AOC AGK700 Red Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

A Closer Look & Performance

The keyboard looks amazing the moment you take it out of the box. I do wish this cable wasn’t hard-wired, but it is, so whatever. It’s a durable cable though, with a thick braiding and two USB 2.0 headers; one for keyboard and one for pass-through.

The keyboard looks great, but it’s also a bit of a throwback to some older PC gaming keyboard designs. The whole black and red thing got pushed aside in the RGB apocalypse of 2015 (I pulled that date out of thin air, I really don’t remember when). That being said, I do like the design, and the brushed metal finish of the top panel adds some much-welcomed texture

There’s a bank of macro buttons down the left side, which again, isn’t that common on keyboards these days, and this really does feel like a throwback to those more gamer-focused keyboards from years gone by. I like that they’re unique keys too, like the caps on an electric typewriter.

There are more of them too, with a dedicated mute button in the top right corner.

However, it’s the top middle section that really grabs your attention. There are six controls here, with some basic navigation and media controls thrown in; there are some launchers and LED controls too.

However, the main media controls are above the number pad. Perhaps a more unified approach would have been better though, as the media, mute and volume controls do seem a little scattered, but it’s still perfectly fine to use, I can’t say I had any issues really.

Of course, it’s hard to ignore that massive red dial that can be used as a volume wheel. It’s so big and over the top, and I love it! This keyboard isn’t out to be subtle, so why not go all out!

The keycaps are laser cut and feature a nice bold font that’s going to allow for plenty of illumination from the switch RGB hardware. They look and feel to be UV coated too, so they may get a bit of a shine on them after many months of usage, but that’s hardly uncommon.

The trim on the keyboard is pretty slim, with a robust chassis that doesn’t oversize the keyboard. It’s reasonably low for a red switch keyboard too, so fairly easy on the wrists, even without the leather wrist rest in use.

However, it does look fantastic with that wrist rest in place, and of course, that’s going to improve long-term comfort too. For those long gaming or work sessions, having that added comfort is going to pay off big time. It’s magnetically mounted too, so you can quickly snap it in place or move it out of the way when you need to.

The switches are Cherry MX Red, which have been the basis and backbone of the mechanical keyboard market for around 40 years now. They’re linear, quiet, fast and so popular, they’re the ones most rival brands continue to copy. Personally, I’ve long since switched to a low-profile switch setup, like MX Silver, but really, you can’t go wrong with red for work and gaming.

Everything just works as well as you would expect, and that’s fine with me. The keyboard feels fast and light, and the bulk of the switches are reasonably quiet unless you’re rage typing on them. The space bar is a little clunky sounding, but no more than pretty much all mechanical keyboards really.

The RGB is dialled up to 11 on this keyboard, it is seriously bright and vivid. That’s not a bad thing either, as if it’s a bright day, it’ll still really pop.

Of course, you can turn the brightness down, and it’s just good to have more range in the brightness to suit your needs. The colours are stunning through. with a good balance between the font and underlighting.

The keyboard is packed with effects and patterns too, and while you can customise all of this yourself, I doubt many will feel the need. If there’s not a profile built in that suits you, I’d be surprised. Plus, you can cycle them all directly on the keyboard.

However, if you want to configure the lights, macro buttons, and all the other usuals, you’ll need the desktop software. However, with five on-board profiles, you can save all the settings to the keyboard, ditch the software and use the keyboard on its own again, which I like.