SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 Boosts Its Magnetic Switches
I have always found Hall effect Switches are hard to get used to, but with the third generation of its Apex Pro keyboards, SteelSeries has a few tricks up its sleeve that might make the adjustment a little smoother. In addition to its new OmniPoint 3.0 switches, the company has added a few new, eye-catching features like Rapid Tap (also known as SOCD) to give the competition a run for their money. And there’s an interesting new Protection mode for those of us with sloppy keystrokes.
The Apex Pro Gen 3 keyboards come in three flavors: a $200 full-size keyboard, a $190 TKL model (i.e., a keyboard without a number pad and no keypad), and a $250 wireless TKL model.
One of the benefits of Hall Effect switches is the ability to adjust their actuation and reset points (described in my Corsair K70 review). SteelSeries says the improved sensors in the new switches make them more accurate and consistent, though the 0.1mm-high actuation point — that’s a nearly instantaneous keystroke register — hasn’t changed. The highest is 4mm, nearly the full travel distance for the key.
With those fast switches, you run the risk of a lot of unintended keystrokes and repetitions. That’s why SteelSeries is introducing a new Protection Mode: for selected keys, it temporarily reduces the actuation level of surrounding keys to reduce the chance of unintended keystrokes; it somehow knows the difference between intentional and unintentional. I really can’t wait to see how well this works.
SteelSeries has also added a feature to bring the new keyboards up to par with competitors: Rapid Tap, also known as SOCDthat SteelSeries has been beta testing since early August. It solves the phenomenon of a character freezing when you press two keys that trigger opposite movements. The Rapid Tap solution is to automatically release the first key, even if you’re still holding it down, when the second keypress is registered, bypassing your physical reactions to make that character move quickly.
Both Protection Mode and Rapid Tap are included in the SteelSeries GG software, which means they should likely work with older Apex Pro models. The software will also ship with GG Quicksets, presets for actuation levels, and a handful of game-optimized features to get you started.
Hardware upgrades include improved stabilizers for less wobble and the use of a different lubricant. This, along with the use of more foam, makes the keys produce a lower frequency sound (thicker) and a different feel (foam usually makes the landing feel softer).
The wireless model has a faster connection with the 2.4GHz dongle, but the connection types remain unchanged from the smaller Apex Pro Mini. And the estimated 40 hours of battery life, unfortunately, remains unchanged.
