When I first received the GAMDIAS Hermes 7 Color Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, I was quite skeptical. I’m an avid laptop user for a variety of reasons. One, I prefer them for their mobility. Two, I prefer them for their cost. Let’s face it, I have children, and children can be the death of anything electronic.
So anyway, there I was, opening a keyboard that is obviously meant for a desktop computer setup. That aside, I was very, very pleasantly surprised. I LOVE this keyboard! Even before I plugged it into the computer, several things jumped out at me.
First, there were the keys themselves. When you look at most keyboards, and focus on the keys, they are almost recessed into the board. They protrude, but the keyboard itself is primarily one piece of plastic. If you wanted to remove a key, whether it was for cleaning, or it was simply stuck, you’d often have to pry it off the board. That isn’t the case with this keyboard. The keys stick out from the board.
You can grab each key with relative ease, and pop it off with little to no force. They also go on REALLY easy! You don’t have to maneuver any pieces of metal to stick into hard to reach holes, or worry about whether or not it will make contact. Under each key is a plus sign that fits into the key perfectly.
Now as I said, they stick up and out of the board. There is another bonus to that. Cleaning is a breeze! If you grab a can of compressed air and give it a quick blast, the dust and food crumbs will blow from one end of the keyboard right out the other side! You don’t have to worry about anything getting stuck under any of the other keys, or in a hard to reach spot on the frame. That alone makes the board very, very nice.
The second thing I like about the keyboard is the cord itself. It’s made of the same material as the headphones. It’s got an almost parachute cord feel to it, which protects the cables inside, and is very hard to rub or break through. Again, a very positive feature if you have cats, puppies, or little children who try to eat everything.
That covers the physical aspects of the board. So how does it work? Well, installation was a breeze! Simply plug it into a USB spot, and the software and drivers install themselves. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
After installation, I was caught off guard. I don’t like to read packaging material very often. I’m a man. So instructions, and detail, aren’t often the first things I go to… unless there is a problem. With such an easy installation, that was definitely not an issue. So what did it? THE LIGHT SHOW! Seriously, it lit up in a rainbow of colors! The function keys lit up in green, the number line in a light blue, the “Q” line was in purple, followed by pink, orange, and red. So why is that a big deal you ask? There are times when someone is on a computer, in the dark, and typing can be difficult. So having keys that light up is a definite benefit.
That wasn’t it though. They didn’t stop there. You could change the light pattern! The default is to have a soft flicker, but you can set up the lights to do the ‘wave’, where they move from one end of the keyboard to the other. You can also set it up into a ‘colored ribbon’ mode, where basically it’s a SINE wave, radiating back and forth across the keys. There are a few other modes as well, which I won’t cover. I need to leave something out there for you to discover on your own after all. If you don’t want to wait, take a look at this video . There are seven other patterns waiting for you, and you can even program five of your own!
The next thing I wanted to try it out on was in the gaming atmosphere. I mean, it’s a keyboard. So what is so special about a QWERTY keyboard? In typical GAMDIAS fashion, this keyboard has a bevy of little tricks and shortcuts.
For the beginner, the arrow keys themselves are marked off with the typical game movement keys – W, A, S, and D. That will help you get used to the way movement works in the games, and when you’re ready to graduate to the regular keys, you’ll find yourself ready to make use of everything else it has to offer. Take the ‘Q’ key for example. It has little ammunition pictures under it. I know what you’re thinking, who cares about a little picture? You can lock down that key, by itself, into an auto fire condition. Imagine you’re playing a game where ammunition doesn’t matter. Now you don’t have to worry about constantly clicking away to fire your weapons. You can lock in the key, and then ignore that key entirely. That’s a potential game changer if you think about it. If there are spells, or other abilities you can focus on while initiating a basic attack, you can ruin your opponents day.
There are also a few other hidden gems. For example, you can lock the keys into a gaming mode. While in the gaming mode, some keys like the windows key, no longer function in that mode. It becomes another mappable key you can use at your own discretion. It’s yet another feature that will separate you from those you play against.
All in all, I really like this keyboard. Apparently, my wife does too. As she watched the keys lighting up, and dancing around, she was mesmerized. I’m pretty sure she is considering getting a desktop system, just so she can use this keyboard. You won’t hear me complain about that one.
Additional note from his wife: He actually yelled, “I LOVE this company!” after he wrote this review. I asked him, “On a five-star scale, what would rate this keyboard?” He told me, “Five stars”, and he never says that about anything.
BUY:
You can purchase a GAMDIAS Hermes 7 Color Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on the GAMDIAS website.
CONNECT with GAMDIAS Gaming:
THE GIVEAWAY:
One (1) winner will receive a GAMDIAS Hermes 7 Color Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.
Open to US & Canada. Ends 11/9
*The Quirky Mom Next Door received the above item(s) in exchange for her honest review. All opinions and experiences are her own only. Open to US & Canada. Must be 18+. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Giveaway ends November 9, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. (EST). One entrant per household/IP address. Winner(s) will be chosen at random by Giveaway Tools. Winner will be notified via e-mail and must reply within 48 hours, or a new winner will be chosen. Prize will be shipped from sponsor unless otherwise noted. The Quirky Mom Next Door is not responsible for prizes lost or damaged in transit. This giveaway is not in any way associated with or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest or any other social media network.
My husband has had an eye on this keyboard. Seems to be a gentlemen pleaser!
The feature I love most is the lights. I often play games in the dark and having these lights on the keyboard would really enhance my game playing. Thanks so much.
I like the lights, it would make it easier to game.
I love the lights but also that the arrow keys are marked with the typical game movement keys! I’m a bit of a beginner, so this would be very helpful to me!
I love the lights! They are so cool! Such a neat feature!
I love the lights and that they can be done in different patterns!
The lights are really cool, I’ve also heard some good things about mechanical keyboards!
I think mechanical keyboards are consistently good nowadays, so something has to set them apart. I love that you can map keys in gaming mode (like the Windows key, which I have pushed on accident at the worst times in the past).
I love the colors and the shortcut keys for games alot!
I would have to say the lights. In addition, my 11 year old would go absolutely nuts over the lights on this. Really neat and different concept to the keyboard.
I like the lights the best. They are cool
I like the shortcuts and the awesome lights. THank you
I really like that the keyboard is elegant but simple & powerful!
The style looks like it would be comfortable for long hours
The feature that I love most is the lights.
I love the lights! Not sure if it will make me play better but it looks cool. This would be great for my son who I play minecraft and other games with.
wow that thing is awesome!
Definitely the locking key! My son is a gamer and wants a keyboard for Christmas as his is getting tired. This would be amazing to win for him.
I love the lights they look awesome.
Wow, the colors are so awesome! My gamer kids would love this!
the lights my little niece would go nuts for
Definitely have to go with the lights on this one
I love the lights but I know my son will like the other more important features. He has been wanting a special gaming keyboard for a long time.
I like that you can lock the keys into continuous mode.
The different colors are my favorite feature.
I love these colors so much! You have a great blog, thank you for the sweet offer;)
I love the lights!!
Lighted keys definitely a bonus in the early winter morning!
I love the lights but also that the arrow keys are marked with the typical game movement keys!
The backlighting is awesome.
I love the durable cord. With some of my other gaming keyboards, I find that I get worried about the cords breaking.
I love the lights the most and how they change shape and colors. Pretty cool!
How easy it is to clean and the light of course.
I love the lights.
Easy clean. Fast not all morning.
My favorite feature is totally the 7 colored light.
I love the colorful lights!
I love the different colored lights. Such a fun feature!
I absolutely love that the keys are removable!
I like how easily the keys can be removed!
Is there any such thing as a keyboard that will actually last a while?? This one perhaps?? I hope so
I like that you can lock the keys into gaming mode
I like the blue & green keys best
I love the way it lights up – my son would love that
I love all the lights!
too cool
i like how you can change the light pattern that is awesome
I like it includes a gaming mode, so I can disable the Windows Key.
I like that you can lock the keys into gaming mode.
I love the cool colors and the higher quality than just a cheapo keyboard from Best Buy.
The lights are really cool. I can really see my husband going for this.
the back lighting
The lights and the colors are awesome and would make gaming even more fun.
I luv the back lighting. Divine.
The lights.awesome.
The light is awsome. I have a monochromatic keyyboard, some RGB action would be nice instead of just RED, midl red, low red and no RED
I love the lights. Makes it so much easier when sitting in the dark on the computer
love all the colorful lights..so kewl
I love the light patterns!
This would mean all the world to entire family as a source of being the latest gadget of technology! It would offer an aid in saving electricity. Using this it would elaborate that of the ability to use the keyboard! Should it happen we are selected, the prize would be shown at house & birthday parties when the lights are dimmed and we bring them into that of where we have our machine! Many are sure to have children of all ages and we will remind them of how wonderful of a gift this would be for children of all ages!
I love the lights, too! This keyboard looks super cool!
Thank You
I love the lights! How fun would that be?!?
I like the lights. My kids would love it too.
I reallylike that i can program this myself! love being able to customize my gameplay keys!
I really like that this keyboard is easy to clean.
I love that it lights up. The keyboards I use don’t light up and hard to see in the dark.
I think the lighted keyboard is pretty cool
I love all the colors. They will help me a little bit to focus better. My eyes are not too good.
I love how it lights up!
I like that the keys stick out and can be removed. I use my computer a lot and the keyboard gets dirty, but it is impossible to clean the keys without taking the keyboard apart. This looks much easier. Thank you for the chance to win.
I like the arrows on A,W,S,D and the new pictures icon. Nice idea!
My son has lights on his keyboard. It makes so much easier in the dark to type.
The lights are great.
that it lights up making it easier to use
the lights! I think this is the coolest feature and I am sure my kids would agree
I love that it lights up and the short cut keys the most!
The features that appeal to me most are the light effects
You can grab each key with relative ease, and pop it off with little to no force. T
love the colors and the shortcut keys for games
The lights!
I use my computer in a dark room, so a lighted keyboard would be great. I can type in the dark but I have trouble locating the special function keys.
I like the lighting up feature the most. It looks really cool!
Synchonization of typing skills. I type really fast and this color coded key board will help my skills even more. Off we go!
I love that you can change the light pattern. Very cool!!!
the lights are my favorite feature. it would be so awesome!
I really do love the lights as the best feature… Thanks
I love the lights!!!
I would have to say definitely the lights!
I would say the lights! Not only does it look cool but you can use it and see better at night! Awesome!
The lights are my favorite feature.
I like that it looks like I can connect it, via the USB port, to my laptop? Not sure if I can or not tho….didn’t say so in the website’s description of it.
I like the lights and how you can change the patterns.
I love playing with the colors on the keyboard.
Colors are really neat and so are the shortcuts
Love the lights.
My favorite feature is definitely the lights.
I like the shortcuts and the lights
My favorite feature is how easy it is to clean and the lights are a close second!
I like the lights
I like the 14 lighting effects.
Looks like a great keyboard
I love the lighting effects. The lighting patterns is awesome!
I love that I can easily get the keys off the keyboard for cleaning. Playing games (and snacking) is not always the easiest on keyboards.
The lights are neat!
I love the colors and patterns 🙂
I would love to get my girlfriend a keyboard like this! She would love it with blue lighting!
I like that you can set up the lights to do the wave.
The lights are my favorite feature
I love that I could customize the lights to my liking!
This is so unique! I love the light patterns and that it is customizable!
The colorful lights are the coolest. I definitely want this for myself.
I like that you can lock the keys!
It makes great Christmas gift for my son who is a game lover. I think it has great features. We love it lot