We test out the Strix Tactic Pro Gaming Keyboard from ASUS to see if this gigantic keyboard deserves to be in your little desktop.

A few years back, Taiwanese Tech Company ASUS are just more into PC components, focusing in providing the best performance for your personal computers. Now they have ventured into the peripherals scene for gaming, promising better game experience for your game time.

The Strix Tactic Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard offers a ton of features to give you a better experience for your gaming, but are these the essential features that you need? Read on to find out.

Here are the specs for the Strix Tactic Pro:

• Dimensions: 515.5 x 178.6 x 32.9 (mm)
• Contents
  • Tactic Pro mechanical gaming keyboard
  • Quick-start guide
  • Driver installation CD
  • 4 x Additional key caps
  • key cap-removal tool
  • Connector: Single gold-plated USB
  • Anti-ghosting: True NKRO (6KRO switch included)
  • Switches: Fully mechanical Cherry MX type
  • Switch lifecycle: 50-million keystrokes
  • Backlit: Individually-backlit (orange) keys with 4-level settings
  • Cable: Braided fiber 1.8m
  • Key cap material: Tough ABS
  • Media keys: Volume control, play/pause, previous track and next track
  • Macro keys: Up to 21 customizable keys (13 dedicated macro keys + 8 switchable macro/function (F1-F8) keys)
  • Special features:
  • On-the-fly macro recording
  • Dual modes: plug-and-play hardware mode and software mode
  • Gaming mode (disables Windows® key); Macro mode (reassigns F1-F8 as macro keys)

At 20 x 7 x 1 inches, the Tactic Pro is one gigantic keyboard, it will definitely eat a lot of desk space so be sure to have a large desk for this one. Like with its other Strix products, it also has that fierce owl look on its design, hinted on the edged structure on each end of the keyboard, as well as the illuminated orange glow from its keys. Along with its large size, it has a lot of keys, aside from the usual keyboard function keys, it offered 21 customizable marco keys. There’s also the media keys on the right side of the keyboard that includes the thumb scroll and three more macros keys found below the space bar. The shape of each key has that outward curved design, this helps users to help avoid accidental inputs from a slight tap on the keys.

The overall build quality of the Tactic Pro is quite sturdy despite for having plastic material for it shell. Since the weight is heavy due to the mechanical switches, it helps maintain its place during prolonged usage such as intense gaming sessions.

As we mentioned earlier, the 21 macros keys are fully customizable, from using it as a different command button, launching a software, or recording key press combinations with a single press of a button, and these will be recorded on the keyboard’s memory where you can bring the keyboard anywhere you go along with the stored macro combinations. Using the Strix software allows you to create your own profile for your customized keys, or even select a desired custom profile for a specific game or application when launched.

The media keys allow you to adjust the volume as well as navigating through your media with ease, though the plastic build on these buttons feels cheap and it might be overlooked by some users due its placement.

The illuminated keys from Tactic Pro makes it useful for night time gaming, its orange glow can be customized to have a breathing effect or just put it on steady, you can even increase the brightness of the lighting. Sadly for those who prefer to have fully customizable lighting colors for their peripherals, the Tactic Pro only has the orange color.

The keyboard offered four different Cherry MX switches (we tested the Red MX switch), but choosing a switch type all depends on your preference. All switches are durable and can last up to 50 million presses, and with the N-Key Rollover mode on, you can simultaneously press any number of keys and still ensures that each key input is registered which reduce the risk of ghosting, perfect for local multiplayer games.

The key placements on the Tactic Pro may require some time in getting used to it, especially with the macro keys on the left portion. FPS players may have a difficult time in using the Tactic Pro at the start since their hand would get disoriented with the key placements as they usually place their left hand at the leftmost region of the keyboard and instead of pressing the Shift or CTRL keys, they might accidentally press on the macro keys. But in terms of functionality, the Tactic Pro is a big advantage for MMO gamers, especially in MMORPGs, having more options for shortcuts on their skills, spells and quest logs. Even stuff that are outside of gaming adds more productivity with the use of the said gaming keyboard, some applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro have commands that requires you press CTRL or ALT and another key simultaneously and with the macro keys, you can activate those functions with a single press of a key. This adds more practicality to the Tactic Pro in terms of applications outside of gaming.

The Strix Tactic Pro is one monster keyboard. It features more keys for your everyday computing needs, whether for gaming or other applications like image or video editing. It’s fully customizable that can let you select your preferred user profile and then switch to a different profile with ease depending on your preference. Really useful for MMO players but this could be ignored by FPS gamers as they require less keys for their performance. Despite having a plastic material for its main body, it still feels durable for everyday use. So if you are looking for a gaming keyboard with a lot of options and durable mechanical switches and you have enough space for a large keyboard, then be sure to pick the Tactic Pro.