There are so many brands and models of keyboards in the market, you can get one for less than $10 and another that costs upwards of $250, but how do you find out whether your choice will satisfy you. The Redragon K552 KUMARA Mechanical Keyboard is designed keeping the needs of most basic gamers. This includes professional gamers too. In fact, for coders, writers, and editors this is the keyboard to get without spending a good deal of money.
We recommend the K552 from Redragon for those who move around a lot and need a reliable mechanical keyboard for gaming and general use purpose but don’t want to pay a lot for the frills of a high-end keyboard. Those who want something for their home or office rig can opt for the K551 with a complete NUMPAD.
Specifications
Lighting Modes: 19 Different Rainbow RGB Lighting Modes Lighting: Rainbow Item Weight: 1.93 pounds Product Dimensions: 1.46 x 13.94 x 4.86 inches Switches: Outemu Red Switch Matrix: Compact TKL (87 Keys) Keyboard Connectivity: Wired Anti-ghosting Keys: 100% Anti-Ghosting
Keyboard Design
Nothing fancy is what I want to tell you when it comes to the design of the Redragon KUMARA K552 mechanical keyboard. Though that’s certainly not a bad thing. There’s a base made from metal and then covered in good quality plastic. This base is a slab at best. On top of the base sits the mechanical triggers that seem like they use Greentech molds and the keys then sit with a high clearance on these keys to such an extent that you can not only see part of the key mechanism but also the white base too. In other words, the design is unassuming and simplistic. Besides, you don’t get any USB pass-through or 3.5mm jack connections. Nor is the cable braided fabric though the plastic sheathing is high grade and should not deteriorate with time.
Where the design really does makes its stand is in the overall engineering and build. I feel the KUMARA K552 is actually built to withstand severe abuse and over-engineered to ensure customer satisfaction over the years. They use heavy duty metal plus ABS construction and the keycaps are double-shot injection molded. Did we mention that the entire keyboard is splash resistant and that it uses gold plated USB connectors? Practically built to near military requirements, this keyboard is way more durable than Razer and Corsair products, without costing as much.
Keyboard Performance
It isn’t always that you come across a product that costs so little that you almost instantly brand it as a wannabe but then you use it a few times and fall in love with. You keep asking yourself why it only costs as much as it does and why other brands cannot make a product like this. Well, the Redragon KUMARA K552 mechanical gaming keyboard is one such product for me personally. I love mechanical keyboards and since I code, type and game; for me a keyboard should perform the first two tasks just as adequately as the last one.
The KUMARA K552’s tactile feedback and its sound level are exactly what you need to type and code as quickly as possible. I haven’t yet missed a single keystroke because when you miss you know it due to the lack of that clickety clank noise. You also know that the keyboard has a base of metal as the keys clang off the base and leave that hollow resonating sound only possible with a metallic material. Redragon wasn’t kidding with the military-grade over-engineered paraphernalia at all!
Let’s speak of the performance. Well, for gamers you will be astonished to know that the keyboard is full anti-ghosting and it shows in-game. Played Destiny 2 and Final Fantasy XIV using a third party key mapper software. Never once did a key misfire or not fire at all. Like I said before if you hear that clang of the key switch then you know the keyboard will respond regardless of how quick or how many keys you press at once. Some might complain because there are no macros and also the keyboard lacks any sort of memory but those are minor issues for the majority of gamers.
Bonus Feature
The Redragon comes with a standard row of function keys on the F keys, with the keycaps labelled appropriately. The function keys are:
F1: Launch music F2: Decrease volume F3: Increase volume F4: Mute F5: Stop F6: Last track F7: Play/Pause F8: Next track F9: Mail F10: Homepage F11: Lock/Log out F12: Calculator
There are two status LEDs above the arrow cluster to indicate for caps and scroll lock, definitely a fan of this design choice to keep the overall foot print of the keyboard small.
The RGB version of the Redragon KUMARA K552 has 19 selectable backlight modes:
Steady on Breathing Sneaking Wave Winding Springing Glittering Rippling Tracing Galloping Six Palace Bustling Roc Flying Raining Raising Wave Twinkling Wavelet Swiftly Flying Horce Racing Games Modes Direction Options Speed Options Color Options
There’s no accompanying software for the Redragon KUMARA K552 to program custom backlighting. The windows key can also be disabled for gaming.
Discount Code
Thanks to the awesome folks over at Redragon for allowing me to review this product and others that they have sent over in the past. They have also provided me with a special URL that anyone can use to save a total of 10% off of your entire purchase across their site. So if you’re interested in purchasing the Redragon KUMARA K552, or any of their products, you can click this link: Save 10% On Your Entire Order. I believe if you don’t click the link, you can always manually input DECRYPTED as the code during check out.
Final Thoughts
The KUMARA K552 from Redragon will satisfy majority of gamers barring one or two. For its price tag, there really is nothing to complain about. Even at twice its current price, this would still qualify as a must-have in our list of gaming keyboards. Superior construction, impressive tactile feedback, and simplistic but ergonomic design are probably the reasons why we recommend this keyboard to one and all. Yes, it lacks macro keys but everything else about this keyboard is top notch. In some areas, it even outdoes thrice as expensive keyboards!
This Page Was Last Updated: 3 months
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