Natec Genesis RX22 and RX88 Reviews

Genesis RX88 Review

UK price (as reviewed): £99.95 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): N/A

The Genesis RX88 is a very different kettle of fish, not least of all because it costs £70 more than the RX22. This is a fully-fledged mechanical keyboard and sports Cherry MX Black switches, which have a linear, non-tactile response like Reds but are heavier, requiring more force to actuate. That said, the slightly glossy coating to the keys might not be to everyone's tastes.


At £100 though, it has some tough competition from the likes of CM Storm's Trigger Z and the Asus Strix Tactic Pro to name just two of dozens of £100 mechanical keyboards with more from Corsair, Ducky and Razer.


The RX88 is at somewhat of a disadvantage too. It has a braided cable but has no dedicated media keys while some of its competitors do, and its styling lacks the quality feel of some of the leading mechanical keyboards too. Thankfully, the RX88 is solid and sturdy as are the single-level height adjustment stands and the wrist rest does actually provide some support too.


While there are no media keys, there are macro keys and a fully-fledged, if clunky, software suite. This allows you to customise keys or key combinations to work as media controls or even web browser commands and you can of course create macros too within five different profiles. There's also the ability to adjust the USB polling rate to 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz or 1000Hz, and the single colour backlighting can be adjusted to high, low or off.

Conclusion

The Genesis RX88 is pleasant to use, well made and reasonably priced, but if anything it's let down by its aesthetics. It doesn't look particularly grown up and possibly looks a little cheap compared to its rivals, when in the flesh it's much more appealing. The software suite isn't up to the standard we're used to either, although you're possibly likely to only use this a handful of times anyway. The general lack of pizazz and middling price tag means we can't really recommend it over any other mechanical keyboard, but it's a solid effort nonetheless.