Complete your gaming rig with the best gaming keyboard to breeze to the top of the leaderboards. Gaming keyboards are more than just for having fancy RGB lighting. The top ones help minimize the wall between you and the best PC games to give you a gaming edge and an even more immersive experience.
While average keyboards only hold you back, the best gaming keyboards will actually help you game better delivering better accuracy, speed, and performance. What’s more, they’ll also come with features that increase your chances of winning like N-key rollover, quicker key actuation, and the ability to create and use macros.
It’s not just the best gaming PCs and the best gaming monitors that are vital to getting the ultimate gaming experience. With all the features, build quality, and performance the best gaming keyboards offer, they’re vital additions to gamers’ setups as well. So, read on to find the most ideal one for you. And, while you’re in the market for peripherals, pop in to see our best gaming mouse list as well to round out your rig.
The best gaming keyboard 2021 at a glance
- SteelSeries Apex Pro
- Razer Huntsman Elite
- Roccat Vulcan 120 Aimo
- Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard AW768
- Cooler Master MasterSet MS120
- Corsair K95 RGB Platinum
- Havit Low Profile Mechanical Keyboard
- Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
- SteelSeries Apex 3
- Razer Cynosa V2
The SteelSeries Apex Pro’s svelte aesthetic and clever OLED display are just the appetizers. The SteelSeries Apex Pro gets our coveted 5-star rating for many reasons, the biggest of which are its stunning and solid build, custom actuation and comfortable – not to mention, quiet – magnetic switches. Performance-wise, it’s among the best gaming keyboards we’ve tested yet, which makes its $199 price tag worth the splurge.
Read the full review: SteelSeries Apex Pro
If you have the need for speed, then the Huntsman Elite is your best bet, thanks to its new optomechanical switches. That sounds like a mouthful, but essentially, it means that Razer has managed to combine mechanical switches with optical sensors. This unthinkable allows the Huntsman Elite to take its actuation to the next level, and you would be hard-pressed to find a faster keyboard on the market. Switches aside, it’s also remarkably comfortable to type on. Plus, it’s covered with more RGB lighting than you can shake a stick at. Sure, it needs two USB cables for power and costs a small fortune, but with tech like this, it’s absolutely worth it.
Read the full review: Razer Huntsman Elite
The Roccat Vulcan 120 should be at the top of your gaming keyboard wish list, if you want one that looks and feels good. This svelte keyboard uses Roccat’s own Titan switches, rather than the Cherry MX switches found on most other keyboards on this list, and we can vouch for how superb they are. This gaming keyboard combines amazing tactile feedback with quiet and comfort. It really isn’t hard to see why this is one of the best gaming keyboards on the market today.
Read the full review: Roccat Vulcan 120 Aimo
When you think Alienware, “value” isn’t the word that comes to mind. But, this time around, the Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard AW768 is a genuinely great deal. At under 100 bucks or quid, you’re getting the toughest gaming keyboard fitted with mechanical keys, dedicated macro keys and slick aesthetics. It’s not the most feature rich keyboard in the game, but at this price, it really doesn’t need to be. One of the best gaming keyboards in 2021, the Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard AW768 gets the job done, and looks good while doing it.
Read the full review: Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard AW768
Not everything has to be super high-end to be good, and the Cooler Master MasterSet MS120 is the perfect example. Though this one’s a keyboard and mouse set, the keyboard is the star of the show. Sitting at just under a hundred bucks, the MasterSet’s keyboard is affordable while being up there with its more premium ‘mem-chanical’ competitors in terms of quality. The switches on offer bring a ton of tactile feedback and deep travel. It’s quiet as well, so you can furiously pounding away during an intense late-night Overwatch match without worry. The Cooler Master MasterSet MS120 is, without a doubt, one of the best gaming keyboards under $100.
Read the full review: Cooler Master MasterSet MS120
A $159 price tag on a gaming keyboard might a tad too steep, but the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum, one of the best gaming keyboards we’ve tested in the last year, really does give you a lot of ounce for your bounce. We’re not talking the more trivial bells and whistles like fancy RGB lighting either – although since we are on the subject, this one’s got a whole lot of them, not to mention its integrated 19-zone light bar and the 16.8 million color options, to boot. By bang, we actually mean its 6 dedicated macro keys, 8MB on-board storage and aircraft-grade anodized brushed aluminum frame.
Read the full review: Corsair K95 RGB Platinum
You might be thinking that if you’ve seen one of the best gaming keyboards, you’ve seen them all: big, garish hunks of metal with bright RGB lighting. Well, the Havit Low Profile Mechanical Keyboard will surprise you. While it definitely has the RGB lighting (honestly, how could it not?), it leaves the rest of the cliches in the past where they belong. Appealing and responsive, this keyboard is only as big as it needs to be, and is thus extremely comfortable to type as well as game on. There are no multimedia buttons, but we’d happily make that trade any day for a keyboard this good at such a low price.
Read the full review: Havit Low Profile Mechanical Keyboard
Shelling out more than $100 for a great gaming keyboard is to be expected if you’re even slightly serious your gaming performance. But the beauty of Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is that it manages to deliver fast performance without being the most expensive keyboard in town. True, there aren’t a lot of features here, which puts it behind many of its feature-rich rivals, but it makes up for that by being small and boasting a removable to make it perfectly portable for on-the-go gaming.
Read our full review: Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Not all great gaming keyboards have mechanical switches, as this affordable Apex keyboard is proving. The budget-minded SteelSeries Apex 3 may come with a few concessions, but it also boasts some impressive features that more than make up for those compromises. One of those features is its IP32 water resistance for protection against any spills – because who hasn’t accidentally knocked over a can of soda while gaming? Another is its reactive and customizable 10-zone RGB illumination to make your gaming experience all the more impressive. And, if you absolutely hate those clickety clacking noises that mechanical keyboards love to make, you’ll really appreciate this keyboard’s whisper quiet gaming switches.
Read the full review: SteelSeries Apex 3
Razer may have its share of pricey products, but it’s also got a knack for making quality budget-friendly devices. And, if there’s anything the Razer Cynosa V2 proves, it’s that you don’t have to spend an obscene amount of money on peripherals to get the best. Among the best gaming keyboards we’ve played on this year, this one’s the best in its class, improving on its predecessor’s design while adding more functionality, solid key customizability and a brand-new set of media keys. Even if you’ve never been a fan of membrane switches, this one might just make a convert out of you, especially for that price.
Read the full review: Razer Cynosa V2
