Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air keyboard review: Unbelievable battery life

Price When Reviewed

$179.99

Best Prices Today: Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air keyboard

$179.99

The Vulcan II Mini Air is a wi-fi model of the Vulcan II Mini. Stop me if that is getting too stunning for you. But that reductive intro doesn’t inform the entire story, as a result of there’s a variety of engineering happening within the Vulcan II Mini Air past tossing a radio and a battery within the case and calling it a day. 

The keyboard’s phenomenal battery life makes wi-fi operation with its bombastic lighting enabled an actual choice, even in case you’re an influence person. That’s a commendable innovation, even when it solely applies to a really area of interest form of person. That area of interest is so particular — a small, premium, gaming, optical, wi-fi keyboard that may continually dazzle you with RGB goodness — that it nearly justifies the excessive worth. 

Almost. At the tip of the day we’re speaking a few $180 for a mini keyboard, and for that form of dough, you’d higher be delivering in any respect ranges. It’s out of consideration for many customers, however for that tiny little bit of the Venn diagram, it’s value it. 

Further studying: See our roundup of the best wireless gaming keyboards to study competing merchandise.

What’s new, Roccat (woah woah woah)?

At first look, not a lot has modified since I reviewed the Vulcan II Mini a 12 months in the past. You get the identical 65% format with full arrow keys, the identical Titan II optical switches for quick, easy operation, and the identical “floating” keycaps that exhibit Roccat’s best-in-class RGB lighting (together with the intense LEDs and clear swap housing). The wi-fi model is about half an inch taller on the Y axis, simply sufficient to place an illuminated Roccat brand above the keys. It additionally well shifts the USB-C port to the left, provides an influence swap, and offers you a bit bay to stow the two.4GHz dongle. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The keyboard is heavier than the Vulcan II Mini…however shockingly, not by a lot. On my kitchen scale the wired board is 17.7 ounces, whereas the wi-fi one (sans dongle) is 20.4 ounces. Roccat managed to cram wi-fi {hardware} and a battery in there with lower than 3 ounces. For the sake of comparability, I threw the Corsair K65 Pro Mini on the dimensions, which has the identical 65% format and optical switches however does not have a radio or battery, and it was a full ounce heavier than the Vulcan II Mini Air. Impressive! That form of weight-saving makes the Roccat design a wonderful moveable board, although these floating keycaps imply you’ll positively need some form of protecting case on it earlier than you throw it in a backpack. That’s one thing the Asus Falchion consists of within the field, by the way in which. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

To reiterate what I wrote in regards to the absolutely new, full-sized Vulcan II: Roccat is unbeatable on the subject of eye-popping RGB lights. In phrases of brightness, visibility (due to these skinny keycaps), and animation, it’s merely peerless in the mean time. All the identical issues apply to the Vulcan II Mini Air…besides that this little board is working on a battery. Which is, counter-intuitively, an enormous deal. 

How is the Vulcan Mini II Air battery?

With the lights on full energy and in wi-fi 2.4GHz mode, the Vulcan Mini II Air lasted 5 days on a battery cost for me. That may not sound like a lot, so let me put it in context. One, do not forget that Roccat’s lighting system is insane—the main focus and positively the spotlight of the Vulcan sequence. And two, I’m a heavy person to a probably unhealthy diploma. A regular mini keyboard working absolutely animated RGB lights will final me sooner or later, maaaaaybe two if it’s fortunate. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

So when Roccat claims that this keyboard can final 150 hours (on the clock, not energetic utilization) in its customary mode, or as much as 750 hours with the RGB disabled, I’m inclined to imagine it. The specs don’t say how huge the battery is, however with just some ounces of additional weight, it could possibly’t be capacious. This is, with out qualification, the very best battery life I’ve ever seen from a gaming keyboard. 

And on high of that, Roccat managed a trick I not often see: instantaneous wake. With the two.4GHz dongle, the keyboard immediately wakes up from sleep and begins shining, able to enter instructions. Presumably that is as a result of proximity sensors that the sunshine present will get going even earlier than you press a key, a really neat trick that you must expertise in particular person to understand. I’ve seen related tech on Logitech’s MX Keys line, however even these high-end boards don’t boast this sort of insane battery life. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

One final word on the battery life. If you maintain down the Fn key, the LED beneath the V key turns into your battery bar, steadily going from inexperienced to yellow to orange to purple because the battery drains. A last warning, the V key and the Roccat brand flashing purple, lets loss of life is imminent. But even “imminent” is relative with such longevity — for me, it began flashing about two or three hours earlier than it lastly gave up the ghost. Impressive. 

How is the Vulcan Mini II Air for gaming and typing?

Like its non-wireless variant — and not like the full-sized, wired Vulcan II — the Vulcan II Mini Air comes outfitted with optical key switches. In distinction to a standard mechanical keyboard swap that closes a circuit with {an electrical} contact, these detect a key press by interrupting a beam of sunshine. This permits for (theoretically) super-fast efficiency and easy, unhindered motion from the highest of the important thing press to the underside, and again once more. 

Roccat and Corsair each supply optical switches, giving us a possibility to check the Vulcan II Mini Air to the Ok65 Pro Mini. And when it comes to typing and gaming, it isn’t nearly as good. Roccat’s switches really feel extra unfastened and chattery, with extra motion within the keycaps even once they’re not getting used. Throw within the flat, slippery ABS keycaps that Roccat makes use of on the Vulcan line versus the pleasantly tough PBT caps on the Corsair, and the latter is the clear winner when it comes to typing and gaming “feel,” if not by an unlimited margin. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Of course, you would all the time put PBT keycaps on the Vulcan. You might even put Corsair’s keycaps on the Vulcan, for the reason that format is sort of an identical. But then you definately wouldn’t get the complete advantage of Roccat’s lighting system, and I doubt anybody fascinated with shopping for this board is keen to go that far. You can also’t swap out the switches, however that’s typical for optical designs. 

Roccat’s format can also be much less intuitive than Corsair’s, although each commit the cardinal sin, for my part, of an unmovable Fn button. The Vulcan II Mini Air is much more restrictive than most, because the Windows, Esc, and proper Ctrl key are additionally off-limits. By default media keys are unfold between Z and the interval, generally necessitating two fingers, and the Print Screen secret is on the O, precisely one spot left of the place it ought to be (in my thoughts, anyway). Of course all of that is configurable by way of software program, with a second perform layer obtainable by way of the Easy Shift system (set to Caps Lock by default). But no quantity of software program can re-print the default format onto the keys. There’s no choice for re-binding or programming macros on the fly. 

As far as gaming chops go, the Vulcan II Mini Air affords 1,000Hz polling and N-key rollover, greater than any mere mortal might need make use of. With the exception of the slippery keycaps, I discovered it moderately comfortable, although I want the single-stage keyboard ft had an choice for the next profile. I additionally assume that for the value tag, an included and matching wrist relaxation isn’t an excessive amount of to ask for. After all, the Vulcan II — a less expensive, wired board — has one. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Roccat’s Swarm software program is purposeful, if unspectacular. Like the Vulcan boards themselves, the large draw is the lighting, and the entire included defaults are each extra fascinating and far more easily animated than any of the competitors. You can customise the velocity, brightness, and colour of every, and if that’s not sufficient, program a completely customized system your self. 

As a wi-fi board Swarm has a bit extra to handle for this gadget, and it does so admirably. If you need much more excessive battery life you possibly can regulate the sensitivity of the keyboard’s proximity sensor or disable it totally. Doing so signifies that the keyboard must wake from sleep, but it surely does so in a tiny fraction of a second, so it looks as if a good trade-off to me. 

Should you purchase the Roccat Vulcan Mini II Air?

When I reviewed the $180 Corsair K70 Pro Mini Wireless, I referred to as its worth sky-high and dinged it for an absence of worth. The Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air is similar worth, with a variety of the identical options, like a selection of Bluetooth or 2.4GHz dongle wi-fi. So why do I believe it’s a significantly better deal? 

Quite a lot of causes. One, it’s only a higher board for touring, being the identical weight regardless of a bigger format that features user-friendly arrow keys. It has sooner optical switches, and it has an unbeatable battery life. That’s true whether or not or not you like your gaming classes illuminated, and in case you do, the Vulcan II Mini Air will delight your eyeballs with a light-weight present that lasts for days. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

That being mentioned, $180 continues to be some huge cash for a keyboard, particularly one which’s this small and doesn’t include extras like a wrist relaxation or case. So it’s solely value it for a really particular form of gamer. That gamer is one who desires that lovely RGB goodness, desires it to final an extended, very long time, and is okay with switches, keycaps, and format that aren’t the very best round. 

If these caveats don’t trouble you, the Vulcan II Mini Air is definitely worth the excessive asking worth for a super-portable board that takes its gentle present on the street.