| Form Factor: Full-size | Switch: Roccat Titan (Tactile) | Connector: USB | Keyboard Software: Roccat Swarm |
| Dimensions (cm) (W x H x D): |
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| Weight (Kg): |
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| Price: | £149.99 (MSRP) |
| RGB Lighting: | Yes (Zones only, non-per-key) |
| Media Controls: | Yes |
| Macro Keys: | Yes (non-dedicated) |
| Removable Cable: | No |
| Windows Lock: | Yes |
| Keyboard Status: | Fully working |
| Other Features: |
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The Roccat Vulcan 122 AMIO was once a top-of-the-line gaming keyboard from Roccat. Originally releasing in 2019 coming out later than most of its competition which made it a less popular choice.
TL;DR
If you can find these keyboards for cheap, then I think they’re worth it. For reference I paid £54.20 for these on eBay roughly 4 years ago (yep, I’ve had this for a while now).
Although, I personally wouldn’t pay above £30 for one even in great condition as there are so many better alternatives on the market today, especially from Keychron.
Build Quality: 7/10
The base is made of durable enough plastic that can handle a drop or two. The top is made of brushed aluminium which seemed to be the signature material of choice during the mid to late 2010s.
The keycaps are thin (0.85mm thick) laser ablated keycaps. This is a cheap manufacturing method, but it isn’t great for longevity. Keycaps made in this manner will suffer from keycap shine and will show signs of wear and tear overtime. In my sample, you can already see this happening on my left shift and enter key.
The cable is braided. I don’t see any problems with it going forward and has held up great so far. They were even kind enough to put an integrated cable tie to keep things nice and tidy.
Overall, apart from the keycaps, the build quality is pretty solid. As a side note, you can easily find replacement keycaps for these as it has a standard layout and uses the MX Mount.
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Features: 7/10
One of selling features is the Easy Shift function which is essentially another layer. However, you have to be in Game Mode to use it.
However, for whatever reason, I couldn’t get it to save to the keyboard once I’ve exited Roccat Swarm (the keyboard software). Swarm needs to be running in the background for this to work. Maybe, I screwed up somewhere since my RGB settings and macros also go back default. Although, as a side note, the macro feature is very limited. I never even got any strings to output which is highly disappointing.
Additionally, only some keys are compatible with the Easy Shift feature (those around the WASD cluster). This is the keyboards’ standout feature, so I’m not sure why they decided to limit it… a shame really.
Its other features include:
A detachable magnetic wrist rest which neither Corsair, Logitech or Razer had at the time.
RGB lights that would dim after a few minutes of inactivity – A great feature which improves LED light longevity. LEDs being burnt out was an issue in my Corsair K70 RGB keyboard which I reviewed over 5 years ago and was my daily driver for about 2 years.
Shortcut keys from the F1 to F12 keys. My most used was the calculator shortcut.
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Overall, it has a mishmash of features with some being very useful like the Easy Shift and extremely basic macros and really weird features like Sound feedback (seriously, who asked for this?). But it’s also missing features like a USB passthrough, per-key RGB customization and an on-off RGB light switch (how did they forget this?).
Daily Performance: 6/10
The RGB really stands out given the ‘floaty’ keycap design which remind of pudding keycaps in a way. This would’ve been very impressive in 2019, and it’s still impressive today! Though, it’s worth reminding you that this is what they look like on the white model.
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However, the lock light implementation is terrible. For example, if I enable CAPS LOCK, it also partially lights up the other lock lights which slightly ruins the aesthetic of the board.
Also, I couldn’t get comfortable gaming on these as the left shift key felt different to the rest of the keys due to the wear and tear.
Additionally, the stabilizers are noticeably rattily which makes the keyboard sound cheap. Then again, this was a time before manufacturers really cared about them, so I’m not surprised.
Overall, there weren’t too many hiccups during daily use. I just wish some of its features were more streamlined. The Roccat Titan tactile switches are similar to the Cherry MX Brown which I’m not a fan of, but more details on that switch in the switch review.
Reliability: 7/10
This will be a short one.
Functionally speaking, the switches are MX-based which are known for being very reliable. So, I have full confidence this keyboard will continue working for many decades. The cable is also braided which makes them more durable, especially if you’re the type to move your keyboard around.
Although, I can’t say the same for the RGB LEDs or the keycaps. These will definitely need replacing at some point in the future. The keycaps are at least an easy replacement.
Overall, even though MX switches and MX-based switches have failed on me in the past, they’re still very reliable, but they aren’t as reliable as hall-effect switches.
Value: 1/10
Another short section.
Keyboards like the Keychron K10 Wireless or K10 Pro have the features this keyboard has and more. There really isn’t any reason to buy this keyboard at MSRP.
In my opinion, you should only consider this if you see it for around £30. It’s otherwise, not worth it.
Overall, buy something else Keychron has plenty of options for reasonable prices (no, I’m not sponsored).
Final Score = 28/50 (56%)