Ozone Strike Gaming Keyboard Review

👤by Richard Weatherstone Comments 📅06-09-11
Closer Look Pt.1

Keyboard Layout

With the palm rest attached the keyboard looks a little less like your standard office DELL affair. The little splashes of red also hint that this is a gaming keyboard. The overall aesthetics of the board are good and once you become familiar with the different font used on the keys and the extra force required to press a key, it is adequate to type with. The key presses are much noisier than rubber dome equipped keyboards and sound akin to an 80's Sci-Fi sound effect. Not that noise is an issue with gaming keyboards you understand but it is worth noting nonetheless.


Keyboard Rear

There is nothing spectacular regarding the rear of the keyboard. Rubber pads strategically placed around the perimeter ensure the keyboard remains seated in whatever position you place it with the only remaining item being two plastic feet which are used to extend the height/angle of the keyboard.


Palm rest attached

The Palm rest was easy to attach with the prongs simply snapping into place with a satisfying click. I do worry about the longevity that these prongs will afford though as they appear to be very flimsy. Certainly, I would have preferred to have seen something much more sturdy here and the cost of metal clasps would not add that much to the already bloated weight of the keyboard. The fatigue on the palm rest (and thus the attachment), especially when being carried to LAN events with the palm rest attached will be great and thus these little plastic clasps will likely fail after a short period of time if one is not careful.


Keyboard Length

As you can see from the picture above, the actual length of the keyboard is 44.5cm which is relatively small compared to most gaming keyboards. Indeed, a standard DELL keyboard measures the same length! When playing games and while writing this review, I did feel a little cramped on this keyboard and I feel it would have benefited by a slightly bigger surround.


Keyboard Width

Again, the width of the keyboard matches its length by being small, measuring just 16cm-20cm depending on whether you have the palm rest attached or not.


Keyboard Height adjustment stand

The height/angle adjustment stand again is plastic and again deserves criticism. While this is true of most gaming keyboards, I do feel it is an area which requires attention as I have had many keyboards which have failed in this area. While the keyboard itself is fine, having a wobbly palm rest or unstable keyboard just will not do and so it is replaced just because of one or two broken tabs. Both the palm rest prongs and the height adjustment tabs should be made of more robust material - is this too much to ask?


Keyboard Height adjustment (low)



Keyboard Height adjustment (high)

Above we see profile shots of the Ozone Strike in standard and raised positions. With the keyboard being small, the height adjustment tabs do not need to stick out too far to give the keyboard an elevated profile.


Cable Braid

Something I really liked about the keyboard was that the cable was braided and not just with cheap braid either, the dense weave used covers the cable completely. It is worth pointing out though that the cable itself is thicker than a standard kettle lead by approximately 50% and while it is pliable, the lead is more difficult to handle than your standard USB cable.


Gold plated USB & Audio plugs

Here we see why the cable is so fat! At the end of the thick braided section of cable there multiple cables including 2x Gold plated USB 2.0 cables, a headphone and a MIC plug to sheath. One USB cable powers the motherboard while the other acts as secondary power to the two on-board USB 2.0 hubs found at the rear of the keyboard. Both the Audio and MIC plugs are 3.5mm and allow the user to plug there headset and MIC directly into the keyboard itself.

Let's take a look at some of the finer points of the Ozone Strike...

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