You must be thinking, what on earth is Wicked Bunny? I wouldn't fault your ignorance, as Wicked Bunny is a relative newcomer to the scene. Hailing from Taiwan, the peripherals manufacturer is committed to creating 'gimmick-free' products at affordable prices. At the moment, their entire portfolio consists of only 4 products: a keyboard, headset, mouse, and mouse pad.
Team Salty has been blessed with the entire range of products for us to review, so we'll be splitting it into 3 separate posts. In this first review, we'll be talking about the Wicked Bunny Agility RGB gaming keyboard.
Speedy optical mechanical switches
Wicked Bunny has opted to go for optical mechanical switches, which have been recently brought to mainstream attention by Razer. Unlike their traditional mechanical counterparts, optical mechanical switches trigger via an infrared optical sensor. This results in faster input response thanks to the elimination of metal debounce noise that occurs in traditional mechanical switches. This means that gamers will experience speedier input while maintaining the nice mechanical feeling that most users have come to appreciate.
The Orange LK Libra switches used on the Agility gaming keyboard are tactile in nature, similar to the clicky Cherry MX Blues, but with a slightly softer touch. Overall, my typing experience was very pleasant with very few user input errors.
Also, although this isn't advertised on their website, some reviewers have claimed that the switches are hot-swappable, although we haven't put this to the test ourselves.
Built like a tank, complete with IP68 rating
The chassis of the keyboard is extremely solid with little to no flex - it doesn't creak at all either, which is a reassuring sign. The face plate is constructed out of a single piece of metal which curved downwards towards the wrist, with both the graphic and typographic Wicked Bunny logos emblazoned on the bottom. I do find the 'Wicked Bunny' words to be rather gaudy though - I personally feel the bunny-shaped logo in the centre would suffice. The Wicked Bunny logo on the windows key is a nice touch though.
A non-detachable braided cable extrudes from the top, while two flip-out feet on the bottom help elevate the keyboard to a more ergonomic position. The keycaps are ABS double-shot - although PBT ones will last much longer, at this price point there's really nothing much to complain about. The '+'-shaped stems are also compatible with most Cherry MX keycaps, so you can swap them out whenever you want.
Typing on them feels extremely pleasant, due to the slightly curved surface that embraces your fingertips. The RGB lighting shines through brightly, though it is slightly obscured by the stem in the middle.
There is no USB or audio jack pass-through, but this also means that the cable remains relatively thin as it isn't carrying additional wiring.
Best of all, the keyboard has an IP68 rating, which means it is completely water and dust proof. Not only will your keyboard be protected from nasty cigarette ash and soda spills, you can theoretically play SDO in the shower (or in a fish tank like the commercial) if you have the right screen setup too.
We've already tested out these bold claims - for the results, stay tuned for the video that we'll be releasing this Friday ;)
All the functions you'll need are built right in
Wicked Bunny has chosen to go completely software-free, which means there's one less piece of bloatware for your PC. RGB, macros, and more can be programmed directly via a few button combinations.
Although the keyboard does not have dedicated media keys, you are able to toggle on 'media mode', which effectively turns your F7 - F12 function keys into media control keys. Similarly, toggling on 'macro mode' allows you to use the F1 - F6 keys as macro keys.
There are 14 lighting presets available, but you are also able to toggle on DIY mode, which allows you to customise everything from colour, speed, and lighting patterns, as demonstrated in the video below:
And of course, it also has a Windows lock function to prevent you from accidentally opening up the Start menu during a heated moment in the game. You can also switch between NKRO (n-key rollover) and 6KRO as you please, though we aren't sure when the latter would be more advantageous.
All in all, the Agility gaming keyboard is packed with features to serve most gamers' needs. The only trade-off is that because all customisation is done directly from the keyboard, you don't have the benefit of being able to visualise and control your settings easily via software menus. This may be a pro or con depending on how much you like / hate peripheral software in general.
Buy or no buy?
The Wicked Bunny Agility RGB gaming keyboard is a sturdy, feature-packed device that feels good to type on. Aesthetics-wise, it could use some improvement (remove the 'Wicked Bunny' words please), but since this is the company's first product, I'll close an eye just this once.
The depth of its RGB lighting and macro customisation is astounding given the lack of software; although a little unwieldy if you prefer the visual menus, it's definitely great to have one less piece of bloatware taking up space in your PC.
At US$84.99 (RM362.95), the Wicked Bunny Agility is competitively priced while providing most functions that gamers look for in a keyboard. So far it seems that the brand is living up to their word of affordable no-frills products, and we do welcome any new entry in the mid-range gaming peripherals market.
We'll also be taking a look at Wicked Bunny's headset. mouse, and mouse pad in the next few days. so stay tuned!
