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

I am a software developer. I have spent the last 25 years using rounded dome over membrane keyboards, common as low-cost reliable keyboards from the name brand PC and keyboard manufacturers. They work reasonably well, are lower profile, quieter, and a bit mushier than the keyboards I started out with in the early 80s. Since gaming and programming have brought inexpensive mechanical switches back to popularity, and since I longed for an illuminated keyboard (I need one for my recipe PC in the kitchen, and one for my workstation in my home office), I thought I would try this product. I selected Outemu Brown switches because they have a tactile feel, medium pressure, and otherwise do not attempt to be loudly clicky (like Blue switches) or have no bumpy tactile feedback (like Red switches, best for speed in gaming). They remind me of the Tektronix 4051, DEC VT102, IBM 3270, Ann Arbor Ambassador, and TVI 925 terminal keyboards I used as a college student back in the 1980s... more precise, less mushy, and a little more predictable. Once I got used to the taller height of the keytops above the desk (forcing proper floating arm position), I think I am typing faster and more accurately. Plus, I get all these great backlight patterns and colors. They are quickly accessible by pressing Fn + <key>, and the keys are clearly marked. Speed and brightness of the many patterns can be changed at the keyboard. Since I run Linux 24x7, I havent and probably wont try out the software that the manufacturer provides, or do any single key color programming. The aluminum case of this keyboard makes it quite heavy; it is a flat rectangular box and it comes straight down to the table side with a black anodized brushed texture; its not as easy to pick up the keyboard from the sides as a lighter plastic keyboard that are designed to narrow in width toward the table surface. Although it might have been nice for there to be a slight lip on the upper edge of the sides, I think this is fine overall. The weight helps it sit securely in my lap if I so desire. I think this is going to remain my workstation keyboard. For my kitchen recipe PC, which I often want to use quickly in the dark and which started me looking at illuminated keyboards, I may choose a lighter weight keyboard (plastic case) which is easier to lift up by the edges. USB 2.0, VID:PID = 0x0c45:0x5004. Vendor = Microdia, Manufacturer = SONiX, MaxPower = 400mA, HID class, Boot Interface subclass.

The build quality is nice. I accidentally spilled water on it and it still works perfectly. It seems pretty tough, could probably handle falling off the average desk height. Its really easy to clean. Some reviews criticized the font choice on the keys themselves. It is kind of weird looking but I like it, not for everyone though.

The Good: 1. Love the switches. They are not as loud as my older keyboard and feel good to the touch. 2. The light from the keyboard is very good and is adjustable to 5 levels (0 to 4) 0 being off. 3. The keyboard feels built really well and the base feels very heavy and solid. 4. It doesnt take up a lot of room on the desktop like some RGB monsters. The Bad: 1. The software leaves much to be desired and you really cant customize it without it. (more later) 2. The default presets in the hardware is FIXED. You really cant change it. For example I like my default to be an always on red on all keys. You cant have that. There is a preset you can get to with the solid color on it but it only cycles through 4 colors and red wasnt one of them so youd have to go use the software to fix it. 3. The little legs on the bottom are too short. This might be a more personal preference, but for me I would want a slightly higher incline. It isnt terrible, but I noticed it right away. 4. Brightness is global, even with the software, you cant have specific keys be brighter/dimmer than others. Now a word about the software. There are 3 profiles you can set, but the import export doesnt export all settings and that is a big problem. The main reason I switched over from my older RGB was because this one has software to be able to customize the keyboard. Unfortunately I ran into basically the same issue as my old one. You can setup a profile for gaming that has specific keys colored to your liking with the coastal light profile. And under that light profile you can select FPS, MMO, MOBA, or RTS sub-presets. From there you can customize each key color to your choosing. Now here is the big problem. I made a custom FPS one for a game on Profile 2. Saved it via the export command. Now I go to the sub light presets and choose MMO for to make one for another game on Profile 2. It wipes my FPS sub-preset back to default but that should be fine since I exported my settings (youd assume that right?). So I go import my saved settings, and they arent there. The Import/Export doesnt work!! So that means instead of being able to make custom light settings for specific games, you can make at most have 3. I still dont know if the settings will persist after a cold boot since I havent rebooted my machine yet. So overall the keyboard is good given the price, the keys feel good, but it is sorely lacking in customization capabilities. If you are like me and was hoping to have the ability to save and load custom keyboard maps for specific games, this product CANNOT do that. So why is my overall rating still 4 stars? Simply because of the build quality, the switches, and the partial customization ability does make the keyboard very usable. The macro and key changing ability is still very useful for older games that dont let you map keys via software or a settings file. So I could only really take off 1 star for the inability of it to save my custom key light profiles.

I started out with this keyboard back in 2019. It has a good blend of plastic and metallic to its build, so it is sturdy without being too heavy. Keys are decent, the sound was decent as well. Overall, not a bad board. I recently started getting into the world of custom mechanical keyboard so I wanted to upgrade and mod this keyboard to make it feel and sound better. It is not recommended to disassemble this keyboard if you dont know what youre doing but other than that this keyboard was a great board to mod and upgrade. I ended up: - Adding PE Foam to the bottom inside of the plastic case. - Adding Masking Tape to the bottom of the PCB. - Adding PE Foam between the PCB and the aluminum plate (as shown in the picture) - Clipping and Lubing the stock stabilizer with Krytox 205g0 - Hotswapping the stock Outemu Brown Switches out with Akko CS Matcha Green Switches (also lubed with Krytox 205g0) - Switching out the stock keycaps with HyperX Doubleshot Pudding Keycaps After hours of modding the keyboard to its fullest potential, I managed to make this keyboard feels even better and smoother and sounds thockier than it ever has before. Couple of bad things to note: - Redragon keyboards use an Outemu PCB, so only 3-pins Outemu or Akko CS switches or something similar will fit. - The stock switches are very cheap, so pulling them out will have a high chance of breaking the switch and its housing (so process at your own risk). - Has no Bluetooth nor does it have detachable USB cable.

This is a great keyboard with pretty good mechanical switches. They arent the coveted Cherry MX switches, which are far more expensive. But they are pretty close...so much so that most wont even be able to tell the difference. This is my third Redragon Keyboard, second of this style. All are still in use, all are incredibly durable. My first of this style is still in use at home after about 18 months with no issues, and it operates exactly as this new one after regular use for that long. So I picked up this one for my office because I liked it so much. Its heavy, which is what I prefer. With the aluminum base, it doesnt move around on my desk when I type. I used the brown keys which are quieter than other types, but not silent. I still get that satisfying click. The keys are also standard, so you can swap out the keys with almost any standard kit, if thats your thing. You wont best this quality in this price range.

I have only been using the Red Dragon K556 going on three days now but the seller is asking for an honest review. So far, I am very happy with the entire process. I had originally been looking for an office keyboard that had some sort of back lighting and I had gone through a couple of much cheaper options before upgrading to this one from Red Dragon. When I first opened the packaging it was shipped in, I was a little concerned due to the minimal packing materials but upon inspecting the keyboard itself, it was in perfect condition, not a dent or scratch to be found. This is the first keyboard I have used that has an aluminum casing, It is very sturdy and I like the heft of it when moving it around. It just feels like a well made piece of equipment. The keyboard stays in place on the desk and doesnt slide around. I read one reviewer who said that by sliding the keyboard on the desk, the plastic tilting tabs on the bottom tended to flip closed on one side or the other making the keyboard wobble. This, so far, has not been my experience. I am able to slide it around a bit without affecting the tilting tabs. When first plugging it in, I noticed the nice length of the USB cable. It is plenty long enough to reach my tower that sits about two feet over and one foot down and I still have a nice excess to move the keyboard around a bit. I knew before purchasing that there were many more lighting functions one the K556 but I dont think I appreciated just how many options you have with back lighting colors and patterns. There are 9 different solid color options and I have not even explored how many light pattern options there are. I can tell you that there seem to be many multi-colored options to choose from. I primarily like one solid color but it can be fun to explore all the different options when you just dont feel the work happening. All colors can be completely turned off or they can be set to any of five levels of brightness. This K556 came with brown switches which have proved to be exactly what I had been looking for previously. I didnt really know much about switch brands, such as outemu or cherry but this brown switch is much quieter than the previous blue I used. Mind you it is not silent but it doesnt make much more noise than a soft clicking. The keys are very responsive, being what I suppose is a tactile keyboard. I notice that when typing faster, I dont have to mash the keys. Its almost as if they are two stage keys where you can feel the halfway mark which is as far as I need to push to get a response. The keys spring back instantly and smoothly. I had read another review where the reviewer experiences some sort or ringing or vibrating sound (I dont remember exactly) but they thought it may have been related to the aluminum casing or something. (Again, I think I am remembering this correctly) I do not experience any other sound other that the keys making their normal soft clicking. I have not used this for gaming, hence the three stars for the gaming feature but I cant imagine it being a poor gaming keyboard. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase but again, I have only been using it for three days now. Customer service instantly emailed me to ask for a review and to assure me that they were available within 24 hours should I have any problems. Hopefully it wont come to that. All of this was to say that so far, I am very happy with this purchase am am hoping for long usage.

This is an amazing deal for what is a really nice keyboard. Full disclosure, this is my first Mech keyboard. It feels really nice to type on and game on. Pros: I love how they give you 8 blue switches to swap out if you want. It also includes the keycap puller and the switch puller. Changing switches is a breeze. I changed out the WASD keys along with E and Q as I usually bind those two keys in most games. I have two left over. Ill likely change out R. I want to buy more of the blue switches as Ive found I really like the tactile bump and the audible click. Im happy they came with the option to change out the switches. It is a full RGB keyboard (If you use the software) and at this price point, that is a pretty amazing feature. There are a lot of options for customization. I do wish you could mix and match the presets. I like the presets that wave out or briefly light up the key you press. I wish I could have that and light up WASD full time. Ive found that I just leave it on a setting that slowly rolls through all the colors. Works for me. You can customize each key color. It took me forever to find out how to do this in the software. Its under the preset Costal. Ive found that sometimes the software will show a key as being lit up on that preset, but the actual key isnt lit up. Deselecting and reselecting the key fixes that. Slight annoyance. More on how frustrating the software is in the cons section. CONS: The software looks like it was written by a 13 year old. It reminds me of the old Red Alert game. It just has some weird, old 90s software vibe with it. The version on the disc is 1.00 so I dont know if an update is available for it. Which brings me to con 2 about the software. You only get a mini disc with the software on it. For those of us who opt not to have optical drives (seriously, who puts a CD drive in a PC anymore?), this is an annoyance. No worries, Redragon has software available on their site. Oh wait, the one for the K556 isnt what is advertised. Its literally a .PNG file. Thats it. No software to download from their website for the K556. Support is non existent. I filled out their form asking for a link to working software last week. Still not have heard back. Luckily I have a dinosaur laptop with a CD tray. I just popped in the disc and installed it to a thumb drive and used that to get it to my PC. Annoying for sure. Redragon, seriously, put the correct download for the K556 software and update it for crying out loud. Im not trying to infiltrate a base with Tanya using your software. Overall, the actual keyboard is a 5. The software and the experience getting it set up was a 3. If you want the full 16 million color range of true RGB, you need the software. I would highly recommend this keyboard. I now really want one for work so I can annoy everyone I work with with my clicky blue switches. Get this keyboard and forget the rest.

I have purchased several Redragon brand items. K556 keyboard, Vampire Elite Mouse, and even the Zeus Headphones. All have been excellent quality! This keyboard in particular is very sturdy, has some weight to it to prevent it from sliding, durable solid feel for those who smash keys, and can keep up with quick strokes! Yes it is a wired keyboard and is does NOT have wireless abilities. Keeps you from having to charge it for using the light up RGB. Its very customizable with RGB colors and can handle different key switch colors like brown, red, blue or black. Black is the most quite, red is second to that, then brown and is more of a tactile sound, and blue that is very clacky. The back board and underside of the keyboard is made with metal. The keys have Shiney texture around the sides of the keys and a grippy texture on the surface. It does come with a few things like tools to help you remove keys and switches if you want or need to change or replace. It also comes with a set of demo switches so you have a better understanding of what kind of switches you would like to change too for the future. Along with all of that it comes with a cool sticker and user manual. This is an excellent keyboard for those who like having a solid board that doesnt take up alot of room, yet still wants 100+ keys. There is software available if you want it, go to the redragon website and look for the software tab. The software makes it more indepth with the color customization for the RGB. By the way, for a black keyboard the RGB is rather bright and can be dimmed. I believe its bright due to good quality and shiney sides of the keys. All in all, a very good choice. If you like a sturdy board that doesnt slide around your desk, you like a board that is durable and can handle some abuse, and or you enjoy the customization of switches and colors, then THIS is the board for you. Amazon does tend to have it cheaper than the actual brands website at times so just keep your eyes open. Good quality keyboards can get rather pricey and Id say this is TOP quality material for an inexpensive board! Enjoy!!

I bought the K556 RGB back in Dec2020. Ive been very happy, and no software was required to use it. Im still using this keyboard today and was thinking of adding another for use with different system I built. I see more models have been added, which have some of my interest, however, they all seem to use software now. I dont want to have to do this in order to control RGB backlight features. Even the K556 now appears to use software now. I hope it’s optional and not required. Nevertheless, Ive been happy with the one I bought.

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.