Logitech G512 Carbon RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Romer-G Tactile)

First I really liked the keys, the feel, the feedback, and the overall build of the keyboard. But it ended there.There was no numlock indicator. You had to guess if it was on or not. (but there was a ‘G’ light – whatever that is for.)The keyboard came up with a wave of colors going across the keys constantly. Very annoying.Secondly, the software was buggy. All I wanted was a keyboard that was backlit with full stroke keys but in order to set the lighting up, I had to install the Logitech gaming software. After installing and rebooting, my system froze for about 3 minutes on a all gray screen. I was starting to panic a little but was able to hit the power button and the system shut down eventually. I powered back on and the system came up ok but it wanted me to open a port in my firewall which I denied. I was able to get the key back-lighting to stop flashing the color wave and set up some solid colors. Now maybe the keyboard was usable. Did some test typing and really liked the feel. Went away for a few hours and when I came back the PC was locked up. Never went to screen blank so it locked up within 20 minutes of my last keystroke. Again, the only way to get out was to hit the power switch. I unplugged the keyboard and reconnected my older unicomp keyboard and was able to reboot and uninstall all the logitech software without further issues. Needless to say, the keyboard is going back.

Pros- RGBs look incredible, GX Blue switches feel amazing- literally is fun to type on this keyboard. Wish I had something to type up because typing on the switches feels that good. Love the idea of the Windows key killer implemented into the design too, though I have to remember to put the keyboard into “gaming mode” for that. Best keyboard that I’ve ever owned. Slightly expensive? Sure. Worth it? Oh yeah.Cons- the program for setting the RGB lighting can be finicky. After I exited the program, all the lights turned off. Figured out a workaround by force quitting the program. Also, on start up, the light setting I had saved previously didn’t load and I would have to manually switch the keyboard lighting back to said setting. Eventually I was able to get it to start up on the saved setting. Otherwise, this keyboard is almost flawless.

First off, this is a great keyboard at a much higher value than the recently released g815/915. I got the opportunity to try both Clicky and Tactile switch versions of this board side-by-side for a couple days. Both versions have a solid, quality build throughout and support all the same features. That said, there are several differences I wanted to share:Clicky:-The switches have a very distinct sound and feel at the point of actuation-Features a non-braided dual-USB cord-All special characters and secondary key function icons are unlit on the keycaps-The underside of all keycaps glow (and this makes a noticeable difference in a dark room, but is not necessarily bad)-Finally, the aluminum body is more of a black color with a silver ‘G’ logo-($49 at the time of this review)Tactile:-The switches produce a more typical (almost plastic dome switch) sound while typing but feature a decent key ‘bump’ at the point of actuation.-Features a higher-quality braided dual-USB cord-All secondary key functions and special characters are lit-The underside of the keycaps are opaque and no light shines through-Finally, the aluminum body is more of a grey/silver color with a black/reflective ‘G’ logo-($99 at the time of this review)Now for my personal take on the typing and gaming experience of each board. I found the clicky switches to be extremely pleasant to type on from day one, but also annoyingly high-pitched and loud. The responsiveness is amazing and the audible feedback is unmistakable. There’s no doubt you fired the key. But in my case, it was just too much. I like my keyboards loud and obnoxious but this one was constantly distracting me from the game and I never became so immersed that I lost awareness of it.So, I opted to try the tactile switches. I was surprised to see the numerous changes from the last board to this one, but my first impression upon use was disappointment. The key noise is much more muted than I’m used to and the keys feel almost mushy compared to the clicky board. But after using it for several hours I’ve adapted and now I prefer this board to the other. The ‘bump’ is enjoyable and I can now use my computer late at night without waking up the house!(I’m coming from a FILCO Majestouch mechanical KB that I’ve used for about 10 years, for reference.)Other than that, both boards have exactly the same features and are equally supported by the Logitech ‘G Hub’ software for custom key assignments and ‘Lightsync’ RGB settings (which are really cool!) I think the board you most prefer will simply come down to personal preference, but the tactile board being twice the price is a huge factor.

I bought the clicky keyboard. It’s definitely loud. It reminds me more of the Chicony keyboards than the Rohmer does only the click seems to be faster and maybe louder but it’s been 20-25 years since I used one. The action is not soft; it takes more than a light press to type. Since I would love to have the Chicony click experience again, I am quite happy. The backlight has four brightness levels and there is a lot of color gradient in the G Hub app where you set the colors and styles. I would like for the symbols to be colored white instead of gray. Gray is tasteful and doesn’t compete with the lights, but it would be nice to be able to see them better. It looks like only the top is aluminum. The bottom which wraps around the sides appears to be a heavy plastic. In my opinion, aluminum is just cosmetic anyway unless there is some need to have a heavier keyboard to keep it from sliding.

I wanted a full keyboard but not being too bulky. I am coming from a BlackWidow Ultimate with Blue Cherry keys and this keyboard is very different.It feels more premium and the typing experiencing is so much better for work. It’s quiet but very accurate. The build quality has fantastic and looks great next to my Logitech MX Master 2S (although i wish the aluminum finish on both was more of the same color, but doesn’t look too far off).As much as i like keyboards with dedicated Media Key,, with this keyboard you can have FN Locked (and i rarely use the Function keys) so that’s an upside for me at least.Very happy with my choice and I do not see my self upgrading any time soon.The only thing I wish it had was having at least USB 3.0 pass through instead of the old 2.0