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Go keyboard shopping, and you’ll see no shortage of enthusiast gaming boards on the market, with seemingly endless options to fit every aesthetic need. The Roccat Magma Mini enters the arena of 60 percent keyboards with all the features you’d expect from a gaming model (RGB lighting, configurable key combos and macros) while keeping to a relatively tight footprint. Some of the preset shortcut commands might take some getting used to, but at $49.99, it’s also one of the cheapest gateways to the world of minimalist keyboards. That said, if you’re confident in your choice to downsize the number of keys on your desk, you’ll get more for your money with our Editors’ Choice pick, the Fnatic Streak65 Gaming Keyboard.
On a Gamer’s Desk, Aesthetics Are Everything
It’s easy to see the appeal of a 60 percent keyboard. Why would you pay for extra keys you don’t use? Why would you devote so much space on your desk to a keyboard when smaller options exist? True, for a while the world of the truncated keyboard was limited to high-end, enthusiast-priced models, but Roccat has made a keyboard that fits that aesthetic at a more palatable entry-level price.
As its name suggests, the Magma Mini is the smaller version of the Roccat Magma we reviewed in 2021. Much of the design language from the original is here, with similar keycaps and the same RGB baseplate. Roccat has made some additions beyond just chopping off keys, including an IP33 rating (which means the board is spill-resistant). The whole keyboard measures 1.4 by 12.1 by 5.2 inches (HWD) including the baseplate, which juts about an inch toward you from the trailing edge of the space bar. Mostly because of that baseplate, it’s rather large for a 60 percent board; contrast its dimensions with the Happy Hacking Professional Hybrid’s footprint, measuring 11.6 by 4.7 inches, and the Corsair K70’s at a similar 11.6 by 4.3 inches. Mind you, there’s no set standard for dimensions when it comes to this layout, but the numbers bear mentioning when size is part of the appeal here.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
Our original Magma review called out the ho-hum quality of the typing experience. (Certain keys felt too mushy in testing, while others felt too stiff.) For most users, a membrane keyboard will never beat out a mechanical keyboard in terms of comfort, of course, but the keys on the Magma Mini feel far more responsive than those of its bigger sibling. The rubber-dome design has a considerable spring you can feel, but that’ll likely wear down as the dome material loses its rigidity over time through wear and tear.
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The keyboard has 61 keys mounted atop the RGB baseplate, which is illuminated by 10 LEDs. The LEDs allow for five different color zones. The zones are set by default to react to your key presses, but the lighting behavior can be changed through software, as we’ll discuss below.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
The shortcut-key combos used to access other functions on the keyboard take some getting used to. If you’re already familiar with the world of minimalist keyboards, you should know this is par for the course, and that most manufacturers handle their shortcuts differently. For example, on the Roccat Mini, you can hold down the function key and press the left Shift key to lock the arrow keys to their corresponding inputs.
Each default combo is identifiable on the labels of the keycaps. This design choice makes the keytop legends feel a bit cluttered versus the layouts of other 60 percent keyboards like the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini, which has its secondary function labels on the sides of the keycaps.
The original Magma’s clumsily named Easy-Shift[+] feature, which allows users to engage a second set of more complicated key combos and macros for games, makes an appearance here on the Mini, too. Accessing it can be equally clumsy, though. You first need to access the keyboard’s Game Mode by holding the Function key and pressing the “G” key. Once Game Mode is enabled, you can press and hold the Caps Lock key to access Easy-Shift[+]. Three white LEDs under the baseplate shine on the Game Mode icon, along with icons for Caps Lock and Scroll Lock. With the rest of the RGB effects on the baseplate, it’s hard to tell what’s on and off, especially when the lighter colors are on.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
Before realizing the LED indicators were there, I found it easy to forget whether Game Mode was turned on or not. All Game Mode does by default is swap the Caps Lock key for the Easy-Shift[+] key, and leaving it on essentially disables the Caps Lock key until it’s turned off again. For a user who isn’t planning to configure the keyboard out of its default state, all of these modes can get confusing fast. And anyone who does use Easy-Shift[+] will wonder why half their keys aren’t functioning properly.
Testing the Magma Mini: Bring on the Swarm
You can adjust all the features of the Magma Mini via Roccat’s Swarm software. With the software and a quick firmware update installed, you can tweak the lighting effects, add keyboard shortcuts, and add sound effects to be played over your system’s speakers when you type. The software also enables you to assign settings to five profiles that you can swap among. The keyboard lacks onboard profile storage, though, so you’d need to swap among profiles via the software.
(Credit: Roccat)
If you’ve messed with other keyboard configuration software in the past, this should all make sense. But considering the entry-level price of this keyboard, the utility could be a little more intuitive for new users. Our original Magma review was critical of the outdated look of Swarm, and those complaints still stand here.
You also won’t find any indication of the keyboard’s compatibility with Swarm on the box. The only bit of information that directs you to download the software is a small line in the Quick Start guide, which is easy to miss. Considering the amount of functionality lost if you miss downloading Swarm, it’s a shame Roccat didn’t include a separate flyer in the box or add a more prominent mention of the software somewhere else.
Verdict: Scale Your Expectations to the Size
At first glance, it’s not really germane to compare the Roccat Magma Mini with the full-size Magma, which is a different class of board and suffers from its own issues. They’re different keyboards in terms of size, of course, and Roccat made a few positive improvements overall with the Mini. The keys on the Mini feel better than those on the bigger Magma, for instance, and the layout had to change a bit to accommodate a smaller form factor.
We noted a few similarities too, though, not all of them good. The two boards share a visual design, and, alas, the lackluster software remains the same. For a 60 percent keyboard to be workable, you have to be able to fine-tune your shortcuts, and the software design therefore needs to be top-notch.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
Given its entry-level price, the Roccat Magma Mini makes for a good small starter keyboard. If you’re planning to give the 60 percent keyboard concept a try and don’t want to commit a bunch of money, the Magma Mini might be a good option. But it isn’t the best one. For anyone who’s serious about converting and can spend the extra money, we still recommend the Fnatic Streak65 Gaming Keyboard.
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At around $50, the Roccat Magma Mini might seem like an attractive value for a 60 percent keyboard, but diehards will find the customization options lacking and the space saved underwhelming.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/roccat-magma-mini