There is no doubt that mechanical keyboards are expensive, but if you haven’t used one then you wouldn’t know how much of a difference a mechanical keyboard makes when compared to most membrane keyboards. If your gaming buddy is still sticking to a membrane keyboard, a mechanical gaming keyboard can be a great gifting idea this holiday season. Although membrane keyboards are popular among the public thanks to their low prices, they are not as reliable or ergonomic as mechanical keyboards. Here are 5 mechanical gaming keyboards under $100 worth getting gift wrapped.
Tecware Phantom 87 and 104
The Tecware Phantom mechanical keyboard comes in two variants, the Phantom 87 and Phantom 104. The only difference between the Phantom 104 and Phantom 87 is that the former has a standard 104-key layout while the latter lacks a numeric keypad. Apart from this, both the keyboards are exactly the same. Phantom RGB mechanical keyboards do not feature the less expensive Outemu switches, and if you have never used a mechanical keyboard, you'll definitely find a significant difference between the tactility. The keyboard has three switch options - Outemu blue switches with 60g tactile clicky feedback, the Outemu brown switches with 55g tactile bump feedback, and Outemu red switches with 50g linear feedback. The keyboard also comes with a full N-key rollover, which allows all the switches to be pressed at once. Talking about the RGB lighting, the LEDs are soldered into the keyboard PCB instead of being built into the switches.
HyperX Alloy FPS Pro
The HyperX Alloy FPS is an all-action, no talk mechanical keyboard. The keyboard features excellent Cherry MX switches and does not run with any software, which usually bogs things down for many budget keyboards. HyperX is known for making exceptional large gaming keyboards enjoyed by many gamers. The HyperX Alloy FPS Pro is a little brother to the HyperX Alloy Elite, however the FPS pro features a small form factor by going with the tenkeyless design.
Cooler Master Masterkeys Pro M
The M suffix for the Cooler Master Masterkeys Pro M stands for size Medium. The keyboard sits between the typically large and small keyboard sizes. Cooler Master was able to create this unique design by removing the navigation arrow keys. The keyboard comes with brown, blue and red Cherry MX switches. While previous Masterkeys models had RGB lighting, the Pro M comes with pure white backlights, which nevertheless look pretty impressive.
Logitech G413
The Logitech G413 is one of the best and most economical mechanical keyboards on the market right now. The keyboard features a sturdy build quality, portrays a sophisticated design, and comes with full-on mechanical switches. While Logitech ditched RGB, media, and macro keys, they ended coming up with a frameless keyboard that functions perfectly while also featuring elegant aesthetics.
Redragon K552
There isn’t much that is fancy about the Redragon K552’s design, the keyboard comes with a metal base and is covered with quality plastic. The keyboard features a total of 87 double-shot injected molded keys. Since Redragon K552 left the number pad out of the equation, the keyboard automatically becomes compact. Despite the size, it still manages to include 12 multimedia keys. Although the keyboard does not feature RGB backlighting, it does come with red backlighting that looks pretty sweet.
Wrap Up
If you are looking to gift your gaming friend something that they will enjoy while gaming on a PC, these selections of gaming mechanical keyboards could come in handy.
