The ROCCAT SUORA is a minimalistic mechanical keyboard geared at ‘no-frills’ gaming, it features a frameless design with an exposed aluminium alloy housing.
Product on Review: ROCCAT SUORA
Manufacturer & Sponsor: ROCCAT
Street Price: US: $99.99, UK: £79.99
ROCCAT have their line of gaming keyboards filled to the brim with the bells and whistles allowed by current technology. Though, many gamers, want a distraction free top quality keyboard that can provide all the performance, but none of the frills.
This is where ROCCAT responded with the SUORA, a compact mechanical keyboard with a frameless design that shows off its elegant aluminium alloy housing. It provides the fast 1000Hz polling for absolute performance and has N key-rollover for anti-ghosting. Amongst its features it also has a ‘Gaming mode’ key that activates 6 programmable macro buttons supported by the Swarm unified software driver.
The SUORA is also a first for ROCCAT in that it doesn’t feature CHERRY MX switches, instead, they tested out the quality of TTC switches and have implemented the Brown switches. They have a life span of 50 million key strokes and finish up with a time exclusive specific shade of blue LED backlighting.
Overview by ROCCAT
Some gamers want all the bells and whistles, whereas gaming purists want raw, undiluted performance. With the Suora, the gaming purists have found their keyboard. The Suora’s frameless design channels its philosophy as a pure and efficient mechanical keyboard for no-frills gamers. Its robust, compact build with aluminum alloy housing provides a consistent, distraction-free platform. Get closer in touch with pure gaming with the Suora!
Technical Specifications
– Advanced anti-ghosting with N-key rollover
– 1000Hz polling rate
– 50 million keystroke lifecycle
– Multimedia functions
– 6 programmable macro keys
Width: 12.5 cm
Height: 43.0 cm
System requirements
– Windows® 10, Windows® 8, Windows® 7 64 Bit, Windows® 7 32 Bit
– Internet connection for driver installation
– USB 1.1 Port
– 1000Hz polling rate
– 50 million keystroke lifecycle
– Multimedia functions
– 6 programmable macro keys
Width: 12.5 cm
Height: 43.0 cm
System requirements
– Windows® 10, Windows® 8, Windows® 7 64 Bit, Windows® 7 32 Bit
– Internet connection for driver installation
– USB 1.1 Port
Packaging & First Look
For a full size keyboard, the box seems rather compact, reflecting the nature of the SUORA keyboard. The packaging features the blue on black design expected from ROCCAT but there is also brown mixed in, maybe to give a subtle hint towards the switch type in use. As usual, the primary features are displayed in an easy to read list on the left hand side and some additional details in thumbnails along the top.
At the back there is a small diagram pointing to some of the features on the keyboard while the tech specs are listed in various languages.
The included bundle inside is pretty bare with just the manual and disposable information included.
The SUORA keyboard looks sleek and compact with a beautiful aluminium alloy top plate that has been coloured black.
Closer Look
The SUORA makes use of an Fn key as well as some dedicated media keys. F5-F8 include shortcuts for: my PC, Browser home page, mail and calculator. F9 – F12 are used for: previous track, stop, play/pause, skip forward.
The last Fn key changes the lighting effect, which toggles between off, 10 levels of brightness, and a breathing mode. This gives simple, yet useful backlighting options without overcomplicating things. ROCCAT have also included four extra keys, three of which are dedicated for audio controls, and the last is to activate the gaming mode and the 6 macro keys.
From the side you can see how tight and compact the SUORA keyboard is, though the key height still manages to hit around 40mm at max height.
The TTC switches look indistinguishable from other mechanical switch types and should be compatible with any replacement keycaps. It is worth noting that ROCCAT are using a metal bar distribution system here.
The base has four rubberised non-slip feet along the front of the keyboard and two at the rear alongside the angle adjustment feet.
Software & Lighting
SUORA is supported by the ROCCAT Swarm unified software driver. The SUORA keyboard functions well without it, but should you wish to alter any of the performance settings or make use of the macro keys, it is worth installing. The Game mode key switches off the Windows key and activates the alternative macro key settings which can be programmed with a variety of functions shortcuts or custom macros that can be dragged from the list into the game mode function after you have selected the key on the image. The Macro editor seems a little confusing as you have to create a new file then create a new macro before you can do any recording, but this enables an efficient filing system should you be making a number of macros. The macro recorder doesn’t include mouse actions as standard, which is a shame, being limited to having to right click and insert a mouse action which is limited to only ‘left, right and wheel’ actions.
The illumination is attractive and bright with a more sky blue hue, as opposed to the more violet shade of blue seen on the RYOS TKL PRO. As the SUORA is more about function than form, the lighting options are simple and useful: static on (10 brightness levels), off, and breathing.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
After plugging the SUORA into the USB port, it will default into the breathing lighting mode, though I found this distracting and set it to a mid level brightness (well it was dark).
The keyboard itself feels of excellent quality, being sturdy with a nice weight. The matte aluminium alloy aesthetic looks gorgeous that only gets better the closer you look at it. The typing height is at the upper most limit of what I would call comfortable without a wrist rest though I would still liked to have seen one included. Having measured the rear key height to be approximately 40mm, the front is closer to 30mm in height. Regarding the TTC switches, apparently they have a slightly higher actuation force than CHERRY MX Brown, I could barely notice the difference in feel and travel; considering my go-to keyboard uses CHERRY MX Brown that is impressive. I generally don’t enjoy seeing the metal pressure distribution bar in mechanical keyboards, mostly due to experiencing a space bar fail mid-DOTA. Though, they can be annoying to reposition, they do their job fine, while considering the pricing of the SUORA it might be expecting too much contrarily.
The additional media keys for the volume are an awesome inclusion yet doesn’t break the aesthetic of the product as some media keys normally would. As volume controls are a commonly used feature, not having to rely on multiple keystrokes via the Fn key is a nice touch.
I tested out the NKRO using Aqua’s KeyTest, and found that the SUORA features about 21 simultaneous key presses, enough to technically be called NKRO and more than enough for anyones needs though arguably its a little off the 100% anti-ghosting sported by others. In game, the keys felt sharp and snappy, as you would expect from a mechanical keyboard. Though not chasing the ultra performance down to the ms advantage like one could potentially get with the CHERRY MX Speed Silver, the keys felt spot on and didn’t cause any reason to doubt them during our DOTA2 or CS:GO session.
Conclusion
The SUORA doesn’t come with any surprises. It doesn’t come with unneeded fluff. In that, ROCCAT have nailed what they set out to do with the SUORA, in that it is a raw, no-frills mechanical keyboard that delivers top level performance in a beautiful yet compact form. The frameless design has become favoured by many due to the convenience of cleaning and the sheer aesthetic. The Aluminium alloy housing feels solid, giving the SUORA an impressively stable base, while the use of TTC switches help curb the cost associated with the use of CHERRY MX switches.
There is little else to really consider with the SUORA, it has media keys and Fn keys, functional backlighting in an attractive blue colour and even includes a ‘gaming mode’ key that allows instant access to 6 fully programmable macro keys. There are some considerations to make with the SUORA if you wanted to be hyper critical, mostly I would have loved to have seen a wrist rest included, especially if it matched the aesthetic (The ROCCAT REST is available separately, it is a gel based wrist rest and can be found for under £10). This would make the SUORA more suitable for typists or those that sit at their computer all day and don’t want to risk developing carpel tunnel. Another argument one could make also is that, at $99/£79, it isn’t that dramatically cheaper than some CHERRY MX equipped keyboards, say the K70, available in some places for just £90. In that instance, the cost saved by using the TTC switches doesn’t seem to reflect that much. Though it is hard to really make this argument stick, especially after how awesome the switches performed in our testing. Relatively speaking, the price point is very competitive for a top-quality mechanical keyboard and in short, we loved it.
Compact and elegant with flawless performance, the SUORA gives gamers everything they need from a mechanical gaming keyboard and we can easily say it is one of our favourites in regards to quality and value.
Pros.
+ Minimalistic frameless design
+ Switches feel great
+ Solid build quality
+ 6 Programmable Keys
+ 21 key-Rollover
+ Price
Cons.
– Could have included a wrist rest
+ Minimalistic frameless design
+ Switches feel great
+ Solid build quality
+ 6 Programmable Keys
+ 21 key-Rollover
+ Price
Cons.
– Could have included a wrist rest
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