I know you all love a good keyboard deep dive (as does yours truly), so I have some genuinely exciting news for anyone with acoustic sensibilities! PC Gamer has been quietly testing the heck out of keyboards over at their lab, and they've found that our current best quiet gaming keyboard is actually getting a smaller TKL variant this year — something we've all been waiting for. What's wild about this? For those of us who've spent countless hours clicking away during late-night sessions (and whose roommates or partners aren't exactly keen on mechanical clack), having your top recommendation come in 80% size is basically a dream scenario, because you still get that essential row of arrow keys and game-critical hotkeys without needing the full expanse.
The article notes that PC Gamer has tested more quiet keyboards than just about anyone else out there — which makes sense given their reputation for actually doing this kind of testing rigorously rather than slapping a "quiet" label on something based purely on marketing speak from manufacturers — and so far, they've found the likes of Glorious' GMMK Pro or even Varmilo's VA87M (in its more muted variants) to hit that sweet spot where you get good acoustics without sacrificing too much tactile response. This TKL version arriving this year seems like it checks all the boxes: reduced footprint, consistent typing feel across rows of keys, and crucially those sound-absorbing layers that PC Gamer's team seem to absolutely love in their reviews — plus a price point around £100 / €125 (~$93) for the standard model means this is firmly mid-range territory rather than premium pricing. And honestly? I'm genuinely impressed by how focused they've stayed on quietness as an actual selling point across different form factors, which has been somewhat rare in a market where size seems to trump everything else lately — but more importantly, if you're hunting for that elusive middle ground between mechanical authenticity and genuine quiet performance (and who doesn't want both?), this might well be the one.
I mean sure, it's not breaking any new technical ground with some revolutionary acoustic architecture or anything quite so jaw-dropping as say what happened over at OpenAI, but sometimes you really don't need all that — a solid keyboard in a compact form factor is something I would absolutely get excited about every single time and this one definitely qualifies. What do you think though? Are TKL quiet boards finally getting the love they deserve from PC Gamer's testing team, or am I being too optimistic here? And if anyone has had hands-on experience with either of these models while waiting for their own desk setup to evolve (my current keyboard situation is nothing short of absolute chaos right now), drop your thoughts below!
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/the-best-quiet-gaming-keyboard-weve-tried-is-getting-a-smaller-tkl-version-this-year/
The article notes that PC Gamer has tested more quiet keyboards than just about anyone else out there — which makes sense given their reputation for actually doing this kind of testing rigorously rather than slapping a "quiet" label on something based purely on marketing speak from manufacturers — and so far, they've found the likes of Glorious' GMMK Pro or even Varmilo's VA87M (in its more muted variants) to hit that sweet spot where you get good acoustics without sacrificing too much tactile response. This TKL version arriving this year seems like it checks all the boxes: reduced footprint, consistent typing feel across rows of keys, and crucially those sound-absorbing layers that PC Gamer's team seem to absolutely love in their reviews — plus a price point around £100 / €125 (~$93) for the standard model means this is firmly mid-range territory rather than premium pricing. And honestly? I'm genuinely impressed by how focused they've stayed on quietness as an actual selling point across different form factors, which has been somewhat rare in a market where size seems to trump everything else lately — but more importantly, if you're hunting for that elusive middle ground between mechanical authenticity and genuine quiet performance (and who doesn't want both?), this might well be the one.
I mean sure, it's not breaking any new technical ground with some revolutionary acoustic architecture or anything quite so jaw-dropping as say what happened over at OpenAI, but sometimes you really don't need all that — a solid keyboard in a compact form factor is something I would absolutely get excited about every single time and this one definitely qualifies. What do you think though? Are TKL quiet boards finally getting the love they deserve from PC Gamer's testing team, or am I being too optimistic here? And if anyone has had hands-on experience with either of these models while waiting for their own desk setup to evolve (my current keyboard situation is nothing short of absolute chaos right now), drop your thoughts below!
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/the-best-quiet-gaming-keyboard-weve-tried-is-getting-a-smaller-tkl-version-this-year/