At first we would like to thank SteelSeries for offering the Apex M750 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for testing and reviewing.

 

About SteelSeries:

"From day one, SteelSeries has been focused on making high performance gaming gear used by the most demanding, top professional gamers worldwide and peripherals that provide superior quality and a competitive edge to gamers of all skill levels. We believe, as most gamers do, in winning, not trying!

 

What originally began with two people who recognized the need for superior, high-quality/performance gaming gear that would give gamers a competitive edge, has grown into a global leader in gaming and entertainment gear sought after for their high performance capabilities.

 

Fast-forward to today, and we’ve come a long way since our first glass mousepad. We have global offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, providing an integrated portfolio of products designed specifically for gaming. Fueling our growth is you, the gamer!

 

While we are proud of our technology and product innovation, we are even more excited about how these products are developed to meet the needs of gamers. Many companies may claim to develop superior gaming products but few actually do. Instead, they spend countless hours with lab engineers trying to force fit a new technology with bells and whistles and mediocre functionality for the end-user.

 

At SteelSeries, we develop our products with a small internal team and a vast network of technology partners, channel partners, game publishers, and gaming communities around the globe. We aren’t afraid of being challenged and implementing new ideas. Our main goal is to always to listen to the collective feedback of our professional gaming community.

 

We won’t bore you with cheeky slogans, trying to underline our authenticity as gamers. We fully acknowledge that the best professional gamers in the world know more about what they want and what will make them better, than we do. We are proud to be working with our partners, but we can’t take credit for their invaluable input and feedback. Instead we tell it like it is: they help us. We want to know what works and what doesn’t. For this reason, SteelSeries creates innovative solutions that provide a competitive advantage for all gamers.

 

Critical to our company’s success is also our reinvestment in the gaming communities and the individuals who support them. As a result, our corporate philosophy is to take a substantial portion of our revenue and put it back into the gaming community to help spur industry growth. We support our community in numerous ways, ranging from co-hosting tournaments like Iron Lady and King of the Hill, and supporting gaming competitions of all sizes, to promoting the top and up-and-coming gaming teams/organizations.

 

Put simply, SteelSeries does not claim to invent or reinvent the gaming industry. Nor do we focus on one specific product, copy other companies or follow the crowd.

 

Instead we leave it to you, the gamer, our customer/partner/inspiration, to decide if we are deserving of such declarations and accolades. What we do promise, however, is to remain committed to you. We will continue to work with you and the gaming community to make the best products possible and give you that competitive edge. We will continue to do our best to support the growth of the professional gaming industry and give back to the gaming communities. By doing so, we don’t just talk a good game, we win!"

Product Features:

 

QX2 Mechanical Switch

 

SteelSeries QX2 mechanical RGB switches are engineered for pure performance. The QX2 switch features copper click leaves, clear casings and DURACON® thermoplastic stems, to deliver silky smooth linear operation. Their 45cN force and 2mm actuation point is the holy grail for players looking for the absolute fastest reaction times. Guaranteed for 50 million key presses, insuring a lifetime of durability.

 

5000 Series Aluminum Alloy

 

Building gaming’s first mechanical keyboard is a key part of SteelSeries history, and the Apex M750 honors that legacy by staying true to our original mantra: built like a tank. The keyboard’s frame is built with aerospace aluminum to provide a rock-solid base for the mechanical switches. The use of of series 5000 aluminum alloy, gives the Apex M750 zero-flex stability.

 

Software That Doesn't Require a PhD

 

The Apex M750 is powered by the most intuitive and powerful software available, SteelSeries Engine. Our software engineers and UX designers are dedicated to bringing you the best experience in gaming.

 

Control Your Devices

 

Unleash the full power of your devices with customizable settings.

 

Engine Apps

 

A collection of in-game integration and purpose-built applications.

 

CloudSync

 

Backup and sync your settings across all your platforms.

 

Featured Engine App

 

Put on a show with the new Audio Visualizer Engine App. In seconds have all your SteelSeries devices fist pumping to your favorite music.

 

Light up your keyboard with customizable Discord Chat notifications that indicate new messages, mute status and more.

 

Upload any animated GIF and ImageSync converts it into a customizable lighting effect. Lighting configuration has never been so easy. Quickly convert any animated gif into an illumination effect for your M750.

 

PrismSync Engine App

 

Sync dynamic multi-color lighting effects between all your SteelSeries Prism-enabled gear. From one-click lighting effects to complex light shows, PrismSync gives you the power to level-up the style of your setup.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

In this review we will concentrate upon another high-end peripheral from SteelSeries, and to be more exact the Apex M750 mechanical keyboard. This particular model comes with QX2 mechanical switches that feature low force (45cN) and a linear actuation point (2mm); these were developed in partnership with Gateron and come with an estimated lifetime of 50 million keypresses.

 

The Apex M750 keyboard does ship inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, with the new box-art which we have also seen along with the Arctis series of headsets:

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, we will be able to spot the keyboard layout, along with the supported platforms:

 

 

 

The bottom layer does show the main product highlights, along with the Prism LED lighting system:

 

 

 

After unsealing the box and lifting the top cover, we will get to see the main product, which is additionally wrapped inside a transparent plastic bag:

 

 

 

As a bundle, we are receiving the Product Information Guide, along with an additional set of rubber feet:

 

 

 

The said rubber feet are easy to install/remove and are similar to having kickstands:

 

 

 

The product manual does describe the installation process, along with the stock keyboard mappings:

 

 

 

For the M750, SteelSeries has chosen to go with a 5000 series top aluminum alloy layer and a black matte finish, which gives the product a professional look and at the same time it is easy to clean:

 

 

 

The F-keys come with additional mappings such as LED lighting brightness adjustment and multimedia controls:

 

 

 

 

Windows keys can be found on both sides of the Spacebar, while on the right we will also spot a SteelSeries-branded Fn key:

 

 

 

 

The top right area does come with a chromed SteelSeries logo, along with the usual LEDs (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock, Windows key Lock):

 

 

 

A nice looking aluminum insert can be found on both sides of the keyboard, which reminds us of the design of the M800 we have reviewed back in 2015!

 

 

 

The frontal area of the keyboard does not offer any additional interfaces (such as audio or an USB hub):

 

 

 

On the bottom keyboard layer, we can spot a middle area which is made of transparent shiny plastic, which, for obvious reasons is covered by a transparent plastic layer. The middle product sticker does reveal the product serial number, along with the power rating:

 

 

 

A shorter set of feet is preinstalled onto the keyboard:

 

 

 

We could spot an additional non-removable set of rubber feet in the lower area:

 

 

 

For an unknown reason, SteelSeries has decided not to use a braided cable with this model:

 

 

 

The other end of the cable ends up with a custom shaped USB connector:

 

 

 

By using a key puller (not included in the original packaging), we can reveal the QX2 mechanical switches which do sport a transparent casing in order to provide a more uniform lighting. The cross-shaped stems do allow installation of custom keycaps:

 

 

 

Thanks to the supplied software and hardware capabilities, the Apex M750 keyboard is able to deliver quite a light show!

 

 

 

 

 

In the case of the Apex M750, SteelSeries Engine has available a clean, easy to understand configuration interface which covers Key Bindings, Illumination but also extra Settings. From the Key Bindings menu, we can re-map the current keys with other functions:

 

 

 

Here is the list of actions we can enable for the keys:

 

 

 

Keyboard Buttons

 

 

Macros

 

 

Media Buttons

 

 

Mouse Buttons

 

 

We can also deactivate certain keys when needed:

 

 

Launch Application

 

 

Launch specific Configuration (profile)

 

 

Launch Engine Apps

 

 

OS Shortcuts

 

 

 

Record Macro on-the-fly

 

 

 

The Macro Editor is also quite intuitive and extra options can be accessed by pressing the small gear button:

 

 

 

From the Illumination area, we can define both Active and Reactive LED lighting effects; depending on the selected mode, different secondary options may appear:

 

Active Effect List

Wave

Static

Breathing

ColorShift

Blocking

Firework

 

Rippling

Bubble

Strike

Starlight

Boom

Per Key Static

 

The Reactive mode does hold its own effect types:

 

 

 

Reative Effect List

Hexagon

 

Ripple

Single Runout

Runout

Single Runin

Runin

 

The Settings area does cover some miscellaneous options such as keyboard region selection, the polling rate selector, LED brightness but we can also select the default Engine app color:

 

 

 

SteelSeries Engine does also come equipped with several other modules, such as PrismSync (for synchronization of the LED lighting across compatible devices), Discord (for displaying custom effects on the devices, depending on the events), Audio Visualizer (that renders the audio spectrum onto your supported Prism devices) but also ImageSync (converts an animated GIF into an illumination effect for your hardware):

 

 

 

The PrismSync application allows the synchronization process do be performed in more detail:

 

 

 

The Audio Visualizer application does also come with additional setup options when opened:

 

 

 

From the ImageSync configuration, we can perform changes to the uploaded animated GIFs, in order to fit our preferences before uploading to the keyboard:

 

 

 

Active Lighting

 

 

Reactive Lighting

 

 

 

The Apex M750 was primarily thought for gaming purposes, so SteelSeries has integrated the QX2 mechanical switches, which were built in cooperation with Gateron. These linear switches have an actuation point of 2mm with an overall travel of 4mm; with the 45cN actuation force, these do bring a similar feel to the Cherry MX Reds but at the same time they produce quite a bit of noise. This aspect may be a non-issue during gaming sessions, but when doing productivity work these could become annoying. Also, it is good to mention that because of the shorter than usual travel distance, users may need some time to get used to when typing documents, because in the first week of usage, we kept making quite a bit of mistakes.

 

We have tried the M750 along with Secret World Legends, MU Legend, Quake Champions and Tekken 7; the keyboard has performed really well, the lower travel distance helping a lot by decreasing the reaction time. This is a great plus for professional gamers, that spend a lot of time playing their favorite titles.

 

SteelSeries Engine not only helps with the key mapping, but also makes per-key backlighting customization a breeze; there are quite a bit of presets available if you do not want to spend a lot of time programming for both Active and Reactive layers. SS Engine does also support multiple add-on applications such as PrismSync, Discord, Audio Visualizer or ImageSync for making the LED lighting effects even more interesting.

 

SteelSeries is currently selling the Apex M750 online for about 169.99 Euros and at this price you will also score a free wrist rest.

SteelSeries Apex M750 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to SteelSeries for making this review possible!