Logitech G413 TKL keyboard review: Don’t buy it

Price When Reviewed

$69.99

Best Prices Today: Logitech G413 TKL SE mechanical keyboard

“You get what you pay for” is the platitude trotted out when somebody needs to acknowledge your disappointment with none additional needed motion. And in that sense, it might probably’t be utilized to the Logitech G413 TKL (deep breath) SE mechanical keyboard. Because the additional needed motion is returning it to no matter retailer to procure it from, and shopping for a unique gaming keyboard.

I gained’t mince phrases: This keyboard is considerably overpriced. And that’s nearly spectacular, as a result of at $70, it’s on the cheaper finish for gaming mechanical keyboards. But a big lack of options, broadly low-cost supplies, and an entire lack of programming choices make this keyboard kind of unsuitable for gaming. It’s not even excellent at typing, no less than not for the retail worth. In brief, don’t purchase the Logitech G413.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best gaming keyboards to find out about competing merchandise.

Logitech G413 TKL: The good and not-bad stuff

The G413 appears like a bog-standard mechanical keyboard at first look. And that’s what it’s: If you didn’t spot the very Logitech “G” gaming brand up within the nook, you’d suppose it was a generic wired board going for maybe 50 bucks on a Best Buy shelf. The proven fact that it is a Logitech product, and one which comes with a $70 retail price ticket, is a little bit of a shock on each counts.

This keyboard comes with PBT keycaps and an aluminum deck. That’s the tip of the record of its optimistic attributes. As we’ve seen with the Havit KB487L (one other identify that rolls off the tongue, not), the higher-quality PBT keycaps have gotten extra frequent even at finances costs, which is why I’m nonetheless giving Razer the Wagging Finger of Shame each time they’ve the gall to not put them on a $200+ keyboard like the BlackWidow. And an aluminum deck is a pleasant addition…once more, assuming you’re coping with a finances keyboard.

Other specs which can be neither a optimistic nor unfavorable embrace the TKL format (nearly, see subsequent paragraph), vibrant if considerably restricted white-only LEDs, and a light-weight, compact physique. That’s about it, time to get a bitch on.

Logitech G413 TKL: The dangerous stuff

The 6-foot USB cable isn’t removable. Anyone who likes a clear desk setup, and dislikes diving beneath it to get into the rat’s nest of cables you’ve so fastidiously hidden, gained’t respect that. Gamers gained’t respect the “6-key rollover with anti-ghost,” which Logitech lists amongst this keyboard’s optimistic options. Rollover is the flexibility for a keyboard to register a number of key presses directly, and 6 at a time is extraordinarily fundamental. Any wired keyboard purporting to be for “gamers” should boast N-key rollover (i.e. limitless) on the very least.

Michael Crider/Foundry

There’s no programming on this keyboard. No macros, both on-the-fly or through Logitech’s G HUB software program. When I plugged it in, the software helpfully knowledgeable me that it wasn’t needed to make use of the G413…which suggests there’s no technique to customise its format. Which is a bummer for me, particularly, as a result of taking screenshots is a giant a part of my job, and there’s no freakin’ screenshot button. Logitech determined that Print Screen, Scroll Lock, and Pause keys had been pointless on this board, hiding them in a operate layer (which, once more, can’t be modified). So although “TKL” is within the product identify, the precise format of this keyboard can be extra precisely known as “Tenkeyless minus three.”

And lastly, the G413 comes with any change you need, as long as you need brown. And not simply any brown switches, which aren’t typically the selection of players, preferring linear for quick clean keypresses. Not “Logitech super-duper gaming tactile” personalized switches. Not even the cheap TTC switches, as seen on the Logitech Pop Keys keyboard. Nope, these switches come from “Long hua,” which I’d by no means even heard of earlier than…and it’s a banner day when a change firm can stump me.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Turns out Long hua is a subsidiary of Kailh, making even cheaper switches rated for simply 50 million clicks. (Standard Cherry MX switches boast 100 million.) And regardless that you’re unlikely to hit that E button 50 million instances irrespective of how a lot Counter-Strike you play, they really feel, properly, horrible. They’re scratchy, they’re chattery, they’re precisely the other of the sort of change you need on a gaming keyboard. Frankly there are a lot better switches even if you’d like a tactile change, even if you’d like tactile switches on a keyboard below $70. And after all, you possibly can’t swap them out.

The higher choices

Look, I may go on whining, however you get the gist: This keyboard, whereas fully useful, has mainly zero choices, far fewer options than something in its worth vary, and is a humiliation coming from a model as storied and high-profile as Logitech. If you desire a wired gaming keyboard for below $100, go for the phenomenal G.Skill KM250. You’ll get monetary savings and get extra options, together with high quality switches with hot-swap sockets, a radial dial, and RGB lighting.

Michael Crider/Foundry

If you really need that TKL type issue and programming choices, go for…properly, nearly the rest, however I’d begin with the Keychron C1 Pro, which gives VIA programming, RGB lighting, and linear switches which can be really good for gaming, all at a lower cost. Oh, and a print display screen button, which someway doesn’t go with out saying.

But no matter you do, don’t purchase the G413 TKL SE, even on sale. It’s a foul keyboard from a model that ought to know higher.