Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate: Switches? Whichever wherever

Details

Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own.

Basic parameters

Details

The contents are packed in a standard cardboard box, printed with basic information about the keyboard. In the accessories you will find a manual, stickers with the Asus ROG logo, a wrist support and two pliers These are for removing the keycaps and switches.

There is only one type of key layout to choose from, and that’s American. This layout is characterized by a single-line Enter with an extended left Shift. Asus does not offer the Flare II Animate keyboard with the European layout. But it is not impossible that this will change as in the case of the ROG Strix Scope RX keyboard. There are 112 keys, six of which are multimedia and two with a specific function. Underneath the keys is an aluminum backplate that stiffens the body of the keyboard so that it doesn’t show any signs of flexing when you’re gaming or typing. It takes a considerable amount of force to bend.

The top part of the key (keycap) is made of double PBT plastic, which is durable even under intensive use. Due to the material used, the keycaps are rough to the touch, which makes your fingers not slip and gives you the confidence of a proper actuation. The key descriptions are laser burned, but without Czech or Slovak characters. But if any of the above doesn’t suit you, you can replace them easily and without fear with the pliers designed for the keycaps.

All larger keys such as Backspace, Enter, Shift or Space are set in a three-point pattern for stability. There is a switch in the middle and a support on either side. So if you press a key anywhere, it responds just as accurately as if you were pressing it right in the middle.

Below the keycaps is one of the most important parts of the keyboard, the switches. Asus used theirs with the ROG NX Red designation. These are purely mechanical, not opto-mechanical, compared to the RX-labelled range. The switches are linear and thus are best suited for gaming use. To activate, you need to overcome a resistance of 40 grams (1.8 mm) but to press to the stop (4 mm) you need to exert a force equal to 55 g. The modularity of the ROG Strix Flare II keyboard allows you to swap out all, or just specific switches. With the included pliers, you can remove the switches and fit the ones that suit you better. But you’ll have to buy those separately. All switches compatible with the Cherry MX brand will fit. It’s great to be able to swap switches, but there’s a price for everything. This robs the keyboard of water resistance.

Inside, underneath the aluminum backplate, there is a sound-dampening foam, which, according to the manufacturer, should improve the acoustics when using the keyboard.

A big attraction for many may be the integrated LED display, called AniMe Matrix. It consists of 312 programmable LEDs through which you can display various animations, custom images, lyrics, or you can set up audio visualisation while listening to music. It is also possible to upload your own image via the service app, as well as your own photo, for example. But finding the right one to look recognisable on the display can be more difficult. Apart from these things, it also displays current events. For example, changing the volume, brightness and even the backlight mode itself. Some of the more practical things it can display include showing email notifications, the battery capacity on a laptop or displaying the current time and date.

Just as the top right of the keyboard is the display, the left side is occupied by the primary multimedia keys. In addition to these, there are also buttons for changing the intensity of the keyboard backlight and a button for blocking the Windows key. The multimedia keys are raised and start with a rotary cylinder for changing the volume. If you press it, you can completely mute all sounds and then press it to return to the original state. I have to say, though, that pressing it is quite precarious. When I try to intuitively mute sounds, I tend to turn the volume up, because as a button it is rather stiff and more likely to roll over. And so that’s no fun with speakers at night. To the left of the roller is a lever to switch between songs. It does respond already when a short distance is traveled, but it puts up adequate resistance to let you know you’re switching. On the side of the lever is a button to stop or start the music or video.

With dual function keys, it is customary for the secondary function to be marked on the side of the keycap. This is no different with the Flare II. It doesn’t have as many of them as the ROG Strix Scope RX keyboard already reviewed, but it doesn’t need as many thanks to the addition of multimedia keys. Unfortunately, Asus has stripped the markings for the secondary function on the keycaps of backlighting. But their placement on the keyboard is intuitive. The first batch of keys with secondary functions are located below the multimedia keys. Keyboard profiles are assigned to keys one through six. All can be customised for different usage purposes. These are then saved to the keyboard’s internal memory and remain with you even when used on a device other than the one you have set up. Via the Escape key you can quickly and easily reset all profiles to their original settings.

The second function of Left Alt is to create macros without the help of a supporting application.

You can change the current keyboard backlight mode via the left and right arrow keys. With static backlighting, you cannot change the colors directly, but need to use the application. However, the setting remains saved in the keyboard and you can use it elsewhere than on the computer where the software is installed. The arrows pointing up and down are used to add or subtract brightness for the AniMe Matrix display. However, I would like it better if they changed the brightness of the keyboard backlight, not the display.

In addition to backlit keys, you also get a backlit side facing the user. To smoothly diffuse the light from the LEDs, there’s a removable (with magnets) diffusion strip. It can be pulled out if you would like to use the wrist support. This easily attaches via magnets to the keyboard and holds strong enough. If you were worried about losing the side backlighting when using the support, you don’t have to. Through the light tunnel in the rest, the backlight penetrates to the side of the keyboard. The top of the wrist rest is presumably faux leather, nice to the touch and soft for the wrist. The only thing that bothered me about it the first few days was the engraved “REPUBLIC OF GAMERS” lettering. I still had the feeling that there was something between my hand and the rest.

The slope of the keyboard without feet is 5.50 degrees, which is good for your wrists from an ergonomic point of view, so that you don’t twist them too much when using it.

Even with this model, Asus has not forgotten the underside in terms of appearance. It’s lined with an engraved ROG logo along with dozens, maybe even hundreds of small grooves. Stability on the table is ensured by five non-slip rubber bands. They put enough resistance to keep them from sliding on the surface even when you’re in the heat of a game.

The flip-up feet lift the back of the keyboard exactly 13 mm. They also have non-slip rubber pads on them. However, these are less pliable and don’t brake as well as the rubber pads that the keyboard uses when the feet are folded down. This is probably due to their sheer thickness, which is significantly less on the feet.

The cable has a total length of two metres. It is just under seven millimetres thick, which does not make it the most flexible cable, but thanks to the braid it is not very stiff either. The input of the cable to the keyboard is rubberized. The stiffness at this point is fine, due to preventing large movements inside the keyboard. There are two USB Type-A ports on the end of the cable. One is for power to the keyboard, the other is for the USB port hub on the keyboard. This way you always have one USB port from the back of the motherboard right at hand, even if it is just the slower USB 2.0 standard.

Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own.

Support application

You can customize the keyboard configuration in detail in the Armoury Crate app. It’s a bit cluttered at first, but with time you’ll be able to nimbly click through to the exact settings you need. Transitions between hardware settings are accompanied by half-second to one-second delays in loading. But worst of all, it won’t let you change keyboard settings unless you have updated hardware. Why should I bother with this when I need to adjust something and I can do the update later?!

Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own.

Testing methodology

Testing key parameters of keyboards, such as key response times, input lag or mechanical resistance of keys, is quite difficult. We know how these things could be tested, but we won’t be doing keyboard tests that often for the development of a sophisticated methodology to make sense. What can be tested very easily, however, is the noise of the keys. For this we use a Voltcraft SL-100 noise meter, which is always about 30 cm away from the tested keys.

We measure the noise level for the most used keys. Firstly, with the spacebar, which, because of its length and the type of clasps used, sounds different from the other keys and is often noisier. We particularly measure the Enter and Backspace keys, which are also different in shape from most keys. And finally, the four-leaf clover “gaming” WASD. When measuring the noise level, the aim is to always press the keys with the same average force and speed. We use the AquaKey app to find out how many keys can be pressed at the same time.

Of the measurable items, we also record power draw. It’s nothing major, but thanks to an external USB card called Sonnet Allegro and a PCIe power meter of our own manufacture, we can measure this figure very quickly and accurately. To calculate the net keyboard power draw, we of course also take into account the power draw of the USB card itself, which we subtract. When analyzing the power draw, it is interesting to see what proportion of the total power draw is the keyboard itself and how much is consumed by the LEDs themselves at half and maximum brightness.

In addition to the power draw of the LED backlight, we also measure its brightness in the same modes (with the intensity at 50 and 100 %). This in a box whose interior walls are all covered with mirrored foil. This is for higher sensitivity and to achieve higher resolution. The light is eventually reflected into the ceiling aperture with the luxmeter sensor. The one we use is the UNI-T UT383S. From these measurements, it is easy to determine the backlight efficiency – power draw per unit of lux. This ratio is also strongly influenced by the way the LEDs are shaded, either by the design of the switch (or its housing) or by the light-conducting key label.

Finally, we also measure the inclination of the keyboard with a digital inclinometer. This is also recorded in charts. This is not because it cannot also be included in the initial specification table, but so that the inclination of individual keyboards can be easily compared across tests.

Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own.

Keyboard noise level and inclination

Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own.

Keyboard power draw and backlight brightness

Interchangeable mechanical switches, which can be combined in different ways, and an LED display with text personalisation options make the ROG Strix Flare II Animate a rather special keyboard. Like most more expensive models, it has a proper (and comfortable) wrist rest. Overall, not too much has been skimped on here, the build is sturdy, and with this keyboard as well Asus has bypassed third-party switches and used its own.

Conclusion

The standard look of the keyboard is enriched by the AniMe Matrix display. It adds animations stylized into 8-bit graphics to the exterior, or even practical functions such as the current time or email notifications. Personally, I opted for the more practical features when testing. The opposite side of the keyboard has six multimedia keys that give a great tactile response when used.

The structure is reinforced by an aluminium backplate that can withstand more aggressive treatment. Players can relax and play without worrying that they might seriously damage the keyboard with rough handling. Of course, anything can go wrong, so take this with a grain of salt. The keyboard is considerably more comfortable to use with the wrist rest underneath. The foam in it (presumably memory foam) makes it more pleasant to use, lightens the wrists considerably, and even the more distant keys are suddenly closer. The only possible risk on the support may be the use of the faux leather. The two-meter braided cable and the ability to pull one USB port out of the motherboard is just icing on the cake.

Thanks to the internal memory, you can take your already set-up keyboard with you anywhere. It offers six profiles, each of which can contain different macros or remapped keys. All this and more, such as what the display will show you, you can customize exactly in the Armoury Crate application. The only thing I didn’t like about the keyboard software is that you can’t adjust the settings unless you update to the latest version of the hardware itself. And that happened to me twice in two weeks.

An almost two hundred euro keyboard and it’s not waterproof? The answer is yes. That’s the price of the interchangeable switches that make the Flare II a capable transformer. The keyboard comes with Asus ROG NX Red switches. Compared to the well-known Cherry MX Red, they have a 0.2 mm shorter activation range and also you need to develop five grams less weight to do so, namely 40. If they don’t suit you, you can use the brown or blue switches from the Asus range, or swap them out for the Cherry MX switches. The sound coming out of the keyboard is modified by the foam embedded inside it. This eliminates “clunking” sounds.

Flare II is a keyboard with a wide range of uses and a fast 8000 Hz response that adapts to all your needs. Whether it’s the display or the switches, you always have a choice. The price of the keyboard may be higher but you get what you pay for. The lack of water resistance is the biggest weakness of the Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate keyboard and that’s why it earns the “Approved” award.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

• Contents
• Details
• Support application
• Testing methodology
• Keyboard noise level and inclination
• Keyboard power draw and backlight brightness
• Conclusion