SteelSeries Apex 7 TKL Compact Mechanical Gaming Keyboard – OLED Smart Display – USB Passthrough and Media Controls – Linear and Quiet – RGB Backlit (Red Switch)

I really wanted to love this keyboard. It checked all the boxes I wanted: A TKL keyboard, a pass-through USB (which, annoyingly in this age of USB 3.0s massive throughput, still requires two USB ports, though this could be to avoid driver issues), RGB lighting, and a little screen. I was really let down though, because within a couple weeks the keys were malfunctioning. The right arrow key doesnt register all the time. If I give it a really heavy press, maybe itll register, or it double clicks, or it just ignores me for a couple seconds. The W key is now starting to do the same. As a programmer, I use my right arrow key often, and would like it to work every time I push it. As a regular computer user, Id really like to have a W key that works too. The above is enough to put me off it and pack it away as a lost cause, since sending things back in the time of COVID is not easy. Lesson learned to not buy from SteelSeries. But hey! Maybe you werent put off by malfunctioning keys, or want to roll the dice and bet your product will be better than mine. Dear reader, let me put you off ever more. The screen is very half-baked. Aside from being able to display some pre-made .gifs, the screen otherwise has little to no utility. It is coplanar with the deck of the keyboard, so is largely outside your sight line depending on where you sit and your desk/chair height. If it were inclined slightly, you would be able to register it better. Equally oddly, there are next to no pre-built functions for it. There are some weird indie games, a Tidal (the music service nobody uses?), Discord, and a couple other apps, but here are some thing it cant do out of the box: 1) Show you CPU usage like the old Logitech G13 2) Show you what song is currently playing on Spotify or any other music service 3) Indicate the volume when you use the volume wheel 4) Display the system time It literally, without downloading a third-party app by a random guy, cant serve as a clock. Also, when Logitech, Saitek, and Razer were putting touchscreens in everything 7 years ago, including an OLED screen that isnt full-color is inexcusable. The screen on my Swiftpoint Z is better than this. For all the power of the SteelSeries Engine (you can do literally almost anything with these RGB key customization options, including make a little Pac Man chasing ghosts across your keyboard as your day to day backlighting), it is wildly lacking when it comes to reprogramming this keyboard. Lets say youre like me, and your audio is controlled on an auxiliary interface. Id like to rebind that audio wheel to skip song, as there are no dedicated media keys. Well, too bad chief, you cant do that. The volume wheel and the play-pause button are just those, may they never be anything else. In a $130 keyboard (and I assume the same for $180) with 5 separate per-key parameters for RGB, including a PER KEY option that changes colors based on period of inactivity, I cant rebind the play-pause button? I could write a whole paragraph on the macro system, but Id lose your attention. TL;DR It feels like this keyboard has so much it could be, and just doesnt deliver. The screen could be cool, but it is instead just one more piece of flair like your RGB scheme. The keys are comfortable, but dont always work. There are baffling choices in what can and cant be rebound. Everything that would make this keyboard fantastic is instead a hurdle you must overcome to enjoy it.

The look, extra features and design of this TKL keyboard are everything Ive wanted. Small form factor, dedicated media keys that are minimal, volume knob, onboard screen! However, the keys and switches used on this board feel very low quality. The linear switches on this board offer almost 0 resistance and bottom-out quite loudly. I found myself frequently missing characters due to the lack of feedback that youd get from a higher quality linear switch. If youre a gentile typer this board might be for you, however, it will feel unfamiliar to those used to higher quality switches. Steelseries has designed something really special here, but it falls short when it comes to quality where it counts.

When I first got this keyboard, I absolutely loved it. Its very nice-looking and bright, and theres a million ways you can customize the coloring and lighting. The key presses also felt very smooth and typing on it was a real joy. Unfortunately, after about 5-6 months of use, I started having problems with multiple keys. It started with my Ctrl and Shift keys not registering all the time, which is very frustrating when you try to Ctrl-s to save something and end up with s characters in your document or code. Now I have several letter keys that do not always register, and my r and u key are now chattering/double-tapping. This has become a massive productivity-killer, as I have to correct almost every third or fourth word that I type. I have tried a full factory reset and re-installation of the keyboards software, and have tried pulling up the keycaps of individual keys and pulling junk out and air-dusting around the switches, and nothing has worked. I really wanted to like this keyboard, but this has become extremely frustrating. I would expect better quality and/or durability from a $100 + keyboard.

Very nice keyboard. I will never go back to a ten key keyboard.

Its a little bit hard to write on it, but the OLED its definitely the best inversion

First I noticed was the Firmware kept crashing, so I did what Steele Series recommend and reverted the Firmware. After a month each key required different pressures to activate them, then later on I noticed that some keys, the most used one, required a further key press than others and frequently would not activated until bottoms out. Because of this, some keys that active higher on the stroke repeat while typing. Finally, the deal breaker, the scroll wheel to cycle the menu. It broke completely. For the premium Price, a keyboard so inconsistent, and one that does NOT have a Print Screen, Scroll Lock or many other keys should be sold for half of what they are retailing it for. Dont bother with this keyboard, Try Razer. I had no luck with the poor quality of Logitech Gaming keyboards as well. --------------------------------------------------- Update 01March2022 Steel Series can not warranty the keyboard, they have no stock in more than 90 days. The TKL is also not available anywhere online. I would stay away from the Keyboards as I am thinking they are not going to sell them anymore. 120 days with zero stock in their warehouses is a telling sign of impending bankruptcy. The Protection plan was almost no help saying to go to the manufacture when they have had zero keyboard stock at anytime in 2022.

My son absolutely likes this keyboard! It’s very comfortable and it is satisfying to click the switches! The Rgb too is on point!

good feeling switches, numpadless so it takes up less space, cool effects and software, neat screen although rarely used, excellent build quality, wrist rest is a little too narrow and my hand sits on my desk half of the time and i only have medium sized hands, one cable comes from the keyboard but splits in two for the usb passthrough and the keyboard which is annoying and I dont see why it couldnt have been one plug. overall very good keyboard cant live without it.

Ive been using this keyboard for 2 months. Its fast, not too noisy. I can play when my wife is sleeping, I couldnt do that before with my previous keyboard. Very responsive

Instantly fell in love with this keyboard. I got it soon after my first keyboard I ordered already started to bug out. I love how your anle to customize the colors as well as add a little image as shown in the picture.