Today we are reviewing Tesoro’s latest keyboard, the Excalibur G7NL. Tesoro*is a comparably newcomer to PC peripherals but just in the matter of a few years they have expanded their portfolio greatly and are being sold in many countries.
They’ve produced all kinds of*keyboards ranging from RGB keyboards, backlit keyboards, aluminium keyboards, Cherry MX switch keyboards to Kailh switch keyboards.
But their efforts have never really been stellar, the earlier Colada looked and felt like it was made from plastic when it was actually aluminium and it costs a lot as well!
On top of that most designs were mostly a love or hate affair. Today’s Excalibur is a bit more promising in both aspects though
The Excalibur keyboard we are reviewing is Tesoro’s new blue LED backlit Kailh switch mechanical keyboard which looks simple and doesn’t cost much for a backlit keyboard
(I apologise for the “fish eye” effect)
Tesoro has a love for naming products after folklore and despite being based in the United States the packaging and design seems to be done among the lines by a man from China.
Straight away translation errors pop up on the box, errors such as “Sword Of King” makes no sense
The Excalibur looks to be the first decent Tesoro keyboard that looks pretty decent but I’m pretty sure that it takes a lot more than just nice design to win the market.
This keyboard though uses Kalih switches which usually feels mushy in comparison to Cherry switches and in the past were infamous for the switch stems breaking off in the keycap
The Excalibur features programmable keyboard keys, five profiles, onboard memory, individually backlit blue LED keys, and Fn media keys. The Excalibur comes with a 2-year warranty and*costs 129$*http://ift.tt/1u4yEEz
Tesoro Excalibur Features:
Tesoro Excalibur Illuminated Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Specifications:
Software*for accessing advanced features on the keyboard must be downloaded*from the Tesoro website
Opening the box shows us… Bubble wrap! and that’s about all there is in there. (along with the keyboard)
A user manual? No,*just Tesoro advertising their other products.
Looking straight on, it looks pretty ordinary with a full sized 104-key layout and a numpad. No extra “media” or “macro” keys are to be seen, reducing clutter and giving it a simplistic look but rather dated and boring.
Sadly, this keyboard does not have a removable USB cord or a braided USB cord, it would have been a nice touch but then again, this is a budget keyboard.
The Tesoro Excalibur probably won’t be taking any space on your desk than the traditional full-size keyboard you already have which is hardly surprisingly given it comes with no extra frills like dedicated macro keys and additional bezel for aesthetic purposes.
With the LEDs turned off the lettering on the keycaps is still visible allowing the keyboard to not attract attention when in a office environment.
LED brightness levels are controlled by pressing Fn and the corresponding key on the number pad.
The Excalibur connects to the computer with an 1.55m long USB cable
The Fn modifier key shifts the*F-key row into media controls and profile toggles.
Every key uses Kalih mechanical switches with three choices of switches namely, clicky Blues, tactile Browns and linear Reds. Linear blacks are also available but is dependent on the distributor.
The Kalih switches are copycats of Cherry switches and are*manufactured in China which would mean cheaper production costs which will pass down to the user, unlike the 2014 Razer keyboards.
The Kalih Blue switches feel about the same as the cherry counterparts, just slightly lighter.
One issue I faced during testing that sometimes is that the keys may get stuck if they were slightly pushed sideways, this gives the keyboard a “sticky” feel and may annoy users that have used the Cherry MX Blues before.
The Kalih switches however, have the same mounting system as Cherry switches for the kaycaps, this allows for customization on the keycap front.
Flipping the keyboard around shows us the extremely grippy rubber pads and the riser feet that also have the rubber pads, a very nice touch.
During testing, the pads were in fact so grippy that pushing the keyboard backwards actually folded the elevated feet back into the keyboard.
Nothing is of interest on the left and right side of the keyboard.
No USB hub or audio passthrough to be seen on the back of the keyboard.
There are, however, some sealed off ports that happen to be in the shape of USB and audio ports which this shares the mould with the upcoming Excalibur RGB
The Keyboard comes with software which you have to download from the Tesoro website that helps you with programming the switches to your liking, every switch can be programmed. The programmed macros will then be stored on the device with up to 5 profiles and can be used without the software, this is useful for gamers who prefer their PCs with less bloat.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
In conclusion, this is a great budget mechanical keyboard and may appeal to users that have limited budget or are “switching” over from membrane keyboards. This keyboard is also surprisingly well built for a budget keyboard.
Tesoro manufactures*keyboards with Cherry MX switches, but the Excalibur is one of their newer keyboards using*Kalih MX switches which are unlicensed copies of the Cherry MX switches.
However, this keyboard has Kalih blue switches which in my opinion, is not as well built and tested as Cherry ones. Current Users of the Cherry switched will notice the drop in build quality of the switches and may find that an annoyance.
All in all, this is a budget Mechanical keyboard that is really well built and does not have too many fancy (and useless) features and may be the keyboard for you if you are looking to upgrade from a membrane keyboard and is backlit! For a price of 129$ I say it’s much better buy than the Thermaltake Poseidon Z that I have tried before. The Poseidon Z was like typing on sponge the undertray design was so bad/thin that I gave up after 10minutes
Of course I found it a joy and comparing it with my CM Storm MECH that I use daily may seem rather foolish, but there is method in my insanity, it sure isn’t a CM Storm MECH but boy, was it a joy to type on it.
It sure didn’t feel as crisp (Problems with Kalih switches apparently) but at almost half the price it is fantastic no less
Read More: http://ift.tt/12NUtT6
They’ve produced all kinds of*keyboards ranging from RGB keyboards, backlit keyboards, aluminium keyboards, Cherry MX switch keyboards to Kailh switch keyboards.
But their efforts have never really been stellar, the earlier Colada looked and felt like it was made from plastic when it was actually aluminium and it costs a lot as well!
On top of that most designs were mostly a love or hate affair. Today’s Excalibur is a bit more promising in both aspects though
The Excalibur keyboard we are reviewing is Tesoro’s new blue LED backlit Kailh switch mechanical keyboard which looks simple and doesn’t cost much for a backlit keyboard
(I apologise for the “fish eye” effect)
Tesoro has a love for naming products after folklore and despite being based in the United States the packaging and design seems to be done among the lines by a man from China.
Straight away translation errors pop up on the box, errors such as “Sword Of King” makes no sense
The Excalibur looks to be the first decent Tesoro keyboard that looks pretty decent but I’m pretty sure that it takes a lot more than just nice design to win the market.
This keyboard though uses Kalih switches which usually feels mushy in comparison to Cherry switches and in the past were infamous for the switch stems breaking off in the keycap
The Excalibur features programmable keyboard keys, five profiles, onboard memory, individually backlit blue LED keys, and Fn media keys. The Excalibur comes with a 2-year warranty and*costs 129$*http://ift.tt/1u4yEEz
Tesoro Excalibur Features:
- Switchable USB & N-Key / Full N-Key Rollover
- Gaming grade mechanical key switch with 50 million key actuations
- Instant 5 profiles shift keys
- Instant game mode function key for fast switching (Fn+Pause Break)
- 5 levels LED backlight brightness control with dimming mode
- User friendly UI for easy function setup
- 512Kbit onboard memory
- Full keys programmable
- 5 profiles over 300 macro keys
- 2000 macro presses per profile available
- SYNC keyboard function
- Firmware on line update
- Embedded multimedia keys
- Anti-slip design rubberized tilt feet
- 1000Hz polling rate
- Compatible with Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 8.1
Tesoro Excalibur Illuminated Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Specifications:
- 450(W) x 145(L) x 24(H) mm
- Memory: 512KB
- Profiles: 5
- Macro keys: all
- LED levels: 4
- Key lifespan: 50 million keystrokes
- Multimedia keys: 6
- Connection: USB
- Cable length: 1,55m
- USB ports: no (The mould includes USB ports for the future RGB version of the Excalibur)
- Audio ports : no*(The mould includes audio ports for the future RGB version of the Excalibur)
Software*for accessing advanced features on the keyboard must be downloaded*from the Tesoro website
Opening the box shows us… Bubble wrap! and that’s about all there is in there. (along with the keyboard)
A user manual? No,*just Tesoro advertising their other products.
Looking straight on, it looks pretty ordinary with a full sized 104-key layout and a numpad. No extra “media” or “macro” keys are to be seen, reducing clutter and giving it a simplistic look but rather dated and boring.
Sadly, this keyboard does not have a removable USB cord or a braided USB cord, it would have been a nice touch but then again, this is a budget keyboard.
The Tesoro Excalibur probably won’t be taking any space on your desk than the traditional full-size keyboard you already have which is hardly surprisingly given it comes with no extra frills like dedicated macro keys and additional bezel for aesthetic purposes.
With the LEDs turned off the lettering on the keycaps is still visible allowing the keyboard to not attract attention when in a office environment.
LED brightness levels are controlled by pressing Fn and the corresponding key on the number pad.
The Excalibur connects to the computer with an 1.55m long USB cable
The Fn modifier key shifts the*F-key row into media controls and profile toggles.
Every key uses Kalih mechanical switches with three choices of switches namely, clicky Blues, tactile Browns and linear Reds. Linear blacks are also available but is dependent on the distributor.
The Kalih switches are copycats of Cherry switches and are*manufactured in China which would mean cheaper production costs which will pass down to the user, unlike the 2014 Razer keyboards.
The Kalih Blue switches feel about the same as the cherry counterparts, just slightly lighter.
One issue I faced during testing that sometimes is that the keys may get stuck if they were slightly pushed sideways, this gives the keyboard a “sticky” feel and may annoy users that have used the Cherry MX Blues before.
The Kalih switches however, have the same mounting system as Cherry switches for the kaycaps, this allows for customization on the keycap front.
Flipping the keyboard around shows us the extremely grippy rubber pads and the riser feet that also have the rubber pads, a very nice touch.
During testing, the pads were in fact so grippy that pushing the keyboard backwards actually folded the elevated feet back into the keyboard.
Nothing is of interest on the left and right side of the keyboard.
No USB hub or audio passthrough to be seen on the back of the keyboard.
There are, however, some sealed off ports that happen to be in the shape of USB and audio ports which this shares the mould with the upcoming Excalibur RGB
The Keyboard comes with software which you have to download from the Tesoro website that helps you with programming the switches to your liking, every switch can be programmed. The programmed macros will then be stored on the device with up to 5 profiles and can be used without the software, this is useful for gamers who prefer their PCs with less bloat.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
In conclusion, this is a great budget mechanical keyboard and may appeal to users that have limited budget or are “switching” over from membrane keyboards. This keyboard is also surprisingly well built for a budget keyboard.
Tesoro manufactures*keyboards with Cherry MX switches, but the Excalibur is one of their newer keyboards using*Kalih MX switches which are unlicensed copies of the Cherry MX switches.
However, this keyboard has Kalih blue switches which in my opinion, is not as well built and tested as Cherry ones. Current Users of the Cherry switched will notice the drop in build quality of the switches and may find that an annoyance.
All in all, this is a budget Mechanical keyboard that is really well built and does not have too many fancy (and useless) features and may be the keyboard for you if you are looking to upgrade from a membrane keyboard and is backlit! For a price of 129$ I say it’s much better buy than the Thermaltake Poseidon Z that I have tried before. The Poseidon Z was like typing on sponge the undertray design was so bad/thin that I gave up after 10minutes
Of course I found it a joy and comparing it with my CM Storm MECH that I use daily may seem rather foolish, but there is method in my insanity, it sure isn’t a CM Storm MECH but boy, was it a joy to type on it.
It sure didn’t feel as crisp (Problems with Kalih switches apparently) but at almost half the price it is fantastic no less
Read More: http://ift.tt/12NUtT6
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