When it comes to gaming, having a good keyboard is pretty important. The best keyboard for PUBG will be largely the best keyboard for your everyday computing needs – a keyboard that does its job according to your requirements.
Now, if you’re younger, you’re probably used to the horrendous keyboards that come in most cheap laptops. These keyboards have little cups made out of plastic (called membranes) under each key: when you press the key, the membrane collapses and the button under the key is pressed.
There are two problems with this:
- The membrane takes quite a bit of force to be collapsed.
- Before you can press the key again, you have to basically lift your finger all the way up.
As you can imagine, the timings here are very tiny, but they do add up, especially in the frenetic setting of an online FPS game like PUBG.
So, what’s the alternative?
Mechanical Keyboards
Let’s take a look at why these are better.
Mechanical keyboards feature actual mechanical switches under each key. This offers the satisfying feeling of pushing the little mechanical switch. Depending on the type of switch your keyboard has (more on this later), you may even get a nice “click” sound.
Also, most switches are able to be reactivated without the full release of the key, meaning that the key only has to travel about halfway through its full motion before it can be pressed again and registered as a keystroke.
These features are obviously super important for gaming.
Add to that, that you get keyboards with high polling rates (i.e. how many times the keyboard talks to your computer and tells it if keys are pressed).
Finally, gaming keyboards are built to press a ton of keys at the same time: on your laptop, try pressing 5 or 6 or 7 keys at the same time. You’ll notice some of these won’t register.
That’s because keyboard manufacturers save money by putting a few keys on the same circuit, and there’s a hardware limit to how many keys can be registered that way.
Gaming keyboards, on the other hand, use higher spec electronics, and they put each key on its own “path” so that you are able to press a huge number of keys at the same time, and they will all register.
Have you ever tried moving, peeking around a tree, switching to grenades and crouching at the same time? It’s not uncommon for gamers to perform actions that require lots of keys at the same time.
All of the keyboards featured in this guide are going to be mechanical keyboards with high quality electronics.
Mechanical Keyboard Switches
There are a few different types of mechanical keyboard switches, and they all have their own characteristics in terms of activation force (i.e. the amount of force it takes before the keystroke is registered) and sound (basically “how clicky they are”).
Here’s a quick rundown of the most common switch types.
The most common switches are made by a company called Cherry, and they’re identified by colors.
The most common Cherry switch for gaming keyboards is the Cherry MX Red, which is a tactile (meaning that there’s a “bump” you can feel to let you know when the keystroke is registered), non-clicky switch with very low actuation force for very fast keystrokes.
Cherry MX Brown are a little more clicky than the Red.
And finally the Cherry MX Blue are very clicky.
Lately, big gaming companies have started to make their own mechanical switches, and, for the most part, they’re really good.
Logitech has the Logitech G-Romer switch, which has a very short-throw actuation (1.5mm), and is super quiet. The durability is good at 70 million keystrokes.
Razer has two versions of their own Razer Mechanical Switches: Green and Orange. Green is the faster version, although those switches are *very* clicky and loud. The Orange version is quieter (although still not as quiet as the Romer-G). They also have a new Yellow switch, which is supposed to be non-tactile and silent – but I’ve never personally tried it. Durability is excellent at 80 million keystrokes.
These are all great switches, but I definitely would stay away from the Razer Green. They’re mind-numbingly loud, and you’ll get tired of the sound very quickly, I promise you.
Enough about switches, let’s take a look at whole keyboards!
The Best Keyboard for PUBG
These are some of the most popular keyboards that people use for FPS games in general, and PUBG in particular.
Let’s take a look one by one..
Razer Blackwidow
The Razer Blackwidow is a really nice keyboard. I’ve owned one for a few years and I gotta say, it’s a joy to game on. The Razer Synapse software is nice and intuitive, and the switches are blazing fast.
I love the understated “hackery” look of the Tournament version especially, although I did miss the tenkey number pad. The typeface for the keycaps is also probably the best I’ve ever seen on any keyboard.
The black on the Blackwidows is very glossy and you can see fingerprints and smears.. it also makes the keyboard feel a little oily after a while. Nothing that the occasional Clorox wipe can’t fix, though.
The RGB LEDs on this keyboard are also really nice in that they are pretty subtle, and the light comes through the letters on the keycaps mainly, without too much light bleed.
Unfortunately, I went with the Green switches for my keyboard, and they’re horrendously loud. I eventually had to switch keyboards because I simply couldn’t even draft an email if anyone was around — I’d annoy the crap out of them.
Logitech G810
The Logitech G810 is the keyboard that I switched to, and the keyboard I’m typing on right now. I actually had no intention of buying another keyboard until I tried this one at the Logitech booth at a gaming event.
I was super skeptical of Logitech’s own mechanical switch until I tried it. The Romer-G feels snappy, precise and satisfying while being pretty darn quiet.
Logitech really did it with this keyboard, and everything feels right: actuation force, clickiness, colors.
I also love the totally straight-laced look of the keyboard, which looks even more amazing when you have the RGB backlight cycle through the colors of the rainbow underneath the matte black paint.
The number pad is nice, and the extra features like the media keys work natively in Mac OS on my hackintosh too.
My only gripe with this keyboard is durability. After mere months of use, my left ALT key started to bleed light from the corner of the key. Logitech promptly sent me another full set of keys for free, but now the same key has the exact same problem again.
Thankfully, I have spares from the kit Logitech sent me, but it’s a little disheartening to know that this problem will likely present itself again. I may end up using a Sharpie on the inside of the key to avoid light bleeding through, we’ll see.
Overall, though, this is a fantastic keyboard. Try those switches once, and you’ll fall in love!
Corsair Strafe
The Corsair Strafe is a more “traditional” gaming keyboard: for once, it uses Cherry switches (you can get it in both Cherry MX Red and Cherry MX Brown variants). I’d definitely recommend the quiet Red switches. They feel good, they’re fast and they won’t drive you insane.
The RGB backlight and the layout are a little more “gaudy”. The RGB light comes through from in-between the keys. A lot. If you are in a dark room, this keyboard will kinda illuminate your desk.
Other than that, the materials all feel high-quality, and you won’t get as many fingerprints as on a Razer, for example. The keycaps are probably the nicest in terms of feel (even though I’m not a fan of the typeface they chose for the letters). I also like the textured space bar.
Corsair also throws in some extra special keycaps for FPS and MOBAs, pretty cool, although I ended up only using the standard keys.
This keyboard is pretty darn perfect except for one thing: the software suuuuuucks. Corsair’s CUE software is hard to understand, and it’s a pain when it doesn’t save your profile. Also, if CUE isn’t running, the profile won’t load at all.
Kind of annoying. But a great keyboard once you have it all set up and running.
Durability has been great for me, although I’ve heard people complain that their Strafe lasted less than a year or that the keys started to chatter. Not my experience, but worth keeping in mind.
So, What’s the Best Mechanical Keyboard for PUBG Overall?
My choice is the Logitech G810.
The fantastic switches along with a really great design and a super intuitive software (which btw also controls my G303 mouse) is too good to pass up.
I’m not a Logitech fanboy, but I honestly think their products are superior to the competition.
Bonus Mechanical Keyboard for PUBG
If you don’t have a lot of space on your desk, you may want to consider going for the tenkeyless Logitech G Pro Mechanical Keyboard, which is a small, tournament-style mechanical keyboard featuring the same Romer-G switches as the G810.
Logitech G Pro Mechanical Keyboard
That’s it for this guide!
If you’re wondering what other gear will help you get your chicken dinner in PUBG, check out our other PUBG Gear Guides.
If you have a favorite keyboard, let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading!
