[section_title title=”Performance”]Performance
For the testing, I feel there are 3 key areas which make up the difference between a good and a mediocre mechanical keyboard; these are build quality, feature set and of course usable performance. Each one of these is taken into consideration separately and although some mechanical keyboards have lots of bells and whistles, this sometimes doesn’t translate into a better keyboard.
Build Quality
Good build quality is something mechanical keyboards mostly tend to have as a lot of them have steel plates for the keys to solder onto; ROMER-G keys are mounted differently of course. Now with the G910 weighing in at around 1.5KG, it certainly isn’t the lightest board around which for a mechanical, isn’t too much of a shock. With a mainly plastic design, I might question how robust it would be over the test of time as plastic isn’t exactly the strongest material but for the week or so I have been using the G910, I have no concerns at all. In terms of the ROMER-G switches and of course the key caps, they feel very well made and the key caps in particular are a highlight. I have absolutely no concerns over the proposed lifespan of the key caps and I have had no issues with locking or sticking; Logitech advertise around 7.5 million key press which is a substantial claim but I have no bad points to suggest why this isn’t true.
Overall the build quality is generally good although Logitech products do tend to be a little plasticky and the G910 RGB Orion Spark is no different; a few metallic touches would have gone a long way but the material is of no detriment to the actual quality here.
Feature Set
Logitech have always been known for cramming features onto their products and peripherals, especially gaming related ones; that would make sense with the G910 being marketed towards gamers and of course being a member of the G series. The real question is, do any of the included features actually give this keyboard an advantage in gaming over say a basic mechanical keyboard such as a Ducky Shine 3 or even a Cooler Master Quickfire Rapid etc.? Well overall, one thing I was very impressive with was the ARX Control capability via my Samsung Galaxy S4 Android phone; this gave another dimension to my gameplay and of course allowed me to monitor system information in real time. A flaw of this however is as previously mentioned, the ARX dock only holds your device in place and after a few hours of gaming, my S4 was pretty much drained of battery due to the connection to Wi-Fi; a well-known battery killer.
The RGB function is a very nice feature which gamers and enthusiasts have been crying out for; this has spanned years of pestering and requesting to companies but now the technology is in place. This might not be a feature that has any impact on gaming but how cool is it to have every single key a different shade or a different colour altogether? This also allows you to make funky colour patterns which at LANs will surely attract attention and of course jealousy from your friends; warning, may ruin friendships.
Macro keys are part and parcel of a keyboard, some have them, and some don’t. It is nice to see however that Logitech have decided to included them but not overpower the keyboard with them; they stretch around the left hand side to the top left hand side which effectively makes use of the space but surprisingly isn’t over crowded. These can be programmed through the Logitech Gaming Software and although some manufacturers go with very complex and complicated solutions, Logitech have done a good job of keeping it user friendly; something I give great kudos for as the software works great and looks good too.
The Logitech G910 does feature 113 key anti-ghosting which isn’t exactly a “stunning” feature given that most mechanical keyboards feature NKRO (n key rollover) anyway. It’s a little bit of fancy marketing but I can assure you it does its job well so it’s another plus for Logitech here.
Last but not least we come onto the crème a la crème of the G910 Orion Spark, the ROMER-G switches. Although this isn’t necessarily a feature, it does make up most of the review and it would be foolish to ignore the impact that switches can have on gaming; these ROMER-G switches have an actuation of 45g. This is roughly the same amount as Cherry MX red/browns which are very good for gaming; I personally use Cherry MX reds on my custom gaming setup and I totally swear by them. This means that I actually agree with Logitech’s choice to go with a 45g actuation and with the keys feeling premium, I had a very nice typing and gaming experience with the G910; top stuff!
User Performance
As I have already mentioned, I am a big fan of the ROMER-G mechanical switches because they give the best of both worlds; a Cherry MX red feel and actuation force with the clicky clacky sound of blues. I personally liked it and with premium feeling key caps, the overall experience while gaming and typing was a great one; this entire review has been typed up using the Logitech G910 and I have had absolutely no issues whatsoever; other than looking down at the RGB lighting and swooning like a teenage girl. The media keys also work very well and although I’m not a personal fan of macro keys, they didn’t protrude into my experience with the keyboard; being that they are on the outside of the keyboard and well out of the main area.
To touch on a more negative point, although some think the ARX dock is a great idea, for £160 I think Logitech could have included at least some USB ports to be able to charge your device; there are no ports featured on the Logitech G910 whatsoever.
On a more positive note, the software was very intuitive and was very user friendly; I’m not a fan of clunky and unreliable software, believe me it does exist. Logitech clearly have put a lot of manpower (and womanpower of course) into the design of the Orion Spark and in my opinion, other than the aforementioned lack of USB ports and the ARX dock having no function other than being a fancy smart phone holder, the keyboard is solid.
