SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini review – Unrivaled gaming performance

Dimension isn’t all the things, and the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini is aware of this, packing unbelievable efficiency into an extremely small body. Whereas mini keyboards aren’t my choice, the Apex Professional Mini goes to point out that when you’re not too hooked up to a quantity pad and arrow keys, smaller is actually higher.

Following my time testing the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini, I can simply say that it is among the best gaming keyboards out there proper now. By way of the responsiveness of its Omnipoint switches, and a layer of customization that’s deceptively deep, SteelSeries has made me method each different keyboard I personal with a brand new perspective.

SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini options

The SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini is a 60% kind issue gaming keyboard that’s constructed to impress. It has Omnipoint adjustable switches that use magnetic sensors and patented expertise to permit for the sensitivity of every key to be adjusted. 

Twin actuation is feasible so you’ll be able to assign a number of actions to a single key e.g. a half press to crouch and a full press to go susceptible. On actuation, every level is adjustable between 0.4mm and three.6mm, that means you’ll be able to dictate simply how huge your actuation window is, and I’ll contact on this in higher element throughout my efficiency evaluation. 

As you could have come to count on with SteelSeries peripherals, the Apex Professional Mini is awash with RGB, and is eligible for use throughout the Prism part of SteelSeries’ GG software program, permitting you to carry your entire RGB results throughout a number of units.

SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini design

It’s laborious to talk on the visible design of the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini provided that it’s a 60% kind issue keyboard, so there isn’t any clean house to make use of for visible design options. That being stated, the per-key RGB is visually interesting and the customizable nature of it’s according to what you count on from a premium keyboard. 

There are three ranges that the Apex Professional Mini can sit at, with two units of peak adjustment constructed into the underside of the keyboard. That is the place you’ll additionally discover the keycap puller, hidden away below a silicone-like patch that’s simply opened and closed. This can be a godsend as a result of so many keyboards pack in a device, however you’re left having to only put it someplace and pray you keep in mind the place it’s when you want it. Right here, it’s at all times shut by and safe. 

The keycaps are fairly darkish when the keyboard isn’t illuminated, which is sort of irritating. If you happen to don’t need the lighting to be on for any purpose, the keycap textual content could be very laborious to see. Sure, when lit up there’s no problem with legibility, however it’s unusual that with out the RGB, it’s essential to successfully depend on your contact typing alone.

The open USB-C port is situated within the prime left nook, and this lends itself properly to letting your cable path off behind your monitor and into your PC. What good is it having premium {hardware} that makes your desk look fairly if randomly trailing wires are going to destroy it? 

A remaining notice on design, the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini could be very mild, coming in at simply 610g. This makes it ultra-portable, and the onboard profile storage means you’ll be able to hook as much as any machine and be able to go along with no fears about key bindings. 

SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini efficiency

Efficiency is the place the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini shines. I initially struggled to regulate to attempting on such a small kind issue keyboard, however with time got here a fluidity that I wasn’t anticipating. 

My preliminary typing benchmark after solely an hour of utilizing the Apex Professional Mini was 49 phrases per minute with an accuracy of 93%. After two weeks with the keyboard adjusting, this was as much as 59 phrases per minute and an accuracy of 95%. This nonetheless falls wanting one of the best keyboard I’ve discovered for typing, the Drop CSTM80, the place the outcomes have been 75 phrases per minute with an accuracy of 99%.

Regardless of this, the typing efficiency of the Apex Professional Mini is much better than I imagined it could be, and there’s each risk that adjusting actuation factors may play a job in upping these outcomes. 

On gaming, nothing I’ve examined in 2023 comes near the sheer gaming responsiveness of the Apex Professional Mini. That is largely all the way down to the Omnipoint switches and with the ability to alter the fast actuation of each single key. I spent hours enjoying round with the settings to discover a configuration that felt customized. 

In the long run, I discovered that actuation on WASD didn’t must be delicate, as these are the keys I’m at all times hovering over in an FPS game, and misclicks may pile up over time. Nonetheless, when it got here to tools keys, say for weapon switching, these wanted to be delicate to make sure I didn’t botch an actuation by not urgent laborious sufficient.

Past this, the ‘meta bindings’ are additionally adjustable, however I wouldn’t suggest altering any of those which can be inscribed onto keys e.g. the arrow keys are set to WASD, with South-facing markings dictating which keys they’re. 

It may get complicated when you mess around an excessive amount of with these bindings, however the problem is there are such a lot of pre-allocated meta bindings that you simply don’t have too many keys that aren’t already dual-function. 

Must you purchase the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini?

Sure! If you happen to’re after a small kind issue keyboard that doesn’t sacrifice efficiency for its dimension, the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini is the keyboard for you. I might argue that this keyboard pushes some optical fashions to the restrict for responsiveness and arguably continues to be a greater choice for the pedigree that the SteelSeries identify brings with it.

If you’re in determined want of typing efficiency, there are higher choices available on the market, and I might personally suggest the Drop CTSM80 however you’ll lose nearly all the gaming perks the Apex Professional Mini provides.

For one thing somewhat extra hybrid, the Razer Blackwidow V4 75% is a good selection. This has a barely bigger kind issue however balances gaming and typing efficiency with modding potential very properly. 

Verdict

If you happen to’re after refined efficiency for gaming, the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini is one hell of a selection. Its smaller kind issue takes some getting used to for typing, however it has no issues competing with a common productiveness keyboard on that entrance.

The very last thing I anticipated from the SteelSeries Apex Professional Mini was for it to be an all-around powerhouse, however that’s precisely what it’s. It has genuinely made me rethink the efficiency of beforehand revered keyboards and the Omnipoint switches are an enormous purpose for this.