[section_title title=”Performance”]Performance
With many keyboards you have to unlock the full potential by installing additional drivers and software: with the NovaTouch, it is as basic as it gets – but I see this as a good thing. CM Storm has focused purely on the performance and quality when it comes to this keyboard, so I have high hopes.
Due to its simplicity, it was very easy to setup – simply plug and play using their high quality braided micro USB cable (CM Storm seem to be opting for this type of USB connectivity, most likely due to its size and more durable nature). One thing I did have more of a play around with, was the included O-rings, as to see if they actually made any difference.
From first touch, it took a little getting used to – and that is not because of the different switches, but because it is in US (ANSI) layout! Even when set to UK layout it took a while getting used to with the wide, but short, enter key. The feel of the switches is very different to what you get with the different Cherry MX switches. It is almost like using a mechanical switch for the first half of the key press, but then more rubber dome towards the bottom half of travel – a very strange, yet satisfying feeling. CM Storm boast that due to the shorter bounce-back distance (time taken to “reset” the switch ready for another key press) is that much less than that of a Cherry MX switch. They also state that it can actually improve response time – or so their marketing department tells us. Whilst this minute difference could increase your performance, it’s very difficult to measure, so I’ll have to rely on a more qualitative analysis.
First up are the gaming tests, of which I had my usual array of genres lined up: FPS, RTS and RPG/MOBA. Battlefield 4 is currently my weapon of choice for FPS, so I fired that up first. Of all the games I have, I find that BF4 is currently the one of the best games that really puts keyboards to the test: this is mainly because of the different aspects of gameplay, whether you are on foot, or dive-bombing tanks in a jet – the latter of which really benefited from the NKRO the NovaTouch offers.
RTS is another favourite genre of mine, with Planetary Annihilation leading the way for the NovaTouch testing. Since the keyboard follows the TKL size format, it lacks any additional keys or software which can reassign existing keys to act as macros (there are third party applications which could do this however). Whilst the keys felt great to mash when sending commands to churn out attack bots, the was no major benefit using the NovaTouch.
I had a similar experience with the RPG/MOBA genre, where I find is useful to assign certain commands to additional keys that said games like DOTA2 felt great, especially with all the typing of banter in the in-game chat, which brings me on to the next stage of testing.
The general testing covers the overall experience and performance of the keyboard when you are not in game, form typing essays to surfing the web. Typing is by far the NovaTouch’s strong point – it feels great typing word after word and after several days of use, I found my Words-Per-Minute (WPM) actually increasing by 10-15 words, with increased accuracy (although the latter took me awhile to improve due to the foreign layout). This is where I also applied the supplied O-rings, to check out how they felt – of which they made a slight difference mainly by reducing the travel, but they also decreased the noise levels slightly.
The lack of media keys wasn’t really that noticeable – I was much too involved with typing more and more (this review has been very enjoyable to write).
Comfort-wise, the low actuation force helps reduce the strain I put my fingers through, although I had to use an additional palm rest for the long typing sessions.
So that pretty much covers the performance for now, read on for my conclusion.
