Review: Roccat Horde Aimo

by Parm Mann on 28 June 2018, 10:00

Tags: Roccat

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Software and Summary

No gaming keyboard would be complete without a supporting software suite, and Roccat's goes by the name of Swarm. We often state a preference for UWP Windows Store apps that favour streamlined installed and automatic updates, and installing Swarm reminds us why; the utility wouldn't install on our Windows 10 test platform without first downloading a required 2017 C++ Redistributable, and subsequent software updates are by no means seamless.

Still, Swarm is worth installing if you wish to customise key layout, record macros and create profiles that can be saved to onboard memory and activated automatically when launching user-defined apps. Remapping keys is easily done, Roccat includes a bunch of pre-recorded macros for numerous popular games, and if for some reason you miss the racket created by a mechanical keyboard, you can configure Horde Aimo to make a noise with each key press. SiFi Sound is particularly alarming.

Summary

Roccat's Horde Aimo 'membranical' gaming keyboard is far from perfect, however a couple of noteworthy features have made it an enjoyable peripheral to play with.

The membrane keys, while inferior to mechanical, are comfortable to use and reasonably quiet, a low-profile column of dedicated macro keys is well implemented, and the tuning wheel has genuine potential for both gameplay and productivity.

There's room for improvement - the RGB backlight is anaemic and pricing is a tad high for a membrane-based solution - yet while we can't see ourselves trading our mechanical keyboards anytime soon, we come away feeling as though more keyboards need to have a dial built-in as standard.

The Good
 
The Bad
Tuning wheel has potential
Quieter than mechanical
Half-height dedicated macro keys
 
Plasticky construction
Dim backlighting
No USB passthrough


HEXUS.where2buy*

The Roccat Horde Aimo gaming keyboard is available to purchase from Scan Computers.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.



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HEXUS Forums :: 3 Comments

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I really like the look of this keyboard, but the dim lighting and very high price for a non-mechanical keyboard puts me off.
Putting the product aside, the review takes the cake. Low-effort, “plasticky” evaluation and writing.
TIWH
Putting the product aside, the review takes the cake. Low-effort, “plasticky” evaluation and writing.

Please feel free to write your own review if you have one of these keyboards.