Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro review: great features, average design

After buying and shuttering the Roccat model, Turtle Seaside has steadily been transforming the previous German model’s PC peripherals, with the Vulcan II TKL Professional the newest to get that remedy. Though it appears to be like just like the previous Vulcan TKL Professional, there’s a shocking quantity of change packed in to this new keyboard, with probably the most outstanding addition being its Corridor Impact switches that revolutionize its gaming utility.

The Turtle Seaside Vulcan II TKL Professional, then, is without doubt one of the greatest gaming keyboards I’ve used, by way of uncooked efficiency. I’ve been left mightily impressed by the Vulcan II TKL Professional’s function set and the way it all comes collectively virtually. It may possibly genuinely maintain its personal towards the likes of the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini and Razer Blackwidow V4, even when its styling is a little more left subject.

Specs

Options

The Turtle Seaside Vulcan II TKL Professional is a resolutely gaming-focused keyboard with its Corridor Impact magnetic switches providing per-key adjustable actuation between 0.1mm and 4mm. It additionally has speedy set off, a function that enables for a brand new keypress to be activated as quickly because the earlier one is launched.

It comes solely in a TKL format, that means you don’t get a quantity pad, however you do get F keys and cursor keys, in contrast to with ultra-compact 60% and 65% boards such because the Endgame Gear KB65HE. In the meantime, the full-size Vulcan II and Vulcan II mini boards are non-Professional variations that don’t embody these adjustable switches.

Turtle Seaside has added its Straightforward Shift function to this board, which lets you maintain the caps lock to activate a secondary layer of inputs throughout the keyboard and even your mouse, ought to or not it’s appropriate, as it’s with the Turtle Seaside Burst II Air. Handy as that is, it’s not revolutionary tech and is just like including a secondary set of inputs tied to the operate key as will be finished with the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini and lots of different keyboards.

This keyboard has AIMO clever lighting, Turtle Seaside’s equal to Razer Chroma or Logitech’s Lightsync, that means any appropriate RGB Turtle Seaside peripherals will be unified to show the identical lighting sample.

Whereas the switches will not be hot-swappable, you possibly can change the keycaps on the Vulcan II TKL Professional with third-party ones. As for media controls, the TKL Professional options solely a quantity dial with a push-to-mute function.

Design

As a lot as I’ve grow to be a fan of the Vulcan II TKL Professional’s efficiency in my time with it, and its worth is plain, I’m nonetheless struggling to get on with its design. The board makes use of low-profile, T-shaped keycaps, that means a lot of the change beneath the cap is uncovered, resulting in a variety of mild bleeding – there’s seemingly an excellent cause why most fanatic keycap shops don’t have many if any alternative keycaps of this model.

Elsewhere, the board does little to create a sturdy bundle, with no prime plate surrounding the keys, gasket mounting for the switches, or foam/silicone layers to dampen the sound, though it’s already fairly quiet at round 48dB when recorded from a 20cm distance. These are essential design components for different boards that focus on customization and longevity, and the Vulcan II TKL Professional feels flimsy and low-cost because of this.

Nevertheless, a variety of this comes down to non-public desire, and chances are you’ll have a look at the Vulcan II TKL Professional and see a board that appeals to your tastes, and that’s completely wonderful. It might even be that the inner construction of the board was left easy to maintain the value of the board aggressive. If so I consider it was a sensible transfer on condition that its efficiency is unbelievable.

Efficiency

Gaming and typing with the Turtle Seaside Vulcan II TKL Professional is a breeze. Regardless of my points with the way it appears to be like, I’ve encountered no points with the efficiency, which I’d place on par with the likes of the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini and Akko MOD 007B.

An enormous a part of that is the fluidity of the Corridor Impact linear switches. Their actuation power is undefined by Turtle Seaside, however I’d place it on the decrease finish of the size, across the 35-40g mark. Pair this with the per-key adjustable actuation and speedy set off options and also you’ve bought an extremely responsive, customizable gaming keyboard that’s appropriate for any scenario.

Till you go hands-on with a keyboard that includes speedy set off, it will possibly look like a little bit of a gimmick, however it’s removed from it. In twitch-reaction video games the place each enter counts, resembling Valorant, League of Legends, or DOTA 2, this function is usually a lifesaver as you by no means want to fret about quickfire inputs being missed. So long as there may be some type of upward motion within the change, it’s primed and able to go once more.

Pairing this with adjustable actuation to make the Vulcan II Professional TKL as delicate as potential does really feel like a cheat code, and that’s why we’re quickly coming to think about these options as the brand new commonplace in gaming keyboards.

One in all my major issues with T-shaped keycaps is the worry that if I catch a key on the unsuitable angle, it might probably snag, or one thing might get caught beneath them, resulting in missed inputs or disruption to the circulate of typing. Fortunately this isn’t the case and whereas they will not be my design desire, I can’t fault the T-shaped keys in observe.

Enjoying round within the Swarm II software program to customise the actuation factors and key bindings is straightforward. I’d personally place Swarm II among the many higher peripheral software program fits I’ve used because of its clear format, simple-to-use interface, and the way, in contrast to the likes of Razer Synapse, it doesn’t should be up to date each few days.

5 onboard profiles imply it’s simple to arrange a couple of completely different layouts to cowl a lot of the video games you’ll play, and also you’ll even have room for a less-sensitive typing profile too do you have to want.

Worth

The Turtle Seaside Vulcan II TKL Professional has an MSRP of $149.99 and is obtainable from the Turtle Seaside web site in addition to Amazon and Greatest Purchase, amongst others. This can be a unbelievable beginning value when trying on the wider market since you might pay as a lot as $60 extra for the same board.

Alternate options

SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini

For those who’re searching for a mini keyboard that packs in all the identical options because the Vulcan II TKL Professional, however does so in a approach that ensures you don’t really feel such as you’re shedding keystrokes, the Apex Professional Mini is a unbelievable possibility. It has pre-baked layers of key features to make sure that regardless of the restricted keys, you possibly can nonetheless do all the things you possibly can on a TKL or full-size keyboard, all whereas saving on desk house.

Akko MOD007B

For a keyboard that’s nearly identically in its function set, however with a drastically completely different design, the Akko MOD007B is a good various to the Vulcan II TKL Professional. One benefit it does have over the Turtle Seaside board is wi-fi compatibility, and it does this whereas sitting on the identical MRSP, though the Akko model has much less identify recognition.

Verdict

The Turtle Seaside Vulcan II TKL Professional is a unbelievable gaming keyboard that features the core options that we contemplate ever extra important for a gaming keyboard however opts for a design that may see it ignored by many.

Adjustable actuation and speedy set off are slowly turning into key options for players, and whereas Turtle Seaside has inherited a robust pedigree from Roccat, loads of different manufacturers, resembling Razer, Logitech, and SteelSeries, all have higher reputations and a greater method to design which is the place the Vulcan II TKL falls brief.