now, after years of teasing the product, the Z10 will soon be shipping to retail.
Featuring a retro-inspired design with an LCD screen that allows users to monitor system vitals and information from EVGA Precision X, the EVGA Z10 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is aimed towards gamers who want a fully featured keyboard that is anything but minimalist. Rather than going with more known Cherry MX mechanical switches, EVGA has opted to outfit the Z10 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with switches from Kailh, with Kailh Brown and Kailh Blue switch versions of the keyboard to be made available. Kailh Blue are Cherry MX Blue Clones which provide a tactile bump and click, while the Kailh Brown is a Cherry MX Brown clone with a tactile bump and no audible click. Five independent macro keys and independent media controls are available on the Z10, while the volume and brightness of the keyboard are controlled by sliders. The key switch LED and LCD color of the Z10 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard are limited to red, which will certainly limit the appeal of the keyboard in the current peripheral landscape, where RGB is king.
With a unique styling that reminds me a lot of the old Logitech G15, the EVGA Z10 definitely brings me back to a bygone era of PC gaming. I can see users either really digging the EVGA Z10 styling and features, while others who appreciate the minimalist design that a lot of manufacturers are starting to adopt will find the EVGA Z10 just a bit too out there. I also have to question the use of Kailh switches by EVGA. While Kailh switches are just fine, especially the latest iterations I’ve used, their perceived value by end users isn’t on par with a Cherry MX keyboards and when faced with a choice at a retail outlet, customers will go with what they are familiar with. I happen to like Kailh switches, with their Brown counterpart providing a more substantial tactile bump than the Cherry MX Brown, so hopefully this choice works out for EVGA, as their may be consumers who want specific Kailh switches but have a hard time finding them on a keyboard that suits them.
What do you think of the new EVGA Z10 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard? Does the style and potential of the built-in LCD appeal to you, or is that a feature you can do without? I am a big fan of competition and consumer choice is only a good thing, so I look forward to reviewing the EVGA Z10 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard and seeing what it has to offer.
The EVGA Z10 Mechanical Gaming keyboard will be available soon and we plan to have a full review of the keyboard for our readers by the time is is available for sale. Be sure to visit the EVGA Website for more information in the coming days.