Amkette EvoFox FireBlade Keyboard In-Depth Review

Amkette is a relatively well-known brand in the computer accessories space. They make high-quality USB cables, gaming controllers for phones, and other things of the sort. They have recently launched a new series of "gaming" keyboards under the name EvoFox.

I've been using their affordable EvoFox Fireblade Semi-Mechanical gaming keyboard for over 3 months now, and I think it's time for an in-depth review.

Price: 899 INR on Amazon.

Build and Design:

On first look, without the backlights on, the FireBlade gives you a pretty nice matte-finished weighty feel when you pick it up. The keys aren't overly wobbly and the whole thing feels decently well made despite having an all-plastic body.

When you plug in its very well braided USB cable into your computer and the LEDs switch on, that sheds some (RGB) light on a few new minor inconsistencies.

You'll notice the rather uneven paint job done on the underside of the keys, especially in the bottom row. The spray paint particles are scattered all over the undersides of the keys which seem to have been marked to be clear. It honestly looks pretty nasty in a dark desk space where the RGB lights seem bright. 

The lights are not lit evenly either. I assumed there would be a row of LEDs under each row of keys, but in a teardown I did,I noticed that there is just one row of 7 fixed colored LEDs (2 green, 2 red, and 3 blue) that light up the entire keyboard through a reflective sheet underneath the keycaps.

You can watch this video to get more insights on what's inside this thing.

The video also reveals the main source behind the weighty premium feel of this keyboard despite being made of plastic. It has a thick metal sheet right under the back panel to give it structural rigidity. 

 

 

It feels pretty great because of that plate and doesn't move around a lot on when you type, so I'm okay with that.

Although you need to know that the raisers that life up the top side of the keyboard..whatever they're called, they don't have rubber shoes on them. 

 

 

So while the keyboard remains in place for the most part and doesn't move sideways, without a desk mat, the right-hand side seems to move up and down sometimes due to low friction.

 

So you'll need to put a table mat or just stick a small piece of foam under both of these yourself. I mean, come on now; given the price, you can't expect it to be perfect in every way.

 

You'll need to put up with some jank once in a while.

Typing experience and KeyPresses:

Let's get to the main thing about a keyboard, how it feels to type on it. RGB inconsistencies aside, this semi-mechanical thingy is actually pretty nice to type on!

I know it is ideally meant for "gaming", but it has keys other than W-A-S-D too.

Those gamer-centric keys, like the W, A, S, D, Space bar are anti-ghosting keys that have faster response times. 

 

I did play some CS: GO and can confirm it felt more responsive than my generic Logitech membrane keyboard that now lies cold and abandoned in my storage box. Press F to pay respects.

 

 

The keys feel clicky and sound a bit like a mechanical one would, except a little hollow. They don't register a heavy and solid click, but more like a shallow "clack".. take another listen to the first video review linked up there to listen to how they sound.

Sound aside, they feel very good under your fingers. The keys don't require much pressure at all to register a press. If anything, they're a bit too easy to press accidentally if you're moving the keyboard around.

 

But that's not what we do all the time, so I guess it's a non-issue.

Thankfully, unlike the backlights, all the keys are pretty uniformly balanced, and none of them feel loose or stiff. I'd say if you ignore the discrepancies in aesthetics, this is a fine accessory for the price.

Customization and LED Control:

As you've probably already seen from the above videos. there isn't a ton you can do here to make this thing truly yours. It'll be the same black thing that everyone has. That's what she said.

But I suppose you can live with whatever you get for this price; I mean, it's basically a bonus at this point.

 

You can toggle the Lights on or off with the dedicated LED button. You can press the Fn key and the light key together to enter in and out of the "breathing lights" effect.

The speed of these lights pulsing can be controlled by pressing Fn and '-' or Fn and '+' up to two levels on either end. Personally, I like to keep it one level lower than default to match the led pattern of my Snype 1.0 mouse. Review on that coming soon.

 

The keycaps are fixed and are not user-replaceable. I mean there's no direct support for additional keycap styles like what you'd see on other mechanical keyboards. But like I said, the keycaps are fine even after 3 months of daily usage.

Final Verdict:

Buy it. If you were thinking of getting a semi-full form keyboard that doesn't have the annoying number pad on the right side, is sturdy enough to last you a few years, and has some decent amount of RGB backlights with basic anti-ghosting keys for gaming, you have a winner.

Use my affiliate link to purchase it to support me in the process.

If you have any further questions, you can drop me a line on my Twitter, Instagram, or even on my YouTube Channel.

 

Thanks a lot for reading through. I'll see you at the next one.

Cheers!