Cougar 450K Hybrid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Peter Donnell / 9 years ago

Final Thoughts

Price

The Cougar 450K Hybrid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is available from Overclockers UK for a very reasonable £39.95. For a keyboard with this design and features, I think that’s pretty great value for money and it fits nicely in with the pricing and specifications of the rest of the Cougar range, offering a competitive mid-budget solution.

Overview

Cougar has made some fantastic keyboards recently, and while the Cougar 450K isn’t their greatest, it’s priced to reflect this. For under £40, this is a very competitive keyboard, with a great range of features that are sure to satisfy the demands of the majority of PC gamers. We’ve got macro keys, on-board memory, adjustable polling rate, LED lighting, multimedia keys and more, which is more than most people will likely ever use.

While not as premium as their mechanical keyboard offerings, it’s less than half the price, but still packs most of the features. The switches are a nice step up from normal membrane switches and they’re well suited to day-to-day work and gaming, making it a solid keyboard for any usage scenario. The build quality is pretty robust too, with a thick and durable chassis and good quality key caps that feel nice to the touch. The dark black finish gives it good aesthetics and the splash-resistant design is great addition for improving its life span. My only gripe being that the LED backlighting is a little underpowered and is something for Cougar to improve on in future models.

The UIX software is some of the best on the market, offering quick and easy customisation of the keyboard settings, but also adding further benefits for those who have multiple Cougar products, as it acts as a one-stop software solution for all of them. Overall, a great keyboard with a lot of practical features for a wide range of users, with a wallet-friendly price tag and a great overall design and another welcome addition to the Cougar range.

Pros

Good build quality
Macro key function
Great software (UIX)
Built-in memory
Good tactile response from switches
Great for work and gaming

Cons

LED backlighting brightness and consistency leaves a lot to be desired

“The Cougar 450K is a great keyboard for those looking for a range of gamer-friendly features, but still want a robust keyboard for general day-to-day use. If you need a stylish and well-made keyboard without spending a huge amount of money, the 450K ticks all the right boxes.”