Setup & Observations
Initial setup is very simple, and you just need a few ports to access the full feature set. For just the keyboard you’ll need one spare USB 2.0 or 3.0 port, if you wish to use the pass-throughs then you will need to find a spare audio port and another USB port. You can then take things a step further by downloading the software if you wish to use macros, set key assignments and tailor the illumination.
As we spend a lot of time typing, this aspect of a keyboard is very important and the TT Premium X1 RGB scores reasonably. Comfort wise the keyboard is great, the wrist rest is nicely angled and has a slightly textured surface for a bit of grip. The surface isn’t too rough though so it doesn’t fatigue or irritate your wrists. It also has the bonus of being magnetically attached which is great and makes removing it and installing almost effortless. Key spacing is solid too as there is ample room between them, this is brilliant as accidentally knocking two keys at once is a rare occurrence. The keycap coating on the surface isn’t the best we’ve encountered at this price point as it’s prone to show fingerprint grease which makes the keyboard look more used than it actually is. On the plus side though this grease does remove quite easily if you give it a quick wipe with a soft microfiber cloth. One place that does disappoint is with the Cherry MX Silver Speed switches, they are so easy to press and very fast which can be a bit fatiguing to type on for after a few hours. It does so happen to score back a few points thanks to the riser feet. Usually, there are two levels of adjustment with a keyboard, and that is all. The TT Premium X1 RGB, however, has two sets of feet that provide three levels of height adjust, this doesn’t sound like much, but it does help when trying to find the sweet spot for comfort.
At this price point, a keyboard needs to be well made to justify its asking price, and the TT Premium X1 RGB does just about do that. The majority of the build is plastic, but it’s quite strong plastic, and the grade feels decent. Where the TT Premium X1 RGB is strong is with the construction, as it's extremely well put together. The keyboard also has minimal flex in the chassis and just feels solid as a whole. Where it does fall down is with the surface finish as it doesn’t feel quite as nice as some other keyboards in the same price category. This, however, is not a massive deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination.
Now we get to how all the other features work and we’ll start with the media controls. These are grouped together and located in the top right-hand corner of the keyboard. The controls available allow you to adjust the volume, mute, play/pause, skip track and stop your media. The buttons are membrane-based and don’t feel that great, but they do get the job done. The volume control has a rubberised texture which feels very nice and provides some good grip so that your fingers don’t slip off it. It also adjusts the volume in increments of two which is very nice to see. The next great feature is the app control. If you use an Android or Apple based smartphone, you can download the X1 app and change various aspects of the keyboard without touching it. The aspects of the keyboard that can be changed via the app are the lighting and lighting effects. There is also scope to add macros, use a virtual keyboard or controller and finally, you can use your voice to alter various things on the keyboard. The app control worked very well the times we used it, and it provided us with a type of control you don’t often see. We especially liked the virtual controller as we found it was very useful for games that are designed to be used with a controller rather than keyboard and mouse. Will say also so that compared to physically using the keyboard or software there is a slight delay, but it wasn’t massive. One addition that is absent is the dedicated macro keys. Like with many other keyboards at the price you do have the ability to use macros though they can’t be applied to a dedicated set and have to be set to existing keys with other functions.
Performance
Thermaltake has gone tried and tested with their switch choice and provided the customer with two choices. We have their Cherry MX Silver Speed on hand, but the TT Premium X1 RGB can also be picked up with the Cherry MX Blue switches. We would have liked to have seen at least the Cherry Browns as an option as those a great for both gaming and typing.
In terms of durability, the MX Silver Speeds are rated to last 50 million keystrokes which are not quite the best as we’re now seeing Razer, Logitech and others surpass that by some margin. As for the actuation distance, these are set to register a keystroke a 1.2mm with a force of 45g, the total travel distance is 3.4mm making these the shortest that Cherry offer. The Red Silent comes close with an actuation point of 1.9mm and total travel of 3.7mm, though this is still a way off from the Silvers.
Having tested a few keyboards with the Cherry MX Reds and Red Silents we thought that surely the Silvers can’t be faster, but we were wrong as they really are. The Reds are fast and linear whereas the Silvers are even faster yet still linear in their travel. In reality, we are talking microseconds of difference between the two, but the Silver do feel like they are a hair quicker to respond. This is in part thanks to the closer actuation point and reduced travel distance. This less travel means that the key press is registered that bit sooner and does result in slightly quicker feel. Again it’s minute, but there is a slight difference. How does this translate to gaming? Well, for our usual test suite of shooters we noted that we felt our input was being dealt with slightly quicker and resulted in possibly the best gaming experience - in terms of speed, for eSports and FPS shooters. Our in-game movement felt a touch snappier which came in handy for dodging enemy fire and manoeuvring on the battlefield. Again we are talking very subtle differences between the Silvers and Reds, but the Silvers did feel faster. For solo titles, we felt that they weren’t quite precise enough as they are so easy to actuate meaning that subtle movement was hard to control. They aren’t unusable as such, but you may find that you have to adjust the amount of force you use when trying to perform precise moves. As for noise, the Silvers aren’t overly abrupt like the MX Blues and a reasonably quiet, this means that they’d be a great companion for online game streamers as they don’t possess the mechanical clicky sounds.
Illumination
If you are a fan of RGB, then the TT Premium X1 RGB is a great choice thanks to ample customisation options and effects to choose from. Within the software, there are 12 effects to select from, each of which can be altered in different ways. Some can have custom lighting patterns, other can have their speed adjusted, and others can change direction. As for the illumination, it is very bright and vivid, but the colours are lacking saturation and look a touch pale. Also, there are some areas on the keyboard where the light fill is a bit spotty, this is most noticeable on keys where there are multiple lines of text. The colour spill isn’t the best we’ve ever seen as some areas on the underside are left without proper illumination fill making it look a touch patchy. This is more noticeable with some effects wheres others don’t have this issue. As for the effects they are very well done and look really nice when viewed on the keyboard.
