Logitech G915 mechanical gaming keyboard review

Logitech G – the gaming-focused sub-brand of the popular technology company – has carved out a strong position in the gaming hardware space in recent years. Its premium products have proven especially impressive, with Finder's Alex Kidman speaking highly of the Logitech G Pro X gaming keyboard and the Logitech G502 Lightspeed wireless mouse in his reviews.

This positive trend continues with the Logitech G915 Lightspeed wireless mechanical gaming keyboard. Like its wired sibling, the Logitech G815 mechanical gaming keyboard, it boasts a sleek design, excellent performance and plenty of features, but it also carries an even steeper price tag than the already-pricey G815. For that reason, the G915 is aimed primarily at folks looking for the best of the best no matter the cost.

Design

Design

• Steel and aluminium construction is sturdy and resilient
• Clean aesthetic blends in well both at home and in the office
• One of the thinnest mechanical keyboards currently available

• Read more about the Logitech G915's design

  Logitech has created one attractive keyboard in the G915. Its steel-and-aluminium frame is sleek, slim and sturdy, conveying a sense of strength and power that defies its relatively compact stature. Yes, it's a full-sized keyboard with not only a numpad but an extra column of dedicated macro keys, but it's also shed enough superfluous bulk in other areas to keep its overall footprint pleasantly small. Foregoing fancy flourishes also ensures the G915 can double as a work keyboard, with its understated aesthetic fitting in just as well in office and gaming environments.

  The G915 is impressively thin compared not only to other mechanical gaming keyboards, but to other keyboards in general. Measuring just 22mm from the bottom of its base to the top of its keycaps, it's well-suited to desktop environments where space is at a premium. Better still, its low profile mitigates the need for a separate wrist rest, saving you from arching your wrist and alleviating some of the stress typing can cause.

  For as slim as it is, the G915 is no lightweight. It's surprisingly heavy at just a shade over 1kg, but that weight lends it a satisfying heft and reinforces the premium feel of the board overall. So too does the brushed metal finish, which protects against scuffs, scratches and fingerprints.

  Around the back, small rubber pads provide extra grip and stability. They work well, too, keeping the G915 locked in place no matter how ferociously I hammered the keys. You've got two fold-out legs as well, in case you're more comfortable with a raised keyboard set-up.

  While the G915 is designed for wireless use – it's right there in the name – it can also operate over a wired connection. Included with the keyboard is a detachable braided USB cable that both recharges the G915's battery and allows for a direct connection.

  The one downside to the G915 that can't be overlooked is its price tag. At $399.95, it's among the most expensive gaming keyboards money can buy. You are getting a supremely well-designed keyboard with all the bells and whistles for your investment, but there are plenty of other options out there with similar feature sets at a more affordable price. Be sure to compare those alternatives before going all-in on the G915.

Performance

Performance

• Low-profile switches are highly responsive while still providing solid feedback
• Lightspeed wireless performance is top-notch
• 30-hour battery life is nothing to sneeze at

• Read more about the Logitech G915's performance

  Like all good mechanical keyboards, the G915 supports multiple switch types catering to how clicky you like your keys. The G915 I tested sported a set of GL Linear switches, which are the softest of the three switch types available. For folks who prefer a little more kick, the GL Clicky and GL Tactile switches offer louder and more forceful feedback.

  Combining GL Linear switches with low-profile keys makes for one fast keyboard. Key sensitivity sits somewhere between a regular mechanical board and a chiclet keyboard like those seen on many laptops and Apple products.

  When I switch to a low-resistance keyboard from my usual high-resistance switches, it typically takes me a while to acclimate to the higher sensitivity. With the G915, though, I found my flow almost immediately, with very few mispresses or slipped fingers along the way. This is testament to how well-balanced the board is, with sufficient spacing between keys and just enough curvature to the keycaps to help keep your fingers centred.

  Resistance is high enough that the few times my fingers did slip, I didn't inadvertently type the wrong letter or trigger the wrong ability. At the same time, the action is low enough that I was able to type noticeably faster for longer periods than I can with a stiffer mechanical keyboard.

  Despite their low action, the Linear switches still deliver satisfying feedback, striking an excellent balance between mechanical punch and supple give. Softer switches mean quieter keys, too, which is handy if you're gaming or working in a public space.

  As the name suggests, the G915 features Logitech's "Lightspeed" wireless communications technology. Logitech makes some pretty impressive claims around the performance of the Lightspeed tech, touting that it can deliver faster response times than even some wired connections from competing brands.

  While I suspect that's largely limited to very specific examples, I can vouch for the general speed and reliability of the G915's Lightspeed connection. I noticed no latency or dropped inputs throughout my testing, nor did I experience any connectivity issues. Every key press felt as responsive over the wireless connection as it did when I tested over USB.

  Good battery life is a key component of any wireless keyboard, and the G915 delivers exactly that. Logitech rates it for 30 hours of use off a full charge, and I managed to get a smidge over that in my testing. 30 hours is a solid figure, especially for such a slim keyboard, and it's aided by the fact that charging from empty to full only takes around 3 hours. And because the G915 supports both wired and wireless connections, you can charge and play at the same time.

Features

Features

• Multiple wireless connections deliver high performance without sacrificing compatibility
• Dedicated macro and media keys provide plenty of versatility in-game and out
• Lightsync RGB allows for even wilder lighting set-ups for those who want it

• Read more about the Logitech G915's features

  While the G915's Lightspeed wireless technology is one of its key selling points, it could have held the board back, too. The Lightspeed connection only works with a Windows or Mac device via the included USB dongle, rendering it incompatible with devices like phones and many tablets. Fortunately, Logitech has equipped the G915 with Bluetooth support as well, letting you connect to a broader range of devices albeit without the performance benefits of the Lightspeed tech.

  If it's bells and whistles you're after, the G915 has you covered. To start with, you've got five dedicated macro keys on the left side of the board, each of which you can map to a specific command or function for quick access through the Logitech G HUB app. The positioning of these keys does take some getting used to and I accidentally pressed them more than once while trying to Alt-Tab to a new window or crouch in-game with Ctrl. Nevertheless, having five keys dedicated to custom functions opens up a lot of options. Through the G HUB app, you can set each key to perform specific keyboard shortcuts, open specific programs, run system-level tasks or execute a complex macro of your own creation. The interface is pleasantly intuitive, requiring you to simply drag and drop the desired mapping to one of the dedicated macro slots.

  Each key also supports an additional binding you can access by holding down a predefined key of your choosing (dubbed the "G-Shift key") at the same time. Going even further, the G915 can store three separate macro profiles each with different key bindings in its on-board memory, providing access to a total of 30 custom macros on-the-fly. Switching between each profile is as simple as hitting the corresponding profile button above the Fn keys.

  In addition to macro keys, the G915 features dedicated media controls for adjusting audio and video. It's pretty standard fare, with a play/pause button, next/previous track buttons, a mute button and a volume wheel.

  Most modern gaming keyboards support Game Mode, letting you temporarily disable the Windows key so that accidentally hitting it in the middle of a heated match doesn't boot you back to your desktop. The G915 takes this one step further, giving you the ability to choose which specific keys to disable when Game Mode is active. Can't help occasionally pressing the tilde (~) key instead of Tab or 1? Just disable it and you won't have to worry any more about inadvertently pulling up the console mid-game.

  No top-of-the-line gaming keyboard would be complete without some form of RGB lighting and the G915 has all the options you'd expect. Along with supporting the full 16.8 million colour spectrum, it offers a range of preset lighting patterns including a wave effect, breathing pulse and reactive echo. You can customise the speed, colours and brightness of these patterns, or you can go ahead and individually define colours for each key on the board. And for folks who like to switch RGB on the fly, the G915 can store two profiles in its on-board memory.

  What's really neat, however, is the ability to create your own custom lighting patterns within the G HUB app. Using an interface reminiscent of video-editing software, you define the lighting for each frame of the pattern along with how quickly one frame transitions to the next. It's clever stuff and opens up even more avenues for customisation.

  If that's still a little too predictable for you, the G915 also supports Logitech's Lightsync technology, which creates dynamic lighting patterns based on the games, movies, music and apps that you're currently running. Supported games might trigger a flashing red pattern when you're low on health or set off light explosions in response to a grenade going off. For music, meanwhile, the G915 acts as an audio visualiser, with the ability to customise how the RGB responds to volume spikes and staccato rhythms.

  One smaller feature of the G915 that I really appreciated is how it addresses the power demands of its RGB lighting. By default, it dims the RGB to 50% brightness after a minute of inactivity, completely turning the lights off after 5 minutes of inactivity. You can customise these settings to your liking, adjusting the level of dimming and how long before it kicks in.

  There's also a handy low battery mode that activates when the power drops below 15%, switching the RGB to pure red to alert you that you'll want to plug the USB cable in soon. I found this approach more effective than the standard flashing battery light on most wireless keyboards, but there's an option to turn it off if you'd prefer.

Should you buy the Logitech G915?

The Logitech G915 is a tremendously well-designed keyboard with top-notch performance and no shortage of features to customise to your tastes. It is easily one of the best wireless gaming keyboards currently on the market.

That said, it's impossible to ignore the steep barrier to entry that is the G915's hefty price tag. $400 is a lot of money, and there are many other great gaming keyboards out there that offer similar features and performance at considerably lower prices. For many people, that may be enough, but if you want the best of the best, the G915 should absolutely be at the top of your list.

Pricing and availability

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Specifications

Finder score: 4

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