Logitech G Pro X TKL review: created to compete

Introduction

Esports pros can be a picky bunch. They insist on gaming monitors with the fastest refresh rates, demand mice with absurd sensitivity settings, and can be thrown off their stride by something as minor as the wrong sort of RGB lighting on their keyboard. It’s why Logitech tapped up hundreds of ’em to design the G Pro X TKL.

This wireless mechanical keyboard is purpose-built for competition, but still packs in features meant to please those of us with more modest gaming abilities, including a few nods to Logitech’s lithe G915 TKL and its low-profile switches. Only here they’re found in a more traditional full-height form factor, which helps set it apart from the 60%-size competition made popular by Keychron, Ducky and other smaller boutique brands.

Fast wireless connectivity and per-key RGB are a given at this price. Does the G Pro X TKL also deliver a winning performance?

Design & build: tough traveller

Whether you get one in black, white or hot pink colours, the G Pro X TKL is a bruiser of a ‘board. It weighs in at 916g, which is substantial given its otherwise slim dimensions. That’s largely down to the central metal frame, which is brilliantly sturdy and showed no signs of flex. We’re betting it would survive a sudden bout of gamer rage quite comfortably.

Everything else is made from hard plastic, which is easy to clean and doesn’t show up fingerprints. That includes the flip-out risers, which let you pick between a 4- and 8-degree angle for comfortable typing. A set of thick rubber feet kept the keyboard anchored to our desk. The power switch and USB-C charging port are hidden out of view at the back of the ‘board, and there’s a neat little slot on the underside for keeping the Lightspeed wireless dongle close by when travelling.

Logitech even throws in a semi-hard shell carry case, which sure beats slinging the keyboard loose in a backpack and having to refit all the switch key caps at the other end of your journey. It’s very resilient to knocks and bumps, with room inside for the bundled 1.8m USB-C to USB-A cable. Your gaming mouse will have to hitch a ride somewhere else, though.

Power it on and the G Pro X TKL’s keys all light up in Logitech’s signature blue colour. Apparently pro players didn’t like the flashy rainbow effects that most RGB-illuminated keyboards default to out of the box, so Logitech went for something much less distracting. It’s a move designed to please a niche crowd, but don’t worry if you’re a fan of ‘unicorn puke’ LED patterns – Logitech’s G Hub software has plenty to choose from.

Features & software: light the way

The tenkeyless layout leaves more desk space for your mouse, and Logitech hasn’t gone overboard on the shortcut keys. There are just a handful of multimedia controls in the top right corner, inherited from the G915 TKL, along with a chunky volume dial that’s easy to locate solely by touch, but that’s largely your lot. The G Hub software lets you assign macros to the F keys if you like, though.

At the top left are a lighting button with five brightness levels, wireless and Bluetooth buttons for toggling between connections if you’re working across two machines at once, and a gaming mode which disables (among other things) the Windows key, to avoid any unwanted trips to the desktop. This is all pretty standard stuff for a gaming keyboard these days, but each button is satisfyingly clicky so you can always tell when you’ve pressed it.

While it’ll happily do wired writing over USB-C, Logitech’s Lightspeed wireless tech lets you cut the cord without any penalty to input delay. Range is officially 10m, but good luck seeing what’s onscreen from that distance; more importantly it was strong enough to beam through our butcher block-style desk, so you’ll be fine even if your computer lives on the floor or inside a cupboard. I like the ability to pair certain Logitech G wireless mice to the keyboard’s dongle, too, freeing up a precious USB port.

At max brightness the RGB backlighting really made our white review sample pop, even in direct sunlight, with all but one key shining brightly; because the key LEDs are built into the top of each switch, and the Euro symbol has been etched into the key cap lower than any other symbol, it’s not quite so well illuminated. But that’s a minor quibble, and isn’t as noticeable in the dark.

G Hub gives you a bunch of lighting presets to pick from, including ones that react to your key presses, what’s happening onscreen, and any device audio. There’s also a per-key freestyle option and an animation editor if you want to get really granular with it. The community has a ton of user-created ones to download too.

Even at its brightest, the LED lights don’t dramatically sap the Pro X TKL’s battery life. It’s usually good for around 50 hours before it’ll need a recharge, which is a very respectable performance. I found I charged about once a week, which saw us through five working days of office hours typing, plus a few hours of gaming each night – and a few more at the weekends.

Performance: fast fingers

Like Logitech’s other gaming keyboards, the Pro X TKL can be had with the firm’s ‘clicky’, ‘linear’, or ‘tactile’ key switches. Our sample used GX Brown tactile switches.

Judging by the logo etched into each one, they are produced by switch-maker Kailh, and are a very close match for Cherry’s venerable MX switches – right down to the 4mm travel depth and 50g of pressure required to actuate them. The actuation point (how far you’ve got to push to register a key press) is a minuscule 0.1mm shorter than the Cherry alternative, but you’d need the finger dexterity of a neurosurgeon to notice.

The switches end in a standard cross-shape, and because they’re full-size, full-height caps, there’s no shortage of third-party replacements if you want to crazy on the customisation. I was perfectly happy with the default ones, though: they’re double-shot PBT moulded plastic, so the characters will never chip or fade over time, and are perfectly comfortable to type on.

The one thing you can’t do is replace the switches themselves. This keyboard equivalent of home-building a hot rod remains the domain of those with much more disposable income.

I didn’t experience any noticeable rattles while typing, with even the spacebar and enter keys feeling reassuringly wobble-free. This can be a fairly loud keyboard if you bash on each key like a carpenter hammering nails, but use a lighter touch and you won’t instantly irk anyone forced to share a room with you. I can’t say the same for the version with red clicky switches, though.

With full N-key rollover (as you’d expect from any decent gaming keyboard) and instant response, I couldn’t distinguish any difference between playing wired or wirelessly. The Pro X TKL is as rapid as any rival, and never missed an input throughout our testing. If you’re not near the top of your multiplayer lobby leaderboard with one of these on your desk, it won’t be the fault of the hardware.

Logitech G Pro X TKL verdict

On the surface, the Pro X TKL looks deceptively simple. Compared to some macro key-toting rivals, or keyboards with built-in screens, the focus here is on nailing the basics needed for competitive play. And on that note it does exceptionally well. Wireless performance is excellent, build quality is outstanding, and it has enough battery life to outlast even the longest LAN events.

Clearly pro esports players will only make up a microscopic portion of sales, though, and those of us who only game at home won’t benefit from distraction-free default lighting or sturdy travel cases. That’s some serious niche appeal, right?

Well, like buying the same boots as your favourite football player, sometimes the right hardware and a winning mindset are enough to up your game.