AVF has been around for years and its a familiar brand to those who seeks for budget friendly peripherals. AVF joined the competition with their own branding for gaming peripherals known as Gaming Freak, aimed to provide affordable gaming peripherals with decent quality.
We were given the chance to try out one of its latest product under the Gaming Freak brand, million thanks to AV Future Link Sdn. Bhd. in provision of the Gaming Freak AKB-GK2 Gaming Keyboard.
(The AVF Gaming Freak AKB-GK2 retails at RM 99.00)
Specifications
Unboxing
Other than its fancy design, AVF never failed to highlight the prominent features such as waterproof, 3 color backlit, windows key lock and the gaming optimized key matrix at the front of the box.
These features is further described (briefly) at the back of the box, along with the key combination to trigger the media functions, backlit mode and more.
The AVF Gaming Freak AKB-GK2
Appearance wise, the AKB-GK2 looks pretty fancy for its shape but somehow we feels that they've kind of overdid with the cracking texture.
A closer view on the USB cable, the braided gold plated USB connector with AVF logo. As you may have already know, braided cables is more durable and less prone to damage due to excessive pulling and the implementation on gaming peripherals has been notably common nowadays. As for the gold plated connector, it plays no role in improving any signal transfer or what so ever. Still, it keeps the USB connector away from oxidation so you won't end up with a fancy looking keyboard but having a dull looking USB connector.
Rubber dome switch is used on the AKB-GK2.
As we take a closer look at the keyboard, we've noticed there are some key caps where its legends is surrounded by these box as shown in the photo above. These are the keys that is part of the gaming optimized key matrix.
The media function keys that can be triggered with the FN key located next to the right ALT key.
At the back of the keyboard, you'll see some fancy looking honey comb patterns.
These large rubber pads at the back of the keyboard to provide excellent grip to your desk, preventing any accidental slippage in the heat of battle against your opponent.
Blacklit Feature
The backlit feature can be activated by pressing the FN key following by the LED key located just right next to the FN key. Upon triggered, the LED will rotate in a cycle of 3 color in breathing mode.
To set the backlit color to the color of your choice, just press FN key following by the LED key again when the LED rotated to the color of your choice.
Quick Demonstration on the LED Backlit
Key Rollover Test
While it's already stated on the box that the keyboard comes with the so called 'Anti-Ghosting' feature but that doesn't stops us from checking out the claim. Many used the terms of 'Anti-Ghosting' wrongly as a marketing gimmick without knowing how does the actual key ghosting looks like.
A more suitable term for what the manufacturer wants to present to the end user should be either:
- Key Rollover - the maximum amount of keys registered when a large amount of keys is pressed down randomly
- Gaming Optimized Matrix - unlike key rollover, gaming optimized matrix focuses on the most frequent used keys by gamers so signal blocking will not occur on these key combinations
The gaming optimized keys seems to passed the test with flying colors, just as promised.
As a rhythm games player ourselves, it's always our priority to test out the commonly used key combination by rhythm game players ( DJMAX, O2Jam, etc ). With the key combination accepted without any issue, that's definitely a certified yes from us.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to aesthetics, the AKB-GK2 is what we would describe as a fancy looking but overdid keyboard. Although we're quite impressed with the 3 color LED, but AVF really overdid with the cracking texture that somehow makes the keyboard itself looks like a car overdecorated with tons of LED.
What really surprises us is the gaming optimized key matrix - we never imagined that AVF would went that far to make the AKB-GK2 so well optimized to the extend where almost any game would not have any key combination issue with it.
As mechanical keyboard becomes the new trend for gaming keyboards, many renown brands ditched rubber dome switch design and went full force towards mechanical keyboard. Rubber dome keyboards that is specially designed with gaming optimized key matrix is an alternative for those who can't afford those high end mechanical keyboard with fancy LEDs or N-key Rollover feature and the AVF Gaming Freak AKB-GK2 is one of those rubber dome keyboard that is worth recommending.
Pros
- Solid build quality
- Comes with 3 color of LED
- Comes with media function keys
- Braided USB cable for enhanced durability
- Very well optimized key matrix for gaming
- Surprisingly affordable for the feature offered (RM 99.00)
Cons
- The appearance is somewhat overdid
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