Gaming can be fun. However, it demands a lot of brainstorming and quick execution. This brings us to the importance of a good gaming keyboard in the life of a gamer. It is believed that a great gaming keyboard does more than produce satisfying clickety-clacks. The right gaming keyboard can supercharge your fingertips as you plan your next move. Well, a plethora of features, sizes, and price help gamers in distinguishing between the best of the best gaming keyboards. Are you an aspiring gamer who is looking for a gaming keyboard? Or are you somebody who has already proved his mettle in the gaming industry and to progress further, you need a new weapon of a keyboard? We got your back! Today, Cybertech is here with yet another blog on some of the best and most affordable gaming keyboards that one gets to choose for 2023. Before you say, “game on!”, scroll down.

Features to consider before buying a gaming keyboard

Today, tons and tons of keyboards are available in the market. However, choosing the one that suits you and powers up your game can be a daunting task. Here is a list of features that one should look out for before settling for a high-end gaming keyboard:

• What’s its size?

Generally, keyboards come in full-size or Tenkeyless. The size of the keyboard depends upon your comfort level. If you want a numbers pad on your keyboard then you’ll need a full-size keyboard. If you are looking for something that is much smaller and fits that cool gaming desk of yours well, then the Tenkeyless keyboard is the one for you. It allows you to keep your mouse closer as the Tenkeyless keyboard does not have a numbers pad.  

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• Watch out for the keyboard technology.

There are two main technologies that computers use to operate: Membrane and Mechanical keys. Gamers prefer mechanical keyboards over Membrane due to their speed, durability, N-key rollover support, and minimizing ghosting. In mechanical keyboards, the actuation force stays consistent, making it easy for you to be precise in keystrokes. In a membrane keyboard, the actuation force is variable. Hence, these are much more comfortable on the fingers. If you have a habit of pushing keys firmly, you can go for membrane keyboards.  

• And that’s called a “quality build”.

A gamer, especially one employed in one of the top game development companies in India, can make a lot of damage to the keyboard from repeated and forceful keypresses. Therefore, it is important that all the keyboard parts are of high quality.  The keycaps are made out of either PBT plastic or ABS plastic. Gamers prefer PBT keycaps because they are more resistant to solvents, don’t get glossy, are physically stronger, and can withstand temperatures up to 150 degrees Celsius. However, some high-end keyboards can have ABS plastic because they have a thin layer of plastic allowing the keyboard backlight to be more bright, vibrant, and even.  

•   Wired or wireless?

Keyboards are either wireless or wired. Wireless keyboards use radio frequencies like Bluetooth for connectivity whereas wired keyboards are directly connected to your computer via cable. A wireless keyboard allows free movement but requires recharging batteries. You may see light input lag in a wireless keyboard whereas there is no such problem with a wired keyboard. You just need a little cable management with a wired keyboard. 

• Look for the N- Key rollover.

N-key rollover registers each keypress accurately and in the right order, no matter how many keys you have pressed at the same time. N-key rollover can come with mechanical keyboards as each key is separated and recognized by the operating system.  

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• Hail the anti-ghosting feature!

Make sure that your gaming keyboard has an anti-ghosting feature built in. Ghosting is when the computer registers all the incorrect keys instead of the ones you pressed. When you’re using more than one key simultaneously, it registers the nearby keys you may have slightly touched. Therefore, anti-ghosting is a must for a gamer.  

• Choose your backlight.

It may come as a surprise to you that all gaming keyboards do not come with a backlight. The ones that do come with a backlight, come in two variants - RGB backlighting or single backlighting. A single-color backlight lights up the keys in a single color whereas an RGB backlight is in multiple colors. 

So, these were a handful of features that one must consider before buying a gaming keyboard. To make things easy for you, below are some of the best gaming keyboards that come at affordable prices and are bound to make your gaming experience worthwhile.

Affordable gaming keyboards

We have compiled a comprehensive list of economical gaming keyboards for you that can help you in elevating your gaming experience. Scroll down and read!

• Keychron K2

The Keychron K2 redefines affordability for wireless gaming keyboards. It comes with a decent overall build quality, and the triple device connectivity definitely makes short work of switching devices or locations throughout the working day. As for backlighting, there are four levels of lighting to choose from, and a load of standard lighting effects. It's nicely vibrant and crisp and offsets the darker keycap coloring nicely, but it's a little bit of a pain having to cycle through all the presets to get to the static lighting mode. And with the battery at a 4000mAh capacity, the K2 can go the distance with or without backlighting. You’ll get 68 hours with full lighting and 240 hours without, meaning you can go weeks without touching the charging cable—that's USB Type-C in case you were wondering. All in all though, if you’re looking for an entry-level mechanical and affordable keyboard, this is a good choice, especially if you’re working from home and using multiple devices. That's not even considering its wireless capability, which really feels like the icing on the cake of the already impressive Keychron K2.

• Mountain Everest 60

The Mountain Everest 60 is just as fickle as the competition, just as cute, and has all the enthusiast keyboard extras you could want, but crucially has the total utility to be your daily driver of a keyboard. If you're still rocking a NumPad on the right-hand side of your gaming keyboard then you're just plain doing it wrong. The key benefit of a smaller keyboard is that your mouse and WSAD hands are closer together, and switching the NumPad to the left means you still get to use the extra buttons and the extra desktop real estate for your gaming rodent. The tiny right shift key does take some getting used to, but the addition of the cursor keys makes a huge difference to the overall utility of the Everest 60. But that's not the only reason I've fallen in love with the board, however: this thing just oozes quality. If you're still rocking a NumPad on the right-hand side of your gaming keyboard then you're just plain doing it wrong. It's easily the best typing experience I've ever had and is a real joy to use. The base of the keyboard has a layer of silicone inside it, to add weight and dampen the sound, but then there are also two layers of foam, on either side of the PCB, to again improve the aural experience. Being available at an affordable rate, Mountain has used genuine Cherry stabilizers on the board and has made sure they're fitted and lubed properly for the Everest 60 to ensure there's no rattle on even the broad spacebar. 

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• Logitech G915 Lightspeed

Looking for a good wireless keyboard? Congratulations, your search ends here. Macro functionality has been shifted to a secondary program of the Function keys, which can be flipped via the Logitech G gaming software in order to prioritize macro functionality in which case the Fn key will revert F1-12 back to the original input. There are some smart media controls in the upper right-hand corner of the board, including a volume wheel that feels great to twizzle, and there's a handful of macro keys down the left side of the keyboard. These can be programmed to whatever you see fit on a per-app or per-game basis within the Logitech G software. Beneath that stylish exterior lies fantastically responsive Kailh-made GL key switches. You can pick from linear, tactile, or clicky, and we recommend the latter if you really want to make a racket. It packs in all this without a massive overall footprint, too, coming in as one of the sleeker and one of the most affordable boards of the lot today. 

• Wooting Two HE

The Wooting Two HE looks decent, but it doesn't appear all too different from the mechanical gaming keyboards we've come to know. In fact, it's a little more boring than most in appearance, with some nowadays taking 'extra' to a whole new level. This one has a trick up its sleeve, though: analog action. What this means is if you depress a key, say the W key, rather than send a simple on/off signal to your PC, the keyboard will measure the full range of that key's motion. This is especially useful in games that blend gameplay that best suits both analog and digital inputs on a regular basis, such as Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA V, or Mass Effect. The keyboard is solid, well-built, and comes with a two-year warranty. If a switch breaks, you can swap it out, as the board itself is hot-swappable. That's one benefit of there not really being all that many mechanical moving parts with a magnetic Lekker switch, and another is that there's less to break in the first place. If you want heaps of customizability, then this is the gaming keyboard for you.