Testing
The first thing that I noticed when using this keyboard is how incredibly quiet it is. Even in a silent room, I can barely hear myself typing, and with any sort of ambient noise, you wont hear a thing. Secondly, the keys feel remarkably smooth. The keys are made with a “scissor switch” technology, which is supposed to lengthen the lifetime of the keys. Unfortunately, I can’t test the lifetime of the keys for you, because by the time I broke one, we probably wont need keyboards anymore.
The scissor switch technology not only helps lengthen the life of the key, but also contributes greatly to the smoothness of each press. There are seven hotkeys on this keyboard, all of which are fairly standard. We can open up a browser and email client, as well as adjust the volume up/down and mute. While in a web browser, we can also access our bookmarks/favorites and quickly access the search bar. The only “trouble” that I have run into during testing is with the locations of some keys. As I said earlier, some of the keys have been moved around to save space. The difficulties encountered by this are minor however, and would depend on the layout of your previous keyboard that ultimately effects how quickly you can adapt.
Conclusions
So now you are probably wondering if you should punt your current keyboard out the window, and order this one with rush processing and overnight delivery. Well, it all depends on your state of enthusiasm about your current keyboard. If your current keyboard is a plastic piece of junk that’s super loud, like mine was, then yes, take a hammer to your current keyboard. If you already have a good keyboard, then there probably isn’t a reason to upgrade. This would be a great keyboard for someone who likes to dominate at LAN parties, or spends most of their day typing, since it will stand up to just about any abuse you can give it. If you’re at a LAN, after the noob gets himself killed and loses the game for your team, you can smack him over the head with your keyboard with no fear of any damages. On the other hand, if you are using it to type on for work, you can now fearlessly wack your boss in the head, without damage to your keyboard. It retails for $69.99, but you can find it on Amazon for $46.15 with free Super Saver shipping. The Thermaltake Soprano is an excellent keyboard, and if you are looking to buy one, I strongly recommend it for its feel, durability, and remarkably quiet keys.
Great review. Chose this over the Enermax Aurora, and I hope I don’t regret it. I’ll be back if I find it stinks like all of Thermaltake’s other products.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Barbara
Over all a great review. Your ability to describe and review a product with a twist of humor makes your articles fun yet informative to read. Keep up the good work.
BTW, the comment about low profile keys was absurd any moron knows better.
You are correct, I never explicitly said that the keys were low profile. I must have assumed that would be gathered from the side image showing the technology of the key. I apologize for not being explicit.
I’m surprised there is no mention whether this keyboard has low profile key or not. From some of the pictures, which were all taken from bird’s eye view, it looks like low profile keys. Even some random user on Amazon said out right it is low profile keys.