Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Review

When the Logitech G15 gaming keyboard first came out about two years ago it was a big hit. Its main feature, the LCD screen at the top, was a new feature for keyboards and people seemed to really like it. The LCD screen displays information like the time, CPU usage, new emails, RSS news feeds, as well as ingame information (such as number of kills, health, lives, etc…). Logitech also released an SDK that allowed anyone to create their own applications to run on the LCD display. This brought along a whole host of new applications the LCD screen could display.

Now, about two years later, Logitech is releasing a new update version of the G15 keyboard. The new G15 keyboard doesn’t really add any new technology or features, but simply an updated design. The new keyboard is now more compact and less bulky. The original G15 was large and long. Take a look at the image below that compares the two (The G11 model shown below was identical to the old G15, minus the flip up LCD screen). The new G15 is sleeker and less bulky while still packing all the same cool technology.

Another major design change for the new G15 is that the LCD screen is now built into the top of the keyboard and isn’t a flip up screen. This makes the keyboard look about ten times cooler. The fact that the screen on the old G15 was on a hinge was kind of weird and it stuck out from the rest of the keyboard. Now the screen is built right into the keyboard and the keyboard is all one solid piece. The media center buttons were moved along each side of the LCD screen.

The LCD screen and backlighting for all the keys are now a redish orange color instead of the original blue. It would have been awesome if there was a way to change the color of the backlighting, but for this new version you will have to settle with the red color if you perfer blue backlighting.

Lights on...

Lights out.

The original G15 had 18 programmable G keys, and 3 settings for them (M1, M2, and M3). So total, you could program 54 different commands, macros, or keystrokes with the G keys. This was a little much, so the new G15 only has 6 G keys running long the right side of the keyboard. The 6 keys still have the 3 different settings. Because the G keys took up less room, the keyboard was shortened and now isn’t as huge. The only problem with this is that now all the letter keys are shifted to the left, almost to the end of the keyboard. This isn’t a huge problem, but it might take you a day or two to adjust to.

The original Logitech G15 was arguably the best gaming keyboard available. Now that Logitech has successfully made many design improvements to the G15, it is definitely the best gaming keyboard available. The only thing that even comes close is the Razer Tarantula keyboard. And let’s face it, the G15 looks ten times hotter, has a LCD display, and is the same price. I’ll take the G15, thank you!