Redragon K556 RGB LED Backlit Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 104 Keys Hot-Swap Mechanical Keyboard w/Aluminum Base, Upgraded Socket and Noise Absorbing Foams, Quiet Linear Red Switch

Highly recommend for a gaming experience. Be warned though, it’s louder than most other gaming keyboards.

I’ve been using this keyboard for several months now and love it. Pros: I’m a fast typed and it keeps up perfectly with no lag. So far no problem with the costing wearing thin or rubbing off. Last keyboard was a much cheaper one and the black coating on the keys wore off quickly which removed letters and made the keyboard look bad. The only cons is I wish it had an on/off switch instead of having to unplug it when I’m done.

I picked this keyboard based on the reviews amazing quality for the price. Aluminum base with semi clicky mechanical keys. I got the brown keys version really good compromise for gaming and general use IMO. Going to keep an eye on this brand.

EDIT - 4/21/20: I have owned this keyboard for about a month and a half. My overall impressions are extremely favorable, and I GREATLY prefer this keyboard to my other Redragon board with Outemu blues. However, I have noticed that the Up arrow key developed a springy noise that the other keys didnt. The keys are hot-swappable, so I exchanged the switch for one of the the extra brown switches included in the box. The up arrow key no longer has the noise, but one of the extra brown switches in the box did, so I am now out of usable brown replacement switches. Im not going to change my review, but be aware that the longevity of these Redragon-branded switches may not be up to par with name-brand switches. I will update this review if I experience any more of this. TL;DR: If you hate glossy keycaps and/or metallic pinging sounds while typing, the great features of this board wont be worth it to you. This keyboard has a lot of excellent qualities. It excels in a few categories, but it falls short in others, and the shortcomings are non-trivial. All of the positive things Ive read in reviews about this keyboard are true, but unfortunately, so are all the negatives. Pros: 1. Extremely heavy and well-built. I also own the K551 Vara from Redragon, and this seems even more solid than that beast. No flex or rattle to be found. 2. Very flexible RGB implementation. Im not all that concerned about RGB, but its here if you need it. There are on-board and software controls available. 3. Switches feel nice and there is a tactile bump with little noise. There is less tactility than I expected, but I am coming from blues and Im also a bit heavy-handed when it comes to typing, so this may be an irrelevant complaint for many. 4. Redragon offers an 18-month warranty, which is quite long for a Chinese brand that uses many of the same components as the competition. 5. Redragon includes 8 spare switches in the box, along with a switch-puller and keycap-puller. There are 2 browns, 2 blues, 2 reds, and 2 blacks. Cons: 1. The keycaps are nice and matte on the top, but the sides are glossy and appear quite cheap. The included keycap puller seems to use harder plastic than the keys, and IT WILL SCRATCH THE SIDES. If I end up keeping this keyboard, I will probably switch out the caps down the line. They are noticeably worse than the keycaps on my K551 Vara, which had a very nice matte texture on the sides as well as the top. 2. The metallic ping rumors are true. I feel like this is a result of the shape and metal construction of the keyboard case. It doesnt happen upon pressing down the key, but if you release a key and let it rebound with no pressure on it, you will hear it quite loudly. This will be especially obvious when typing quickly, as you will hear many pings together. Its slightly annoying and I could get used to it, but I dont feel I should have to. This is my main issue with the keyboard. As previously mentioned, I own another Redragon mechanical keyboard with blue Outemu switches, and the ping is present but MUCH less obvious. I think its an issue thats inherent with mechanical keyboards in general, but the switch choice and case design can exacerbate the problem. 3. The switches are NOT Outemu branded. Many reviews and Q&A responses on this listing mention Outemu switches. Because of previous positive experiences with Outemu switches, I was happy to hear that this keyboard uses them. It does not. The switches used, including the spares, are Redragon branded. They must have used Outemu in the past and recently started using their own. With that said, the switches look identical to actual Outemu browns Ive seen in video reviews of this and other keyboards, so its entirely possible that Redragon sources the switches from Outemu/Gaote and rebrands them. They do feel good, and though I have limited experience typing on browns, Im enjoying it so far. Im also changing the keycaps, so that may enhance the feel further. Overall Comments: With all things considered, the keyboard is excellent value, but has some flaws. The build, RGB, and overall feel are very impressive, as is the warranty, but the whole package feels less premium due to the cheap keycaps and the metallic ping. For 10-15 dollars less, there are options like the E-Element Z-88 that use similar brown Outemu switches and seem to have an identical layout and even probably use the same PCB judging by the RGB options. The Redragon K556 Devarajas seems to offer the best experience that can be had with brown switches at this price range, so for many buyers it will be worth the compromise. To get a significant upgrade in features or quality, Id expect to spend twice as much.

This is my second Reddragon KB (previously a Mitra) and Im totally satisfied, even buying an used device. Great quality. Im using it for code development.

Ive had this keyboard for a few months now and it is working very well. I was worried that I may not quite like this keyboard but it is a solid option for the price. This keyboard is built like a tank. The keyboard is extremely solid. Unscrewing the sides of the keyboard reveals that there is almost no empty space inside. The keyboard has almost zero flex. The keyboard also is a decent weight, being the heaviest keyboard that I have ever used (I havent used a ton of keyboards, especially vintage ones). The next closest would probably be a Zenith Z-150, which is also built very well. The build quality also outmatches other keyboards that I have seen that cost much more. The features Redragon-branded Outemu Brown Keyswitches, meaning it is a mechanical keyboard. This keyswitches in this board are also hotswappable, alowing for some customization with the switches. Along with the switches in the keyboard, it comes with 8 seperate switches, a keycap puller, and a keyswitch puller. The extra switches it comes with are: 2 Blues (lightweight-clicky switch), 2 Browns (lightweight-tactile switch), 2 Red (lightweight-linear switch), and 2 Black (heavier-linear switch). This keyboard also has rgb lighting, it is advertised for gamers after all. The lighting on the board is pretty good, and is also per-key, meaning that each indovidual key may have a different lighting effect. The board does come with a few preloaded effects and functions to change them, but the software is needed for greater customization. While the software isnt anything special, it is passable and does have all the needed settings for the backlighting. I personally dont care for the lighting and have it on a solid color or off most of the time, but there are a multitude of effects to try out. The software also seems like it may have a macro functionality, though I never use macros so I havent looked at it. While the keyboard has many good qualities, there are a few which take one star ooff of my rating. My first issue with the keyboard was with the hotswap switches. The switches are so tight in the board, it seems nearly impossible to get them out without breaking the clips on the switch. I even had to get a knife to help pry the switches out while pulling on them with the included puller. I did manage to eventually get some out, and ended up replacing the spring in my spacebars switch with one from the heavier black switches. My last gripe is that I dislike the font, but that is a subjective thing and I can always just buy new ones. Pros: - Good price - Fantastic Build Quality - Mechanical - Hefty - Hotswap Cons: - Font on keycaps is weird (VERY subjective) - Keyswitches are very hard to pull out Conclusion: Overall a great keyboard for the price. For $60 USD, you get a product with a good amount of features, amazing build quality, and mechanical switches for a price much lower than other manufacturers. The hotswap switches are probably my biggest issue with the keyboard.

The keyboard is pretty sturdy and heavy, and I like the customizable options for colors, but I had an awful time with missed key presses. It worked fine for a few months before it became an issue. Reddragons customer service was responsive but they couldnt help me since I didnt buy directly from them. I got around the missed key problem by moving around some of the switches but it eventually got annoying to constantly keep removing/reinserting/switching them. Im not sure if its more of an issue with the keyboard itself or the Outemu switches, but I guess I got what I paid for. The switches were also more scratchy compared to the logitech kb I have now.

I primarily bought this keyboard to play around with different switches in an effort to find my ideal ones. For this purpose, this board is not the easiest choice - reason being, the hot-swap sockets on the PCB do not fit very many switch types. I experimented with modifying the switch contacts to fit, but this is hit or miss and very time consuming. The next best thing was to open the Redragon switches and swap their springs and sliders with a different switch. I had success this way, with nearly the same feel as the donor switch on its own. (I bought the Brown switch variety so YMMV if your keyboard came with blue or red.) Also note, the switches are a bit difficult to remove with the tool supplied with the keyboard. Its very easy to break a small plastic part where the LEDs shine through (this has no downside really, other than just knowing its broken). I found another, larger switch removal tool to be much easier to use. I would also recommend getting a switch opener, to allow quick and damage-free opening of donor switches if you go that route (the opener I got is not compatible with the Redragon switches, but they are much easier to open than most, using some sort of pokey tool like an awl). Without an opener, you will need to put tension on four separate tabs at once while pulling the switch apart - its doable but a bit frustrating. In my adventures, I found a recommendation for 3rd party switches which DO fit the sockets on this board. Let me preface this by saying I was after a very tactile non-clicky switch, with a rather heavy spring rate and as little noise as possible. (As much like Topre switches as possible, but with heavier springs.) I found all of these requirements in a switch called the Boba U4. These are manufactured by Outemu and designed by a keyboard forum member named Gazzew. It makes sense as to why they would fit these sockets, since I believe the Redragon switches are made by Outemu as well. The contacts fit perfectly, and they are very quiet. I tried the 68g version which is almost, maybe a bit too heavy. They also come in a 62g variety, so when I buy enough to populate the whole keyboard, those will likely be what I get. The only thing I had to do to the switches was to snip off the two extra plastic pegs (my understanding is that these pegs are the difference between a PCB mount switch and a plate-mount one). This is not difficult at all with some standard flush-cut wire cutters. So, if you are willing to do some switch surgery and/or experimentation, this board is viable for getting your feet wet with mechanical keyboards - especially at this price point.

Was DoA. Refunded. There is always someone who gets the bad one, but that might not represent the norm. On the one hand, it was DoA. On the other, I have great respect for the way Redragon takes care of its customers. They have treated me very well with other products of theirs. As such, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt. **** Edit 10/5/17 **** Previously I had listed this keyboard as a neutral three stars. The prior review, above, should explain why. DoA, refunded, but understanding that I was just the guy who got the dud in the batch. No big deal, just a nuisance to be that guy. But I fully realize it doesnt represent the norm, so I gave it a neutral 3. Im updating my review to be an outstanding 5 as I now have a replacement keyboard thanks to Sain Store. Please read my comment section to see that story. I feel its important that those reading my product review are also aware of how Sain Store reacted to my initial DoA keyboard. Im the guy in the family that builds and maintains all of the computers for everyone else. Ive been in charge of purchasing decisions for companies and so on (including my own). I currently own many gaming products from Redragon, Logitech, Corsair, and Razer. My personal feelings relating to the Redragon K556 Keyboard are based on comparing how it stands up against other flagship products like the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum with Cherry MX brown switches, the Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum, and of course others of the past like the Logitech G19 keyboard (all of which I own). Build Quality. The first thing you notice when you take this keyboard out of the box is that its heavy and not built like a flimsy plastic afterthought. Its got some weight to it which really makes it feel like its built to withstand a house falling on it. Nothing about this keyboard feels cheap. I wouldnt be surprised if it has a secret double life as a baseball bat or if it doesnt double as tire spikes for the local police department when your not looking. Its the most durable piece of hardware Ive seen in a long time. The last time I saw a keyboard that felt this solid, was a mechanical typewriter thats best suited as a boat anchor. No wonder they have an 18 month warranty. How many of those cheap keyboards have more than a 30 day warranty? I will say I have called on the Redragon 18 month warranty for other products and they do take care of you the right way. Unlike other places that are a serious pain to deal with. Redragon support has earned my respect multiple times. Quality products, Outstanding support, and generally cheaper prices than competitors (think Logitech, Razer, Corsair) for the same type of hardware. I will most certainly continue to base my future buying habits on that. Gaming Keyboard. Many non gamers may not realize the difference between a standard keyboard and a high end gaming keyboard. I cant count the times someone has asked me to help them with a gift for someone as they put together a system for a gamer. And Ive had to explain that they cant get just any old cheap keyboard for gamers. As any hardcore gamer knows, not all keyboards are created equal. Gamers often have to press far more keys at the same time than a standard keyboard is capable of recognizing. Maybe Im pressing CTRL for crouch, SHIFT for sneak, W and D to walk in a particular direction, and also trying to hop over a ledge with the space bar. Needing five or more keys to all be recognizable at the same time is extremely common for gamers to the point of them not being able to play without it. And typical generic keyboards simply were not designed to be able to do the things that gaming keyboards have to accomplish. Search on youtube for Angry German Kid... if you dare or just want a good laugh. This is what happens when you get your gaming loved ones a cheap keyboard. I suspect, however, that if that keyboard was one of these heavy Redragon keyboards, that it would have won the fight. The Switch (Cherry MX Brown) Of course, there are other reasons why dedicated gaming keyboards are important. Least of which is the switch used for each key. In the case of the Redragon K556 keyboard, it comes with custom switches that are the equivalent of Cherry MX Brown switches. Gamers need a durable switch as they generally put the keyboard through a fair amount of stress. The Cherry line of switches are rated at 50 million presses before failure which means this keyboard would likely outlive me, assuming Redragons custom switches are indeed equivalent. The switch also needs to be fast, as every micro second is the difference in win or loose. Gamers take these things very seriously. Cherry MX Brown Switches. Red switches are often the choice for seriously hardcore gamers. These have very little movement before they activate, sending a signal that the button was pressed. They also dont have a detente or point of resistance that they move beyond to activate. With little resistance and activation at an extremely short point of pressure, anyone who rests their hands on these keyboards can have problems as they register key presses just brushing against it. People buying these keyboards for typing may struggle as they are so sensitive. Gamers like them because they want the keys to activate as fast as physically possible, to give them the best reaction times. Blue is a very common choice for those that want a clicky switch and tactile bump. These are generally the keyboard of choice for typists. They need to be pressed a bit further down before activating. Making them less sensitive than the Cherry MX Red. The key also has a bit more resistance than the Red. Combined with a tactile bump, a little more leeway before they activate, and a touch more resistance, these give the feedback of that clicky mechanical keyboard that a lot of typists want. Brown now, is the middle man. I use my keyboard for both gaming and typing. I do rest my hands on the keys/keyboard. And I consider myself a fairly hardcore gamer. I want that edge over the other guy. I didnt load up my game because I want to loose. I want to win. At the same time, I want to be able to use my keyboard to type various documents, like this review. Ive done a fair amount of programming and other types of work that require me to be able to properly type without getting 16 errors every sentence. The brown switches are considered to be a tactile, non clicky switch. They have a detente or point of resistance that many might not realize is there. If you just push down the button like you would typing something, it just feels like a standard level of resistance in pushing a key. But if you push slowly, you can feel that its actually moving over a little bump. It has limited resistance, but does have an ever so slight little bump that means slightly brushing your hands over the keyboard wont trigger it. Its that sweet spot that gives good reaction times while not being feather sensitive to the point that its hard to even use. For me, this is the switch of choice. I must end this section with a slight declaration. Everyone types differently. Some are heavy handed. Some are not. What Ive been saying about switches is a generalization. Generally speaking... most typists... etc. There are certainly a lot of typists who are accommodated to the red switches and love them. There is no way for anyone to know that all typists are going to prefer one over the other. We are all different in how we place our hands, how heavy handed we are, the angle of the fingers, position adjustments based on large or small hands that might be easier to rest or need to stretch further, and so on. I strongly urge people to try the different types of switches to see for themselves which they prefer. Ive seen people complaining about not being able to type one sentence on the Reds without 16 errors. And there are plenty of typists who love them. My preference is the Brown. Your mileage may vary. Fn Keys. This keyboard uses a Fn key to control its extra features like media player, volume, back-light modes, and etc. It keeps it simple and easy and does it right, without crowding everything up in an annoying way like a laptop. Everything is grouped in nice logical locations with easy to see icons, making this quite nice to actually use. Fn + F1-F4 Media Player, Volume Down, Volume Up, and Mute toggle. Fn + F5-F8 Stop, Rewind, Play/Pause toggle, Fast Forward Fn + F9-F12 Email, Browser, Calculator, Search Fn + Windows Start key toggles both the Windows Start button and the Application/Context Menu buttons on and off. Gamers who are often in need of pressing the shift and control keys in combination with several others, commonly end up hitting the windows start key by accident. However, in a full screen game, this can have devastating effects. At the very least, this is extremely annoying. And at worst, it can lock up the game completely. Fn + Plus and Minus keys (main keyboard). Controls the speed of the back-light cycle. Does the rainbow move fast or slow across the keyboard. When the keyboard gets to its min or max speed, the three leds (Caps lock, Num loc, and Scroll lock) will blink letting you know its as fast or slow as it gets. Fn + Up and Down arrows. Controls the brightness of the back-lighting. Again, the three led lights will blink when you hit the brightest or dimmest (off) positions indicating it cant go further. Fn + Left arrow. This toggles the direction of the cycle. Are the rainbow colors moving to the right or to the left. Fn + Right arrow. This changes the color between 9 different options. Rainbow, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan (light blue), Blue, Purple, Violet. Then it starts over at Rainbow. Back-lighting Modes: Fn + Ins, Del, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn. These are the back-light patterns you can choose. Each of the six buttons cycles between three different back-light modes giving 18 in total. You may not remember which of the six buttons are which mode, but youll know which buttons to check without having to look it up. Fn + Ins. 1. The trial of Light, 2. Breathing, 3. Normally on Fn + Home. 1. Ripple Graff, 2. Pass without Trace, 3. Coastal Fn + PgUp. 1. Huricane, 2. Accumulate, 3. Digital Times Fn + Del. 1. Go with the stream, 2. Clouds fly, 3. Winding Paths Fn + End. 1. Flowers blooming, 2. Snow winter jasmine, 3. Swift action Fn + PgDn. 1. Both ways, 2. Surmount, 3. Fast and the furious Reset to default. Fn + PrtScrn. The final Fn key. This will reset the keyboards back-light settings to the defaults. Of note, there is no icon on the keyboard for this Fn key. Back-light tips, notes, thoughts, etc. Some may want just a static non moving color. Perhaps some need a less distracting pattern for an office or something. The back-light mode Normally on is for you. Then use the Fn+Right Arrow to pick your color. You can have a static non moving rainbow, or one of the eight solid colors. Or as an alternative, use The trial by Light mode (described in the next paragraph). Some of the back-light options have no effect on some of the different modes. For example, The trial by Light mode is a solid color across the keyboard that slowly fades through the full color gradient and starts over. Its a way to have a non distracting solidly lit up keyboard, but that also varies the color over time to give some variety. However, the back-light option to change the color does nothing with this mode. Based on what the mode is supposed to do, changing it to one color would be pointless. Then you would just have one solid color, which is what the Normally on mode is for. The second set of patterns (the three patterns on the Fn+Home key) are all interactive patterns. Meaning that a pattern emanates out from the keys as you press them. Ripple Graff is a wave going outward from the key pressed across the keyboard like an expanding circle. Pass without Trace rapidly lights up the key when its pressed and then it slowly dims out (leaving lots of lit up and slowly dimming keys on the keyboard as you type). If the rainbow color pattern is selected then the keys will be random colors, otherwise they will all be whatever solid color is chosen. And the last pattern, Coastal, shoots a wave out horizontally across the one row of the key that was pressed. As you type on different rows, it has a cool effect of lights shooting out on different levels across the keyboard. All of the other patterns are non interactive. The default back-light mode if you reset the keyboard (Fn+PrtScrn), is Go with the stream. It is not the first one in the list on the first back-light mode Fn key. Its easy to think pressing Fn+Ins for the first time will take you to the second mode by assuming you are on the first one already. Nope, after the reset your mode is down in the middle of the list somewhere. Its a nice side scrolling rainbow effect. Of note, one problem with Corsair K95 Platinum (among several with its onboard profile storage mechanics), is that when you bog down the computer with some kind of seriously intensive disk thrashing or something, the lights on the Corsair stop and wait for the system to recover. What this most likely indicates is that the Corsair is using software (ie. drivers) on the computer to run its light show. While likely minimal effect on your computers performance, this is one more thing using up cycles on your computer rather then it having its own dedicated hardware to run that light show. If it had its own hardware running that show, the light show wouldnt stop and wait for the computer when its bogged down. Id expect more from a $200 keyboard. The Redragon K556 on the other hand, just keeps on going at full speed. This means its light show is running off of hardware in the keyboard and does not use up CPU cycles to run it with software on your computer. Software. This is where Id like to see some improvement. If we want this product to compete with with the big boys like Razer, Logitech, and Corsair keyboards, then the software will need some active work to help it mature and turn into what it can be. There is nothing really wrong with the software. It is fully functional and does what it should nicely. But to really be competitive, it will need to up its game with a few more feature rich functions. Dont misunderstand either. I feel it has all of the features that would be technically mandatory to have for this type of thing. But I also think thats where it ends. There isnt something wrong with it that would take away a star. But compared with the other big names, it could also do a lot more then it does on the software side. There are three profiles you can switch between on the main screen. And if that isnt enough, on the top right by the windows min/max buttons is an additional button shaped like a triangle pointing up, with a line under it. This drops down a menu where you can import/export profiles, giving you virtually unlimited profiles. You can setup macros, reassign keys to be a different key press, or assign programs to be run. There is a macro repository where all of your macros are stored and with just a few clicks you can assign them to whatever keys you want. You can also select which back-light mode will be used for each of the three profiles. And of course you can customize them with all the various options. If youve read all the way to the end, then I thank you for taking the time to do so and I hope that Ive been able to provide some useful information.

First off, this was recommended to me as a good all around keyboard. As a touch typist this is important. Unfortunately my daughter fell in love with the colours and and the sturdiness, so I will have to reorder, and this review will never be complete :D. We are becoming a Redragon family. We tried it with games, papers, and a few other things. THE GOOD: Casing and deck are aluminum, and this quality shows. Yes, real metal with brushed accents, top and sides. VERY solid. Its enough to not flex, and it does not slide around on your desk. Some of Redragons more expensive models dont even have metal cases (why?)! Software has lots of adjustments to colours, brightness, patterns, as well as to responsiveness. Cable is very thick, and long enough if you want to put it in your lap. Keycaps are rounded, and comes with a few spares, as well as a removal tool. Its not too noisy, but very responsive. THE NOT SO GOOD: Adjustment feet dont go very high at all, and only have one setting. The plastic that the keycaps are made with started to go shiny after only 1 WEEK of usage (why?). No wrist rest, but this is minor issue. We purchased the brown key model, but honestly did not really feel of any much tactile response, but we had not used brown before. Additionally, the keys work very near the top, so if you hesitate, or are a light typist, you will click before you want to. Regardless, since the more expensive Redragon models are said to have less metal and more plastic, we may be getting another one of these instead. There is just something about real metal that cannot be beat. Its usually more sustainable.