Reviewed: Logitech G910 Orion Spark

There was a lot of hype, Gamers had been waiting for it and Logitech were not first to market with an individually backlit RGB mechanical keyboard. After speaking with Max Pan from Logitech at PAX Melbourne and using the G910 Orion Spark for more than 6 weeks we’re ready to make a judgement on one of the most anticipated peripherals from 2014.

You can often identify a serious gamer by their peripherals and a mechanical keyboard is usually a dead give-away that the owner likes their gaming… a lot. Over the past couple of years, we have seen the available mechanical keyboard offerings grow from a few models to more than 70 now. More manufacturers are bringing keyboards to market with the well known Cherry switches and a range of backlighting options. Some keyboard models are also available in different switch variants which can also add a level of difficulty to what should be a straight forward purchase. On the forums, we see the question of “which switch is best?” or “what colour Cherry switch should I get?”. Gamers are doing their research and we saw a lot of people checking out the tactile feel of mechanical keyboards at PAX last year because it’s a big outlay for many and no-one likes buyer’s remorse.

Logitech has two mechanical keyboards on the market, the older Logitech G710+ with it’s Cherry MX ‘brown’ switches and the new G910 Orion Spark with Logitech’s own Romer-G mechanical switches. It was a bold move to develop their own switches as gamers can be unforgiving and fickle should the design team get it wrong. The team at Logitech backed their research and the feedback from their sponsored eSports teams and we think they got it right. The designers didn’t try to simply mimic an existing switch, they took feedback from well placed eSports competitors and raised the actuation point to make the Romer-G more responsive whilst also making the keys less noisy than competing mechanical switches. On top of that, they managed to incorporate RGB LED lighting in the switch and also increase the durability rating – basically, the design team went all out.

g910-orion-spark-rgb-mechanical-gaming-keyboard

After using the Orion Spark for more than 6 weeks for gaming and ‘work’, we think Logitech really succeeded in covering the key areas of enthusiast gaming peripherals

tickbox Ergonomics & Comfort
tickbox Functionality & Useability
tickbox Build Quality & Durability
tickbox Aesthetics

The keyboard layout is comfortable and encourages correct touch typing finger position. The backlight, software platform and feature set make it one of the most useable keyboards we have seen to date. The switches are rated at over 70 million clicks which, would make this one of the most durable keyboards on the market.  With RGB backlight implemented at an individual key level, gamers can customise the aesthetic to suit their own personal preference – for those that don’t like colour, just use a white backlight.

Whilst the G910 is clearly a Logitech keyboard, there isn’t a ‘Logitech’ label on the keyboard itself. The font and ‘G’ logo in the top left corner are consistent with the Logitech branding as are the ‘G keys.

During PAX in Melbourne last year we were given the opportunity to speak with Logitech’s Max Pan, Regional Gaming Product Manager from Shanghai, about the G910 Orion Spark and the company’s approach to product development in general.

A special thanks goes out to Viktoria and Jaala for making that discussion possible as it was a highlight of our PAX Melbourne tour.

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