TweakTown Rating: 96%
The bottom line
While the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX might have been designed for those getting into FPS gaming first and foremost, ASUS’ excellent linear switches impress for almost any task. Elegant and with a great quality-price ratio.
Pros
- + ASUS ROG RX RED optical mechanical switches are fast and responsive
- + Useful life of 100 million pulsations, resistant to water and dust
- + Great build quality and heavy feel
- + Armory Crate integration and ease of customization
- + Easy macros
Cons
- – Thick USB cable
- – The step of USB 2.0 is not necessary
- – No wrist rests or replaceable keycaps
- – The linear switching style may be a bit stiff for some
Should you buy it?
AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy
Introduction and specification Details and close-up
The rise of the mechanical keyboard over the past decade owes much to the one genre in the PC gaming space that pioneered the dual keyboard and mouse setup: the first-person shooter. A genre that rose to prominence in the 1990s with Doom and Quake, when all keyboards were that weird beige color and made in the relatively large and cheap membrane switch style.
SEE GALLERY – 15 IMAGES
Smash cut to 2022, and if you’re looking for a decent keyboard for your gaming needs, it’s likely to be mechanical and come with a suite of customization options along with a dose of RGB lighting. ASUS’ new ROG Strix Scope RX ticks all those boxes as the latest mechanical gaming keyboard from the hardware manufacturer, but it’s also one that’s been built specifically for first-person shooter fans.
A design decision that informs the style of the deployed mechanical switch, the overall look of the Republic of Gamers aesthetic, and even the size of the left-side control key. Which is bigger than normal here because it’s a useful key for FPS titles, so why not make it bigger? ROG RX mechanical red optical switches, created by ASUS, are on the linear, fast and responsive side and are impressive in both precision and tactile feel.
Speaking of touch, there’s also the rugged alloy top and IP56 water and dust resistance keys rounding out the build, resulting in a smooth keyboard experience that’s great for everyday productivity .
Specifications and close-up
- Product type: Mechanical gaming keyboard
- Size (Full/TKL): Full
- Interface: Wired/USB 2.0
- Switch: ROG RX RED optical mechanical switch
- Lighting: RGB LED per key
- Poling rate: (USB report rate) 1000 Hz
- Features: 100% Anti-Ghosting, All Programmable Keys, On-the-Fly Recording Support and USB Pass-Through
- Dimensions: 440x137x39 mm
- Weight: 1.07 kg
Kosta Test System Specifications
- Motherboard: MSI MEG X570 UNIFY
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3800X
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition
- Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240R RGB AIO CPU Cooler
- RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) HyperX FURY DDR4 3200MHz
- SSD: Seagate FireCuda 520 SSD 2TB
- Power Supply: Cooler Master V 850W Gold SFX Power Supply
- Box: MPG SEKIRA 500P
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
ASUS ROG STRIX SCOPE RX Gaming Keyboard (Red Optical)
TodayYesterday 7 days 30 days ago$99.99–
* Prices were last scanned on 08/21/2022 at 19:31 CDT; prices may not be accurate; click on the links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.
Design and software
design
There was a time when mechanical keyboards featured switches from one or two different vendors, and that was about it. Color and “click” determined what kind of performance you got from each keystroke, though the decision ultimately came down to whether you wanted a “click” sound or not.
ASUS, like many other peripheral manufacturers, has decided to invest in creating its own line of switches, with the ROG RX RED optical mechanical switches found on the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX taking a similar design approach to other switches silent linears that are there. It’s all about that quick response and keeping a low and fast actuation point, appealing to those who hit a lot of keys in a short amount of time. players
Here you have 4mm of travel, with a 1.5mm actuation point requiring 40g of force. ASUS notes that 55g of force is required for perfect feedback, so these aren’t the most responsive switches we’ve seen, but that’s another design feature you can attribute to the FPS focus, where they should ‘avoid accidental keystrokes when possible.
ROG RX optical mechanical switches are at the heart of the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX keyboard, and with their 1ms response times and 100 million keystroke lifespan, they’re certainly impressive. This paints a similar picture for the rest of the design, which includes durable ROG keycaps that have a great feel and a sleek translucent ROG look that matches the tactile nature of the switches. The minimal floating key look is robust thanks to the tough alloy top, water and dust resistance, and the nice and hefty weight of 1.07kg.
There’s also a certain ASUS ROG to the look as the font used on the keys is ROG, not to mention the quality of the Aura lighting per key which is some of the best available. Interestingly, however, the USB cable is something of an outlier, being thick and stiff and non-detachable.
Since the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX supports USB passthrough, it therefore requires two USB ports on the side of the computer, so the result is a thick cable on the side of the keyboard. We’re also talking about USB 2.0, so we’d have preferred a flexible single-port cable that would hide neatly, unlike the desktop anaconda you have here.
software
In our recent review of the ASUS ROG Delta S Wireless Gaming Headset, there was a bit of shade in the direction of the native ASUS Windows 10/11 Armory Crate app. The software suite used to customize, configure, and manage all the ASUS-related bits of plastic and silicon found inside and outside your rig. In short, he can be temperamental.
However, in the case of the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX keyboard, the results were, well, different. The experience was mostly stable and smooth, but that goodwill extended to the keyboard’s customization features which are exceptionally well-made and designed.
The ability to record macros on the fly and then edit each of the keystrokes and timings is not only intuitive, but welcoming. This part of keyboard customization is often overlooked by most gamers, so if you’re the type who plays a handful of specific games or uses a specific set of productivity apps, Armory’s Macros tool Crates is wonderful. This ease of use carries over to per-key customization, where you can adjust functionality and create built-in profiles. Lighting adjustments are also intuitive, and thanks to ASUS’ Aura technology, there’s plenty to choose from.
Game performance and productivity
Game Performance
As a keyboard designed for first-person shooters, it’s natural to fire up a bunch of them to see how it performs. For that, we chose DOOM Eternal, Apex Legends, DEATHLOOP and even a bit of Quake II RTX. Although the ROG RX RED optical mechanical switches require a bit more force than some linear switches, they feel great in action.
From slaying demons in DOOM to the more tactical stealth action of DEATHLOOP, that’s where the subtlety of having a bigger control stick made sense. Keystrokes were triggered without issue, with circle strafe and rocket launching in DOOM going smoothly. Then there’s the added bonus of Game Mode features that disable Alt-TAB and other potentially roundabout or destructive functionality to keep you in the game.
As something designed for FPS titles, it’s safe to say that ASUS has done a great job in terms of performance and feel with the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX. The style and tuning of the switches is excellent, with the performance and strength requirements hitting a good point for the titles we played. For more competitive players, the linear style here might be a bit stiff, but that will come down to personal preference.
While it’s easy enough to cut and switch between profiles, Armory Crate lets you set profiles per game, which is pretty cool. Fair warning though, if you let it add hundreds of Steam games, the software doesn’t handle it very well, so it’s best to keep it to games where you want a specific layout and lighting setup. Having the lighting, shortcuts, and profiles change based on the game being loaded is a great feature.
productivity
Whether you spend as much time doing work stuff or just chatting on Discord as you do gaming, the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX still impresses and feels great. The ROG RX RED switches are a little stiffer than other similarly fast linear switches, but the result is adequate for typing.
It’s also where we see some interesting built-in features like quickly switching between the F5-F12 keys doing their usual F-style functions instead of becoming dedicated media controls. There’s also a “Stealth” key that minimizes all apps and mutes all sound, which is like a “Quick Head Up” key, and it works. Ease of setup and the ability to record macros also add to productivity.
Keyboard Click Sound Level
To test the overall sound level of a keyboard, we use the Ozito Digital Sound Level Meter which captures the phrase “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” several times and records the maximum dB level. This is to give an indication of how “strong” the switches used are for everyday use.
The following chart shows where the ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX stands.
Final thoughts
The ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX delivers, and ASUS ROG RX optical mechanical switches are fast, responsive and precise. As a gaming keyboard designed specifically for FPS gamers, the ROG look and feel certainly has that gamer style that is synonymous with the ROG brand. The build quality is excellent, not only in terms of the parts used, but also with little touches of style like watching the switches do their thing and the elegant rounded angular edges of the alloy…