Asus ROG Falcata review: Steep but not steep enough

Hall effect gaming keyboards are not common. But only the ASUS ROG Falcata also has a split ergonomic keyboard, aimed at relieving wrist, hand or arm pain. For the luxury of having it all, you’ll pay $419.99, which is enough to buy you a fantastic Hall effect keyboard and Comfortable split.

It would be worth it if Falcata truly represented the best of both worlds, but I’m divided. As a Hall effect panel, it succeeds, offering a wealth of customization options, including the ability to let you adjust each key’s actuation point by no more than one-hundredth of a millimeter at a time. But if you’re buying it for ergonomics, like me, maybe not. My biggest concern during testing was the limited tent angles. $420 seems pretty steep for a keyboard that doesn’t get that steep.

Tenting is an integral feature of split keyboards. The ability to raise the inner sides of each of the two sections to your liking allows your arms and wrists to rest in a more neutral position than they would on a regular keyboard. The Falcata can only reach seven degrees (or six degrees with the wrist rests installed). Some people may only need the slight tenting that Falcata provides; I’m used to a 15 degree tent on my own Kinesis FreeStyle Edge RGBWhile some prefer higher than that.

You may not know what feels right until you use a tent keyboard, but at this price, Asus should have included more tent options — and longer USB-C connection cables, too. The two halves can only be separated a maximum of 10 inches, which doesn’t allow me to spread my arms as far as I need to be comfortable (the Freestyle’s non-detachable cable can be up to 14 inches long). Sure, I could use my longer cable with the Falcata, but at $420, that’s a mistake.

Aside from the Falcata’s inadequate tent, it’s everything my daily driver isn’t. It has the same 75 percent key layout (minus the Freestyle’s left macro key columns), so there was no learning curve. However, its design is sleeker and more compact on my desk. The two halves can fit together like a standard keyboard, which is convenient if you need to travel with it. Also, it is So Quiet to type (to be fair, most switches are quieter than Cherry MX Blues, my point of reference).

Falcata is packed with gamer-oriented features. It gives you the option to turn on the Speed ​​Trigger and Speed ​​Tap (Asus’s brand name for simultaneous opposing cardinal directions, or SOCD), controversial features designed to give gamers an advantage in competitive gaming. Additionally, it can be run wired, via Bluetooth, or wirelessly at 2.4GHz (in wireless mode, the two halves are still linked together via USB-C), with a polling rate of up to 8,000Hz available in all modes except Bluetooth.

The advantages of Hall effect switches, other than being quiet, are that they are analog, and are not limited to the binary on/off states of digital sensors. You can customize the distance at which each key registers an input (and reset), which for gamers can mean extremely fast commands with almost no physical movement. It’s more difficult to use with typing, at least with the default settings. I accidentally typed “ffffffffffffffffffffffff” or “jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj” in several text boxes just because my fingers were putting too much weight on the home keys. Falcata offers multiple ways to adjust and customize its sensitivity all Much more. One way is to use Gear Link, Asus’ browser-based app. In my case, adjusting the dead zones for each key helped eliminate errors. You can also adjust these settings via the keyboard’s multi-purpose scroll wheel. It’s supposed to be faster, and for some it may be, but it seemed more complicated than just using the web app.

Each Falcata key can act as a macro, if you want. Although I’m more accustomed to the dedicated macro keys on my Kinesis device, the Gear Link makes it easy to assign additional functions to any key. In the app, you can assign simple functions to make life easier, such as pressing a key also triggers a left-click. Since it’s a Hall effect pad, there’s also a Dynamic Keystroke, which lets you set up to four unique commands depending on the key travel distance. For example, you can program W (run forward in games) to only send W with a light press, as well as trigger Shift and R with a full press, allowing you to sprint and reload any time you press it fully. This level of customization is standard on Hall-effect gaming keyboards, but this is the first time it’s been available in an ergonomic split keyboard.

Back to Rapid Trig and Speed ​​Tap: they’re designed to help you do things in games that aren’t possible, either due to limitations on reflection speed or the keyboard’s hardware. The quick trigger, which is turned off by default and activated by flipping a switch near the multi-purpose dial, allows the key to be instantly re-triggered when released, even if you haven’t completed a full keystroke motion, priming the sensor to receive another input faster than the physical keys on your opponent’s keyboard might be able to.

Speed ​​Tap (which is also off by default) lets you continue moving when you press two opposing primary directional keys (for example, A and D). For example, pressing A to move left and then pressing D to move right would normally cause your character to freeze until you release one (reflecting reality – you can’t walk in two directions at once), but Speed ​​Tap prioritizes your last input, overriding any other key that may remain pressed down. Valve considers this feature to be an automated assistance, hence It is not permitted to be used in Counter Strike 2. However, it’s great to play in games where you don’t run the risk of getting banned.

For Falcata to make sense, you have to really want the Hall effect and Split keyboard. As an ergonomic board, it’s definitely a ‘try before you buy’; Her limited camping abilities may be fine, or she may realize right away that it won’t cut it. Unfortunately, you may not be able to try it out until You buy it, as your local Best Buy may not have a model on offer. If you decide to skip this stage, make sure you can get your money back if necessary.

If you don’t mind missing out on the advanced features of the Hall effect panel,… Kinesis FreeStyle Edge RGB Plus It’s a great split ergo panel for less than half the price. It offers hot-swappable mechanical switches (they come as either linear or tactile, but are compatible with thousands of different switch types), and with a lift kit that allows them to stand at an angle of up to 15 degrees. Yes, they’re larger, wired only, with louder switches (depending on which ones you get), and no Hall effect switches. But it’s a very good keyboard, and it’s better ergonomically, too.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner/The Verge