Vanguard K08 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Performance

The keyboard looks stunning, there’s no doubt about that, but the overall weight and feel of it are everything we would expect from a premium grade gaming keyboard too. The detachable wrist rest is a welcome addition too, and easily clips into place when you need it, giving you a comfortable typing angle and helping during those long gaming sessions.

The RGB lighting is exceptional too, easily on par with any other high-end mechanical keyboard on the market and with a dizzying ray of equally dizzying effects for those who love their rainbow discos or just want to pick their favourite hue of purple. Hey look, the M04 mouse has snuck its way into this shot too, and the two make a lovely pair for RGB fans.

There’s a nice backlighting effect between each of the keys, and that huge central font on each key cap allows plenty of light to shine through, even in a well-lit room.

The top row of multimedia keys are backlit too, albeit in white and not RGB, but a nice touch is that the BlasterX “X” is also RGB lit in the top right corner.

It’s really nice to see a gaming keyboard that has dedicated multimedia keys, especially given how many now only use Fn-Shift keys to do this. It’s quicker and easier to skip songs, control volume, turn your lighting off and more. The addition of that infinity scroll volume wheel is nice too, and few brands outside of some Corsair products bother to feature this.

The Omron switches are easily the biggest surprise here, and their shorter actuation and extremely high build quality certainly pay off. The keys are fast and light, which is fantastic for touch typing and frantic gameplay, but they also have a light tactile bump and click to them, similar to that of an MX Brown switch. They’re actually similar in performance to the new Razer Ornata, but much quieter at the same time. It’s a unique feel, but one that mechanical keyboard fans will quickly fall in love with, and the short action won’t have membrane fans feeling unfamiliar either.

Dedicated macro keys are another welcome bonus. I personally love them for working in Photoshop, but you can easily setup profile for your favourite games and MMO gamers will especially love the extra bank of complex commands being just one button away.

Overall, the Vanguard has all the features you would expect of a modern flagship gaming keyboard, and while it may be the first one from Creative, we can’t imagine any way they could have made it better.