Buying new gaming gear an be a pricey affair, but with this keyboard and mouse combo from Tt eSPORTS, we ask one question, does it need to be?
Product on Review: Tt eSPORTS COMMANDER COMBO Multi-Light
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Tt eSPORTs
Street Price: UK: £30, US: $34.99
We all experience the hurt in our wallets when something flashy and new comes to light, and gaming peripherals are no exception. In fact, the price bar of what would be considered ‘average’ for gaming peripherals has risen sharply. One cause would be the popularisation of mechanical gaming keyboards. Though where does that leave gamers on a strict budget? Well, that would would be the parallel universe of tacky, unreliable products that promise the world on the back of some colourful packaging… wait, that can still happen at the premium end too!
So how about a keyboard featuring quiet, mechanical-feel plunger switches, tri-colour LED backlighting, anti-ghosting, Windows-Key lock, and Fn media keys? Now, what about an optical mouse with 3 built in DPI settings (800-1600,2400) and LED lighting to match? Well that is exactly what the Commander Combo (Multi light) is, and just for £30/$35.
Overview by Tt eSPORTS
COMMANDER COMBO Gaming Gear Combo (Multi Light) – Gaming Gear Combo – comes with 3 colors (Red/ Blue/ Purple), uses Plunger Switch with the same design of Mechanical keycap, gives users an awesome tactile feel and pleasing click with each keystroke plus presenting response feeling like a mechanical switch that surely improve users’ gaming performance by giving users speed and responsiveness like never before!
Technical Specifications
Keyboard
Color : BLACK
Interface: USB
Switch type: PLUNGER
Anti-Ghosting Keys: YES
On-Board Memory: NO
Polling Rate: 125 HZ
Back-Light: YES, FULL RED, BLUE & PURPLE BACKLIGHT
Graphical UI: NO
Weight-In Design: 1254g
Multimedia Keys: 7
Mouse
Color: BLACK
DPI: 2400
Sensor Type: OPTICAL
No. of Buttons: 6
LIGHT COLOR: RED, BLUE & PURPLE
USB cable length: 1.8M BRAIDED
Coating / Finish: MATTE
Weight-In Design: 144g
Color : BLACK
Interface: USB
Switch type: PLUNGER
Anti-Ghosting Keys: YES
On-Board Memory: NO
Polling Rate: 125 HZ
Back-Light: YES, FULL RED, BLUE & PURPLE BACKLIGHT
Graphical UI: NO
Weight-In Design: 1254g
Multimedia Keys: 7
Mouse
Color: BLACK
DPI: 2400
Sensor Type: OPTICAL
No. of Buttons: 6
LIGHT COLOR: RED, BLUE & PURPLE
USB cable length: 1.8M BRAIDED
Coating / Finish: MATTE
Weight-In Design: 144g
Packaging & First Look
The packaging clearly identifies Tt eSPORTS as the brand, and you are provided with images of the RED/PURPLE/BLUE colouring. The box identifies that this is a combo package containing both a keyboard and optical mouse, backed by a two year warranty.
The reverse side of the packaging acts more like the manual, showing a detailed diagram of both mouse and keyboard, describing each of their features and functions.
The Commander keyboard, featuring a 1.8m long braided cable. It has quite a large bezel but the overall design is attractive with standout features such as an enlarged spacebar and ALT keys. The keycaps stand quite tall, and are interchangeable with similar mechanical keycaps including Tt eSPORTS own metal keycaps.
Here is the Commander mouse, also featuring a 1.8m braided cable. On first glance it looks like it could be ambidextrous, though unfortunately it is not.
Closer Look: Keyboard
The backlighting surrounds the keys well, though doesn’t penetrate the keycaps a great deal, only standing out in the dark. There are various lighting effects you can select from, including off, static lighting, breathing effect, breathing with colour rotation as well as a spectrum rotate that shifts between Red, purple, magenta, violet and blue. You can adjust the effect speed, as well as brightness in 25% increments.
There are Fn media keys to control skip forward/back, play/pause, stop, volume up/down and mute. Farther along, you will find the lighting effects (static, pulse, colour breathing and spectrum cycling).
Fn + print screen disables the window key, while pause/break toggles between which colour you desire while on static (red, blue, purple). Fn + pg up/down controls the brightness while Fn + numlock locks the whole keyboard.
Hard to escape the full brunt of unnecessary features, as the edges are coated in a metal-look sticker (and sold a s a feature)
The large bezel running along the bottom edge doesn’t quite act as a wrist rest, though the overall height of the keys seems about the same as the majorty.
The plunger switches can use interchangeable keycaps, these give the keyboard a slight mechanical-feel to them as well as having interchangeable keycaps.
The underside shows a tough construction, with large non-slip feet, at the top there are some feet where you would commonly expect them, allowing you to adjust the height/angle.
Closer Look: Mouse
The included mouse has a smooth, symmetrical shape so could be used ambidextrously, though there are only thumb buttons for right handers. There is a honeycomb grill at the front which gives an attractive design also.
This side features a forward/back thumb button and a stylised side grip area where there are 3 slots cut out.
Front behind you can see two symmetrical flanged parts forming part of the ergonomics of the mouse, seated on top is the Tt eSPORTS Battle Dragon logo. At the base we also find another honeycomb grill.
The right side of the mouse has no buttons, though is otherwise a mirror of the opposite side with the interesting 3 swooping slots cut out.
Up the centre of the mouse to the rubberised mouse wheel grip and DPI button, is a chevron design theme.
The optical sensor is positioned approximately in the centre of the mouse.
The lighting is attractive and can be changed by holding the DPI and pressing the mouse wheel (toggles between static/spectrum) and the colour you stop the spectrum on is what it will stay on. This method gives access to all the hues between red and blue, though I found it difficult to land it perfectly on JUST blue or red. If you press the DPI button + left mouse click you can turn the LED lighting on/off. By pressing the DPI + back side button, you can alter the speed of the spectrum cycle between 3/9/15 cycles per minute. With the LED lighting on, you can now see why there is a honeycomb grill at the front and back, however, it does appear that there should be lighting coming through the sides but doesn’t appear to be working.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & Observations
This mouse and keyboard set is driverless, so you only need 2 spare USB ports and you are ready to go.
The overall build quality of the keyboard and mouse is good, at this price point one would certainly expect something a little tackier, though I think Tt eSPORTS could have avoided the irrelevant ‘metal look’ stickers on each end of the keyboard. Both the keyboard and mouse have an attractive and supple black braided cable that complements each other.
Continuing with the keyboard, the keycaps feel strong with a matte coating while the plunger switches have an interesting hybrid mechanical linear motion, but with the responsiveness of rubber dome/membrane. This makes the keys quiet yet tight and stable, though still firmly in the rubber dome league of keyboards (wouldn’t have expected otherwise). The keyboard was generally comfortable to use though the key height was noticeable and could either be lowered, or have a wrist rest included/built in. The only real downside I could think of while using the keyboard was that is has a huge footprint due to the large bezel around the keys, considering there are no additional keys over the standard layout, it feels mostly unnecessary.
The mouse felt surprisingly solid, the mouse clicks were a little firm, and the mouse wheel was surprisingly solid. The side buttons however were the polar opposite, and while functioned perfectly, it was more of a surprise that they were super squishy rather than responding with a tactile ‘tic’, this is just a matter of getting use to and over time I grew to like them. The mouse was also comfortable and can be used in both left and right hands, though the buttons are orientated for right handers. I had no problem using the mouse in either claw or palm grip, though it may be a little heavy for finger tippers, especially considering that most of the weight is in the rear end.
Performance: Keyboard
Playing around in Aqua’s Keytest, I found that the anti-ghosting capabilities are rather interesting, and it seems some keys are simply separated electronically into certain groups (I.E. WASD, numbers, left side, right side, cursor keys etc.). In most situations I found that it was at least 10 Key-rollover, though breaking through certain groups, like letters to numbers, would reduce this to 6KRO. Either way, this is enough for gamers to not need to worry about any limitation of key presses.
In games, the plunger switches felt good, not as responsive as true mechanical switches, though that is to be expected. In CS:GO I didn’t really notice the keyboard after a while, though in DOTA 2 I could feel my fingers bouncing around the keyboard a lot more.
Performance: Mouse
The mouse pointer was a lot more precise than I expected, fast and responsive, with little jitter. The 2400DPI is enough for the majority of people and in CS:GO it felt rather natural. The spongy side buttons are positioned perfectly and I grew to like them even more, not just because of their shock absorption properties, but they remaining easy to press, yet hard to press unintentionally. In DOTA2, the firm mouse clicks became tiring after a while though with regular use, they will likely wear in.
Conclusion
In our testing, we found that the COMMANDER COMBO (multi light) was fun, and provided us will all that we needed to enjoy our games. A decent anti-ghosting keyboard, with a precise optical mouse. The lighting, though limited when compared to more premium solutions, does add an attractive element that can tie together your desktop. Considering the price point and the two year warranty, Tt eSPORTS really save you the hassle of trawling through the many budget offerings to find something ‘good’.
That isn’t the end of the story however. The truth is, that there are many budget solutions that do provide similar, if not, the same quality as these products. If you look out for a bargain and know what you are looking for, you could even end up with something just as good, if not, better for around the same price (maybe a generic 6KRO keyboard with maybe a CM Xornet II <£30). Though that is a real stretch for the value and will require patience and determination to find the right products. That hassle is removed when considering the COMMANDER COMBO, not to mention that you are getting an attractive, homogeneous aesthetic that has a tried and tested baseline quality that can be relied upon. I think the primary improvements that Tt eSPORTS could have made would have been to increase the polling rate from 125Hz to a more competitive 500/1000Hz all round, then maybe use the ADNS 3090 sensor in the mouse. This would have made the combo vastly more serious and competitive, raising that bar significantly from the rest of the tropes seen around this price point.
The COMMANDER COMBO Multi Light provides excellent value and reliable performance that is backed by a 2 year warranty. Whether you are on a tight budget or are looking for an affordable gift for a young fledging PC gamer, this combo is near perfect.
Pros.
+ Solid build quality
+ Good all-round performance (Mouse and KB)
+ Anti-ghosting keys, 6-10KRO
+ Interchangeable keycaps
+ Attractive lighting
+ Price
+ 2 year warranty
Cons.
– Only 125Hz polling
+ Solid build quality
+ Good all-round performance (Mouse and KB)
+ Anti-ghosting keys, 6-10KRO
+ Interchangeable keycaps
+ Attractive lighting
+ Price
+ 2 year warranty
Cons.
– Only 125Hz polling
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
