Best TKL Mechanical Keyboards For Gaming (For Every Type Of Gamer)

Form Factor is an important thing to keep in mind when it comes to setting up your rig. Everyone wants their gaming or workspace to be as less space-consuming and minimalistic as possible.

The lesser space your equipment occupies, the easier it is to move around freely. In today’s gaming world, almost everything is customizable. Gamers spend an ample amount of money and time customizing their rig to perfection.

This includes everything from the GPU to the gaming mouse. Thus it only makes sense that you would want your keyboard to take up as little space as possible. A great way to achieve this is by getting a tenkeyless keyboard.

That way, you will be saving up a lot more space than you would by using any regular bulky keyboard. Let me walk you over what a tenkeyless keyboard is and its advantages and disadvantages, and so on.

What is a tenkeyless keyboard? A tenkeyless keyboard is a normal-sized keyboard without the ten-key/ number pad. It is much more compact than a normal keyboard, and its mechanism allows you to customize it to your liking.

Let me list some of the best tenkeyless mechanical keyboards on the market.

Best Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard – Detailed Specs Chart

Best Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard

#1- Corsair K65 LUX RGB

Corsair is no stranger to making reliable and top-notch gaming equipment. It is well known in the world of gaming and has some high-quality equipment that makes your gaming experience enjoyable. Corsair products are widely used in pro gaming tournaments by professional gamers.

The Corsair K65 LUX RGB is a sleek mechanical that looks like it’s straight out of a gamer’s dream. It is tenkeyless, which allows more space for your mouse and easy movement while gaming. Its compact size allows gamers to easily travel with it and take it to tournaments.

The Corsair K65 LUX is equipped with RGB lighting, a feature preferred by a majority of gamers. The aluminum frame is made with future proof materials, which allow for years of gaming, all while still looking aesthetically pleasing.

Each key has RGB lighting, which illuminates your keyboard and can be customized almost endlessly. It is one of the good mechanical keyboards on the market.

#2- Logitech G PRO

Logitech is no stranger to creating top-quality gaming products with reliable and intuitive features. Among the extensive list of keyboards that they have created, stands the Logitech G PRO.

One of the first things you’ll notice about this keyboard is its unique and robust build. Logitech has designed this keyboard to stand the test of time, and whatever else you can throw at it. The keyboard is slim, ergonomic, and has a very minimal bounce to it.

You can hammer away at its keys for hours on any sort of surface, and it’ll still feel like a solid slab of high-end gaming equipment. The clicks are satisfying, and every touch has great feedback to it.

It’s using the Romer G switches, which deliver 25% faster response time so that every press on the buttons is instantly relayed to your screen. It also comes with three-step angle adjustment and rubber feet, so you can set it up comfortably in whatever workspace you’re in.

The RGB in this keyboard is phenomenal as it comes with compatibility for over 300 games and lights up each key individually based on the actions you’re performing.

The LED quality in general, is very good as well, and the overall lighting experience is highly satisfying. This keyboard has a steel backplate, which makes all the difference when it comes to reliability and durability.

#3- Redragon K552

Redragon is an up-and-coming company that has come out with many gaming products, all tailored for high-end performance while still being affordable and within reasonable ranges.

While they may not have innovative new technology at their disposal, they do everything that other companies do, and most importantly, they do it right. Today we’ll be looking at the Redragon K552.

The Redragon K552 uses Cherry MX blue switches, which are ideal and trusted for gaming, and produce satisfying clicks. The keyboard features laser-engraved keycaps, and all 87 of the keys are conflict-free, which means you won’t get any ghosting issues.

It can also be very easily taken apart and rebuilt, in case you ever need to make any adjustments of your own. The Redragon K552 Kumara is very compact and very comfortable to use in any environment.

#4- KINESIS Freestyle Edge RGB Split

The Kinesis Freestyle Edge is one of the more outlandish keyboards on this list. It’s a “split” keyboard, which means you can take the keyboard apart from the middle and place it around to your liking, or even put stuff between the two parts.

It comes with 10 fully customizable RGB settings, genuine Cherry MX RGB mechanical switches, and customizable macro settings, as is with all high-end gaming keyboards.

This keyboard is focused on ultimate customization and comfort, and it also comes with detachable palm supports. It boasts 100% anti-ghosting and 1ms latency among its key features, which means a clean, accurate, and responsive typing experience.

Kinesis has outdone itself and presented a stylish, unique, and fun keyboard for gaming enthusiasts.

#5- ASUS ROG Claymore Detachable

The ASUS ROG Claymore is ASUS’ entry for good, mechanical keyboards with stellar RGB. The ASUS ROG Claymore is made of German Cherry MX Red switches, that offer satisfying key presses and super-fast response times.

ASUS is all about customization and personalization, that’s why they’ve included a detachable Numpad, which you can use whenever you don’t want to use a tenkeyless keyboard.

Aura Sync once again returns for maximum RGB customization. ASUS boasts a 100% anti-ghosting feature, on the fly macros, and dedicated hotkeys for motherboard cooling and overclocking as well.

The ASUS ROG Claymore, with its individually backlit keys, looks phenomenal. The detailing on the heavyweight aluminum chassis looks cool and has a Mayan aesthetic to it.

The cable routing grooves on the backplate, as well as the height-adjustable feet, are nice additions as well that make this keyboard a complete package. Now, on towards the specifications.

#6- Razer BlackWidow X-TE Chroma

Finally, the keyboard everyone’s been waiting to see. The Razer BlackWidow X-TE Chroma is an absolute beast of a keyboard that’s been at pro-gamer’s sides since 2017.

The keyboard is sleek, tactile, very responsive, and has that signature Razer look on it. Razer boasts its switches, with the BlackWidow being embellished by their tactile and clicky green switches.

These switches are certainly very satisfying to use and provide maximum clicking pleasure. Of course, the keyboard comes with Razer Chroma functionality, which has to be some of the best RGB software on the market right now.

There isn’t much to say about the Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition keyboard, it’s been around for so long and has made its name in the keyboard world.

While it may be getting on in years, it still performs as wonderfully as ever, and there’s a V2 of it if you need something newer. With that said, let’s look at the spec sheet.

Best Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard – Buying Guide Everything You Need To Know

Wired VS. Wireless Connectivity

Some people may prefer wired keyboards due to more reliable latency, but these days technology is catching up fast. This means that using a wireless keyboard doesn’t have much of a drawback anymore, and any of these keyboards will be a good pick when it comes to latency and connectivity.

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Features

Each keyboard has its quirks and qualities. Logitech’s G Pro features highly specialized Romer G switches, which feel much better than most switches on the market. The Redragon K552 can easily be taken apart to replace or use its parts.

The Kinesis Freestyle is probably the most unique of the list, as it can be split in two, and placed to your liking. The giveaway is that although these keyboards have intricate details and different features, they all do the same thing, and that’s performing as a keyboard. So you should go for the feature which piques your curiosity the most.

Switches

Mechanical keyboards use a plethora of different switches, which each have their distinct feel and mechanical advantage. We’ll enlist the switches each keyboard uses, and you can select your pick from below:

1. Corsair K65 LUX – Cherry MX RGB Red
2. Logitech G Pro – Romer G
3. Redragon K552 – Cherry MX Blue
4. Kinesis Freestyle Edge – Cherry MX
5. ASUS ROG Claymore – Cherry MX Red
6. Razer BlackWidow X-TE Chroma – Razer Green Switch

Backlighting

Each keyboard is RGB enabled and features beautiful and distinct backlighting. The RGB brightness and quality differ from keyboard to keyboard, and this part is mostly up to your personal preference. The brightness, smoothness, and functionality of the backlighting in all keyboards are fully satisfactory and won’t leave you disappointed.

Extra Keys

Each keyboard has some sort of macro functionality. Macros are extra keys that have specialized functions such as volume keys, power on/off keys, etc.. The Kinesis Freestyle has a function bar on the left side.

The ASUS ROG Claymore and KINESIS Freestyle Edge have fully programmable macros and so on. In this day and age, every gaming keyboard, especially a mechanical keyboard, will have some sort of macro functionality or extra keys. You should check out which of these keys your keyboard has upon purchasing.

Durability

Durability is probably the most important aspect to look carefully at. The Redragon K552 is the strongest and buffest keyboard with its metal-ABS construction and plate-mounted mechanical keys.

The Logitech G Pro also does not disappoint with its sturdy and weighty body. The least durable is the Kinesis Freestyle Edge, and that’s because of its splitting nature. Because of all the extra movement in placing it around, it’s more susceptible to some sort of damage as compared to the other keyboards.

Benefits of Tenkeyless Keyboards

Tenkeyless keyboards are pretty much the standard now for gaming. This is because they eliminate the Numpad, which no one ever uses anyway, but still keeps the important macros and function keys and everything else. These keyboards fit a much more diverse form factor and can be taken anywhere.

You could bring it along to your office at work, take it to school, and it’s just so convenient to use for LAN parties. The amount of desk space you could save up might seem trivial, but it makes a huge difference. Besides, no one is going to miss the Numpad anyway.