There are a lot of promising mechanical keyboards on the market these days, and one of them is the Rosewill K85 RGB mechanical keyboard.
Keyboards have been available for as long as anyone can remember, but mechanical keyboards have only become popular in the past few years. As a result, there are now a lot of choices available. With this alone, choosing the ideal mechanical RGB keyboard can be tricky at best. With the choices in models and designs, there are countless different features you have to consider. In this review of the Rosewill K85, we’ll take a look at all of its features, specs, and overall quality.
But before that, let’s look at some of the main things to look at when buying a mechanical keyboard.
Things to Consider When Buying a Mechanical Keyboard
When searching for the best mechanical keyboard, picking the most popular brand or model on the market is not always the smartest idea. You have to be more cautious and technical when it comes to your choices. Here are some of the features and functions you might want to consider in a mechanical keyboard:
- How much you are willing to spend
When you are buying a mechanical keyboard, you don’t have to spend a fortune for one. There are a lot of excellent choices that are right for the money. The key is to set your budget first and then find the best model within your desired specifications and price range.
- Switch type
One of the notable features of mechanical keyboards is the switch type. It will be one of the factors that can determine your typing experience. There are different switch types available. For example, if you’re looking for quiet mechanical keyboards for an office environment, you’ll want brown switches as they’re the quietest types.
- Noise issue
There are advantages in using mechanical keyboards than the typical ones, and one of them is the classic clicking sensation. But it also comes with a little disadvantage in low-quality mechanical keyboards, and that is the noise issue. You want a keyboard that can give you a clicking sound every press of the keys, but you wouldn’t want it too loud that it becomes annoying. You should consider trying it out before buying yourself one.
Rosewill K85 – Pros & Cons
The Good
- The Rosewill K85 RGB mechanical keyboard features an aluminum frame.
- This keyboard has a lightweight driver for more customization options.
- The Rosewill K85 RGB features excellent transition animations and an intensive degree of lighting effects.
- It is equipped with thick ABS and features universal legends
- It is designed with a foldable wrist rest and sleek side lights.
The Bad
- The secondary legends that are keyboard-specific are laser etched and can wear off quickly, especially when used constantly.
- The side plate lighting might get a little annoying and there is no option to turn it off (that being said they’re quite subtle).
- It has a Kailh type of switches, which come in either brown or blue, that can often be inconsistent in terms of feel and travel.
- The wrist rest is not detachable (you could screw it off but you need the tools).
Rosewill has become one of the popular brands when it comes to gaming keyboards. It is most notable on the market because of its simple design and affordable price. But, with the Rosewill K85 RGB, there are far better features that place it on the top keyboards list for gamers.
K85 Keyboard Overview
Rosewill is by no means new to GoMK – we’ve tested and reviewed some of their other mechanical keyboards in the past. They’ve all been in an affordable price range and all the ones we’ve tested were RGB backlit and more geared towards gamers (like our RK 9000V2 review, an MX Cherry from Rosewill). This one is no different.
The new Rosewill K85 RGB is a full-sized keyboard with a modified US ANSI layout. One of the best things about this new Rosewill mechanical keyboard model is its full 16.8 M per-key RGB. Onboard control is even made better for every user with its additional keys that you will find at the top right part of the keyboard. Moreover, there are also several secondary legends for the same purpose.
Aside from control, Rosewill also made sure to improve the customization options for this keyboard model with the help of an additional software driver which can be found here.
Overall, the Rosewill k85 mechanical keyboard is a fully loaded RGB backlit keyboard. Excellent for gaming with great backlight color effects. What’s impressive an impressive array of wide-ranging color and brightness options. This mechanical keyboard has lighting on the side plate which may be annoying to some or sleek to others. It would be nice to have the option to turn it off. The Kalih switches weren’t bad but at times I felt it had a little inconsistency. It felt a little shaky at times but was quite minor.
Rosewill K85 Keyboard Unboxing
The Rosewill K85 RGB comes in models with either Kailh brown or Kailh blue switches. Aside from the color, there are no other differences between the two versions. The packaging for this Rosewill model comes in a colorful box, which somewhat mimics its RGB-backlit feature. The box, like any keyboard packaging, contains all the necessary information, such as a printed illustration, both the company name and the product name, and its marketing features.
Upon opening the box, you can find the keyboard itself wrapped protectively with a foam wrap and secured with two thick foams at the sides and the bottom. You will find no other accessory in the box except for the user manual, which is one of the most detailed manuals from Rosewill. If you happen to misplace the manual, you don’t need to worry because there’s an available copy online.
Driver Software
The driver designed specifically for the Rosewill K85 RGB is extremely lightweight. In fact, the K85 Engine Suite driver is so light that it will barely register in your task manager. The installation process is also quick, easy, and straightforward.
This driver for Rosewill K85 RGB is functionally complete with a pretty easy to use interface. However, it won’t take up the total space if you have a 4K display since it lacks an option to maximize the window.
With the Rosewill k85 driver, you can create eight different software profiles and each with its own set of options. In addition, you can create macros, which is pretty standard for most mechanical keyboards in its price range. Overall, the software was decent and nothing exceptionally outstanding.
Switch and RGB Lighting Performance
- RGB Lighting
The first time you connect the Rosewill K85 RGB to your computer, it will power on the lighting effect, which creates a rainbow wave. Simultaneously, the side plates will also start lighting up, and you will be able to use the Fn + Pg Dn keys to cycle through its available static color options. Changing them is the only customization you can make – there is no turning them off.
When connecting the keyboard to the computer, you will find that the keys are available in different layer rows of colors. Because of this, you will see a slight color bleeding, especially between light and dark colored keys that sit next to each other.
The keyboard is made to bleed the RGB lighting a lot. It can be overwhelming but the colors are crisp and the effect are on point.
- Switches
When it comes to the keyboard-specific functions that have been programmed into the Rosewill K85 RGB, they are equipped with a volume control button. In terms of sound, the keyboard as a whole is the factor that affects it and not only switch type. With this switch, you can experience excellent typing and actuation that is quite similar when using Cherry MX blue and brown switches.
Editor’s Opinion
The Rosewill K85 RGB offers a quality build with some amazing efficient functions of a mechanical keyboard. It comes with various premium features such as the added driver, customization, and better onboard control. Its aluminum frame even gives the device a sturdy body that should last for a long time.
While it has some disadvantages like the lack of a switch-off option for the side plates’ lighting and the slightly scratchy switches, its amazing features may outweigh its disadvantages. Another thing that may be annoying is that the wrist cannot detach without using a tool, though it does fold under the keyboard conveniently, making it easy to lugging around.
For an excellent value, the Rosewill K85 RGB can be a functional mechanical keyboard for any type of user. In the past, I’ve seen many more RGB keyboards selling for way above $60 for similar value. If you’re looking for other RGB options, check out our top RGB list here.
That concludes our review of the Rosewill k85! Let us know what you think in the comments below.