Team Group is a well-known Taiwanese hardware manufacturer with a long history of catering to the needs of enthusiasts and gamers from all over the globe. Their lineup includes DRAM memory and solid-state drives, and they also offer various memory cards and USB thumb drives.
Today, we are reviewing the Team Group T-Force Treasure Touch portable SSD, which includes and adjustable RGB element that can be controller via a “touch” interface—as the product name suggests. A colored RGB lighting strip runs along one edge of the drive and lights up in various colors and combos, you can control. Under the hood, we found a fully-fledged SATA SSD, using a Silicon Motion SM2258H controller, paired with Samsung 64-layer TLC flash, and a DRAM cache chip from Hynix. In terms of connectivity, the T-Force Treasure Touch uses a USB-C interface, supporting the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, aka USB 3.1 Gen 2 which supports speeds up to 10 Gbps.
We review the Team Group T-Force Treasure Touch in the 1 TB variant, which retails for $150, no other capacity is available, warranty is set to three years.
It might be aimed primarily at creative types, but the new iPad Pro 12.9 is also the best tablet there’s ever been if portable cinema is your thing
For
Stunning picture quality
Great sound with headphones
Hugely powerful
Against
Expensive for a tablet
At this stage, each new iPad feels like an incremental improvement on the one before it. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course – in practical terms, Apple is almost unchallenged in the tablet arena, so a nip and tuck is generally all that’s required, but it’s not exactly exciting.
That’s where the new iPad Pro 12.9 comes in. Despite being aesthetically similar to its predecessor, this is a big step forward for tablets.
The headline-grabber is the new, high-end laptop-derived processor, but the new mini LED-lit display is the real game-changer as far as we’re concerned. Ever wanted an OLED or QLED TV that you could fit in a backpack? The new iPad Pro 12.9 is that – and plenty more.
Pricing
The new iPad Pro 12.9 starts at £999 ($1099, AU$1649) for the 128GB wi-fi-only model. There are lots of storage options available, all the way up to a £1999 ($2199, AU$3299) 2TB version. Adding cellular functionality to any model adds £150 ($200, AU$250).
The smaller iPad Pro 11 starts at £749 ($799, AU$1199) but, as well as being 1.9 inches smaller, the screen uses different underlying technology, so picture performance won’t be the same.
Build
(Image credit: Apple)
There’s little difference between the physical design of the new iPad Pro 12.9 and its predecessor. In fact, other than the new model being 0.5mm thicker, the dimensions of the two models are identical.
It is a large tablet, as you’d expect of a device with a 12.9in screen, measuring 28 x 21 x 0.6cm (11 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches) in total. You have to be committed to the cinematic (or productivity) potential of the big display to opt for such a large device.
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) tech specs
(Image credit: Apple)
Screen size 12.9in
Resolution 2732 x 2048 (264ppi)
Storage 128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB
Finishes x2
Battery life 10 hours
Cameras 12MP + 10MP ultra wide on rear / 12MP front
Dimensions (hwd) 28 x 21 x 0.6cm
Weight 682g
Unlike the iPad Air, which is available in a number of subtle metallic hues, the iPad Pro 12.9 comes only in Space Grey or Silver. More variation would be nice, but both finishes are lovely and the new Pro both looks and feels utterly premium.
On the otherwise flat rear is a protruding camera array that will rest directly on a surface when the iPad is laid down. It’s designed to resist damage from such placement, but a case that physically raises the lenses will be a first add-on for many.
The top and bottom edges of the tablet each have two sets of speaker perforations so you’re listening in stereo when the iPad is oriented horizontally. Also along the edges are physical power and volume buttons, plus a USB-C socket that supports the much faster Thunderbolt standard, opening up the opportunity to connect higher-end storage devices and monitors.
The front is all glass, but there’s a 9mm black border between the display and the tablet’s edge. Embedded into this border is a new front-facing camera that can follow you around in the style of Facebook Portal. This is a great feature for FaceTime calls but the positioning of the camera on one of the shorter edges means you’re awkwardly off-centre when video calling in landscape mode.
Features
(Image credit: Apple)
Positioning aside, that front-facing camera is excellent in terms of image quality, thanks to a 12MP resolution and ultra-wide field of view. The rear camera array is solid, too, boasting a main 12MP wide camera, 10MP ultra-wide camera and a true tone flash.
If you’re the sort of person who’s considering buying a new iPad Pro, you may already have a top-end iPhone with an even better camera, but the iPad takes perfectly good photos and videos (the latter in up to 4K at 60fps) in its own right. It’s also of a high enough quality to enable lots of interesting and useful app-based features, such as document scanning and augmented reality experiences.
Apple positions its iPad Pro models as productivity and creativity devices, and the new M1 chip takes this to the next level. This is the same chip that Apple has just started putting in its MacBooks and has shaken up the laptop market thanks to its vast performance upgrade over previous processors.
Apple claims that it makes the new iPad Pro’s CPU performance 50 per cent faster than that of the already lightning-fast previous version, and GPU speed is up by 40 per cent. Frankly, that sort of power is overkill for those of us primarily interested in watching movies and listening to music but, needless to say, it makes the user experience smoother than Cristiano Ronaldo’s chest.
If you are looking to use the new iPad Pro for creating as well as consuming, you might want to consider combining it with the Apple Pencil (2nd Generation), which wirelessly charges when magnetically connected to the tablet’s edge, and/or the new Magic Keyboard, which essentially turns the iPad into a slick laptop, trackpad and all. Both accessories are expensive, though. In fact, adding the £329 ($349, AU$549) Magic Keyboard to the most affordable version of the iPad Pro 12.9 makes it more expensive than buying an M1-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro.
While content creators might be most excited about the new iPad Pro’s M1 power, we content consumers will be far more excited about the 12.9-inch model’s new screen. Apple calls it a Liquid Retina XDR display, with the ‘XDR’ standing for ‘eXtreme Dynamic Range’. This is the first mini-LED backlight in an iPad. There are 10,000 of the things, arranged into 2500 independent dimming zones – Samsung’s top mini LED-based 4K TV for 2021 (the QN95A) is thought to have around 800 dimming zones, so the iPad’s figure looks incredibly impressive.
The more dimming zones a display has, the more exact and precise it can be in terms of contrast, producing deep blacks next to bright highlights. Apple claims the iPad Pro 12.9 can maintain a full-screen brightness of up to 1000 nits and hit peaks of up to 1600 nits, which is around double the peak brightness of a modern OLED TV. Contrast ratio is claimed to be 1,000,000:1.
Picture
(Image credit: Apple)
Those screen specs should make the iPad Pro 12.9 a great performer with HDR content – and they do. It’s not so much that it goes vastly brighter than other iPad models, such as the iPad Air, it’s that it combines bright highlights with awesomely deep blacks to create a vastly more dynamic and exciting picture.
We play Blade Runner 2049 in Dolby Vision from the iTunes store and set both models to their highest brightness setting. The Pro’s peaks are noticeably brighter than the Air’s but not vastly so. However, to reach those levels the Air has had to entirely sacrifice its black performance, producing something clearly grey in hue. There’s no such sacrifice necessary with the Pro – its blacks are near-perfect.
That combination of deep blacks and very bright highlights makes for a supremely punchy image, particularly in the scenes around LA, which feature neon lights and holographic adverts lighting the city’s grimy gloom.
Thankfully, Apple hasn’t thrown away its reputation for colour authenticity while reaching for new heights in contrast. On the contrary, Apple claims that every iPad is calibrated for colour, brightness, gamma and white point before it leaves the factory, and it shows – there’s great consistency across iPad models, all of which come across as extremely authentically balanced. It’s the same with the new Pro.
There’s a little more vibrancy afforded by the greater dynamic range, seen in the yellow porch of Sapper Morton’s farm, for example, but there’s no hint of garishness or exaggeration. As we switch between films and TV shows from various streaming services and in various resolutions and formats (HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are all supported), colours combine vividness and nuanced authenticity to an exceptional degree. Everything looks awesome, but it also looks correct.
Apple increases and decreases the resolution of its iPads depending on the size of the screen, so that pixel density is kept the same (all current models have 264 pixels per inch with the exception of the iPad Mini, which has a higher pixel density of 326ppi). As a result, the new iPad Pro 12.9 isn’t vastly sharper or more detailed than siblings such as the Air (although it does dig up more fine details in the brightest and darkest parts of the picture), but the deeper blacks help reinforce edges, making for a more solid and three-dimensional image.
That solidity is retained even during fast and otherwise tricky motion. The iPad Pro maintains a firm grip on the action at all times, sharpening and smoothing without adding any artificiality or shimmer. It doesn’t even get confused by K’s car moving behind a row of skyscrapers as he flies back to HQ at the beginning of Blade Runner 2049, or by the dogfighting planes in 1917. If this was a TV, in terms of motion handling it would be right up there with the superb Sony A90J.
In fact, that’s the underlying beauty of the new iPad Pro 12.9: it’s like having a miniaturised top-end TV you can take almost anywhere.
Sound
(Image credit: Apple)
With two speakers on each of the short edges, the iPad Pro is capable of producing proper stereo when in landscape orientation and, with some clever onboard processing, it’s even able to deliver some virtualised surround sound, with some of the radio chatter at the start of Gravity appearing to come to your left and right rather than being completely tethered to the drivers.
That effect is ramped up to astonishing degrees if you add a pair of AirPods Max or AirPods Pro headphones and take advantage of the spatial audio feature. It’s incredibly effective, particularly with the Max cans, and is like being in a personal Dolby Atmos cinema, with sounds coming from all around you. If the iPad Pro 12.9 is like having a top-end TV you can take anywhere, adding a pair of AirPods Max makes it like having a whole portable cinema. It’s genuinely amazing.
Of course, the tablet will also output sound to any standard wired and Bluetooth headphones, although you will need to buy a USB-C headphone adapter for the former. As with its approach to video, Apple has always favoured authentic, uncoloured sound, and so it proves here – movies and music are both presented with deft tonal balance, impressive rhythmic organisation, lots of engaging punch and detail, and dynamic shifts both big and small.
While it’s not a vast step up from the current Air in terms of its audio quality through headphones, the new iPad Pro does sound noticeably cleaner and more nuanced than its smaller, much more affordable sibling. It has added richness and dynamic subtlety, too. Play both out loud, meanwhile, and there’s a clear increase in available volume and weight from the Pro, although both models are fairly bass light, as you’d expect from drivers small enough to fit inside a tablet device.
Verdict
Apple’s Pro tablets have, as the name suggests, always been aimed at professional, creative types, and they will be delighted by the huge power brought to the new models by the M1 chip.
Our focus is on the picture and sound, though, and the iPad Pro 12.9 is at least as exciting here. The picture performance is superb – punchy and deep, vibrant and natural, exciting and nuanced. It’s right up there with that of the very best TVs you can buy. Sound, meanwhile, is great from the speakers, excellent via standard Bluetooth or wired headphones, and simply amazing with a pair of AirPods Max cans.
This is a hugely expensive tablet and the price is hard to justify for anyone who has no intention of taking advantage of its productivity potential, but it’s also the best tablet you can buy for watching movies on the move. Sure, this is a luxury device, but it’s an extremely persuasive one.
Facebook is rolling out its v30 update to the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 VR headsets. As previewed earlier this week by Mark Zuckerberg, v30 includes a new multitasking interface for Infinite Office that lets you put multiple apps side by side, including the browser, Oculus TV, Oculus Move, the store, and so on.
Like many new Oculus Quest features, it’ll be found in the Experimental section of the settings menu at first. Once multitasking is enabled, apps can be dragged up from the menu bar or the apps library and snapped into position.
The v30 update also enables Air Link for the original Quest headset. Air Link came to the Quest 2 in April and allows you to stream VR games from your PC to your headset wirelessly, as opposed to Oculus Link which does the same thing over a USB-C cable. Original Quest owners could previously stream PC games wirelessly with the third-party app Virtual Desktop.
Other new features include the addition of an accessibility tab to the settings menu that, among other things, allows for height adjustment, so that games can be experienced from a standing viewpoint while seated. Oculus has also added the ability to switch the headset’s built-in microphone between system-wide party chat and the app you’re using.
As ever, the update might not hit your headset immediately due to the staggered rollout process, but Facebook says it’s coming.
The Royal Kludge RK84 offers a compact design with wired, Bluetooth and 2.4-Ghz connectivity, and hot-swappable key switches. However, the 2.4-GHz option is nearly unusable and the software is awful.
For
+ Sturdy construction
+ Compact design compared to traditional tenkeyless keyboards
+ Hot-swappable switches
+ Three Bluetooth profiles
+ USB 2.0 passthrough
Against
– 2.4-GHz connection not reliable
– Wired USB cable connection is very loose
– No battery life indicator
– Bad, beta-level software
We live in a tenkeyless world. For a long time, the mechanical keyboard market has been dominated by a few big names—Logitech, Razer, Corsair, etc—building standard full-size keyboards. Then they started embracing tenkeyless form factors and keyboards have continued to shrink. Hell, Razer offers a 60% keyboard now.
There’s also been a rise in keyboards that act as a canvas for your own personal expression. While keyboards from larger companies, including many of the best wireless keyboards, carry their specific design aesthetic, smaller companies offer keyboards that are meant to be changed. The $79.99 Royal Kludge RK84 is one of those models, offering wired and wireless connectivity, a sizable internal battery, a 75% keyboard design, and hot-swappable switches. While most of its key functions work well, RK84’s 2.4-GHz wireless mode suffered from serious interference issues and poor range in our tests, though Bluetooth connectivity was far better. This annoying faux pas makes the RK84 difficult to recommend, though if you can use Bluetooth, it may be worth considering.
Royal Kludge RK84 Specs
Switches
MX-compatible Red, hot-swappable
Lighting
RGB backlighting
Onboard Storage
Yes
Media Keys
Secondary FN keys
Connectivity
USB-C Wired, Bluetooth, 2.4GHz dongle
Cable
5.6 inch USB-A to USB-C cable
Additional Ports
2x USB 2.0 passthrough
Internal Battery
3750mAh
Keycaps
ABS Double Shot
Software
Royal Kludge software
Measurements (LxWxH)
12.5 x 5 x 1.75 inches (315 x 125 x 40mm)
Weight
1.77lbs (803.5g)
Design of Royal Kludge RK84
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Right out of the box, the Royal Kludge RK84 makes a statement about stark simplicity. The entire keyboard is cast in white plastic, with the only breaks being the transparent characters on the keycaps and the black Royal Kludge logo. On the rear, there’s a single USB-C port and two USB-A 2.0 ports; the former is for charging the internal battery and wired connections, while the latter keys are for data and charging other devices.
Because this is a tenkeyless model, the numeric keypad is gone, leaving us with a total of 84 keys. Royal Kludge calls this its 80% keyboard, but the layout is really a 75% model. There’s no space between any of the keys, and the right Ctrl key has been cut in half to make space for a Function key. At 12.5 inches across and 5 inches wide the RK84 is pretty small, but it’s 1.75 inches thick and weighs around 1.77 pounds. That means it has a bit of heft to it, making the overall construction feel solid.
On the underside of the RK84, you’ll find four rubber feet, an on-off switch, the Bluetooth / 2.4-GHz wireless toggle, and a slot for the wireless dongle. The rear feet don’t pop out to change the height of the keyboard. Instead, it comes with two magnetic feet that just snap over the existing feet and add 0.375 inches of height. One problem here is there’s no storage spot for the feet, so if you’re traveling you’ll need to stow them in a separate bag.
The model I reviewed had cloned RK-branded Red switches that mirror the standard Cherry MX Reds, but Royal Kludge also offers Blue and Brown switches as an option. However, the RK84 is built for customization. It comes with a keycap puller and switch puller, in addition to four additional switches. The keycaps are ABS doubleshot keycaps with the familiar cross pattern connector on the bottom. The switches are plate-mounted, 3-pin models, but the board looks to have holes allowing the use of PCB-mounted switches.
That means you can easily order new keycaps and switches and drop them right into the keyboard. Mix and match switch types, add keycaps whose colors reflect your personality. I’d take the RK84 as the starting point, not the final model. Starting with this keyboard, you can hop onto Drop, WASD, KP Republic to pick up new switches or unique keycaps. At the same time, the $79.99 asking price is cheaper than similar models from Ducky One or Vortex, while offering additional features like wireless connectivity. You can also remove the plastic plate surrounding the key to change the RK84 for an embedded key model to a floating key model, depending on your visual preference.
Typing Experience on Royal Kludge RK84
The review unit came with linear Red switches, whereas I tend to do my day-to-day work on the tactile Brown switches. Combined with the learning curve of typing on this 75% model, it was a whole new experience for me. Overall, despite the hot-swappable nature of the switches, they all felt well-seated without a lot of bounce to them.
With the Function key, the F keys double as shortcuts for mail and calculator, or built-in media keys. The Function key also accesses the additional features of the keyboard. Fn plus the up/down arrow raises and lowers the brightness, left/right changes animation speed, Home cycles through the 19 backlighting modes, and End changes color for any of the single-color backlight modes.
Wired and Wireless Connectivity on Royal Kludge RK84
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First up, was testing the keyboard in wired mode. All this requires is hooking the keyboard up with the included 5.6 inch USB-C to USB-A cable. There’s no software needed, as Windows will detect the keyboard automatically. The wired connection was entirely stable with no missed keypresses; in a typing test, my words per minute dropped slightly, but I’m chalking the small gap up to my unfamiliarity with the layout.
The USB-C port or the included cable isn’t sturdy though. I found the cable would pop out occasionally as I moved the keyboard around during testing. It’s worth noting that data and charging on the USB 2.0 port only works in wired mode.
The first wireless mode with the 2.4-GHz dongle is… pretty bad. Initial testing was done on my desktop PC. There, I found the keyboard mostly worked within a range of a foot or two of the dongle, but outside of that, it was a mess of missed keystrokes. This poor performance remained regardless of which USB port I used. It’s one of the worst wireless dongle connections I’ve experienced.
Testing on my laptop was a bit better. Without any other dongles in the laptop, I had a stable connection for up to five feet; after that, I saw the occasional missed keystroke. Adding an active Razer wireless dongle next to it dropped the range down to three to four feet. Even within that range, I found that a large obstacle—in this case, my kitchen counter and sink—caused missed keystrokes as well.
That left the Bluetooth connection. You can pair the keyboard with up to three devices, each accessed via the Function key in combination with Q, W, E. (Long pressing these combinations puts the keyboard into pairing mode.) The distance issues with the 2.4-GHz wireless mode just disappear, making the RK84 a decent choice for a living room keyboard, assuming your device has Bluetooth at all. I found that the keyboard was accurate even a good 14-16 feet away from my testing device. It almost makes me wonder why Royal Kludge added the dongle option at all.
Battery Life
The RK84 has a big honker of a battery, sitting at 3750 mAh. Royal Kludge rates the battery life at 200 hours in 2.4-GHz mode with the backlight off, and a full charge takes 6-7 hours. With a full charge, I ran the RK84 in Bluetooth mode with low-brightness backlighting for a week without dropping to zero. This workhorse will survive a long time.
There are some smaller issues here. There’s no battery indicator, outside of a blinking light on the space bar when the RK84 is at low charge. The software doesn’t even offer an indication of the overall charge level; it’s just a matter of hoping. Also, this is a small nitpick, but I’m surprised that you can’t charge via the USB ports when the keyboard is off or in wireless mode. That would give the RK84 an additional perk. Sadly, that’s not the case. That’s not a knock on the overall device, but a missed opportunity.
Software for Royal Kludge RK84
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This keyboard works entirely without software, but Royal Kludge does have a software configuration suite. That said, it’s a bit low-effort. First, the software has two different versions depending on your keyboard’s serial number, as indicated by an included text file. Second, folks have reported the installer is flagged as malware in some antivirus programs, and it’s not signed in Windows, so you have to approve its installation.
Once you’re in the software itself, there are a good number of configuration options. You can change the key assignments per key, create macros, and change the backlighting. The RGB lighting options include many of the choices that come with built-in keyboard toggles, but you can also change the lighting sleep timer, choose a specific color by RGB value, and even make some custom lighting modes. It’s not as robust an application as Razer Chroma or Logitech G Hub, but the ability is there.
Unfortunately, my experience with it was mixed. Key assignments looked to be saved to the keyboard, working even I connected to another device via Bluetooth. But there’s no way to switch between the profiles via the keyboard itself; it only seems to store the last profile selected on the software. And lighting control is even more spotty. Sometimes a setting would take when I switched devices, while other times it would stay on the default options.
Combine that with the obtuse nature of the software itself—it was hard to tell when I was making a key or lighting assignment—and I’d say you’re probably better off avoiding the software until Royal Kludge improves it. Unless you need to change key assignments, I’d count it as a negative for the overall RK84 experience.
Bottom Line
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On paper, the Royal Kludge RK84 is a winner. A simple design is paired with three connection choices, a larger battery, USB passthrough, and software that allows for further configuration. For customizers, it’s a win with hot-swappable switches and standard keycaps, with a price tag that’s lower than most of the competition. But the 2.4-GHz connection barely works, USB passthrough only works in wired mode, and the software is a miss.
The Royal Kludge tries to offer more for less, but it should ensure that the additional features actually work. Instead, the final product is a series of open questions. If you want a wired or wireless Bluetooth 75% keyboard with software-less RGB lighting configuration and a long battery life, this might be the keyboard for you. But when you step outside of those boundaries, the RK84 falters and stumbles.
The Keychron K2 offers many of the same features at the same price point, with an aluminum body. You can also try the K2’s slimmer sibling, the Keychron K3, for a more low-profile typing experience. Most of the choices from bigger manufacturers—the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini or Asus ROG Falchion—are usually 65% keyboards and are much, much more expensive. It’s just a matter of knowing what you’re getting into here.
For the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo is releasing a Zelda-themed green and gold Game & Watch handheld console with four playable built-in games. You’ll be able to play the first entry in The Legend of Zelda series, followed by its sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The fourth game is the Game & Watch Vermin game, but with Link’s character imposed over the original character. Additionally, it can be used as a digital clock or timer.
The handheld will release on November 12th for $49.99. The previous Game & Watch console released for Mario’s 35th anniversary had three games, including the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and the Game & Watch Ball game.
This version has a similar design and color LCD display found in the Mario version, but it’s unique in that it has a start and select button for navigating the Zelda games. Unless Nintendo changed its strategy, it likely has a USB-C charging port.
Razer announced its first AMD-based gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14, during its E3 keynote. Until now, Razer had been the last major laptop manufacturer that had stuck exclusively with Intel.
Razer is calling the new Blade “the most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop.” And with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and GPU options ranging from an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 up to an RTX 3080 with 8GB of VRAM and a 100W TGP, it could be a strong contender for our
best gaming laptops
list. But admittedly, 14-inches isn’t a very popular size for gaming laptops, which are often 15-inches or larger.
Razer Blade 14
Price
$1,799
$2,199
$2,799
CPU
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (8GB)
Display
1920 x 1080, 144 Hz, AMD FreeSync Premium
2560 x 1440p, 165 Hz, AMD FreeSync Premium
2560 x 1440p, 165 Hz, AMD FreeSync Premium
Memory
16GB DDR4-3200 (soldered)
16GB DDR4-3200 (soldered)
16GB DDR4-3200 (soldered)
Storage
1TB PCIe SSD
1TB PCIe SSD
1TB PCIe SSD
Battery
61.6 WHr
61.6 WHr
61.6 WHr
Dimensions
12.59 x 8.66 x 0.66 inches / 319.7 x 220 x 16.8 mm
12.59 x 8.66 x 0.66 inches / 319.7 x 220 x 16.8 mm
12.59 x 8.66 x 0.66 inches / 319.7 x 220 x 16.8 mm
The company is claiming that, at 16.8 mm (0.66 inches) thin, it is the “thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop.” Like Razer’s other notebooks, the Blade 14 is milled from CNC aluminum with an anodized finish.
To cool those components, Razer is using vapor chamber cooling and what it calls “touchpoint thermal engineering” to keep commonly-touched surfaces, like the WASD keys, from getting too hot.
There are two display options: a
1920 x 1080
screen with a 144 Hz refresh rate, or a 2560 x 1550p panel with a 165 Hz refresh rate. Both use
AMD FreeSync
Premium to eliminate tearing.
For $1,799, you get an RTX 3060 and the FHD display. $2,199 nets you an RTX 3070 with the
QHD
screen, and for $2,799, Razer offers the RTX 3080 with the QHD panel. In every version, you get the same Ryzen 9 5900HX, 16GB of soldered RAM and a 1TB PCie SSD.
(Image credit: Razer)
Ports include two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, HDMI 2.1, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Other features include Wi-Fi 6E support, Bluetooth 5.2, an IR camera to log in with Windows Hello, of course, per-key RGB lighting. The design also includes top-firing speakers tuned by THX, which Razer owns.
As of right now, the Blade 14 will be the only laptop in Razer’s lineup with an AMD processor. The Blade 15, which still exclusively uses Intel chips, remains the flagship notebook. It’s unclear if Razer intends to add the choice of either chip at any point in the future.
Razer is also using E3 to get into the laptop charger market. It announced the Razer USB-C 130W GaN Charger (GaN is short for Gallium Nitride) with two USB-C ports at 100W and two USB-A ports at 12W. It weighs just 349 grams (0.77 pounds) and measures 3,2 x 7.7 x 6.2 mm. It will compete with the best USB-C laptop chargers.
(Image credit: Razer)
The device can charge four devices at a time, including a laptop, though it wouldn’t be enough to power the Blade 14 while gaming. The charger also comes with adapters for global travel. It’s $179.99 and available for pre-order from Razer.com, Razer stores and other retailers. It’s scheduled to ship within 30 days.
Razer only entered the gaming monitor game in 2019, but that first foray into the market quickly earned a spot on our Best Gaming Monitors page. The Razer Raptor 27 stood out with high-level gaming specs and unique details, like cable management channels. The updated, primarily faster Raptor 27 announced today shows the gaming brand isn’t done trying to make its mark in the ultra competitive space.
Razer Raptor 27 Specs
Razer Raptor 27 (2021)
Razer Raptor 27 (2019)
MSRP at Launch
$800
$700
Max Resolution & Refresh Rate
2560 x 1440 @ 165 Hz
2560 x 1440 @ 144 Hz
Adaptive-Sync
Nvidia G-Sync Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium
Nvidia G-Sync Compatible, AMD FreeSync
Response Time
1ms with ultra low motion blur
1ms with ultra low motion blur
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Screen Size / Aspect Ratio
27 inches / 16:9
27 inches / 16:9
Native Color Depth / Gamut
8-bit + FRC / 95% DCI-P3
8-bit + FRC / 95% DCI-P3
I/O
HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
The biggest difference between the original Raptor 27, which Razer confirmed to Tom’s Hardware will still be available, and 2021 Raptor 27 is the refresh rate. Razer is upping the speed from 144 Hz to 165 Hz. While that’s not a big enough boost to warrant an urgent upgrade from current Raptor 27 owners, iit does make the screen a little more competitive as more 360 Hz screens roll out.
Another, more minor, change comes in Adaptive-Sync tech. While the original Raptor 27 fights screen tear with G-Sync Compatibility and standard FreeSync, the new Raptor 27 throws an extra bone at AMD GPU users with a bump to FreeSync Premium. Compared to standard FreeSync, FreeSync Premium adds low framerate compensation.
Razer is also bragging about the 2021 Raptor 27 being the first THX-certified monitor. But Razer has owned THX since 2016, so this isn’t a particularly remarkable “first.” Still, Razer claims the Raptor 27’s certification required “over 400 individual tests to ensure color, tone and images are displayed as their creators intended.”
Just like the 2019 Raptor 27, the 2021 model relies on a 27-inch, 1440p resolution IPS panel that’s specced to cover 95% of the DCI-P3 color space, along with VESA’s lowest-grade certification for HDR performance, VESA DisplayHDR 400.
While there’s no exciting change here, we could see why Razer would want to stick with what works. In our 2019 Raptor 27 review, we recorded 93.39% DCI-P3 coverage with an error of only 0.83 Delta E (dE) after calibration and setting the monitor to 200 nits brightness.
(Image credit: Razor)
The new Raptor 27 also inherits the same design choices that made the original Raptor 27 so attractive. That includes its textured fabric backing and aluminum stand complete with look-at-me green cable management channels around back and a 90-degree tilt. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Razer gaming monitor without a touch of RGB.
Razer’s also updating Synapse to include optimal viewing modes and to let you play with the on-screen display (OSD) the same way you do everything else…via the PC (rather than the monitor’s joystick).
(Image credit: Razor)
The new Raptor 27 is available for pre-order now for $800. Razer also today announced the availability of a VESA adapter for mounting both the 2019 and 2021 Raptor 27 for $100.
Razer has refreshed its minimalist Raptor 27 gaming monitor with FreeSync Premium support with low frame rate compensation for smoother gameplay; a slightly faster 165Hz refresh rate (the previous model topped out at 144Hz); and THX certification claiming to deliver great color, tone, and image accuracy. Like the 2019 version, this one has Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and its matte 27-inch QHD IPS panel covers 95 percent of the DCI-P3 color space.
This monitor will cost $799.99 when it releases in Q3 2021, which is $100 more than the previous version. The improvements make it at least worth considering if you want to game on PC with enhanced variable refresh rate tech. That, and Razer’s Raptor 27 is tough to beat when it comes to design, with its sturdy aluminum base that lets the monitor flip 90 degrees for easy cable management. It’s undoubtedly a high price to pay, though, when some 4K gaming monitors cost just a little more. For $899, Acer’s Nitro XV28 has a 28-inch 4K IPS screen with HDMI 2.1 ports that support up to fast 120Hz refresh rate gaming on PC or the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Razer now offers a VESA adapter for this Raptor 27 and the previous model. If you want to abandon the base that comes with the monitor, this adapter (also releasing in Q3 2021) costs $100 and will let you mount the Raptor 27 to a monitor arm or some other VESA base that you might prefer. This would have been a pretty appealing accessory to include with the refreshed monitor, particularly given that the new monitor also costs $100 more, but alas. There’s a good chance you might want to use the standard Chroma LED-lined base anyway.
The optional VESA adapter will let you mount the Raptor 27 to a monitor arm or a different stand.
Outside of the tweaks I mentioned earlier, not much else is different here. The ports haven’t changed with this update. It still comes with an HDMI 2.0b port, a DisplayPort v1.4 port, a USB-C port with DisplayPort support, two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 passthrough ports, and a headphone jack.
Charge up to four devices at once, with 130W of power to split.
Razer has another E3 announcement, but it has little to do with gaming: it’s a $179.99 GaN charger that can supply up to 130W of total power. It’s worth noting that its two USB-C ports support up to 100W (not 130W as the name might seem to suggest), and the two USB Type-A ports can pull 18W each. If you have multiple devices plugged in at once, it’ll share the wattage between them, totaling up to 130W. The charger comes with some global adapters included, so it might be a good option for traveling, depending on where you’re going.
Razer’s GaN charger isn’t the only 100W option on the market. There’s HyperJuice’s similar-looking $100 charger, for one, and that company also made these inventive 65W and 100W GaN chargers that can be stacked for more power and more ports. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a faster USB-C charger than 100W, but that could change in the future, as the new USB-C Release 2.1 spec supports up to 240W charging. Though, in the meantime, it won’t take much effort to find a more affordable GaN charger than Razer’s.
Razer has refreshed its minimalist Raptor 27 gaming monitor with FreeSync Premium support with low frame rate compensation for smoother gameplay; a slightly faster 165Hz refresh rate (the previous model topped out at 144Hz); and THX certification claiming to deliver great color, tone, and image accuracy. Like the 2019 version, this one has Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and its matte 27-inch QHD IPS panel covers 95 percent of the DCI-P3 color space.
This monitor will cost $799.99 when it releases in Q3 2021, which is $100 more than the previous version. The improvements make it at least worth considering if you want to game on PC with enhanced variable refresh rate tech. That, and Razer’s Raptor 27 is tough to beat when it comes to design, with its sturdy aluminum base that lets the monitor flip 90 degrees for easy cable management. It’s undoubtedly a high price to pay, though, when some 4K gaming monitors cost just a little more. For $899, Acer’s Nitro XV28 has a 28-inch 4K IPS screen with HDMI 2.1 ports that support up to fast 120Hz refresh rate gaming on PC or the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Razer now offers a VESA adapter for this Raptor 27 and the previous model. If you want to abandon the base that comes with the monitor, this adapter (also releasing in Q3 2021) costs $100 and will let you mount the Raptor 27 to a monitor arm or some other VESA base that you might prefer. This would have been a pretty appealing accessory to include with the refreshed monitor, particularly given that the new monitor also costs $100 more, but alas. There’s a good chance you might want to use the standard Chroma LED-lined base anyway.
The optional VESA adapter will let you mount the Raptor 27 to a monitor arm or a different stand.
Outside of the tweaks I mentioned earlier, not much else is different here. The ports haven’t changed with this update. It still comes with an HDMI 2.0b port, a DisplayPort v1.4 port, a USB-C port with DisplayPort support, two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 passthrough ports, and a headphone jack.
Charge up to four devices at once, with 130W of power to split.
Razer has another E3 announcement, but it has little to do with gaming: it’s a $179.99 GaN charger that can supply up to 130W of total power. It’s worth noting that its two USB-C ports support up to 100W (not 130W as the name might seem to suggest), and the two USB Type-A ports can pull 18W each. If you have multiple devices plugged in at once, it’ll share the wattage between them, totaling up to 130W. The charger comes with some global adapters included, so it might be a good option for traveling, depending on where you’re going.
Razer’s GaN charger isn’t the only 100W option on the market. There’s HyperJuice’s similar-looking $100 charger, for one, and that company also made these inventive 65W and 100W GaN chargers that can be stacked for more power and more ports. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a faster USB-C charger than 100W, but that could change in the future, as the new USB-C Release 2.1 spec supports up to 240W charging. Though, in the meantime, it won’t take much effort to find a more affordable GaN charger than Razer’s.
Gaming peripheral company Turtle Beach announced at E3 2021 that it’s getting into a new product category: flight sim hardware. The company is launching the VelocityOne Flight system for $350, and it’s compatible with PC and Xbox consoles via USB. And, for a first effort in this competitive space, it seems like a very comprehensive offering and a decent value if you’re into playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
The VelocityOne Flight was made in collaboration with aeronautical engineers and pilots to provide a realistic flight experience. It has a 180-degree yoke handle with rear rudder controls for easy access. To its right, there’s a modular throttle quadrant with an integrated trim wheel, as well as both vernier-style and lever controls (with swappable tops for prop and jet planes). All in all, Turtle Beach says the VelocityOne Flight features 12 analog axes, two POV switches, two four-way HAT switches, and 18 extra buttons that can be mapped to your liking.
In addition to controls, this hardware includes a 3.5mm jack on its left side for private listening. To deepen immersion (and to avoid having to push multiple buttons when you just want to fly and chill) the yoke has a display that can show stats like flight time, time at destination, and more. There’s a panel that can show other indicators, like real-time alerts, landing lights, landing gear, and more (though Turtle Beach says some of these features will be added later by software and firmware updates). This hardware doesn’t feature force feedback or rumble.
A zoomed-in look at the POV and HAT switches.
CEO Juergen Stark said in a press release that this hardware “provides everything a new flier needs, along with the capability and features that hardcore flight simmers want.” In case you were curious, Turtle Beach says this hardware will work with other flight simulators — not just Microsoft’s latest one that’s available now on PC and coming later to console on July 27th. This hardware has a release window targeted for the summer.
The company is also releasing its first traditional controller for the Xbox Series X / S called the Recon Controller. It’s an intimidating-looking $60 wired model, and what makes it special is its audio chops. If you plug any set of headphones into its 3.5mm jack, you can turn on mic monitoring and swap through audio presets to modify how your game sounds. You’ll also have the option to use Turtle Beach’s Superhuman Hearing feature usually found in its own headsets, which amplifies easy-to-miss sounds that might give you the edge in a game. There are also buttons to adjust the game and chat audio mixes.
In addition, the sensitivity of the analog sticks can be tweaked and different profiles can be saved to one of the controller’s mappable quick-action buttons located on the rear. Its directional pad supports eight-way input, and its 10-foot braided cable is attached via USB-C to the controller. It’s also coming out sometime this summer.
Beats today announced its second pair of true wireless earbuds, the new Beats Studio Buds. Priced at $149.99 and available in red, black, or white, the Studio Buds have a much different, more compact design than the previous Powerbeats Pro. There are no ear hooks on these, nor any stems, and that results in a very lightweight, comfortable fit. Preorders start today in the US and Canada from Apple and other retailers like Amazon and Best Buy, and the earbuds will be available in stores on June 24th.
The Studio Buds include active noise cancellation, IPX4 water and sweat resistance, and can last for up to five hours on a charge. (If you leave noise cancellation off, they can eke out eight hours of continuous playback. They also use USB-C for charging — there’s no wireless charging, unfortunately — and either earbud can be used independently.
The Studio Buds have a sleek, lightweight design.Image: Beats
Interestingly, Beats is supporting both iOS and Android features with the Studio Buds. On iPhone, you get the familiar, easy AirPods-like setup and Control Center integration. They can also do hands-free “Hey Siri” commands. On Android, Beats now works with Fast Pair and Google’s Find My Device features.
Beats came up with an all-new acoustic architecture design for the Studio Buds, which have 8.2-millimeter drivers, and the company claims you can expect “outstanding stereo separation and low harmonic distortion across the frequency curve so you hear every note.”
If you’re wondering how the Studio Buds might stack up to the AirPods Pro or other competitors, I’ve been spending some time testing the just-announced earbuds, and you can read my full review of the Beats Studio Buds here.
Razer has launched the Opus X, over-ear Bluetooth headphones with noise-cancelling for just £100 ($100, AU$169.95).
Best known for its gaming laptops and peripherals, Razer branched out into gaming audio last year with the THX-certified Opus headphones. The new Opus X are half the launch price of their older sibling, with a similar spec and design, while including Razer’s low-latency ‘Gaming Mode’, which reduces latency over Bluetooth 5 to 60 milliseconds. It’s a technology featured in other Razer headphones but not in the original Opus.
The Opus X has four microphones, two for voice calls and two for active noise cancellation technology. There is a multifunction button on the rim of the right ear cup that lets you quickly toggle between ANC and ‘Quick Attention’ mode to let in more ambient sound.
Each 40mm driver is housed in a rotatable circumaural ear cup with plush leatherette ear cushions for added comfort. Unlike the original Opus, there’s no auto-pause/play feature for when you remove and replace the headphones. There’s also no mini-jack connection, just a USB-C port for charging. Stated battery life is a healthy 30 hours with ANC and up to 40 hours with ANC off.
This Razer Opus X headphones are available now, come in three colours — green, quartz and mercury – and cost £100 ($100, AU$169.95).
MORE
Best wireless noise-cancelling headphones
Best gaming headsets: great sound for PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4 and Xbox One
PS5 vs Xbox Series X: specs, power, features, pricing and controllers compared
(Pocket-lint) – Audeze is a big name in high-end audio – it specialises in planar magnetic headphones that get up to eye-watering prices. However, it’s also recently been making strides in gaming, with more and more headsets coming to its line-up.
Best PS5 and PS4 headset: Superb Playstation gaming headphones
The company’s first wireless console headset comes in the form of the Penrose, available in two versions for PlayStation or Xbox users, and we’ve been using it day in, day out for a number of weeks to see if it lives up to Audeze’s lofty reputation.
Design
Removable microphone
Memory foam pads
320g weight
The Penrose might come from a premium heritage, but it’s actually fairly unremarkable to look at – calling it generic would be far too harsh, but there’s not much here to catch your eye. That could also be spun as subtlety, of course.
Pocket-lint
We’ve been using the PlayStation version, which features blue accents around each earcup – the the only splash of colour on an otherwise grey and black design. If you pick the Xbox model then these are bright green instead. It’s all very on brand.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with a headset that doesn’t look over-the-top. The Penrose also has plenty of neat touches up its sleeve. For one, the all-important microphone can be removed when you’re not using it. That’s not quite as helpful as a retractable or stowable microphone that you can’t therefore lose, but it’s still appreciated.
Best Xbox headsets: Superb headphones for Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One
There’s also a manual mute switch on one earcup, positioned just above the main power button, in case you want to remove your voice from a chat that way. Holding this button turns the Penrose on, and it’ll quickly connect to the included dongle if its plugged into your console or PC. This connection is solid and reliable even if you wander off to grab a drink in a next-door room – although its range isn’t endless.
One the same earcup you also find two dials: one for the master volume; another to adjust your microphone’s pickup – which is a good pairing for on-the-fly adjustments if you’re in party chat while you game. It’s a little hard to be sure which one you’re touching at first, but you’ll get used to it.
Pocket-lint
A huge part of any headset’s success is in the wearing, though, and here the Penrose doesn’t quite excel. It’s not the lightest headset we’ve used, and has a noticeably tight fit that can feel a little clamp-like on your head. After a few dozen hours of wearing it, though, this has abated somewhat, and we’re now finding it comfortable to wear for hours at a time. That’s most likely helped by the memory foam in its cushioning.
While it might not look particularly astonishing, then, the Penrose is obviously built to a high standard, and feels really sturdy, too. Fragile headsets are a menace on your wallet, so it’s good to know that you’re paying for quality. We just wish it was a little more comfortable from the off.
Sound quality
100mm planar magnetic drivers
Dual 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity
Wired connection also available
If its design is straightforward, Audeze is extremely proud of its headset’s raw sound quality. It’s here the Penrose does a solid job of matching the hype once you drop into a game.
Steelseries celebrates its 20th anniversary, a legacy of glory
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The drivers Audeze use are planar magnetic ones – which makes for lightning-fast reponse times and little to no distortion. That means whether you’re caught in a huge bassy explosion or if a soundtrack is full of intricate high-end notes you’ll find it easy to pick it all out accurately.
In more mundane terms, it means that the Penrose is in the top grade of headsets we’ve tried when it comes to competitive environments – for example, being able to pick out the famously inconsistent footstep sounds in Call of Duty: Warzone. Its sound is clear and doesn’t rely on too much bass, making for a really enjoyable experience.
When you use it in a native PS5 game, this is all the more impressive. Resident Evil Village, for example, was frankly a bit too terrifying, with the Penrose reproducing the game’s 3D audio absolutely brilliantly.
Pocket-lint
Another key facet in this performance is the closed-back design, which is one of the most isolating we’ve tried on a gaming headset – even with no sound playing, you’re kind-of ‘closed in’ nicely. There’s no active noise cancellation (ANC) to be found, but we nonetheless felt entirely immersed.
You have the option to connect via Bluetooth to other devices, too, if you prefer, and there’s also a 3.5mm jack in case you run out of battery and need to go old-school, which is again a useful fall-back.
Battery life is stated at 15 hours, but we found that we struggled to make it that far before running into the need to charge via USB-C. That’s not a terrible standard, but it’s equally outclassed by plenty of more affordable options.
Finally, we turn to the microphone – a key feature for anyone looking to play online with friends. The good news is that it’s an impressive one, with clear and accurate pickup.
Pocket-lint
The included wind-muffler is an extra that helps with ensuring your breathing isn’t picked up, but even without it you should be fine. That said, you might find that you hear your own breath, even if the headset isn’t transmitting that through to your chat, which can occasionally be distracting – but is also fixable by tweaking your pickup level manually.
Verdict
If your core concern is sound quality, at the expense of anything else, the Audeze Penrose is mightily persuasive and will make a great investment.
However, on factors like comfort and battery life it’s outclassed by a lot of other headsets that we’ve tried, including many that are around half of its price – and these options don’t exactly sound terrible either.
So while the Penrose has offered some of the best sound we’ve experience from a console – especially over a wireless connection and with 3D audio truly immersing us – that makes it one to think hard about before you take the pluge.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Steelseries Arctis 7P
If you want a PlayStation headset that’s extremely comfortable to wear and still sounds extremely solid (though it can’t compete with the Penrose), this option from Steelseries is a winner. It’s nearly half the price of Audeze’s effort, but we prefer its design and it’s like a cloud to wear over multiple hours.
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Pocket-lint
EPOS GSP 370
Alternatively, if you want to bring the budget down even further but your main concern is having enormous battery life, this option from EPOS is almost baffling on the battery front. It offers a mind-boggling 80 hours between charges, which is perfect for forgetful types who don’t want to charge after every session.
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Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe.
The number of keystrokes we record in a day is huge. From messaging apps to coding or writing that next novel, the sheer number of key presses is hard to calculate. But what if we could save a little time and our aching joints by creating a shortcut keypad?
Pimoroni’s Keybow 2040 is a 16-key keyboard which can be programmed in CircuitPython to act as a USB keyboard. Each single key can be programmed to launch an application, control audio levels, switch scenes in OBS or paste funny cat pictures to Twitter.
In this how-to, we will set up Keybow 2040 to be a general purpose keyboard with page navigation keys, OBS shortcuts and two hot keys to launch common applications.
Our shortcut keyboard was designed to scratch an itch. To augment our existing keyboard, and add extra features such as OBS scene switching and application launchers. Your layout will be a reflection of your needs, so use this guide as a foundation from which to build a personalized layout.
For This Project You Will Need
A Pimoroni Keybow 2040
Setting Up Your Keybow 2040
Pimoroni has a full guide on how to set up your Keybow 2040, and the build process is fantastically simple, requiring only a screwdriver and a few minutes of effort. Keybow 2040 comes with CircuitPython and all of the necessary libraries pre-installed. Should you need to install CircuitPython and the libraries, then Pimoroni has a tutorial that you can follow.
Rather than use the included keycaps we sourced some MX compatible caps from a spare keyboard. We then placed the caps on the keyboard to our desired layout.
The top row is basic navigation, home, arrow up, end and page up. The second row is the remaining arrow keys, and page down. Third row controls our volume, up and down, launches the screenshot tool and opens a terminal / command prompt. The final row is reserved for OBS, moving between four scenes. Obviously, if you’re trying this at home, you can use whatever keycaps you want and assign them to whatever functions you want, whether that’s launching an app, performing an action in a program like OBS or controlling media playback.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Keybow 2040 uses a numbering system which sees key 0 at the bottom left of the board, and key 15 at the top right. When using the Keybow CircuitPython library we will use these numbers to set up what each key will do, and how it will light up.
Programming Your Keybow 2040 Shortcut Keys
The code for this project is written in CircuitPython which is very similar to MicroPython and Python 3.
1. Connect your Keybow 2040 to your computer via a USB-C cable. A new device, CIRCUITPY will appear.
2. Using your preferred editor, open code.py found in the CIRCUITPY drive. We recommend Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code, Thonny or Mu code editors.
3. Delete any text in the file.
4. Import four libraries. The first is board, which enables us to use the GPIO on the RP2040 chip. The second is Keybow2040 which is an abstraction to make controlling the Keybow 2040 easier. Import time to control the pace of the code. Finally import usb_hid which will allow us to send keyboard shortcuts as if we had a USB keyboard.
import board
from keybow2040 import Keybow2040
import time
import usb_hid
5. Import three libraries to enable Keybow 2040 to act as a keyboard, with a US layout, and enable keystrokes to be generated by code.
from adafruit_hid.keyboard import Keyboard
from adafruit_hid.keyboard_layout_us import KeyboardLayoutUS
from adafruit_hid.keycode import Keycode
6. Import two libraries that will enable the Keybow 2040 to send Consume Control codes, typically used for media keys.
from adafruit_hid.consumer_control_code import ConsumerControlCode
from adafruit_hid.consumer_control import ConsumerControl
7. Keybow uses I2C to communicate with the RP2040. We need to tell the code that we are using I2C, and create an object keybow that we can easily reference. Then we use that object to create another object, keys which makes interacting with the keyboard much easier.
8. Create three objects, keyboard, used to create a USB human interface device (HID) and layout which sets the keyboard to use a US layout. The third object is consumer and enables us to send special key presses, typically assigned to media keys such as volume control.
9. Create two lists: default and wasd. These lists will store the key numbers that will later be used to light specific keys. As you may have guessed, wasd refers to movement keys, in our case they map to the cursor keys.
10. Create a loop to constantly run the main code.
while True:
11. Inside the forever loop create a for loop that will iterate through the default list, setting the LED for each numbered key to green. Each time the for loop iterates, the value of i changes to the next item in the list, from 0 to 1,3…15. Note that Keybow 2040 uses G R B (Green, Red, Blue) LEDs so bright green is 255,0,0.
or i in default:
keybow.keys[i].set_led(255,0,0)
12. Create another for loop. This time to set the color of the cursor keys to red, so we can easily locate them.
for i in wasd:
keybow.keys[i].set_led(0,255,0)
13. Use a conditional test to check if a key is pressed. The first key is key 0, located in the bottom left corner. When this key is pressed we want it to press the SHIFT + A keys, releases the keys, then light the key red for 0.1 seconds. This shortcut changes scenes in OBS when we present The Pi Cast show.
if keys[0].pressed:
keyboard.send(Keycode.SHIFT, Keycode.A)
keybow.keys[0].set_led(0, 255, 0)
keyboard.release_all()
time.sleep(0.1)
14. Set a condition for key 1, located one key up from the bottom left. When this key is pressed it sets all of the LEDs to purple (red and blue mixed) then sends a media key command to lower (decrement) the volume. The keys are released and a short sleep reduces the risk of key debouncing. Repeat this process for all of the keys that you wish to map. If you need a template, the complete code for this project is at the bottom of this how to.
15. Key 9 on the keypad has a PrtSc keycap, and this key will trigger the Windows Snipping Tool. Configure this key to set all of the LEDs blue when pressed, and then we instruct CircuitPython to press three keys at once. These keys are Control, ALT and P. We then release the keys, and pause the code for a moment.
16. Repeat the conditional process for all 16 keys. The process of identifying a key and setting the actions to be taken when it is pressed are repeated for all sixteen keys. The final key is key 15 (we started at 0) and when this key is pressed it sets all the LEDs to blue, then sends a Page Up key press before releasing the keys and pausing for a moment.
17. In order to keep keybow looking for input we need to tell it to update at the end of each loop. If this is missing, the code will not work as expected.
keybow.update()
Save the code.py file and Keybow 2040 will restart and run your code, in a few seconds you can press the keys and make short work of most tasks but we still have a little work to do.
Adding Keyboard Shortcuts to Launch Windows Apps
If you’re using Windows, you’ll need to create keyboard shortcuts so that when you hit one of the keys on the keypad, the OS knows to launch a program such as the Snipping Tool (for pressing the Prtsrc key on our keypad) or the CMD prompt after we hit the Terminal key on our keypad. Note that Windows’ built-in keyboard shortcut method wants CTRL+ALT + [a letter or number] so the Prtsrc key on our keypad will actually be firing CTRL+ALT + P, for example. Repeat these steps for any keyboard keys that launch programs.
1. Search for the app (ex: “snipping tool”) in the Windows search box. Don’t launch it.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Right click on the program icon and select “Open File Location”
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
3. Right click on the l shortcut icon and select “Properties.”
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Click on the Shortcut Key field and enter the keyboard combo (CTRL + ALT + P in our case for Prtsrc). This will set the shortcut key for that command which matches the code for that key.
Setting Up OBS Shortcut Keys
To set up OBS shortcuts we need to open OBS, and then click on Settings >> Hotkeys to assign a keypress to a Scene.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Complete Code Listing
Note that this code includes shortcuts for all 16 keys, which you may want to use for different functions in your project.
It may look like the unlikely outcome of teleportation experiment involving a Sega Bass Fishing controller and a Game Boy Micro, but Playdate is a tiny, handheld games console with a novel form of input.
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(Image credit: Panic)
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(Image credit: Panic)
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(Image credit: Panic)
In case this is your first contact with the boxy yellow machine, it’s an extremely low-powered attempt to bring bite-sized games to a dedicated system instead of a cellphone. The crank on the side is a gameplay tool, and doesn’t charge the system or act as a Van de Graff generator. The only hair-raising will, hopefully, come from the games.
The specs are lower than a Raspberry Pi Zero W, but much more than a Raspberry Pi Pico. Playdate is powered by an Arm Cortex M7 CPU running at just 180MHz, 16MB of RAM, 4GB of flash (up from an initial 2GB), and a 2.7-inch, 400 × 240 1-bit Sharp Memory LCD that creates images in pure black and white, no shades of gray which means dithering is required to add texture and tone to a game. The screen lacks a backlight, relying on the reflective nature of the screen to illuminate your games. Anyone who had a Game Boy will be familiar with these principles, as the reflective screen and dithered graphics were part of Nintendo’s classic handheld. There’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board, along with a headphone jack and a USB-C port for charging.
US software publisher Panic Inc. (that recently moved into games with titles like Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game) and Swedish industrial designer Teenage Engineering are the brains behind this quirky and interesting device.
Games, which are being made by the likes of Bennett Foddy, Zach Gage and Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, will arrive as a ‘season’, with 24 (recently doubled from 12) of them delivered wirelessly to the handheld, two a week, for no extra charge. The platform is open source and will allow games that aren’t part of an official ‘season’ to be side-loaded. An SDK will be available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS, which will include a simulator and debugger, and will be compatible with the C and Lua programming languages.
In an in-depth interview with Edge magazine, reproduced by Gamesradar+, Panic Inc. co-founder Cabel Sasser describes the device’s inception: “The first question from the CEO was, ‘Do you really think anyone’s going to buy this?’ I was like, ‘I’m not sure. But it’s something we really want to do, if you can help?’ And then the consultants were like, ‘It’s going to cost you, bare minimum, a couple million bucks to even remotely get this thing off the ground.’”
The pre-order price has recently been raised (hence the increase in specs and number of games) and currently sits at $179. Pre-orders begin in July from play.date.
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