If you have spent any time at all in the PC gaming world, then you are sure to have come across Thermaltake in one way or another. When I first got into the PC building scene, Thermaltake was mostly known for their great CPU coolers, but as the years have gone by, they have expanded their range of products to cover nearly every component category. That list of categories includes gaming peripherals, and the TT Premium X1 RGB Gaming Keyboard is Thermaltake’s premium gaming keyboard. Available with either CHERRY MX Blue or Silver switches, the X1 RGB uses tried and true components to provide gamers with a positive experience. With the gaming peripheral market becoming more and more crowded every day it seems, it can be tough to make a name for your product; for Thermaltake that won’t be as much of an issue. Follow along as we take a look at the Thermaltake TT Premium X1 RGB Gaming Keyboard.
Special thanks to Thermaltake for supplying the Premium X1 RGB review sample.
Specifications
Color: Black
Layout: 104-key
Switch Type: CHERRY MX Speed RGB Silver or MX Blue
Actuation Point: 1.2mm (Silver) or 2.2mm (Blue)
Actuation Force: 45g (Silver) or 50g (Blue)
Key Stroke: 3.4mm (Silver) or 4mm (Blue)
Key Lifespan: 50 million clicks
Weight: 1598 grams
Interface: USB
Polling Rate: 1,000 HZ
Dimensions: 464.98mm x 170.52 x 40.39mm
RGB Colors: 16.8 million colors
Cable: 1.8M, braided
USB Pass-through: Yes
Audio Pass-through: Yes
Wristrest: Detachable
Anti-Ghosting: Yes, N-Key rollover
Graphical UI: Yes
Gaming Profiles: 6
On-board Memory: 4 MB
Packaging
In order to get at the keyboard itself, we first have to examine the X1’s retail packaging. Thermaltake has added their TT Premium logo to the front of the box, and this new logo can also be found on the top left corner of the keyboard, decked out with RGB lighting. The front of the box gives a nice look at the keyboard within, and lists a few of the major features, including the CHERRY MX Speed RGB Silver switches included in our sample, RGB illumination, and per-key backlighting.
Out back we have a full top-down view of the keyboard and its removable wrist rest, along with a few feature photos of some of the additional features like the dedicated multimedia controls and USB pass-through port. Overall, the packaging for the X1 is quite nice, and the glossy finish and crisp product images do a good job of showing off the product within.
Once inside the box we see a pretty standard layout, with the X1 protected in a thin foam sleeve. The keyboard’s cabling is held in place by an internal cardboard divider, while the removable wrist rest sits just below the keyboard.
Accessories
Included with the keyboard are a quick installation guide, warranty pamphlet, eight optional red keycaps, a keycap puller, and the aforementioned removable wristrest.
The eight optional red keycaps provide a bit of customization for the following keys: Q, W, E, R, A, S, D, and F. While the standard keycaps have a matte finish, the optional red keycaps have a glossy metallic finish, which is definitely detectable by your fingertips. Like the rest of the keycaps, the optional red set are semi-transparent single-shot plastic, with your standard legend passthroughs. The font found on these keycaps is the same as the standard keycaps, and is easy to read in illuminated and non-illuminated modes.
The other major included accessory is the removable wristrest. While very plain in its design, just a slightly textured plastic surface, its magnetic connecting method leaves us wondering why more companies don’t offer a similar solution. Multiple rubber feet help keep the wristrest in place when in use.
