Redragon K552 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Rainbow LED Backlit Wired with Anti-Dust Proof Switches for Windows PC (Black, 87 Keys Blue Switches)

With most half mech keyboards costing around 30-35 usd I wasnt expecting all that much from this mechanical board. But as someone who has used membranes all his life and after buying a laptop that made my wrist hurt after a few hours of gaming I figured Id dip my toes into the water and buy a mechanical keyboard, but since I had no experience with mechanical keyboards aside from using them at my local Best Buy I wasnt ready to sink 80+ dollars into a board that I might end up hating, so I decided to pick this up. I picked this board instead of some others (like tomoko and gamdias) because I got a Redragon mouse back when I bought my laptop so sticking with the brand and theme seemed wise. Plus I like to beat pretty hard on my keyboards so I figured 55g of force seemed about right for me. So before I do pros and cons keep in mind this is from the perspective of a gamer that plays games like fps shooters (tf2 mainly) to other game types like WoW. PROS: -The feel , you wouldnt think a keyboard could feel very different from another but Im glad I was wrong, the sharp click and medium force required to actuate the keys is near perfect for me, my fingers dont get fatigued even after hours of gaming. -Build quality, while you are normally touching plastic on the board there is certainly metal in this, as lifting up my membrane board and this reveals that even though this is a 10 key-less board and my membrane isnt the Redragon weighs near twice as much, its a very solid feeling product. -Lighting, The keyboard that I purchased was the non rgb red version, and wow Im awed the light of the board goes from off to a very bright and obvious level. (It also includes a breathing mode something I havent used but Im sure is fine) MIXED: -The noise, while I quite like the sound that this keyboard makes to the rest of my family its really annoying I cant recommend this keyboard to someone like a college student with a dorm mate. -Weight as I mentioned earlier, the keyboard is quite heavy especially for a 10 key-less board. While I quite like the hefty feeling and like that it doesnt slide around on my desk anyone that is going to carry this around say from office to office every day its far too heavy. -Key font, the key font here is definitely targeted towards gamers with large obvious lettering and unique letter design (zoom in on b if you want to see what I mean) this isnt going to fit in on a typical office desk (not that it should the noise would drive your co-workers mad). While I like it a potential buyer should keep it in mind. These ARE NOT cherry mx switches. While I personally cant tell the difference between cherry mx blue switches and these greetech ones if you have been using cherry blue switches since their release back in 1980 whenever you might be able to tell the difference but again I cant. Ten key-less, the removal of this feature really doesnt bother me (Im not an accountant) Im sure some people will dislike it but I really cant mark it as a con since I enjoy the extra mouse room and have never really used the num pad on my keyboard. To anyone that absolutely MUST have a num pad for a cheaper price than flagship mech board from corsair, ducky, joker or whatever look at the Redragon k551 or the Gamdias Hermes lite (both of which can be found on amazon and had for less than 80 usd pretty comfortably) CONS: Missing features, while a lot of higher end keyboards (mainly corsairs and Logitechs) include features like a pass through USB on the keyboard, phone stands, and wrist rests this keyboard includes none. BUT as this price point no one should really expect it too. Thats about it, to rap up if you can put up with the noise and dont need to travel anywhere with the keyboard on a day-to-day basis I cant think of any reason to spend more money than this. I love the keyboard and will update this review should anything happens.

Im writing this review almost a year after buying this keyboard. Know you reviewer: This was my first mechanical keyboard. I use it for typing (a lot) and gaming (strategy mostly, not fast paced FPS). Im a touch typist but I dont think that it affects how I feel about this keyboard. ***** LONG TERM FAILURES ***** When it arrived the F2 key did not work. Since the switches are not hot swappable, fixing this would require some soldering knowledge apparently, which I dont have, not the tools to do it, nor acquaintances that can. Whatever, I can deal, although it was really annoying. Note that I didnt refund because I imported this to a country far away from the US. After a year of use: * The S key is failing. Sometimes it registers 2 or even 3 presses after pressing it only once. Very annoying. Cleaning the caps helps a bit, but only a tiny bit. * The spacebar is failing. Is does this super annoying thing where I press it, it does not register, but after 2 or 3 presses of other keys it register an additional press. So I end up with many double spaces that I must go back to correct. Very annoying. ***** PERFORMANCE ***** Well I really really like typing on it. Its really satisfying. A good purchase in that regard. As for gaming, well I dont really play action packed games so I cant really comment on that. I was concerned at first that I would find it cumbersome or would take some time to adjust but I didnt. It was a really easy to pick up. ***** BUT ITS CHEAP ***** It was cheap, and it was mechanical. I really liked using it to type during this time, in fact, Im using it right now! Although I certainly did no expect it to fail so quickly. Maybe I was wrong to expect all keys to work after a year at this price point, but I dont like it. In my opinion, this could be a good entry point to mechanical keyboards if its your first time. Personally, I have decided to upgrade to the $100 price point, and bought a keyboard with those fancy cherry mx switches. Maybe in another year Ill write a review if it was actually worth it or not.

Missing a piece…

I am a skilled touch typist and when I happen to look at the keyboard as I am typing I often have to ask myself, WHAT is that key I am about to press? I mean that the typeface (font) used is like a heiroglyphic to me. The shift legends are side-by-side with the unshifted ones. It looks so peculiar. Some of the keycap characters have divider bars which gives them a stencil effect. D, for one example, is open-faced at the back. Its just so weird. It is hard to notice this in the product photos because the red color has poor contrast against the dark background. As a keyboard, it is good. I am an old-school typis,t and I enjoy typing on this keyboard. It has a nice mechanical clackiness and the feel is good. The switches seem to be imitation Cherry Blues. I cant speak for the lasting quality but they are a very capable knock-off of the real Cherry in my hastily formed opinion. The Return key on mine was mushy, though, and it bothered me whenever I pressed it as it made no sound. Sound and feel is part of keeping a good typing rhythm. I found that after pressing it down really hard the operation became more normal with a very muted click. I suppose it was not seated well from the factory. This keyboard is nice for home use but it would be considered noisy if others are around to hear it as in an office. Thats a characteristic of the blue keys used. The price is hard to beat and illuminated keys can be very helpful when trying to find home position in the dark. Mine is the red light version and it dims well and can be turned on or off, too. Unfortunately, after the computer restarts each morning I have to readjust the lighting and settings as the keyboard has no memory. I really like that I can turn off the awful Windows key. For the price, this is a good keyboard.

Just a quick update (9/22/2020): Over 4 years later and I everything I said in this review still holds true. I recently recommended this keyboard to a friend, so I looked up the information on Amazon to tell him more about it and in the process I re-discovered my old review; so I felt a need to leave an update. I also noticed that some of the new reviews have reported build quality issues. While I do feel bad for the people that have been experiencing that, I would like to report that my keyboard has not had any of those issues. But it could be possible that their quality control has weakened over the years, so I cant guarantee you wont get a faulty unit. That being said, at this price, you dont have much to lose. And even if you do get a bad one, Amazon has a pretty flexible return policy. Also, its cool to see that it has RGB now, it didnt have that when I first bought it in 2016. Just had a single color red backlight. Anyways, on with the original review This is one of my first mechanical keyboards, and after using this for just one day, I dont think Ill ever go back to regular old chicklet keyboards. This thing is seriously awesome, the build quality is fantastic, and the typing experience is orgasmic. I have always been thinking about buying a mechanical keyboard, since I always hear that they are far superior, but I used to think that I would have to spend at least $100 for a decent one. When I saw that this was both mechanical and backlit, I was very interested, but also skeptical because of the $40 price tag. When I read some good reviews, I decided to take the plunge. I am sure glad that I did. I am writing this review on this keyboard, and it is just so wonderful, so much better than my old keyboard. There probably are better keyboards than this one out there, but this is definitely the best keyboard that I have ever owned. Funny story, I actually spilled some soda on the keys while writing this; but its easy to clean because of the included key remover tool, and there is a key lock toggle so I could clean the keys without unplugging the keyboard. TL;DR I just freaking love this keyboard, if you never owned a mechanical keyboard, but I have thought about getting one, Id highly suggest getting this one as your first.

the reddragon sign was super big; the clicks are ok but could be better

Bought this as my first keyboard, worked absolutely great for the time I used it for. Has blue switches so it is a little loud but as a beginner at the time I loved this. Has amazing responsiveness to inputs. Great RGB lighting, I got the Red backlit but the multi-color one I’ve seen is also a great choice. Works great out the box, just plug and play. 10/10 would recommend!

I bought this keyboard strictly cause I was curious about mechanical switches and this was a cheap way to buy into into it but I wasnt expecting what I got. Depending on when you read this I might already have a video review up on my channel. Search Youtube for Eshcole.com! BUILD QUALITY For ~$35 I wasnt expecting a keyboard with this kind of build quality. This keyboard is amazing and also amazingly HEAVY. Seriously, this keyboard is built like tank. Thats not a bad thing. If youre a serious gamer, student, or just someone who works from home, you dont want a keyboard thats moving all over the place as you type. The Kumara has a very clean, simple look that would blend into most setups. The key caps let a lot of the LED light shine through so it looks great when theyre on but you can turn them off if you wish. Mines stays on all the time. I love the look. FUNCTION The keys are supposed to be equivalent to Cherry MX Greens but once you pop the key cap off, you find the keys themselves are actually blue which is a little strange but doesnt bother me. Ive never owned a Cherry MX Green keyboard so I cant speak on how accurate that claim is. The keys screams durable and are comfortable to type on for long periods. At first, the clicky sounds was loud and I was worried that I would wake the house as I typed cause I was so used to quiet membrane keyboards but after a few days, I either got used to the sound or maybe the keys get a little quieter after excessive use. Not sure but dont care. Theres not a lot of extra features with this keyboard that more expensive alternatives would have like dedicated media or macro buttons and USB pass thrus but for the price I cant really complain. I would have really liked at least one USB pass thru however. The function keys double as media keys so youre not wasting space having useless dedicated media keys. Theres no number pad which I thought would take some getting used to but thankfully it was a pretty smooth transition. Theres only one LED effect and thats breathing where the LEDs fade on and off real nicely. Thats it. CONCLUSION If youre curious about mechanical keyboards like I am or you just want a great keyboard for typing and gaming, this is definitely the one. At this price point you really cant beat a keyboard that feels and functions this premium. If youve owned more expensive mechanical keyboards and you just need an extra one thats good but affordable, this is for you. You wont find it as amazing as me whose never owned a mechanical keyboard but youll definitely find it awesome!

I originally bought the version that doesnt light up. It is a nice little keyboard and it lasted 4 years. It would still be working but it suffered from unfortunate liquid damage. I wanted to replace it but but they dont sell the one that doesnt light up. This one is just as good if you turn the lights off. If I needed another keyboard for another workstation, I would order this one again.

Switches and key caps are good quality, comes with key cap puller. There’s slight flex but nothing noticeable in regular typing. RGB is a bit limited with some preprogrammed effects but not customizable, and you can just turn them off. Great value.