When I attempted to bend and twist the keyboards, they were both surprisingly resistant to my manipulations. Both keyboards feel very well-built, courtesy of what I presume to be an all-aluminum top plate, a firm plastic bottom, and a heavy-duty braided cable.

If you’ve ever purchased gear from Das Keyboard in the past, you probably already know what to expect with the 5Q and X50Q. But what does that mean exactly? Those are certainly some lofty ambitions, but do the keyboards deliver? We'll cover that shortly.īefore getting into the real meat of this piece, I should discuss the build quality of the keyboards. The new Das Keyboard 5Q and the X50Q, both promise a similar level of innovation as the 'world’s first smart keyboards.' The company claims the keyboards were designed to boost productivity and “ information from the Internet” directly to a user’s fingertips. So we see this 'cloud-connected' functionality as Das' attempt to offer something unique that appeals to its following of PC power users.

I bring this up, because in a sea of good, bad, and great keyboard offerings, claiming yours is unique is becoming next to impossible. Despite a few flaws, I loved the device, and I was fascinated by the technology behind it. You might recall a couple months back I reviewed the Wooting one, the first of its kind analog mechanical keyboard. Finally, the claimed those keyboards would be ready to ship by January 2017, but evidently that did not happen. They also said they would work with Japan-based Omron to build the best possible and most durable switches, that would differentiate them further. Over the years Das has brought us a few other offerings, like the Prime 13 or the gaming-oriented X40, though for a while we've also been waiting for their 'next big thing.' They announced it on mid 2016, with a Kickstarter to build the first 'cloud-connected' keyboard.

However as competition has cropped up and the playing field has leveled with reputable manufacturers relying on trusty switches from the likes of Cherry MX, the industry feels a bit stagnant.Ĭase in point, we reviewed the last iteration of the Das Keyboard (4 Professional) in 2014 and that remains the company's go-to offering for most enthusiast users. With that kind of reputation, Das built a following and many other players started to notice. We reviewed the first revision of the Das Keyboard back in 2008 and we still have that same device working perfectly in one of our office's computers. Das Keyboard is arguably the most renowned brand within this group. But if you're a true computer enthusiast, let alone a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, then you enter into a different territory of high quality niche players. If you're a PC gamer, you’re likely familiar with the likes of Razer, Corsair, and Logitech who offer gaming keyboards and other related solutions.

Das keyboard x50 software