Introduction
The most common issues gamers have with wireless keyboard gaming is latency. Besides this one factor, it is just as good as gaming on a wired keyboard. Fortunately, wireless keyboards have made a lot of leeway and becoming significantly better than they used to be.
There’s some really good ways to reduce latency on a wireless keyboards which I’ll show you in this article.
So are wireless keyboards good for gaming?
On average, competitive, fast paced gamers will avoid using a wireless keyboard to minimize latency. Casual gamers who play open world, RPG, and single player games won’t notice the millisecond input lag wireless keyboards have and can enjoy gaming from a cordless keyboard.
After reading this article I’m going to help you understand four things:
- How to decide if you should get a wireless keyboard
- What settings you should put any wireless keyboard on
- Best product recommendations from all the research I have done
- How to reduce latency using some simple tricks.
It’s hard to find a lot of useful information all in one place, so I did some research to give you the simplest and easy to understand guide as possible. Hopefully you’ll find this to be your ultimate resource.
if you have any further questions or comments, I’ll leave my email contact at the end of this article.
Check out this info graphic to understand if a wireless keyboard is right for you:
A gaming keyboard is far better than a controller. Check out my article on several advantages they give you.
The best game keyboards for each type of player:
Logitech K750: |
Logitech K350 |
Logitech G613 |
Highest Rated Battery Life |
Highest Ergonomic Rating |
Lowest Latency |
This one’s a generally newer series, and a lot of people talk about the longevity of this one. If you have a significant issue with battery life, or want something that will never die on you, this is the single best product. Most keyboards do not use solar power, so you know this one is special. It’s great for casual typing and it’s even smooth for gaming as well. This would be the best for a casual gamer.
This was the keyboard that beat out the other 15 computer keyboard tests that Linus tech tips did on his YouTube channel. It got a 21 ms response time which for a wireless keyboard is insanely fast.
Avoid buying this from their actual website, because on Amazon it’s $25 cheaper. This design offers an extremely ergonomically seal, and you won’t accidentally hit the wrong button is because of the key shape. The wrist rest is included which will promote your wrist health long-term. This product is also good if you need a mouse.
Logitech G613: Best for competitive gamers
This keyboard is notably coined as the “most responsive system.” The key design is laid out in such a way to where you’ll never have to worry about poor keyboard roll over. You save a lot of battery power because there’s no RGB back lighting, and it’s clear the system relies more on functionality over style. You’ll find a lot of pro gamers and tournaments using this keyboard.
After you find a keyboard that you want to use, use the next section to reduce latency regardless of the type that you purchased.
Pro tips on how to reduce latency for any keyboard
After you’ve purchased a wireless keyboard that has a latency of less than 40 ms, and consider the following.
Get a Bluetooth receiver that is higher than 3MBPS. I didn’t invest in a good Bluetooth receiver at first, because I wanted to save money. However, I noticed that my keyboard experience is way more latency because of this. You can buy a faster Bluetooth receiver on Amazon for around $10-$15.
Make sure latency is no more than 40 MS. You can do everything right getting the correct Bluetooth receiver and optimize your set up with a good gaming monitor, but if you have a keyboard that naturally lags then you’ll be selling yourself short. You can easily avoid this by just buying from well-known brands like hyper X and logitech.
Consider a rechargeable or solar powered keyboard. Your keyboard latency will increase slightly if it is close to the end of its battery life. If you don’t want to have to worry about this during a competitive match, then using a rechargeable keyboard will ensure that it is always at maximum energy and will be as responsive as you need it to be.
Wireless Gaming Keyboard Advice From HyperX Expert John:
I had the chance to do a brief interview with John from HyperX. He’s a sales associate and avid gamer. These were his answers from the email I sent him:
What general settings should I put my wireless keyboard on?
Most keyboards come with a customizable keystroke, which means you can create your own keyboard shortcuts. The easiest way to customize your controls will be on the pre-install the drivers and the software that is installed on your computer such as your Nvidia GeForce experience app.
For a console, not every game supports a keyboard, which also means you can’t customize and create your own shortcuts. However, it is still beneficial to game using a keyboard because it gives the player more control and finesse compared to a controller.
What specs should a casual, medium, and competitive game or look for in a wireless gaming keyboard?
Aim to get a wireless keyboard with a response time of 20 ms or faster. Usually the logitech series is the most competitive and reliable for these response times. RGB lighting is not essential and you can save yourself some battery life if you get a keyboard without this feature. I understand people like to have style and they’re set up, so just try to find a keyboard with good battery life. Good battery life is usually around 240 hours of use. Rechargeable is even better.
You can do your own research, which takes time, or you can check out this article and 20 of the most well researched gaming keyboards in the world.
Do any Hyper X products have the same latency as wired keyboards?
At this time, no we do not but neither does any other gaming company. It would be nice to have equal latency is a wired keyboard, but there’s always going to be a delay if you’re using a wireless connection. Considering the average human response time is 250 ms, a 10 to 20 ms delay from a wireless keyboard is not going to be something you notice.
In the next section, I’m going to give you all of the products that I have personally researched, used, or received recommendations on from some of my avid gamer friends, one of whom is a professional Rocket League player.
Do you spend the majority of your gaming playing games like rainbow six siege, call of duty, or first person shooter games?
You often get eliminated by other players who have a more responsive set up than you in these types of games. The ability to make snap movements when peeking around corners and clearing rooms will make all the difference to your team. Are used to try playing these games with a controller and realize that I was far outmatched because of the equipment I was gaming on, even in casual sessions.
Are the majority of your games online multiplayer?
As mentioned before, online multiplayer usually entails competitive standoffs with other teams. And more cases than not, these teams will be significantly more skilled than you unless you’ve been playing these games for quite a while. Players will get extremely good set ups even for games like Fortnite to give them a slight edge.
Remember that latency also comes from your connection strength. I’ve heard of a lot of my gaming friends talking about investing in a gaming router. This article I wrote will help you decide if a gaming router is actually worth it.This article I wrote will help you decide if a gaming router is actually worth it.
Does your gaming monitor have 5MS response time or faster?
If your gaming monitor is 10 MS or greater, you’ll definitely notice some input lag if you use a wireless keyboard. For this reason, I recommend getting a good monitor they can keep up with a good wireless keyboard. To find out your monitors response time, simply Google your monitor and look at the specs.
Do you already have good cord management?
Using a wireless keyboard to reduce the amount of cords and your set up is the biggest reason to purchase one. But if your set up is already extremely conservative in nature, you probably won’t mind having a wired keyboard conveniently tucked away under your monitor. If this is you, then I would look more closely at how much response time you want your keyboard to have.
Cord management applies to all your gaming devices, which means you should even consider a wireless gaming headset and make your decision on if that is also a good choice for you.
Is your Bluetooth receiver at least 3MGPS or higher?
I Bluetooth receiver at or below this speed is going to severely lag out your wireless keyboard. You can get the best wireless keyboard in the world but you need a receiver they can keep up with it. I recommend you get A Bluetooth receiver at least 5MGPS to maximize your signal.
Do you have at least $30 to spend on a wireless keyboard?
This number is based off my own personal research. The reason I picked this number is because there’s a lot of rip off products that sell for cheaper than this price, and they try to mimic the more well-known brands like logitech. If you can, avoid these knock off brands because their durability will be subpar as well as their connection strength.
I had a really good experience being able to interview an expert from HyperX. I asked them what the best settings and specs should be in a wireless keyboard and transcribed the full interview here. Before we start, I am not sponsored at all by this company, I just appreciate the fact that they have expert gamers that you can call to get professional insight on.
Additional Comments
My brother and I are both avid gamers, but we don’t play competitively. We still wanted to get wireless keyboards for both of our gaming set ups so we can reduce the amount of cords. Whether you game on a console or on a PC, wireless gaming keyboards can be very effective.
Finding the right wireless gaming keyboard is extremely simple once you are aware of the few distinctions that we talked about in this article. Latency is ultimately the deciding factor, and for most people it will not make a difference if you have a wireless keyboard for gaming.
Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or comments feel free to reach out to me at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. Thank you for the feedback that you have sent me already and I’m also taking article suggestions if you have any.