In the case of a gaming mouse, I definitely see utility. Being able to aim very precisely is important. With a mouse, one flick of a wrist can cause slightly more movement than another flick of the wrist. However with a keyboard, the buttons will always have the same impact every time they are pressed.
There are some benefits to gaming keyboards.
1. They are wired, and less prone to disconnections or battery issues (although wireless keyboards rarely have that issue if they’re ran through a good wireless connection).
2. Backlighting can help keys be visible during night time to prevent accidental presses via blind-typing (however, total RGB lighting with lighting controls is not necessary at all)
3. The mechanical keys switches on these boards take a little effort to press so that accidental presses don’t happen.
4. A portion of them come with wrist rests for superior ergonomic comfort.
I definitely think mechanical key switches (with springs) are superior to membrane keyboards (with rubber). Mechanical keyboards feel firmer, give a pleasing tactile response and respond to both medium and hard presses well. There are also different kinds of mechanical switches you can choose from, which vary in noise, feel and other aspects.
Will a gaming keyboard give you an advantage in gaming?
Over a regular decent keyboard, not really. Maybe a 1% advantage if I’m being generous. A better keyboard won’t make you a better player. Simply put, as long as a keyboard responds to your commands (which many good ones of all price ranges do), it’s fine. However, if you find a gaming keyboard more comfortable to use, definitely do so.
Unlike mice, there is no inherent advantage present in a good keyboard that’s marketed for gaming versus a good keyboard that’s marketed
Do you absolutely need a gaming keyboard?
No. In gamer culture, people can sometimes ridicule the person who uses a portable bluetooth keyboard (or their laptop keyboard) to game on, but really, a lot of this is more consumerism than practicality. The more skillful player is still going to win 99.9% of the time, even with a laptop keyboard. In my experience, I use a wireless chiclet-style Apple keyboard due to saved deskspace. Any losses I incur are purely my fault. A keyboard with backlighting and ergonomic support would definitely be ideal, but it’s not essential that I go out and buy an $80 gaming keyboard.
Overall – Are gaming keyboards with it?
The problem is that the cheaper gaming keyboards are at risk of being focused on aesthetics rather than build quality, and that the gaming keyboards with good build quality are overpriced due to aesthetics. However, if you are interested in getting a better quality keyboard, go for a mechanical keyboard (with a type of mechanical switch that you prefer) that is marketed more toward performance and build quality than as a ghetto-fabulous item for gamers.
