Razer Cynosa V2 - Membrane Gaming Keyboard (Keyboard with Soft Spring-Loaded Keys, Media Keys, Cable Management, Fully Programmable, RGB Chroma Lighting) UK Layout | Black

As a PC gamer for many years, I've tried a shed load of keyboards. I've been using a mechanical keyboard for the past few years and it was definitely time for a change and to be honest, I was getting a bit tired of the clunky feel and loud volume of the mechanical design. I purchased this keyboard because it was cheap, and I wanted to try a membrane keyboard again before I decided which design I was going to stick with going forward. The Pros: Quiet and responsive keys Great optional software you can download from RAZER which you can use to change the lighting / Macros. As well as enable a "game mode" feature that disables intrusive keys such as the 'windows key' when playing a game. Lightweight The Cons: The quality of the plastic gives away the fact that it is a budget keyboard With all that being said, this is a great keyboard for the price. It will do everything you'd expect. I just can't comment on the durability as I only purchased it a week or so ago.

I first started with the Naga Razor mouse about 6 years ago. In 4 words/phrases to sum it up; Reliable, Affordable, Can't Compete, Wont look back. I first bought my first gaming mouse, which was a Razer naga about 6 years ago. That mouse has not let me down. Its been through hundreds of hours of gameplay alone through world of warcraft haha, it still works perfectly fine, but thought id treat myself to a new one and also just recently bought a new keyboard (prepping for WoW Shadowlands), The Razer Cynosa Lite and Im majorly impressed. I didnt even need to buy a new mouse as the Razer naga worked perfectly still and i bought it for £60 about 6-7 years ago. Razer produces high end, quality hardware. An absolute must if you want to even step up from a basic mouse or keyboard, but if you want something that wont let you down, then look no further. 10/10. My razer naga mouse is stowed away as a backup even though I didnt need to purchase another mouse and it works fine. To round it off, Razer was the first gaming company I heard of and i went with. I wont be looking anywhere else. I rest my case. End of, and if you're american, period.

Firstly, the keyboard is great. It sits high enough without the feet and then a little higher but at a better angle with the feet out. The keys are big enough, work well and have a nice click even though its not a mechanical keyboard. Another plus side is coming from a smaller board with no number pad to a full size board like this makes the keyboard feel that extra bit premium. The software to control lighting, macros and whatever else is good, and much smaller than Corsairs iCue software which is 1.15gb as far as I know. The issue with this keyboard is the lighting. It works, its got a massive range of lighting options, colours and presets to mess with, but the lighting is far too dull. I'm sat now in a fairly dull room and the screen reflection being the only light source hitting the keys, that's brighter than the light the keys give off, even at full brightness. The Razer logo on the front of the board is really bright, whatever lighting was used for that should have been put into the board itself and maybe then it wouldn't be as hard to see. At night when there aren't any lights around then it is fine, its easy to make out as long as the monitor isn't brighter than the sun. If you want a good keyboard that works well, is easy to use and doesn't have any faults aside from the low brightness, this is a good choice.

Excellent

I have a HyperX Alloy with really light keys and i press all the keys without meaning to and it was driving me nuts, i got this on sale and it does exactly what i need. A membrane keyboard with keys that you know you have pressed. One downside is the key brightness is not very bright at all and you can see some of the letters missing the light behind them but its perfect for what i need.

Good quality and comfort the typing is easy nice colour

2022 EDIT - I removed two stars as the some of the keycaps wore away creating light bleed through (after months not years). I ended up getting sent a replacement but the keycaps on this one are starting to wear away as well - at least the space bar no longer squeaks!. Should have read some of the other reviews regarding build quality (but is a good keyboard in every other respect though). 2021 - So glad I paid a bit extra and got the Cynosa V2 keyboard. I am new to PC gaming but don't like loud clicky mechanical keyboards so was looking for a membrane one for working from home and gaming that was quiet but had good looking, bright RGB. This definitely ticks the boxes! I liked the look of Logitech keyboards but they were more expensive, had louder keys and apparently break more often. Pros High quality, aesthetically very good looking keyboard with individual per key lighting (I found it bright not dim) Huge range of preset lighting modes/programmable patterns plus you can create you own easily, the software is intuitive You don't have to create an account to use Razer Synapse software, just use it as a guest (but it does need running in the background to use anything other than the default profile) Can save different keyboard profiles to use with different games Function keys/macros, media controls, volume rocker Gaming mode to prevent accidentally leaving games It is UK layout (with big Enter button and £ sign on the 3 key) Cable routing options i.e. can have the cable going straight down You can turn the lighting off if you'd rather not have it on Haven't had a issue with greasy finger marks 2 year warranty Spill resistant Cons I've found the space bar sometimes squeaks The SHIFT symbols are the opposite way round i.e. the numbers are above the symbols / the @ is below the ' rather than above as normal I tried adding colour to the wasd keys but it didn't really work due to the way the keyboard is backlit (leads to bleed through) No wrist rest Bit expensive for a membrane keyboard but it does have individually backlit lit keys and loads of features so it's worth waiting till it's on offer (got mine for £49.99)

I've always been one to buy cheaper brands of keyboards, sometimes keyboards with no brand at all. When it came to my annual replacement as my old keyboard was half dead and literally warped, I thought I'd give this keyboard a go. After all Razer is a reputable company and highly sought after, so I gave it a shot. I have to say, I wasn't expecting too much as the price point for this board was around £20, normally for this price I'd be looking at knock-off's or poorly made items. That's not the case with this board, it feels good, durable and strong there's hardly any give in the board and the plastic feels nice. The RGB is a nice touch too, especially since other boards round this price point only have static non-changeable colours. The RGB isn't in your face either, it's noticeable but subtle enough no to distract you during gameplay. All in all I am definitely surprised, it's responsive quiet, and I simply can not get over the fact that it offers so much quality for it's price. I can definitely say I will be buying more of Razers products to see what else they have to offer!