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The Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate is a part of the new lineup designed to put Asus on pace with its rivals in the gaming accessories market by providing each gaming keyboard with at least one special function. The Claymore II, the company’s largest model, includes optical switches and a detachable number pad that can be attached onto either side of the keyboard, while the Falchion, its tenkeyless model, has a touch bar integrated into the side for controlling media playback.
The Strix Flare II features a hot-swappable PCB and an eye-catching dot matrix LED display that is carved into the corner. For $219.99, the Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate is presently on sale, but only through the Asus storefront. This keyboard is significantly more expensive than comparable keyboards on the market, even though it is not quite as pricey as the Corsair K100 was at launch ($229.99).
Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate review: Design
Full-size mechanical keyboard from Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate has media controls, per-key RGB, and other features common to gaming keyboards. This plank would be identical to any other board if that were all it had to offer. But the new Strix board stands out in a fantastic way because it has so many special aethetic and functional characteristics.
First of all, unlike most pricey motherboards and high-end enthusiast beasts like the Angry Miao Cyberboard, this keyboard features an LED display in the upper right corner. Instead, the architecture of the screen on this board, which comprises of tiny LED lights, makes me think a lot of the scoreboard at the old Yankee Stadium. Although it can only display white light, Asus refers to this display as the AniMe Matrix and claims that it can give your plank a staggering array of diverse appearances. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop is where we first saw the AniMe Matrix. You can buy this gaming keyboard from its official website.
Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate review: keys
Additionally, the hot-swappable PCB enables you to try out lubricating your switches, which is optional but really simple to accomplish and can greatly improve your typing experience by resulting in smoother keystrokes and removing spring ping. If this is your first time trying to lube mechanical keyboard switches, you won’t be left in the dark because we offer a guide.
Sound-dampening foam is yet another mechanical keyboard enthusiast feature that Asus included to this board. This is currently not a novel feature, as many businesses are beginning to implement it. But unlike other pre-built boards we’ve evaluated that also have sound-dampening foam, this board didn’t have any spring ping.
Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate review: RGB lighting
There are a few function and media buttons next to the matrix. There are dedicated keys for the Windows lock and LED brightness, a metal volume dial, a toggle for forward and backward, a play/pause button hidden on the side, and other controls.
The RGB light diffusor, which resembles the RGB strips on the Corsair K100 RGB’s sides, is located on the front. It provides an even illumination without the wrist rest that incorporates the key lighting you already have. For instance, a rain effect will extend into the diffusor from the bottom row of keys.
Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate review: Performance
This is partially the result of trying to cram any image onto a tiny, monochrome dot matrix screen, but it’s odd that the firm is using this flaw to support their rebranding by mounting these screens on motherboards, keyboards, and laptop lids. It becomes very obvious that the utility of this function is extremely restricted and not really worth the effort once the novelty of the display has worn off.
Unfortunately, attempting to integrate personalized per-key RGB backlighting doesn’t really improve things. The Asus Armory Crate software is rather easy to use and offers some modest performance and illumination tweaking options. The Asus Aura Creator software, which resembles a program like Final Cut Express and feels about as unintuitive as it appears, is required to design something slightly more intricate.
Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate review: Conclusion
A fantastic gaming keyboard is the ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate. It boasts an above-average 8000Hz maximum polling rate and extremely low latency. Using the companion software, you can completely customize the RGB backlighting as well as assign macros to any key and make animations for the top-right LED panel. The wrist rest that is included makes it a pleasant keyboard to use on top of everything else.