Reviewed: FUNC KB-460 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard & MS-3 Mouse

KB-460 Keyboard

The Func KB-460 might not have the most intuitive or memorable name but it has a great feel to it. Func implemented Cherry MX Red switches and a nice red backlight to each key. The keyboard is NOT light, weighing in at 1.245 kg and although lighter than other mechanical keyboards such as the 1.4kg G710+, it is still much heavier than traditional rubber membrane keyboards that the majority of gamers are currently rocking. The KB-460 has a clean look to it with the absence of dedicated macro and media keys, instead these functions are managed via a ‘function’ approach much like we see on laptops. An example of this is ‘mute’ where you need to hold the ‘Fn’ key and hit F1. I got used to it pretty quickly but personally still prefer dedicated media keys. 

The branding is extremely subtle in that it’s embossed on the keyboard frame and not lit up or printed. The finish is a matte black and all up, the KB-460 looks very slick indeed. In terms of dust, we didn’t have any issues brushing off dust from the keyboard frame and the matte finish only just started to show signs of palm prints after 8 solid weeks of use on our ASUS ROG Test Bench (with 3 different people using it).

N-Key Rollover

N-Key Rollover was confirmed with AquaKeytest. I was able to activate more than 20 keys at the same time deliberately with my fingers and even more in a far less practical test with my forearm. I won’t buy a key board without this feature after being burned a few years ago with a wireless keyboard.

Cherry MX Red Switches

If you like Cherry MX Red switches, you will love this keyboard. If I had to nominate a personal preference, it would be brown switches but the Func KB-460 was a keyboard that I really enjoyed gaming on. You get the tactile response and satisfying click as the key bottoms out.

I tend to type fast and firm when working so the KB-460 turned out to be noisy in my general use testing. Personally, I’m generally indifferent to the ‘click-clack’ of a mechanical keyboard when gaming but it can get on other people’s nerves a little when I’m typing up reviews, documents for work and email/instant messenger. When gaming, I’m not typically a ‘key masher’ as such and the KB-460 was fine. We noticed as people tried it out that they tended to hit it harder at the start and then lighter as they got used to the feedback and actuation.

If you plan to use this in an environment that you share with other people, it might be worth investing in an O-ring kit for the keys to dampen the clicking. This is not a fault or criticism of the KB-460 and is a common experience for every Cherry Red keyboard I’ve used and is just something to be mindful of. The Logitech G710+ used Cherry MX Brown switches and had O-rings fitted – the result for me was less noise when typing large bodies of text. A set of O-rings will set you back about $10 on eBay if the tell-tale ‘click-clack’ of the Cherry MX switches is an issue.

The key spacing is pretty good and it probably took me about a week to really adapt to the layout. After a week, my miss-hits had dropped a lot and the backspace key had less work to do. This is a standard transition period for me so I’d say that most people would have the same experience adapting to the KB-460 as they would adapting to most other keyboards with the standard “US” layout with number pad.  

Backlight

The backlighting is probably the best and most obvious feature of the KB-460. The key caps look really crisp with the red backlight, the etching is well done and the font is perfect. The lighting was even for all keys in our review sample and despite the backlight, the keys didn’t seem to ‘blend’ into it. We found the backlight and key etching to be very well balanced. Although dimmable, the letters are easy to read on the dimmest settings. We had the backlight on full brightness for our testing and loved it – at full brightness it isn’t too bright and the red back plate gives a nice reflection as well.

There is no option for WASD only lighting which may be disappointing for some but hopefully Func implement this in the next revision. WASD lighting is of limited value to me as I use more keys in my games and it kinda helps to be able to see them in the dark – as far as I’m concerned, the backlight of the KB-460 for me was ideal 

We are seeing the emergence of RGB keyboards that can be customised to suit any rig but if you are happy with red lighting, the KB-460 will not disappoint.

Build Quality

I could not fault the build quality of the Func KB-460. It arrived well packed and protected and installed without any dramas. The only thing I would like to see improved in a new version down the track is the palm rest attachment. The removable palm rest attaches via 2 clips and whilst they were not a problem when using the keyboard, they tend to come undone when you pick the keyboard right up and move it to another desk. In the month that we used the keyboard, this wasn’t an issue as we don’t tend to move that workstation.

The finish, cable braiding, back lighting, keys and software were all of a high standard. The black and orange braid looks good and the cable connection felt sturdy. I would go so far as to say that the braiding on our review sample is as good as I’ve ever seen. The cable was just the right balance of firm/flexible. Firm enough to stay in place and flexible enough to route where we needed to.

Func has provided 2 USB 2.0 ports on the rear of the KB-460 at the right hand side. These are great for a USB mouse, USB Headset or thumb drive but they won’t power a portable hard drive like the WD Passport. This isn’t unexpected as there is only a single USB cable running to the PC from the KB-460.

Special Keys

There is a ‘Fn’ key that works like a function key to control media commands like volume, pause, play, stop etc and the lighting options. There is also ‘Func Mode’ that disables the windows key to prevent ill-timed context switching that can make even the most seasoned gamer lose their sh-t. The keyboard has an LED indicator on the top right corner to indicate when Func Mode is on.

Profiles & Macro Keys

The KB-460 also has 5 profiles that you can trigger across the top of the keyboard and 10 programmable macro keys that you can map to keys on the keyboard. The lack of dedicated macro keys means that you have to remap existing keys to those functions. This is not as convenient as having dedicated macro keys running down the left side or across the top of the keyboard but the functionality is still there if you use it.

The benefit of this approach is that you could map your less used keys like the insert,home, pg up/dn, home/end block for ‘buy’ keys in CS:GO and then still have 4 keys to map to tactical key combinations around the WASD key set. The macros can be saved but when mapping them, it isn’t obvious what macro you used – I’d like to see the macro assignments named so you know what functionality is under that remapped key.

Personally, I don’t use macros and have never made friends with the concept when gaming. The only time I’ve used macros has been for counterstrike when buying a preferred load out or non-gaming office productivity purposes. I suspect that this might be a deal breaker for the hardcore RPG and RTS gamers out there.

Software

The software is relatively plain in appearance bit it is functional, easy to use once you read the instructions.

General feedback

We had a number of people game on this keyboard and the feedback from everyone who used it was that they liked the feel and considered the backlight to be spot on and a good contrast from the flat black finish of the rest of the keyboard. It was interesting to observe that people who used rubber membrane keyboards noted the noise difference between the KB-460 and their non-mechanical keyboards whilst people familiar with other mechanical keyboards didn’t comment on it.

Specifications

Tech. Specs.

  • Switch type: Cherry MX Blue, Brown or Red
  • Key design: Cylindrical
  • Anti-ghost: Full N-key roll over
  • Backlit: Individual LED’s on each key
  • Memory: Onboard 128 KB
  • Connect-through ports: 2 x USB 2.0
  • Cord length: 1.8m (braided)
  • Connector: USB 2.0 (gold plated)

Dimensions & Weight

  • 448x198x33 mm
  • Net weight: 1245g
  • System Requirements
    • Windows® compatible
    • Available USB port
    • 10 MB free space on hard drive
  • Available layouts
    • US, French, German, Nordic, Russian & UK.

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