REVIEW: GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional Neon Graffiti keyboard: Cyberpunk model meets premium construct

Keyboards are a kind of stuff you take a look at each single day, but numerous them are kinda boring. Black slab, RGB lights, perhaps a emblem in case you’re fortunate. Certain, there are many methods to customize keyboards and get one thing actually cool, however that often depends on you doing many of the work: buying new keycaps and placing them on.

Then there are those that come totally kitted out, however they solely look nice and don’t usually perform properly as a result of they aren’t made or designed by gaming corporations.

The GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional Neon Graffiti is the precise reverse of all this.

This keyboard seems to be prefer it was pulled straight out of a cyberpunk workshop or straight out of a online game. It’s half gaming peripheral, half industrial sculpture, and half avenue artwork. When you’re constructing a setup that leans right into a futuristic aesthetic, this doesn’t simply slot in… it turns into the centrepiece.

And after spending a while with it on my desk, it’s clear the design isn’t only for present.

A keyboard that appears like artwork

GravaStar has constructed a popularity for creating tech that appears prefer it belongs in a sci-fi movie. The Neon Graffiti version of the V75 Professional pushes this model ideology even additional.

The aluminium body is roofed in graffiti-style paintings that genuinely feels hand-painted. There’s texture to it, not only a flat printed graphic. Operating your hand throughout the floor, you may really feel the paint layers, which makes the keyboard really feel extra like a customized piece than a mass-produced accent.

Dwelling in Melbourne, it truly jogs my memory numerous the town’s well-known laneways. The colors, the layered graffiti aesthetic, the marginally chaotic inventive vibe. The keyboard feels proper at house on my desk, which is my artistic workspace.

Every unit is individually numbered as properly, giving it a little bit of that collectible attraction.

When you’re somebody who likes a minimal desk, this most likely isn’t for you. But when your setup leans towards cyberpunk, RGB, and character, it completely matches the vibe.

Premium construct and surprisingly heavy

The very first thing you discover when selecting up the keyboard is the load. The GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional isn’t a light-weight plastic gaming keyboard. It’s heavy, strong, and feels extremely properly constructed because of the aluminium development. That weight helps hold it planted firmly on the desk whereas typing or gaming. Fortunately the load doesn’t matter, actually it helps. You don’t need your keyboard transferring round throughout your desk like a mouse. You may’t go selecting it up on a regular basis like a controller. This strong construct and heavy weight at 1.71kg means you aren’t worrying about it transferring. In any respect.

Even the small particulars are fascinating.

The keyboard consists of funky leg stands that seem like one thing from a mech robotic, and the stepped key design means the again row sits barely greater than the entrance. It’s a delicate design change, nevertheless it feels actually pure when typing, and appears nice too.

Cyberpunk lighting carried out proper

RGB lighting is all over the place as of late, however the GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional does it in a means that basically enhances the design.

The keyboard options per-key RGB lighting, however the true spotlight is the aspect lighting that runs alongside the sides of the body. It offers the keyboard an ambient glow on the desk, which works superbly with the graffiti paint and industrial design. You all know I really like RGB and this one has positively caught my consideration. I nearly need to hold it as my fundamental keyboard… nearly. Learn on for extra.

There are additionally clear keycaps alongside the underside row, permitting the lighting to shine by in a means that provides to the futuristic look.

Even higher, your lighting profiles are saved instantly on the keyboard. Which means you may plug it into one other laptop and your customized results and settings include it.

A mechanical keyboard your coworkers gained’t hate

Regardless of being a mechanical keyboard, the sound profile is surprisingly refined.

The keys are tactile and satisfying, however they don’t produce the loud clacking that always annoys everybody round you in an workplace surroundings. The audio controls additionally deserve a point out. The amount dial has a delicate, clicky tactile really feel that makes adjusting audio satisfying with out being overly loud. It’s a kind of small interplay particulars that you find yourself utilizing continuously.

A small display with a easy objective

One uncommon characteristic is the small LCD display on the keyboard.

Sadly, it’s not customisable (sure I already tried), nevertheless it does function a standing indicator for displaying when CAPS lock is enabled/disabled.

It’s a pleasant contact visually, though it does really feel like a missed alternative for deeper customisation.

Compact format takes getting used to

When you’ve learn a few of my latest critiques, you understand I’m an absolute sucker for RGB. And I actually love the cyberpunk vibes this keyboard is throwing off. You may also know, there’s one factor I actually love, and that’s a full-sized keyboard. I at all times need entry to each key, numpad included.

The GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional makes use of a 75% keyboard format, which retains issues compact whereas nonetheless retaining most keys. Sure, it’s larger than the 60% that numerous gaming keyboards are going for, and let’s be trustworthy, if it’s simply gaming you need then 60-75% is greater than sufficient.

However me, I should have a full-size keyboard. I’m not simply enjoying video games, I’m working too. Accessing the numpad is a non-negotiable for me. I additionally discovered myself sometimes hitting the flawed keys at first—particularly across the arrow cluster—which brought on my cursor to leap round unexpectedly.

That mentioned, that is principally only a matter of muscle reminiscence. When you’re used to compact keyboards, it’ll really feel pure fairly shortly. Sadly for me and my fellow full-sized keyboard lovers, GravaStar doesn’t make full-sized keyboards. An enormous unhappy face for me, as I might have immediately switched my keyboard out for a GravaStar one.

Deep customisation with funky software program

One factor I actually love is GravaStar’s web-based software program. It’s simply as funky because the keyboard itself. Being web-based, there’s no extra software program to obtain, which is a welcome change from the same old peripherals that each one require software program to manage them.

There are an enormous variety of customisation choices, from lighting results and macros to key format modifications. In actual fact, there are such a lot of choices that I unintentionally modified the format at one level and my typing went fully off the rails.

When you get conversant in it although, the pliability is spectacular.

For players particularly, the keyboard makes use of Magnetic Corridor Impact switches, which permit adjustable actuation factors and intensely exact enter detection.

Constructed for pace in addition to model

Beneath the hood, the GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional is constructed for severe gaming efficiency.

It options an 8000Hz polling fee and intensely low enter latency, permitting key presses to register nearly immediately. The Corridor Impact change design additionally means there’s much less bodily put on in comparison with conventional mechanical switches.

Avid gamers may even modify the actuation depth from 0.1mm to three.5mm, letting you tune the keyboard for fast reactions or extra deliberate key presses.

That flexibility is a giant a part of why this keyboard appeals to aggressive gamers in addition to fans.

Equipment included

It’s additionally good to see GravaStar embrace a couple of extras within the field. You get a cable and even a microfiber material, which truly is sensible given the painted aluminium end. It’s the form of keyboard you’ll need to hold wanting pristine.

Different variations out there

Whereas the Neon Graffiti version is certainly probably the most visually placing, the GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional can also be out there in additional conventional finishes.

The broader Mercury V75 sequence additionally consists of the GravaStar Mercury V75 and GravaStar Mercury V75 Lite, providing comparable design concepts throughout totally different worth factors and configurations.

Closing ideas

The Neon Graffiti version keyboard isn’t attempting to be delicate, and that’s precisely the purpose.

The GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional Neon Graffiti is for individuals who need their setup to face out. Between the textured graffiti end, cyberpunk lighting, premium metallic development, and extremely customisable switches, it looks like a keyboard designed as a lot for visible affect as it’s for efficiency.

In case your desk aesthetic leans towards futuristic, artistic, or just a bit bit rebellious, this keyboard matches proper in. Generally tech is only a instrument. Generally it’s additionally a chunk of artwork.

You will get the GravaStar Mercury V75 Professional Neon Graffiti version keyboard for $349.99 AUD. Different editions are additionally out there on the Intelligent Home web site with plenty of funky colors and layouts to select from.