ROCCAT Ryos MK Review

👤by Tim Harmer Comments 📅08-11-13
Packaging and First Look



ROCCAT have always been accomplished at presenting any prospective end-user exactly what they need to make an informed purchase, sometimes to the detriment of the packaging aesthetics. For the Ryos MK they have toned down the information overload a little, but continued to present you will the key features including a full look at the keyboard itself.

Unsurprisingly some space is set aside for important gaming functionality such as N-Key Roll Over, fully re-mappable keys and on-board macro storage; the lion’s share of what’s visible is devoted to a full shot of the keyboard itself. Furthermore, key elements of the keyboard which may require a little more than vague description are helpfully pointed. You’ll note that the keyboard imaged has a German layout, but should also see that ROCCAT display the region variant prominently in the top-right.



A label for the mechanical switch type, in this case Cherry MX Blacks, is pasted to the front and indicates that other Cherry MX variants for this model may be in the pipeline.

Space around the sides is used only for vanity shots of the board, likely because any information presented there would have to be in such small type as to be fairly tedious to use.



Moving to the rear of the packaging, ROCCAT hurl information at you and leave very little of the area underutilised. Nine elements of the keyboard feature-set are listed centrally and cover the whole range of what’s pertinent: from East-Shift[+] to the glossy finish on the keyboard chassis. They’re then repeated in seven additional languages, speaking to the transcontinental market ROCCAT is targeting with all their peripheral releases.

The left hand side is dedicated to three components which can be fiarly easily represented by images - the Cherry MX switches, ROCCAT Talk and the Ryos MK’s smudge-proof glossy look. On the right are the technical specifications, system requirements and package contents. Finally, at the top ROCCAT include a little more detail on Easy-Shift[+]. That’s quite welcome as the technology itself is quite hard to explain in a simple line of text.



Although it’s not at the premium end of the range, the Ryos MK is still a treat to unbox. Sliding off the exterior sleeve reveals an internal box for the keyboard for which some thought has obviously gone in. Although not much padding is offered, it is held securely and will continue to be useful for transporting to/from events thanks to its compact design.



As usual, ROCCAT are sparing in the package contents, including only a quick-start guide in addition to the keyboard itself. That’s due to a quite laudable - and one has to say successful - attempt at keeping end-user costs down, but the lack of a keycap remover will be surprising to some. A further factor from which savings have been made is that no software is included in the bundle. You’ll need to download the Ryos MK configuration software directly from roccat.org, although much of the functionality will operate without it.

Once again ROCCAT have done a bang-up job in initial presentation, conveying all the necessary information and doing it in a stylish manner. Time to take a closer look at the keyboard itself.


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