Logitech debuts G810 mechanical keyboard with 'faster than Cherry' switches

Logitech G810 Orion Spectrum

Mechanical keyboards are definitely of the moment, and here's another one from Logitech.

The G810 Orion Spectrum is a full-size gaming keyboard with Romer-G mechanical switches which Logitech claims give you "near-instant responsiveness". In fact, the company reckons that key presses will register up to 25% quicker than your standard Cherry MX mechanical switch.

That could, in theory, be the difference between life and death in an online shooter – provided your broadband connection doesn't sink you regardless of your quick-draw keyboard.

40% more durability is also promised from the switches, which have been endurance-tested to 70 million keystrokes.

Light up your life

And naturally, as this is a gaming keyboard, we get pretty flashing lights. The G810 offers RGB backlighting with 16.8 million colours, and it can light groups of keys for specific genres (FPS, MMO, or RTS for example) or even specific games (such as Counter-Strike, DotA).

Or you can sit back and look at things like a glittery star effect, where white lights twinkle on and off like stars in the night sky. Brian Cox would approve (probably).

In fact, there are lighting profiles for over 300 games, no less, and you can customise your own lighting schemes with the provided Logitech Gaming Software. This also allows you to customise macros on the function keys.

The G810 also boasts media keys for music or video playback control, with a nifty roller for the volume control. You also get a three-step angle adjustment so you can have the keyboard flat on the desk, or raised to an angle of 4 or 8 degrees depending on how much tilt you prefer.

Logitech's new mechanical keyboard comes with a two-year warranty and is a definite tempter for the serious gamer, but it doesn't come cheap priced at £139.99 (it's $159 over in the US, which is around AU$220). It's on pre-order now in the UK.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).