Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum Keyboard Review

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Probably the classiest RGB deck there is.

By Matt Clark

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The Logitech flagship mechanical gaming keyboard, the G910 Orion Spectrum (See it on Amazon), takes some of the best features of its lower-priced cousin, the G810, and adds on a few noteworthy items of its own like dedicated macro buttons, a removable wrist rest, and integrated second-screen features via ARX Control. The latter isn't particularly great, but a well-designed keyboard backed up with smoothly actuating Romer-G switches and intelligent software keeps the G910 Spectrum near the top of the heap in the crowded mechanical gaming keyboard market.

Design and Features

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The G910 Spectrum offers over 16.8 million customizable colors across its RGB array. The LED lighting itself is really impressive, and unlike most RGB keyboards the light emanates from just under the keycaps themselves instead of at the base too.

A lot of RGB mechanical keyboards, even higher-end models like Corsair's K95 Platinum, have light bleeding all over the place, by design, but Logitech has chosen to isolate the LEDs to give it a cleaner look. Conversely, the G910 doesn't have quite the same build quality as the K95, due to a body made entirely of plastic. Still, the G910 feels very sturdy and certainly looks and feels like a high-end device with tasteful accents.

Cherry MX switches are generally the go-to in the mechanical keyboard space, but Logitech has come a long way over the years with its proprietary Romer-G switches. I found the keys to be quick and tactile while not being overbearingly loud; similar to a Cherry MX Red, to draw a comparison. Logitech claims the Romer-Gs are good for over 70 million presses. Along the left side of the keyboard are five macro keys with a unique font design, and there's four more along the top above the function keys. The macro keys were well placed, and like the rest of the keycaps on the G910 Spectrum, featured a slightly concave design that felt great while typing and gaming.

Unfortunately, there's no USB passthrough on the G910 Spectrum, which is an oversight for a keyboard of this caliber. There are, however, a set of dedicated media control buttons and a thumb-roller volume control. The roller is made of a rubberized plastic and works exceptionally well. The G910 Spectrum also includes a set of three user profile buttons—a nice addition which allows for the possibility of 27 total macros on the fly—and a button to quickly turn off the light show dancing on the keys.

The wrist-rest isn't particularly soft to the touch, but combined with a pair of flick-out legs under the keyboard's base, my hands didn't feel like they were falling asleep while gaming or typing. And speaking of typing and other "daily driving" activities, the tactile response of the switches on the G910 is excellent. Typing a longer document—like this very review—was both easy and comfortable.

Less natural is the goofy, blue piece of plastic at the top of the keyboard. The slide-out tray is really just a smartphone/tablet holder for ARX Control, Logitech's second-screen app which lets you monitor things like CPU temperature and game macros. While it held my iPhone well enough, the usefulness of ARX Control is questionable if not wholly unnecessary. Thankfully, the software setup for the G910 Orion Spectrum itself is pretty decent.

Software

As far as keyboard software interfaces go, the Logitech Gaming Software application is downright—dare I say—well made? Inside, you'll find the expected setup for customizing the G910 Orion Spectrum's LEDs, including an impressive array of preset schemes. You'll also find the usual color waves, breathing, and various ripple effects. Every key is customizable by hue, brightness, and speed. And mercifully, it's all very straightforward and easy to navigate.

But where the G910 software suite really gets impressive is in creating macros. More specifically, game-specific macros. The app scanned my PC for games and right away offered up a number of keybindings I could simply drag over to the “G” macro keys and assign them; it couldn't be easier. Impressively, once the G910 Spectrum knows what game you're playing there may even be options to assign color setups specific to and synced with the game. For instance, the software can detect the buttons used in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and only illuminate those specific ones.

Gaming

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Those macro keys really do come in handy, and in this case, not just in genres that are generally macro-heavy like MOBAs. I was able to quickly assign some tasks in Battlefield 1 by simply dragging them from a list (the software populated it) over to the macro key I wanted to bind. Calling for a medic is easy as can be. No more shall I get into the passenger seat in a car in Battlegrounds, fumbling for a Ctrl-1 press. I just press “G1” and go on with the game.

Moreover, the Romer-G switches are speedy and felt great no matter what game I was playing. Still, I would have liked to have seen a bit more texture on some of the keycaps, particularly on the oft-used WASD keys. Swappable keycaps or more angled edges would have gone a long way, especially since the latter was actually available on the Spectrum's predecessor, the G910 Orion Spark. That being said, I very rarely found myself making an error in either typing or gaming with the G910 Spectrum.

Purchasing Guide

The Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum has an MSRP of $180, but it is rarely sold for that price. It can usually be found for closer to $120, and on very rare occasions dips to closer to $100:

• See the Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum on Amazon

The Verdict

Logitech's G910 Orion Spectrum is easily one of the best high-end RGB mechanical keyboards. Its macro setup is the best I've seen, and while it's made of plastic instead of aluminum like some of its competitors, the G910 Spectrum and its Romer-G switches will keep your fingers happy. And moreover, your eyes will be delighted with its gorgeous lighting.

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