Redragon K556 RGB LED Backlit Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Aluminum Base, 104 Standard Keys

Refunded. br>br>There will always be someone who gets the bad one, but this isn't always the case. br>br>On the one hand, it was a DoA situation. On the other hand, I have a lot of admiration for the way Redragon looks after its customers. They've treated me well in the past with their other products. As a result, I have no choice but to trust them. br>br>**** Edit 10/5/17 ***
br>Previously, I had given this keyboard three stars because it was neutral. Why should be clear from the previous review. DoA, refunded, but with the understanding that I was the only one in the batch who received a dud. It's not a big deal; being that guy is just a pain. But, because I'm well aware that it isn't representative of the norm, I gave it a neutral 3 rating. br>br>I'm changing my rating to a perfect 5 because Sain Store has provided me with a replacement keyboard. To find out more about that story, please read my comments section. I think it's important for those reading my product review to know how Sain Store responded to my first DoA keyboard. br>br>I'm the guy in the family who builds and maintains everyone else's computers. I've made purchasing decisions for businesses and individuals (including my own). Redragon, Logitech, Corsair, and Razer are just a few of the gaming brands I own. My personal impressions of the Redragon K556 Keyboard are based on how it compares to other flagship products such as the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum with Cherry MX brown switches, the Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum, and, of course, previous generations such as the Logitech G19 keyboard (all of which I own). Build a quality product. br>br> When you take this keyboard out of the box, the first thing you'll notice is that it's heavy and not made of cheap plastic. It has a substantial weight to it, giving it the appearance of being built to withstand a house collapsing on it. This keyboard has no cheap feel to it. If it doesn't double as a baseball bat or tire spikes for the local police department when you're not looking, I wouldn't be surprised. It's the most durable piece of hardware I've seen in a long time; the last time I felt a keyboard this solid was on a mechanical typewriter that would be better suited as a boat anchor. br>br>It's no surprise that they come with an 18-month guarantee. How many of those low-cost keyboards come with a warranty that lasts longer than 30 days? br>br>I will say that I have used the Redragon 18-month warranty on other products, and they are very helpful. In contrast to other locations where dealing with them is a major pain. Redragon's support has earned my respect on numerous occasions. Quality products, excellent customer service, and generally lower prices for similar hardware than competitors (think Logitech, Razer, and Corsair). That is, without a doubt, where I will continue to base my future purchasing decisions. br>br>Gaming Keyboard. br>Many non-gamers may not realize the difference between a standard keyboard and a high-end gaming keyboard, and I can't tell you how many times I've been asked to assist them in putting together a system for a gamer as a gift. And I've had to explain that a cheap keyboard won't suffice for gamers. Not every keyboard is created equal, as any hardcore gamer knows. Gamers frequently need to press far more keys at once than a standard keyboard can handle. Maybe I'm pressing CTRL for crouch, SHIFT for sneak, W and D for walking in a specific direction, and the space bar for hopping over a ledge. Gamers frequently require five or more keys to be recognized at the same time, to the point where they are unable to play without them. And standard keyboards were never intended to perform the tasks that gaming keyboards must. br>br>Find "Angry German Kid" on YouTube and watch it. If you're feeling brave or just want a good laugh, this is the place to be. This is what happens when you give your gaming friends a cheap keyboard; however, I believe that if that keyboard had been one of these heavy Redragon keyboards, it would have won the battle. br>br>The Switch (Cherry MX Brown)br>Of course, dedicated gaming keyboards are important for a variety of reasons. The switch for each key is the least important. The Redragon K556 keyboard has custom switches that are the same as Cherry MX Brown switches. br>br>Gamers require a long-lasting switch because they put their keyboards under a lot of strain. The Cherry line of switches is rated for 50 million presses before failure, so assuming Redragon's custom switches are equivalent, this keyboard will likely outlast me. br>br>In addition, the switch must be quick, as every microsecond can mean the difference between winning and losing. Gamers are very serious about these things. Cherry MX Brown Switches (br>br>Cherry MX Brown Switches (br>Cherry MX Brown Switches (br>Cherry MX br>br>For serious hardcore gamers, red switches are often the preferred option. These require very little movement to activate and send a signal that the button has been pressed. They also lack a detente or point of resistance beyond which they can activate. With little resistance and activation at a very low point of pressure, anyone resting their hands on these keyboards may experience issues as key presses are registered just by brushing against them. Gamers like them because they want the keys to activate as quickly as physically possible, giving them the best reaction times. People buying these keyboards for typing may struggle because they are so sensitive, but gamers like them because they want the keys to activate as quickly as physically possible. For those who want a clicky switch and a tactile bump, blue is a popular choice. For most typists, this is the preferred keyboard. Before they'll work, you'll have to press them down a little harder. As a result, they're not as sensitive as the Cherry MX Red. In addition, the key is a little more resistant than the Red. These, when combined with a tactile bump, a little more leeway before activating, and a little more resistance, provide the clicky mechanical keyboard feedback that many typists desire. Brown is now the go-between. br>br> Both gaming and typing are done on my keyboard. I do rest my hands on the keys/keyboard, and I consider myself to be a fairly serious gamer. I'm looking for a way to get the upper hand on the competition. Because I don't want to lose, I didn't start my game. I want to come out on top. At the same time, I'd like to be able to type various documents, such as this review, using only my keyboard. I've done a lot of programming and other work that requires me to be able to type correctly without making 16 mistakes every sentence. br>br>The brown switches are a tactile, non-clicky type of switch. They have a point of detente or resistance that many people are unaware of. If you simply press the button as if you were typing, it feels like a standard level of resistance when pressing a key. However, if you push slowly enough, you will notice that it is actually moving over a small bump. It has limited resistance, but it does have a tiny bump that prevents it from being triggered by lightly brushing your hands over the keyboard. It's that sweet spot where you get good reaction times without being overly sensitive to the point where you can't use it. This is the switch I prefer. br>br>I feel compelled to make a small declaration at the end of this section. Everyone has their own style of writing. Some people are overbearing. Not all of them are. It's a generalization to say what I've said about switches. In a broad sense. the overwhelming majority of typists etc. There are undoubtedly many typists who are accustomed to and enjoy the red switches. There is no way of knowing whether or not all typists will prefer one over the other. How we place our hands, how heavy handed we are, the angle of our fingers, position adjustments based on large or small hands that may be easier to rest or stretch further, and so on, are all unique to each of us. I strongly encourage people to experiment with various switch types to determine which they prefer. I've seen people complain that they can't type a single sentence about the Reds without making 16 mistakes. They're also popular among typists. Brown is my preferred color. It is possible that your results will differ. Fn Keys. br>br> br>This keyboard's extra features, such as the media player, volume, and back-up camera, are controlled by the Fn key. It keeps things simple and easy, and it gets the job done right, without crowding everything up in an annoying way like a laptop. Everything is organized in logical groups with easy-to-understand icons, making this a very pleasant experience to use. br>br>Fn F1-Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn Fn F Toggles for volume down, volume up, and mute are all available on the F4 Media Player. br>br>Fn F5-Fn F6-Fn F7-Fn F8-Fn F9-Fn F Fn F9- Stop, Rewind, Play/Pause toggle, Fast Forwardbr>br>Fn F8- Stop, Rewind, Play/Pause toggle, Fast Forwardbr>br> Fn Windows Start toggles both the Windows Start button and the Application/Context Menu buttons on and off. br>br>F12 Email, Browser, Calculator, Searchbr>br>Fn Windows Start toggles both the Windows Start button and the Application/Context Menu buttons on and off. Gamers who frequently need to press the shift and control keys in conjunction with a number of other keys frequently hit the windows start key by accident. This, however, can be disastrous in a full-screen game. This is, at the very least, extremely inconvenient. And, in the worst-case scenario, it could completely shut down the game. br>br>Plus and minus keys on the main keyboard (Fn). The back-up camera's speed is controlled by this knob. The cycle of light. Does the rainbow move quickly or slowly across the keyboard? The three leds (Caps lock, Num loc, and Scroll lock) will blink when the keyboard reaches its minimum or maximum speed, indicating how fast or slow it can go. br>br>Up and down arrows on the Fn key. The brightness of the backlight is controlled by this setting. lighting. When you reach the brightest or dimmest (off) positions, the three led lights will blink again, signaling that you can't go any further. Fn Left Arrow (br>br>Fn Right Arrow (br>br>Fn Right Arrow (br>br>Fn Right Arrow This will change the cycle's direction. Do the rainbow colors appear to be moving to the right or left? Fn Right arrow (br>br>Fn Left arrow (br>br>Fn Right arrow (br>br>F This allows you to choose from nine different color schemes. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan (light blue), blue, purple, and violet are some of the colors in the rainbow. Then it's back to Rainbow to begin the process all over again. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back Modes of illumination: br>Ins, Del, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Fn Ins, Del, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Fn Ins, Del, Home, End, PgUp, This is the back-up plan. You have a variety of light patterns to choose from. Each of the six buttons alternates between three different back-and-forth motions. There are a total of 18 different light modes to choose from. You might forget which of the six buttons corresponds to which mode, but you'll know which ones to check without having to look it up. Fn Ins. br>br>Fn Ins. br>br>Fn Ins. br>br The Light's Trial, Part 2 3. Take a deep breath. Normally on Fn Homebr>br> Ripple Graff is the second in the series of Ripple Graff. 3. Remove all traces of your existence. Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Coastal Hurricane (n. d. ) is a fictional character who appears in the 3. Accumulate Fn Del. br>br>Digital Timesbr>br>Digital Timesbr>br>Digital Timesbr>br>Digital Follow the flow, 2. Clouds move, and three. End of Winding Pathsbr>br>Fn Blooming flowers, number two. Jasmine jasmine jasmine jasmine jasmine jasmine jasmine Fn PgDn Fn PgDn Fn PgDn Fn PgDn Fn PgDn Fn PgDn Fn PgD In both directions, 2. Survive, 3. The fast and the furiousbr>br>Default reset. br>Fn PrtScrn. The Fn key is the last one. This will return the keyboards to their original state. Reset the light settings to their default values. This Fn key does not have a symbol on the keyboard. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back Some people may prefer a static, non-moving color for light tips, notes, and thoughts. br> Perhaps some people require a pattern that is less distracting for an office or similar setting. The back- You should use the light mode "Normally on. " After that, select your color with the Fn Right Arrow. You can choose between a non-moving static rainbow and one of the eight solid colors. Use The trial by Light mode (described in the next paragraph) as an alternative. br>br>Some of the back-to-back-to-back-to-back to back-to-back to back-to-back Some of the different modes are unaffected by light options. The trial by Light mode, for example, is a solid color across the keyboard that gradually fades through the full color gradient before restarting. It's a way to have a non-distracting, solidly lit keyboard that also changes color over time to add variety. The back-up plan, on the other hand, With this mode, the light option to change the color has no effect. It'd be pointless to change the mode to one color based on what it's supposed to do. Then you'd only have one solid color, which is what the Normally on mode is supposed to do. br>br>The second set of patterns (the three Fn Home key patterns) are all interactive patterns. As you press the keys, they emit a pattern. Ripple Graff is an expanding circle that extends outward from the pressed key across the keyboard. When you press a key, Pass without Trace illuminates it briefly before slowly dimming it (leaving a slew of lit and dimming keys on the keyboard as you type). If the rainbow color pattern is chosen, the keys will be a variety of colors; otherwise, they will all be the same solid color. The final pattern, Coastal, projects a wave horizontally across the one row of the pressed key. The default back-lighting pattern has a cool effect of lights shooting out on different levels across the keyboard as you type on different rows; all other patterns are non-interactive. br>br> Go with the stream is light mode if you reset the keyboard (Fn PrtScrn). It isn't the first item on the first back-to-school shopping list. Fn key to switch to light mode. It's easy to mistakenly believe that pressing Fn Ins for the first time will switch you to the second mode if you're already in the first. Nope, after the reset, your mode is somewhere near the bottom of the list. It has a nice side scrolling rainbow effect. br>br>One issue with the Corsair K95 Platinum (among several with its onboard profile storage mechanics) is that when you bog down the computer with some kind of seriously intensive disk thrashing or something, the lights on the Corsair stop blinking and you have to wait for the system to recover. This most likely means the Corsair is running software (e. g. To run its light show, the computer must have the necessary drivers installed. While it is unlikely to have a significant impact on your computer's performance, this is yet another thing that uses up your computer's cycles rather than having dedicated hardware to run the light show. If it had its own hardware to run the show, it wouldn't have to pause and wait for the computer to catch up. I'd expect more from a $200 keyboard, but the Redragon K556 just keeps going at full throttle. This means that the keyboard's light show is powered by hardware rather than software, which saves CPU cycles. Software. br>br> br>I'd like to see some progress in this area. If we want this keyboard to compete with the big boys like Razer, Logitech, and Corsair, we'll need to put some effort into the software to help it mature and become the best it can be. The software itself is in perfect working order. It's fully functional and does its job admirably. However, it will need to step up its game with a few more feature-rich functions in order to be truly competitive. Don't get me wrong. br>br>Don't get me wrong. It appears to have all of the features that are technically required for this type of application. However, I believe that is the end of it. There isn't anything wrong with it that would cause a star to be taken away. However, in comparison to the other big names, it could do a lot more on the software side. br>br>On the main screen, you can switch between three profiles. If that wasn't enough, there's also a triangle-shaped button with a line under it on the top right, next to the windows min/max buttons. This brings up a menu where you can import and export profiles, effectively giving you an infinite number of options. br>br>Macros can be set up, keys can be reassigned to a different key press, and programs can be assigned to run. All of your macros are saved in a macro repository, and you can assign them to any key you want with just a few clicks. br>br>You can also choose which back-up system you want to use. Each of the three profiles will be shot in light mode. You can also personalize them using all of the available options. br>br>If you've read this far, I appreciate you taking the time to do so, and I hope I've been able to provide you with some useful information.

Berkley Higgins

| Jul 05, 2021

  I've been using my keyboard for a few days now, and it's fantastic! Dbr>br>This is my first mechanical keyboard, and I wanted a cherry mx brown so that typing wouldn't be too loud, and this is it. Great typing experience with audible keystrokes that aren't annoying, perfect balance, I'd say.

Xiomara Cannon

| Nov 13, 2021

I bought this Redragon K556 RGB LED Backlit Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard to replace my old gaming keyboard because I prefer tactile feedback without being too loud, and this keyboard uses Brown switches. It also includes an 8-blue switch, so I can change out major keys like "A," "S," "W," and "D" later if I want something more "clicky. " Redragon K556 RGB LED Backlit Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 2 key/switch replacement tools, 8 spare Blue switches, and user manual are all included in the package. Because of the clear casing, I believe the switches on this keyboard are Outemu. Outemu Brown is quieter than Outemu Blue, but it still gives you the same tactile feedback. Only if I bottom out the keys in each press does the Outemu Brown series get loud. However, in long-term gaming sessions, this isn't practical. The RGB LED lighting on this keyboard can be adjusted, and there are six different backlight themes to choose from. There are 18 different lighting models to choose from, as well as the ability to change the brightness, flow speed, and flow direction. Instead of using software, you can do everything with the keyboard hotkey FN control.
PROs:
- The base of this keyboard is made of aluminum, and the edges are trimmed in chrome. There are four different types of anti- There are two height-adjustable skid legs to improve stability when typing on the keyboard, and the USB connector is gold-plated. To ensure the highest level of quality, the item has been plated.
- Backlighting is provided by an integrated LED. The lit keys are nice, and everything can be controlled with a hotkey on the keyboard rather than a piece of software on the computer. However. It also implies that the color scheme and sequence aren't completely customizable.
- It has dedicated number pads and a full 104-key keyboard. Multimedia hotkeys can also be activated by pressing a combination of keys.
- Splash- With the occasional water/coffee spills, the water/coffee resistant design gives me peace of mind.
NOTE:
- I haven't been able to find out if this keyboard supports macro command customization, but it appears that it doesn't. If I come across anything new, I'll post it here later.

Ricardo Stanton

| Apr 16, 2021

One of the other RedDragon keyboards had MX Cherry Red clone switches, which I had. It was never particularly pleasurable, but it did the job. With the MX Cherry Brown clone keys, I got the most recent one. They don't all feel the same when you bump into them. Some have a distinct flavor, while others feel like Cherry Reds with no resistance and no noticeable bump. The bump isn't a sign of a successful keystroke, either. br>br>Certain keys frequently fail to register keystrokes, despite the fact that this has never been a problem with any other keyboard I've owned or used in the past 20 years, including my previous Red Dragon keyboard. Some keys, such as the "N" and "E," are particularly prone to dropping keystrokes, and these appear to be among the most frequently used. It's completely disrupting my workflow, and since I've had this keyboard for a few months, it appears that I'll be stuck with it. br>br>UPDATE: br>br> Okay, so about a month and a half after writing this review, I decided it was bad enough that I needed to replace the keyboard; it still works occasionally, but I've never had another keyboard that dropped keystrokes as badly as this one.

Jonas Chambers

| Aug 08, 2021