Gaming keyboard head-to-head

The main boon about the Revoltec Fightboard is the macro keys. Being able to pre-record specific key presses and map those to extra keys is handy for some day to day tasks, as well complex games like Oblivion where being able to cast three healing spells and a fireball with one button press can save a notable amount of sanity.

The macro facility that comes with the Revoltec is one of the most through we’ve seen. Not only can extra profiles be switched between using the keyboard, but less regularly used macro profiles can be saved on disk and loaded when needed.

The macro recording software was simple to use and didn’t seem to have a maximum length that a macro could be. It also monitored delays between key presses, which could then be edited manually if certain functions were often needed quickly or slowly.

We tested these macros out on a few games and also at a little Photoshop work. All the images in this article were in fact resized using automatic macros on this keyboard. For gaming the Revoltec also comes with a button to turn off the Windows key, ensuring the start menu isn’t going to pop-up and destroy chances of a perfect headshot. This is a pretty awesome idea, in our opinion.

However, the Revoltec isn’t always as easy to use as we like, and getting used to the keys for typing took a little longer than normal, mainly because the brightly coloured WASD keys were a little distracting.

In the end the Revoltec Fightboard is a decent keyboard that, despite a cheap feel and fairly pointless WASD buttons, makes up for it’s failings with a through and comprehensive macro recording facility. The key response can’t be faulted and the buttons, though noisy and awkward at first, quickly become familiar.

The price of the Revoltec is competitive, coming in at just over £25, or just under $40, depending where you shop. At this price it's certainly not a bad piece of kit to have as it offers all the functionality of higher-end keyboards and some decent macro software. It may well be balanced out by an overall cheaper feel, but at this price it's hard to complain - or so you would have thought until you see some of the alternatives...

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What do these scores mean?