It's a neat, compact, matte-black package, and comes in two flavours: the ROG NUC 760 (Core Ultra 7 155H, RTX 4060 mobile, 16 GB DDR5-5600, 512 GB M.2 drive) and the ROG NUC 970 (Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, RTX 4070 mobile, 32 GB DDR5-5600, 1 TB M.2 drive). Both specs are also available as barebones units called the NUC Extreme, and come without the RAM, M.2 storage or Windows 11 installation, in a plain black version of the chassis.

It's the fully pre-loaded 970 model we're looking at today and it's no slouch, packing Intel's flagship Core Ultra 9 185H coupled with Nvidia's RTX 4070 mobile GPU and a thoroughly ample 32 GB of SODIMM-shaped 5600MHz DDR5 (user-upgradeable to 64GB). It's a well-matched component-set, from which you'd rightly expect power enough for gaming at 1440P.

These innards, though, are built for mobile. Compared to their desktop counterparts, they offer higher efficiency, lower power consumption, enjoy fights in tight spaces, but are naturally less performant. The RTX 4070 Mobile for example, is a different beast from even the basic non-super, non-Ti desktop RTX 4070. With a 128-bit memory bus down from 192-bit, 8GB VRAM rather than the desktop card's 12GB and lower-clocked core and memory, you get roughly a third less performance, give or take.

Similarly, the Core Ultra 9 185H is geared towards high-end laptops unlike the out-and-out desktop powerhouses of the latest 14th Gen  Core i7 and i9 desktop chips, and that's reflected in its power consumption. The CPU in our test unit drank a peak 115 W to hit its max turbo speed of 5.1GHz at full load; compare that to the volcanic 253 W draw of an i7-14700K at full 5.6GHz tilt. In brief, both the CPU and GPU are excellent choices for a super-compact system, enabling the ROG NUC to occupy a mere 2.5 litres in volume.

You can upgrade the RAM and storage but the CPU and GPU are for life, not just for Christmas. So while the NUC 970 can comfortably deliver the solid framerates of a midrange desktop PC in today's games—provided you don't flog it past 1440P—it's also the material equivalent of a gaming laptop, complete with external power-brick. That goes for the cooling too; the small-diameter, high-speed fan-noise at load is equivalent to that of a gaming laptop. However, the ROG NUC can be set to silent mode in Asus' preinstalled Armory Crate app, which reduces the noise to a totally palatable level, and it barely touches the frame rate. 

Going from Turbo mode (noisy) to Silent mode (well, quieter mode), we noted a drop of just 2 fps in Cyberpunk, which is simply undetectable in practice. Our advice? Stick it on silent and fugeddaboudit.

It's not terribly future-proof but for this machine's target demographic, I suspect that's just fine. There's something attractive about a compact gaming PC that neither offers nor encourages invasive surgery and just cracks on with the job of being a PC, which the ROG NUC 970 does. There are few manufacturers offering such a seamless plug-and-play PC gaming experience that will do the desktop-level business at 1440p.

The ROG NUC 970 takes design cues from 2018's Intel Hades Canyon NUC, albeit larger in volume. It sports a similar corner-cut shape and RGB panel on the top-case, for which you can get your own acetate masks printed to mount internally and change the RGB shine-through image. It also adheres to the ROG brand style guide—angular shape-language, ‘challenging' font—so your mileage may vary on the style accents. It ships with an exceedingly robust steel stand to mount the unit vertically, which is a welcome, footprint-reducing addition. Overall, the ROG NUC 970 has an appealing sense of density. There's no question that the power-to-volume ratio this machine exudes is attractive.

Elsewhere on the spec sheet, things are similarly tidy. Intel Killer WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, a trio of M.2 2280 slots running on PCIe 4.0, and 2.5G Intel LAN. The I/O options are largely good. Round the back you get 2x USB 3.2 ports, 2x USB 2.0 slots, a 2.5G RJ45, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a ports, a single HDMI 2.1 port, and a lone Thunderbolt 4 port which also doubles up as DP 2.1 for the CPU's Intel Arc iGPU, which you will absolutely never have a reason to use over the RTX 4070.

Up front you get another two USB 3.2 slots, combined audio jack, and an SD card reader. Where the IO sorely lacks is in USBC ports, especially up front. A single type-C Thunderbolt 4 at the back doesn't really cut it on such a premium product. I don't know about you but the majority of cludge I plug into my PC these days (phone, headset dongle, mechanical keyboard, Xbox Elite gamepad dock) operates via USBC. If I'm buying this for its compact minimalism, I don't want to spoil it with an external USBC hub flapping about.

On to performance then, and the headline is straightforward enough: even with its mobile-focused parts, the ROG NUC 970 offers good-to-great frame rates at 1440p, and outstanding ones at 1080p. 

76 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p at the Ray Tracing Ultra preset, DLSS set to auto and frame-gen on is as smooth and good-looking as you need. Total War: Warhammer 3 at Ultra settings just makes it to 60 fps. Forza Mortorsport clips along at 68 fps with Ultra settings, full-quality DLSS and Ray Tracing at 1440p. And if 1080p is your playground, you'll see frame rates thunder well beyond the 100 fps mark in pretty much everything you throw at it bar Homeworld 3, with its surprisingly punishing built-in benchmark

We also gave the ROG NUC 970 a run at several titles outside of our benchmark suite. We haven't added these findings to our official list of numbers as these games don't have built-in benchmarks tools, but we think getting a frame rate range and a general vibe for how it runs stuff at 1440p is still useful.

The Dead Space remake performs admirably at 1440p/Ultra/DLSS balanced, and in the final boss battle, we saw between 75 and 107 fps. Even with that variance in range, the action remained buttery-smooth. It's a similar story in Helldivers 2, where, regardless of the scene, the ROG NUC 970 knocks out an unflinching 70-73 fps at 1440p Ultra with textures set to high. A Plague Tale: Requiem's 'Hives' level saw 74-94 fps at 1440p ultra, with DLSS set to quality and Frame Gen on. In short, all three titles play silky smooth and stutter-free.

It's compact and it does the business at 1440, no question. So let's tackle the elephant in the room: the price tag. Because at $2,199 (£1,999) fully loaded with RAM and storage, the ROG NUC 970 is eye-wateringly expensive for what it does.

How much of that price is down to the R&D costs the ROG NUC 970's unique design implies, how much is down to ASUS adding its ROG-brand markup, and how much is down to the specific component choice is impossible to guess at, but the fact is, it's a very expensive way to game at 1440p. It certainly won't win over any seasoned system-builders; for the same outlay as the full-fat ROG NUC 970, you could build a machine around a desktop RTX 4080 Super and enjoy massively better frame rates at 1440p, or comfortably make the leap to 4K, though you'd be trading the ROG NUC's USP—compactness—for that performance.

But that's not who this machine is aimed at. It's for the PC gamer who wants faff-free fun at 1440p, in the most petite package possible, and doesn't care about a future upgrade path beyond memory and storage. If that's you, and you're willing to part with this kind of money, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Better still, If you're up for shopping around for DDR5, storage, and a Windows key, go for the Barebones version and install them yourself. You'll save yourself literally hundreds.

The Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse is, on first appearances, just that—a wireless gaming mouse. Available in black or white finishes, it's got a left click, a right click, a scroll wheel (with, of course, a click), two side buttons, and a hidden one underneath opposite the power switch. That's your lot, for the low, low price of $150/£127.

Wait, that's not a low price for a gaming mouse, is it? You can pick up a Razer Deathadder V3 Pro for roughly the same money, and while it currently sits at the top of our list of best gaming mice, we did point out that it's still a lot of cash for a mouse with a limited number of buttons.

As you would expect, however, just like the Razer, what you're paying for here isn't customizability, or flashy aesthetics. Instead, what Alienware is offering are claims of refined, super-fast performance, courtesy of up to 4 kHz wireless and 8 kHz wired polling rates, which works out to 0.25 ms and 0.125 ms response times, respectively. With an optical sensor capable of 26,000 DPI movement resolution and some magnetic key plates for quick clicks without sticky buttons, everything about this mouse's spec sheet screams speed.

The first thing you'll notice, though, is the glide. Sitting on the underside are two sizable PTFE feet holding the Pro Wireless aloft, and they're as smooth as the proverbial silk when paired with a decent mouse mat. So much so, in fact, that it's quite a pleasing experience just sliding this mouse around for the sheer tactile nature of the effect.

Helping out that smooth movement is the weight, or in this case, the lack of it. I tend to prefer a heavier mouse, but the Alienware Pro comes in at a mere 59 grams, making it so light that —in combination with those gliding feet—the merest hint of finger movement sends it smoothly in the appropriate direction. Alienware may have created the first hover-mouse, or at least one that does a good approximation of it.

Customisation and settings are handled by the Alienware Command Center, which sounds like it prepares the little mouse for its first trip to space, and unfortunately, doesn't. Instead, the straightforward settings interface allows you to rebind the limited buttons, set macros, and adjust DPI profiles and polling rates, along with sleep mode settings, lift-off distance adjustments, and battery-saver settings.

It's actually remarkably clearly laid out, with a shades-of-gray aesthetic that's mercifully clean to read and easy to use. Again, simplicity. Simple can be good.

Battery life comes in at 32 hours for the 4 kHz setting, or 120 hours at 1 kHz polling. It's easy to switch between the two in the app, and as a result I've been keeping it at the lower setting for day-to-day usage and switching it to the faster polling rate for gaming duties.

Now then. Super-fast polling rates and ultra-speedy sensors. I've ranted before about my dislike for esports-focused gaming peripherals like this, making the argument that unless you have the reaction times of a gnat, you're paying for performance you really don't need. Has the little Alienware changed my mind?

No. Not really. That being said, the smooth glide in conjunction with the accurate feel of this mouse is undoubtedly pleasing to use in fast-paced shooters. There's a lot of things about this little squeaker that on paper, I don't particularly like, yet in usage come together to form a package that actually does feel pretty good—and extremely responsive— underneath your fingertips. 

The Mouse Tester graphs show a reasonable result, as the closeness of the dots indicates the consistency of the movement reporting from the sensor (although I'll admit, the smoothness of my motions could do with work). In practice the Alienware Pro feels plenty accurate in the games I've tested it in, even if the fleshy-meat-thing behind it isn't the most skilled.

It's light, quick, pleasingly tactile for the most part (the left and right mouse buttons have a particular clicky-bounce combo that does feel very satisfying once you've become accustomed to it), and well-behaved. Not once has it stuttered or lost connection, and the quick-charge capabilities in combination with the simple DPI switching means it's easy to keep on top of the battery.

What I don't like, however, comes in two parts. The first relates to the two side buttons. For a mouse that seems so refined in many aspects, the two side-clickers have a squidgy quality that feels a bit ick, along with a hollow feeling underneath the action that betrays a lot of weight saving efforts going on behind the mechanism.

I get it's supposed to be light, but I would gladly add another 5 grams or so for the sake of two (for my personal usage, fairly vital) buttons that don't feel quite so mushy when I press them. There aren't a lot of buttons on offer here, so two of them feeling a bit cheap and nasty is a no-no as far as I'm concerned.

The second is the price. Yep, it's time for me to tap that esports sign once more: $150 for a mouse that's all about super-speedy reaction times instead of useful added functionality still strikes as paying for speed you don't need. Yes, the Razer Deathadder V3 Pro is just as expensive, but it looks and feels a bit more like a premium object, what with its micro-texture coating, stylish, flared-out button design, and side buttons with more of a positive action.

It's got a higher-rated sensor too, 30,000 DPI, if ultimate speed and accuracy really is your thing. Horses for courses and all that. Or the Razer Viper V3 Pro for that matter, a mere $8 more but with a 35,000 DPI sensor. The Viper can handle 8 kHz wirelessly too, thanks to Razer's Hyperpolling system.

All that being said, however, the Alienware is so refined in most respects, it almost feels polite. Aside from the shiny silver alien head on the top, there's nothing here to tell you this is a high-performance gaming mouse. For some, that's a boon, and for others, perhaps, a bit of a disappointment.

Once you start sliding it around however, you will actually feel where some of that money went. If only a little more had gone into the side buttons, and perhaps the coating (it feels fine, but unremarkable), this would really feel like a more premium object. But putting that aside for a second, the Alienware Pro Wireless gaming mouse is simple, well-behaved, and for the most part, well thought out.

The thing I struggle with most is still that price tag. There's fierce competition in the super light and speedy mouse market, and it's not just Razer making tempting models. The Logitech Pro X Superlight 2 weighs a mere gram more, retails for roughly the same money, and yet, like the Deathadder V3 Pro and Viper V3 Pro, also has side buttons that feel substantial. That's three similarly priced mice, without that significant drawback.

I'd still have either of the Razers if I was going for something pricey, but ultra-fast. At least there, the whole package is as premium as the MSRP suggests.

SteelSeries, however, begs to differ. The SteelSeries Arena 9 is a fully-fledged 5.1 surround sound speaker system, complete with OLED-equipped hockey puck style control unit and some nifty, gamer-friendly RGB lighting. Yours for $550/£550.

Yep, I wouldn't blame you if you did a double take. I did. Over half a grand for a set of speakers might not be much in audiophile terms, but when it comes to gaming audio? That's pushing it. Especially when our current favorite set of gaming speakers, the Logitech G560, can be found for around $150–$200.

Still, you do get a lot for your money, at least out of the box. There's a substantial-looking central speaker, two sizable front left/front right units with LED light-up base rings and half-circle rear lighting, plus two slightly smaller rear satellite speakers. All of this connects into the back of a chunky subwoofer, with a slit-style front port and a serious-looking 6.5 inch downwards facing driver. Oh, and the hockey puck, along with a lot of cables and adapters to put it all together.

One great drawback of every 5.1 system is the sheer fiddly nature of the setup. The two satellites connect wirelessly for audio, but still require a cable linking the two together, along with a separate power adapter. The layout of my particular home rig (what with my desk pushed up against the wall and the whole rest of my front room behind me) isn't really designed for rear or side speaker setups.

Still, I set up one behind me on my bookcase to my right, and another on a fold out tray table to my left in roughly the right positions. They're mercifully light, at least, and feel good in the hands out of their packaging.

Once all the speakers are positioned and plugged into the rear of that substantial subwoofer, what you're left with is an impressive looking array of noise-makers. SteelSeries' Engine software allows a heavy amount of initial tweaking, and they also tie into other aspects of the suite like Prism for endless RGB adjustment and Sonar for parametric EQ fiddling. More on that later.

The two front speakers have RGB lighting around the edge of their respective bases, along with substantial rear lighting that's more than capable of acting as a screen backlight if your monitor hovers above them, as mine does. At full brightness they create quite the atmosphere, and definitely add a wow factor to proceedings.

Sound-wise, for gaming alone they're pretty great. That subwoofer is hugely powerful, so much so that I used the rear-mounted dial to take a touch off of the volume (a rarity, for a bass-head like me). Explosions punch the chest, soundtracks sweep, and bullets whizzing past in COD Warzone are enough to make you wince. If you're a multiplayer shooter fan, 5.1 audio like this makes a lot of sense in games that support it.

The level of detail on offer definitely ups the immersion in any game with serious positional audio atmospherics. Horror aficionados will really feel the benefit too, as there's nothing quite like jumping at a creeping zombie that you heard scratching the floorboards behind you.

There's a lot to be said for good 5.1 audio implementation, and these units do a great job of delivering accurate positioning. For gaming audio? They're a lot of fun, and look good doing it, too.

Where these speakers fall down, however, is music listening. There's a 5.1 upmix setting to convert conventional stereo-mixed audio to the central and rear speakers, but I found the effect lacking.

Part of the problem is that tremendous subwoofer. So tremendous, in fact, that if you pull it out of the mix, the central speaker and satellite units reveal that they're really not doing much mid to lower-midrange work at all. Some, no doubt, but they're very treble-focussed, letting the subwoofer handle just about everything else.

A go-to test for me with any set of speakers is Tool's The Pot, as it really does run the gamut of range, dynamics, and overall mix. While the drums pound, the bassline shakes and the vocals are crystal clear, the second the heavy guitars get going, the Arena 9's sound confused. A huge bassline and crunchy guitars? What goes where?

Well, there's some bassy weight present in those guitar riffs, so it must be the sub. But there's lots of mids too, so wind up the middle speaker. 

The result? The bassline shudders as the subwoofer's driver tries to do multiple things at once, the central unit and surround speakers deliver a thin impression of a weighty rock riff, and the result sounds cluttered and oddly shaky.

It's like the subwoofer is looking at the other speakers with a quizzical expression. "Come on you lot, pull your weight. I can't do everything, you know."

No matter how I tweak Sonar's parametric EQ, I can never quite find a spot where the central speaker delivers some mid-range weight, instead relegating itself to the higher ranges. For 5.1 gaming, there's plenty of balance. For music? That upmix setting leaves a lot to be desired, and it makes for a frustrating listening experience.

Also, the rear satellites have an odd background noise issue. Sometimes they're dead silent, other times they make a chittering sound between each other, back and forth. The wireless connection seems prone to interference at certain volumes when placed near other equipment. Not a huge issue, but I had to reconfigure some of my other gear to lessen the effect. Bit of a shame that, for the money.

Yep, there's that price again. While the RGB lighting is fun and the positional audio is great, I struggle with the idea of anyone needing to spend this much cash to achieve an effect that many headsets can deliver for a lot less. 

More than that, a $500+ set of speakers should really be great at everything. And while I've had a good time gaming on the Arena 9's, that mis-match between the power of the subwoofer and the light touch of the other units in upmix mode means I've been avoiding them as my go-to speakers overall.

So, what have I been using instead? Well, here's an admission: I broke out the Majority D80s, a two-speaker set that costs a mere £80 (US shipping is still a struggle at time of writing, unfortunately). Of course, you don't get all the positional audio theatrics out of two speakers, but they still do a great job of accurate audio, and are capable of kicking your chest pretty hard in the music department to boot.

Those stateside looking for a pair of speakers that can deliver the goods would do well to check out the Kanto Ora. Pricey they may be, but they really can deliver on all fronts, and you can hook in an optional subwoofer, too.

If you're dead set on the ultimate surround sound experience for gaming then the Arena 9's are worth a look, but for this sort of money, when it comes to music I was hoping they'd deliver something more balanced, more refined. More, well, expensive-sounding.

For gaming alone, these are powerful, accurate, and good-looking speakers. But light must come with shade, and while the 5.1 positioning is pin-point accurate and the room-shaking bass is immense, the roundness of the package, the be-all-and-end-all factor, is simply lacking. And for this price?

It really shouldn't be.

The ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi is more or less an Intel version of the ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi I recently reviewed. Both are positioned as the ultimate MIni-ITX solutions for the LGA 1700 and AM5 sockets—at least for now. Whereas the X670E-I has a long potential upgrade path ahead of it, LGA 1700 is nearing the end of its life. With Z890 motherboards and Arrow Lake processors coming later in 2024, it's one for buyers in the here and now. 

It's just not possible to cram high-end features into a 17cm x 17cm PCB. To get around that, Asus went 3D. It moved several of the the ROG Strix Z790-I's features onto riser cards, and it also moved the audio section to an external USB-connected device that essentially functions as an external dock. The Z790-I really is an impressive and innovative engineering showcase that leaves few of the inherent Mini-ITX compromises.

That R&D effort and feature set comes at a price. At $429 / £369 / AU$699, it's an expensive proposition, but it's not uncompetitive with high-end ATX options. But this board isn't expected to compete with ATX boards; it's positioned as the ultimate Intel LGA 1700 SFF board, and it effectively has no competition at this level.

Beginning with a VRM overview, the Asus ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi features a 10+1+1 phase VRM with 105a per stage. It is easily sufficient for a Core i9 14900K. The heatsinks are compact by necessity, and it includes an embedded tiny fan. Temperatures peaked at 72°C. That's not bad, but it's higher than you'd expect from a comparative ATX board. It will require a case with good airflow if you plan to push an i9 CPU hard for long periods. 

It's also worth noting that the socket area is very tight, so much so that my Cooler Master AIO cooler would only fit in one direction so the tubes would fit. This could present a problem for large air coolers with protruding heatpipes. You should confirm whether your cooler will fit by checking your manufacturer's compatibility list.

Its two memory slots support speeds of up to DDR5-7600, but that was a number relevant to 13th Gen processors. 14th Gen CPUs typically have improved memory controllers, and after a 14th Gen supporting BIOS update, there's a strong chance the ROG Strix Z790I will be able to go higher than that. The board will accept up to 96GB of memory, which is more than sufficient for a gaming system.

The board features both a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and primary M.2 slot, plus a second slot that supports a Gen4 drive. These are stacked atop one another. There's a small embedded fan that cools the whole assembly, but it was not obtrusive during my testing. This stacked section of the board is seriously impressive.

Mini-ITX boards just don't have the space for four or five M.2 slots, and the Z790-I's two M.2 drives are joined by just two SATA ports. You can add external drives via the Thunderbolt 4 or 20 Gbps USB ports, but you'll have to make do with a maximum of four internal drives.

The two SATA ports are contained on a daughter board that Asus calls the FPS-II card. It connects to the board via a pair of USB Type-C connectors and it contains the aforementioned SATA ports, the case headers, and USB 2.0 headers among others. This is just one of the ways Asus managed to go beyond Mini-ITX PCB limitations.

The really key innovation is the external USB device called the ROG Hive. It's an external sound card that's based around a Realtek ALC 4050 codec, but also includes an ESS Sabre 9260Q DAC. It does more than provide quality audio though. It features an AI OC button, programmable flex button, and another 10 Gbps Type-C port plus another Type-A port that allows BIOS flashbacks. It's an impressive and notably well-built little device. 

Unlike most Mini-ITX motherboards, the rear I/O of the ROG Strix Z790-I is seriously impressive. The highlight is a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, both of which support DisplayPort alt mode. There's an HDMI 2.1 port also. The TB4 ports are joined by a 20 Gbps Type-C port, three 10 Gbps ports, a single 5 Gbps port and two USB 2.0 ports. Impressive! But nine ports isn't the end of it. There's another 20 Gbps case header, and if you add the other headers plus the ports on the ROG Hive, its USB complement is excellent.

Intel WiFi 6E and 2.5G LAN take care of networking duties. It would be nice to get 5G LAN and/or WiFi 7, but the latter isn't a must have right now, at least not until the price of WiFi 7 supporting routers reaches friendlier levels.

System Performance

Gaming Performance

Performance wise, I often say that comparing the performance of boards with the same partnering components doesn't provide much insight. All things being equal, the differences are usually within a margin of error of one another, especially at this stage of LGA 1700's life. Things like Intel's Thread Director, the underlying BIOS microcode and Windows support have all matured over the last three years.

What is clear is that the ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi will have no problems driving even an i9 14900K, RTX 4090 with lots of high speed RAM. As is the case with all Mini-ITX systems, you will need to ensure you have adequate airflow if you choose such components. The VRM will get very warm otherwise. I'd probably look to something like an i7 or a chip like the i5 14600K as more of a natural fit for an Intel Mini-ITX gaming system that doesn't require the ultimate in power-guzzling multi-threading support.

Much like I was impressed with the equivalent X670E-I Gaming WiFi, I came away impressed by the ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi. It's a Mini-ITX board with few compromises. It has no Intel-based competition that can tick all of its checkboxes.

The list of highlights is long. There's the dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, PCIe 5.0 SSD and GPU support and the audio of the board is a clear step up from any other LGA 1700 Mini-ITX offering.

The audio comes courtesy of the ROG Hive. It's a great idea to shift space-hogging audio circuitry away from the PCB and into an external device. But rather than just designate it as an external sound card, Asus went well beyond this and included some useful functionality and more USB ports. And speaking of USB ports, the ROG Strix Z790-I is an excellent option if you want lots of fast USB ports for things like external SSDs, docks, or hubs.

There are few weaknesses, though one of them is the board's internal storage complement. A third chipset connected M.2 slot on the rear of the board, or an extra SATA port to two would have been nice to see. At least with those 20 Gbps and 40 Gbps USB ports, you can add plenty of external storage.

The other important thing to note is the potential for cooler incompatibilities. It's critical that you check with your cooling manufacturer to ensure your cooler will fit. Most should, but you might be forced to orient it in a way that won't suit the layout of your build.

At a price of  $429 / £369 / AU$699, the Asus ROG Strix Z790-I Gaming WiFi is an expensive proposition, but it's in a class of one when you consider what it offers. It's also cheaper than when it was launched, to be fair. Given its feature set and the engineering involved, its premium price is not altogether unreasonable.

It's the ultimate board for the ultimate Intel Mini-ITX high-end system. You'll need to update its BIOS for 14th Gen support, but it's the kind of board that will happily power a gaming rig with a next-gen GPU for years to come. It's an easy recommendation for users looking for the best Intel Mini-ITX board they can get their hands on right now.

Starting out with the look, this thing is loaded with RGB lighting, with two up-firing, front-firing, and side-firing speakers complete with that familiar burst of colour as you turn it on. Those bright lights do serve a purpose with them being used to choreograph which of the listening modes are currently being engaged. We'll get more into that later but, for now, know that the RGB lighting isn’t entirely meaningless, and it looks quite pretty in the dark.

One of the main benefits of a soundbar like this is you simply need to plug it into the mains and it works. You don’t need to work around terminal cables or find space on equidistant sections of a desk for the optimal sound. Plop it down, plug it in, and get listening. 

It also comes with two different controllers; a remote that you can change settings from afar with, and a small wheel that you can spin and tap down to change volume and turn it on with. That dial tends to feel a little unnecessary with the remote but it's a nice bit of tech that feels surprisingly intuitive in use.

It is helped by its great connectivity, working with USB-A, USB-C, Aux, Bluetooth, and HDMI, though it doesn't come with the necessary cables so you will have to find your own. This connectivity is great, and the ability to change between them with the remote means you can keep multiple devices plugged in at the same time. You can also plug in a mic and headset if you want the ability to chat with your mates while you play. The only place it loses out in regards to its connectivity is room for a sub-output but, with its built-in subwoofers, you likely won't need one. 

It's an obviously very nice bit of kit that is sturdy and powerful—loud enough to really thump a desk. This impressive façade, however, hides an audio quality that is lacking if you manage to catch it in the wrong audio space. Hrvrd's On With Disease, a song filled with intricate guitar work, pounding drums, and high-pitched vocals, is thunderous thanks to the speaker’s high levels of bass. On the other hand, TTNG's Baboon, a mathy miasma of mids and highs doesn't quite fair as well. The OXS Thunder Pro feels almost perfect for Loathe's Aggressive Evolution, on the other hand, thanks to its Djenty guitar work, blasting drums, and Deftones-style vocals. 

Fittingly, off the back of the announcement of Doom: The Dark Ages, if you go back to Doom 2016, you will hear every demonic rip and tear, thanks to Mick Gordon's super thick and distorted tone. 

Destiny 2, which has managed to capture my partner's life since the launch of The Final Shape, is great in those fast-paced gunfights and almost becomes too much. See, the OXS Thunder Pro is appropriately named as the thing booms on a desk and can be almost overwhelmingly atmospheric. 

Though it has tons of ways to shift the volume up and down, there's a noticeable point where it goes from a slightly underwhelming speaker to a monstrous one. For this reason, it can almost be hard to recommend it as purely an under-monitor speaker. Its volume, size, and the remote controller actually make it a much better TV audio source. If you want to crank the OXS Thunder Pro, don't sit in front of it as it gets so loud you get lost in the wall of sound. The smattering of drivers allows for 3D audio, meaning you can make out directional sound from where you’re sat. When it works just right, this is honestly a magical experience, even if it does start to lose its charm after a little while. 

Mass Effect, a game that is ever so slightly more subdued than Destiny 2, thanks to its focus on character dialogue, is fine on here, but not quite as clear as I'd hope given the quality of bass and connectivity. Mids get muddy which you really start to notice in TV shows and movies, too. It is capable of working with Dolby Atmos, which allows for true surround sound play but, at a certain point, this feels more like form over function. Just how immersive that sound is can be great but I'd take a really high-quality set of reference speakers over this the majority of the time. 

That's all before mentioning the rather prohibitive cost of $600 for its cheapest model. For now, you can get almost any of the best PC Gaming speakers, and have cash left over for a brand-new game too. The Thunder Pro valiantly attempts to cover for the more muddled mids with three gaming modes; FPS, RAC, and MOBA, which focus on different sections of the sound. For the most part, this is a good idea and being able to move from hearing footsteps with greater clarity to listening to team call-outs makes the listening experience more engaging. 

The Thunder Pro has great connectivity, a good look, and snazzy controls, yet lacks somewhat in its overall delivery. OXS has put out a product I really want to like more than I have, in the end delivering a still solid if uninspiring experience. Which is not what you want from such a premium-priced product.

The Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi aims to give users more than they'd expect from a Mini-ITX motherboard. Rather than trying to cram everything onto a two dimensional PCB, Asus has gone into the third dimension. It's shifted several features onto riser cards, and there's an additional USB connected audio device that also functions as something of an external dock. The Strix X670E-I WiFi is an impressive engineering showcase that goes a long way to eliminating the compromises inherent to Mini-ITX motherboards, though the ability to install many M.2 drives is a still a step too far.

At $399 / £409 / AU$639, it's an expensive piece of kit to be sure, but it's still competitive against upper mid-range ATX options and well below the price of flagship boards. It's a board for those that want the ultimate AMD Mini-ITX system. And, it's already got a BIOS with support for next-gen Ryzen 9000-series processors.

The clunkily named Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi features a 10+2+1 phase VRM with 110a per stage. It's easily able to handle the demands of a Ryzen 9 7950X processor, and surely the high-end SKUs to launch in the future. The heatsink isn't what you'd call gigantic, but there is a small embedded fan there in case things get a bit toasty. It supports up to DDR5-8000 memory, but who knows what it might be capable of when next-gen processors make their debut.

The board features both a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and primary M.2 slot. There's a second slot that supports a Gen 4 drive. These are stacked together. This section of the board is mightily impressive. It incorporates a detachable daughter board for the second slot, and there are layers of heatsinks dedicated to cooling the chipset at the bottom of the stack, and the two drives that sit atop it. There's another small fan that cools the whole assembly, but this can be set to only spin up when it all gets a bit hot under the collar. Note that a Gen5 SSD will inevitably end up reaching higher temperatures than you'd see compared to an isolated drive on an ATX board. Decent case airflow is still a must, which can be tough to achieve in a small form factor build.

The two M.2 drives are joined by two SATA ports. That's about the only weakness of the board. File hoarders will not be satisfied with support for just four drives, though with USB4 on board, you could always add speedy external drives.

The two SATA ports are contained on a daughter board that Asus calls the FPS-II card. It connects to the board via a pair of USB Type-C connectors and it contains the aforementioned SATA ports, the case headers, USB 2.0 headers, an overclocking mode switch and clear CMOS button. It's a relatively simple but clever way to claw back some of that limited Mini-ITX PCB space.

Even more impressive is an external USB connected device called the ROG Hive. It's an external sound card that's based around a Realtek ALC4050 codec, but also includes an ESS Sabre 9260Q DAC.  This is a key example of thinking literally outside the box, as such components and their associated circuitry would not be possible to jam into the limited space on a Mini-ITX PCB.

The Hive offers a lot more though. It features a Precision Boost Overdrive button, programmable flex button, and another 10Gbps Type-C port plus another Type-A port that allows BIOS flashbacks. It's an impressive and notably well-built little device.

The rear I/O puts nearly every other Mini-ITX board to shame. The highlight is a pair of USB4 ports, both of which can drive Type-C monitors. These are joined by five Type-A 10Gbps ports and three USB 2.0 ports. Ten ports on the rear of a Mini-ITX board is a rare thing, and with the various headers, plus the ports on the ROG Hive, it really is loaded on the USB front.

There's a HDMI port, and you get Intel WiFi 6E and 2.5G LAN. It would be nice to get 5G LAN and/or WiFi 7, but this is an X670 board. WiFi 7 wasn't available when it launched and 5G LAN was considered a flagship tier feature. You'll have to wait for X870 boards if you want faster networking.

System Performance

Gaming Performance

Gone are the early days of niggles and flaky DDR5 memory support on the AM5 platform. The ROG Strix X670E WiFi has received well over a dozen BIOS updates and during my testing displayed none of the issues that I encountered during the first wave of X670 launches. X670 and Socket AM5 can be considered a generally mature platform.

The board's performance was consistent, and it was happy with my Samsung based G.Skill DDR5-6000 test kit, which was not always the case on some other boards I tested with pre-Ryzen 7000-series launch BIOS.

I came away seriously impressed by the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi. It somehow manages to cram a high-end feature set into a Mini-ITX form factor with few compromises. I love the inclusion of dual USB 4 ports in particular, and the ability to run a PCIe 5.0 SSD and a next-gen PCIe 5.0 GPU is welcome too.

The ROG Hive is also a highlight. It's a great idea to shift space-hogging audio circuitry away from the PCB and into an external device. But rather than just designate it as an external sound card, Asus went well beyond this and included some useful features with even more USB ports, and even an AMD PBO button.

And speaking of USB ports, Asus gives you another eight ports on top of the USB4 ports on the rear panel. The Hive adds more, and with the case USB headers, The X670E-I offers a really comprehensive set of USB ports for all manner of devices and peripherals.

The only glaring weakness of the board is its storage complement. Asus could have included a third M.2 slot on the rear of the board, or made the FPS-II card a little bigger with an extra two SATA ports. The latter might have been too much of an ask from its USB-C connection though. 

At $399 / £409 / AU$639, the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi is an expensive proposition, but not overly so given what it manages to cram into its diminutive size. There are plenty of ATX boards around that price. Given its unique characteristics, and the inclusion of the ROG Hive and the daughter boards, there would have been a lot of R&D effort involved, so it's understandable for Asus to charge a premium based on that alone.

With AMD stating it intends to support AM5 for years to come, it's a good investment too. After BIOS updates, you'll be able to pop in a high core count Ryzen 9 9950X, future X3D models, and surely Zen 6 CPUs as well. 

The Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi stands out as a premium Mini-ITX motherboard for users looking to build a high-end AMD system. We have no problem recommending this little ROG board. It's in a class of its own.

That's because, for the most part, they're pretty much the same gaming mouse, albeit with one important difference. All DeathAdders have a distinct curve to their shell and are for right-handed people only, whereas Vipers are symmetrical and, in theory, are suitable for left-handers.

There's a good reason why I'm mentioning the Viper V3 Pro but I'll come to that in due course. For now, let's consider what's on offer with the new DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed. A scan of the specifications would lead anyone to think that this is just a cheaper, more basic version of the DeathAdder V3 Pro, the best wireless gaming mouse round. And they'd be right.

But they'd also be slightly wrong because, in my humble opinion, the V3 HyperSpeed is better than the V3 Pro. Yeah, sorry to just throw that out so early in the review, but it's important that I set the table first and then fill it with tasty morsels.

Let's start with the optical sensor, the device that scans the surface the mouse rests on and tracks its motion. Where the Focus Pro 30K in the V3 Pro boast a maximum DPI of 30,000 and a maximum speed and acceleration of 750 IPS and 70 g, the DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed offers figures of 26,000 and 500/40 respectively. Yes, they're lower but unless you're a professional e-sports person, you're honestly not going to tell.

It's the same with the 2.4 GHz wireless system. Razer's HyperSpeed connection is very low latency and glitch-free and the version that comes with the V3 Pro allows the polling rate to be set to 8,000 Hz. That's extremely fast but also rather unnecessary, as it significantly eats into the mouse's battery life and lots of older games will spit out the dummy when using it.

The V3 HyperSpeed is a mere 1,000 Hz like most wireless gaming mice, but just like the optical sensor, that's honestly fine. It wasn't that long ago when PC gamers would eschew wireless and USB-wired mice in favour of those using the PS2 socket, because of the low polling rate, but that's no longer the case.

With this rate, the operating system checks for a mouse input every millisecond and unless you have the physical reactions of a cat, any input lag in a game will be down to some other issue in your PC and certainly not this mouse.

You can see all of this in the above charts collated by using Mouse Tester. I've included some 1,000 and 8,000 Hz results for the Viper V3 Pro to highlight just how small the difference between the two really is. The position and velocity tracking is accurate, smooth and consistent, and the small hiccups in the update times are more indicative of the PC used, not the mouse.

As already mentioned, using polling rates higher than 1,000 Hz on a wireless mouse greatly increases the device's power consumption. By using the standard rate and a less potent sensor, Razer's been able to fit a lighter battery inside the V3 Hyperspeed, compared to the DeathAdder V3 Pro, and it lasts a little longer, too.

One could argue that having hardware with greater capability is always going to be the better choice but that's only true if there's not much price difference. As it so happens, Razer has launched the DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed at $99.99/£99.99/€119.99/AU$179.95—that's a full $60 cheaper than the V3 Pro, a 40% reduction. The V3 HyperSpeed certainly isn't a 40% less capable gaming mouse, that's for sure.

However, this is a review, so it's time to be more critical and I'll begin with the subjective aspects. I really liked how the V3 HyperSpeed felt in my hand and the side buttons were perfectly placed just above where my thumb naturally rested. I also liked its ridiculously low 55 g weight, which quite surprised me as I typically prefer a meatier mouse—I suspect the shape of the shell had something to do with this, though, as it was easier to grip and move about than the Viper V3 Pro.

I didn't like how loud the primary mouse buttons were. The substantial clicks and clacks weren't noticeable when gaming with a headset but with speakers or just normal usage, it began to grate on my nerves after a while. Likewise, the mouse wheel—sturdy, chunky even, and with its positive-feeling rotation, switching weapons in games was a delight. However, scrolling through a webpage or large document was somewhat tedious.

Now for the objective criticism. The plastic used for the upper body of the V3 HyperSpeed is coated with a material to give a smooth touch. I can certainly vouch for how smooth it feels but whatever that material is, it attracts grease and grime like a magnet. If you have sweaty hands, it'll look oily and grubby in no time.

Razer claims that the mouse has eight programmable buttons but really it's just a standard five in number. One could argue this is a matter of semantics but three of those 'buttons' happen to be the forward/backward motion of the wheel and the DPI cycling/power switch in the base.

It's great that Razer has made all of the controls fully programmable, via its Synapse software, but I'd argue that the base button isn't one that's ever likely to be set to an important macro or the like.

Lastly, there's the HyperSpeed wireless connection system. Razer has furnished the DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed with a high-quality braided USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, a Type-C to Type-A adapter block, and a 2.4 GHz wireless dongle. It all works very nicely and the mouse also supports Razer's 8,000 Hz HyperPolling dongle, which is a $30 separate purchase. None of the above is the issue, though.

When I grabbed the HyperPolling dongle included with the Viper V3 Pro, I was a little surprised to find it didn't work with the V3 HyperSpeed. It would seem that the Viper's 8,000 Hz wireless system isn't the same as the separately purchasable HyperPolling dongle or, at the very least, it's been configured to only work with the Viper. That's a wholly unnecessary and confusing product fragmentation.

It's not a fault of the DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed, of course, but the HyperSpeed dongle supports multi-device connects and appears to be fully universal, whereas HyperPolling isn't. I also can't help but feel that many consumers are going to get more than a little confused between Razer's HyperSpeed and HyperPolling nomenclature.

All of the negative aspects of the new DeathAdder model are quite minor in the grand scheme of things and none of them put me off using the mouse regularly. As a diehard vertical ergonomic mouse user, I was surprised by how often I reached for the V3 HyperSpeed during work and it's been the go-to mouse for my household's nightly gaming sessions.

Razer has done a fantastic job of taking its best gaming mouse and making it a lot more affordable, without sacrificing what the DeathAdder brand means to the gaming community. Its understated looks hide a seriously capable mouse and the lack of super-fast polling rates and laser-accurate sensors arguably makes it a better mouse for the vast majority of PC gamers out there.

Yes, TP-Link's latest and greatest Wi-Fi 7 router, the Archer GE800, is what you might call a distinctive shape, and if you put it on display with some model TIE Interceptors and a CR-90 corvette or two it might blend in, or at least have people wondering which part of the expanded universe it comes from.

This is no simple shuttlecraft, however, but a fully armed and operational... [that's enough -ed] battle... er... Wi-Fi 7 router with five fast Ethernet ports for smuggling data away from Imperial probe droids and capable of downloading the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs [you're fired -ed]. Look, the antennas are merged into two panels that stick up like the Netgear Nighthawks of old, OK? And they look like wings.

The box is huge, and emblazoned with 'dominate the competition'—a slogan most probably aimed at gamers unless there's some kind of competitive networking event we're unaware of. And while a Wi-Fi World Cup might be fun, we suspect a certain amount of performance-enhancing plugs might be involved. 

Your first challenge is to get it out of the plastic wrapping, which clings tightly to the angles and flat plates of the router. It's fully assembled, with no antennas to screw in, but you'll be forced to put it down on a desk before committing it to the cupboard or shelf just to take in the sheer majestic size of the thing. Footprint-wise, it's the size of a small laptop, but a laptop that rises six inches into the air. Between the wings there's even an active cooling fan—it really is like a laptop.

An Ethernet cable and a phone SIM tool—for poking the recessed reset button—are included, plus a power brick which came with a US-style three-pin plug that connects to the brick with a cloverleaf connection—watch out in your region if you have to replace the cable, as cloverleafs are less common than kettle leads. One of the 10 Gbps Ethernet ports is for the WAN hookup, but there's also an SFP+ port for direct fibre connections (the one on the review model is filled with an easily removable rubber bung) and you can even combo the two together for unheard of amounts of internet. Setup is a case of connecting to the Wi-Fi hotspot using the password (or QR code) printed on the bottom, and using the phone app or web interface to create passwords and go through a few simple questions. It's a very fast and easy process.

Assuming the Ethernet ports are at the back, it's one of the few routers to be deeper than it is wide, and as you're going to want the front and back of the unit to be accessible—there are buttons for WPS, Wi-Fi switch-off and more on the front, plus a USB port and on/off switch alongside the Ethernet on the back—it's going to be better installed sideways, so that it doesn't hang over the edge of a shelf and you can appreciate the RGB.

Oh yes. The coloured lighting plague that has led to desktop PC cases looking like Fourth of July celebrations and laptops projecting manufacturers' logos onto our knees has taken root on this router, with multi-hued LEDs buried in the vertical antenna plates and behind grilles that now, to return to the previous tortured Star Wars metaphor, look like engines. 

You can turn it off. There's a dedicated button. Use it.

The Archer GE800 is certainly not cheap, but it certainly is fast, and while the benefits of Wi-Fi 7 may be best experienced on a network with a particularly fat connection to the wider internet and a lot of separate devices to share those megabits between, a router like this is an upgrade for anyone still labouring away with Wi-Fi 5. One of the Ethernet ports is a ‘gaming port' which will prioritise your traffic if you plug your gaming PC into it, but really with a router operating at this level network congestion should be the least of your problems. There's automatic QoS on-board too, which claims to detect and optimise gaming traffic without you having to interfere—though you can tweak it—and Homeshield security. You even get access to the Gamers Private Network VPN service.

The published wireless throughput figures are as huge as the box it comes in, offering a whopping 11.5 gigs of 6 GHz bandwidth to play with, and over a gig on the longer-ranged 2.4 GHz band, which will be useful for that relative who hasn't updated their phone since 2010 (it is of course backwards compatible) and for when your fridge downloads a firmware update. You're not going to get all that in one go, even if you're transferring data to a networked SSD array, but it can be shared out among a lot of devices without succumbing to slowdown or latency. Some of this capability comes from using the latest version of the Wi-Fi spec, and some from a Qualcomm chipset that not so long ago we'd have been calling a flagship smartphone.

In testing, the GE800 manages something close to a perfect score, with no weird peaks and troughs. Each network gets faster as we move up the GHz scale, and there's a distinct drop off in transmission speed as the client device is moved away from the server and a few walls and a floor are put in between. It's all exactly as the Force predicted.

It may be large and expensive (though it's actually not the priciest router on the market), but there's no arguing with the results. If your wallet and shelving can take it, and you have a fast internet connection you want to distribute among multiple devices that can use Wi-Fi 7—or think you will have in the near future—then the TP-Link Archer GE800 has got your back with this one.

The main sell of the Razer BlackWidow V4 75% is that it's fully hot-swappable. Priced at $180/£190, it's a more affordable keeb offering this functionality when compared to the competition. This can be evidenced when contrasting with the pricier Asus ROG Azoth 75% at $250 / £270 and the full-size Mountain Everest Max at $200 / £190. It's rare when the boomslang brand can come out as the king of value given the company's boutique status and branding, but I'll take it. 

My review unit comes pre-loaded with third-generation Razer Orange tactile switches which are said to deliver a quiet typing experience. I can verify this; they are notably quieter than the manufacturer's Green Clicky switches but are a touch louder than its Analog Optical switches that you'll find in the likes of the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL. 

While no other sets of switches are included, you can buy new switches from Razer for $25 / £25 a piece. It would have been nice to have an extra set in the box to play with, but that would have seemingly undercut the more aggressive pricing here.

Handily, Razer has included a multi-tool for pulling keycaps and switches in the box. The Razer BlackWidow V4 is held together with just five Phillips head screws for ease of access. Once you've lifted the lid, you'll see the tape-enhanced PCB, the plate foam and the plate itself which you can slot the new switches in. The gaming keyboard supports both three and five-pin options, so it takes the manual labor of having to build a board entirely from scratch.  

Razer claims that the BlackWidow V4 75% has been made with an “optimized typing experience” in mind. As there's no way to change the actuation here, the company has instead fine-tuned a solution. From my experience, even as I write this review, I can say that it's among the best gaming keyboards that I've typed on, which surprised me given the form factor. It feels like a bigger deck than it is despite taking up less room than a TKL equivalent. 

What's also neat is how the design ethos of the full-size Razer BlackWidow V4 has been accurately carried over with the 75% version. This is evident in the new shrunken-down media roller in the top right matching the original in all but length, and the media buttons. You now get two instead of four, acting as pause and mute, but they get the job done. What's won me over, though, is the extra plush wrist rest, which is incredibly comfortable. A joy to use after becoming accustomed to harder plastic rests over the last few years. It may not sound like much, but if you work from home or want something to take into the office, it can make a difference. 

Speaking to the form factor, the 75% variant does a solid job of skirting the line of size and function. It's a touch smaller than a tenkeyless model, but larger than a 60% variant as touched upon above. That means you're benefiting from a full function key row and page keys. It does result in the overall board looking a little short and tall, but in practice, it works well. If you ever found a 60% too cramped to game or work on then maybe this slightly bigger deck could sway you. 

Gaming on the Razer BlackWidow V4 75% is a great experience. I've been spending more hours than I care to admit running through Dark Ages England in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and this deck did an excellent job of feeling sharp and responsive whether I was in combat situations with a group of irritated soldiers or on horseback through the fields. It also performed well in more immediate titles such as The Finals; just a couple of games in, and I was used to the smaller travel time of my hands to hit the keys against my usual full-size deck. 

It wouldn't be a Razer product if it didn't feature Chroma RGB in some capacity and this gaming keyboard is no exception to the rule. There's per-key lighting which can be tailored to your liking in the Synapse software from breathing to audio reactive, spectrum, ambient, etc. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it works well. The lighting is bright and vivid even in the daylight hours and looks especially good contrasting against the all-white design. 

The decision of whether this new deck is right for you is going to depend on your preference. If you're in the market for a hot-swappable gaming keyboard which is cost-effective and compact then it's an easy recommendation. However, if you want more advanced features and a larger size then you may be better suited to an alternative, such as those touched on above. 

It's commendable that Razer was able to make this for well under $200 / £200 without sacrificing the build quality, so I think it's worth a go as a first foray into keyboard modding at the very least.

Though some of what it can do may be lost on more casually minded gamers.  

We’ve seen even mid-range gaming keyboards, such as the NXZT Function 2 and Wooting 60HE, offer dual actuation at the press of a button. However, the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL takes things a step further with its quick actuation point adjustment system. With the combined pressing of Fn and Tab, you can spin the media dial at the top to vary between a shallow 0.1 mm sensitivity to a far deeper 3.6 mm press. There are 10 steps in between which can be tweaked quickly, leading to a vastly different feeling keyboard experience in seconds. 

Smartly, Razer has included a light-up gauge above the arrow keys which demonstrates the key press before you settle into your final decision on the actuation point. That means you can experiment with what depth of feel works for you before confirming by hitting those two keys again followed by Esc. While it was initially a little fiddly at first, it quickly became second nature after a couple of goes. The bulk of my testing was spent all across the actuation spectrum from the shallowest to the highest—particularly when gaming or working.

To make things easier there are also onboard custom profiles straight out of the box if you’d rather just find a setting that works for you without having to mess about. As standard, the Factory Default features a 2.0 mm actuation, exactly in the middle, and delivers a smooth and fairly conventional typing and gaming experience. There’s perhaps too much play in the keys here for competitive gaming, but that’s where the other modes come into their own. 

Dubbed “FPS Rapid Trigger”, this quick setting changes the actuation of all keys to a more nimble 1.2 mm but with the slightest touch of 0.3 mm sensitivity recognized with the slightest press. It takes a little getting used to, but I was able to notice a good amount of difference when playing titles such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, The Finals, and Fortnite. 

Your mileage may vary with some of the onboard presets. This includes the likes of the “Racing” profile, which aims to emulate the triggers and left stick of a controller in the responsiveness. While it feels a bit better than using some other gaming keyboards, such as in my testing driving around Night City in Cyberpunk 2077, it just cannot beat the feel of the best PC controllers. 

"Analog WASD" largely does the same job in mimicking a controller’s left stick in my testing, which was most notable when making precise leaps in Clustertruck.

The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL also features Rapid Trigger Adjustment, which is changed with Fn and Caps and tweaked with the dial the same way; you can choose exactly when you want those keys to register your presses, with the slightest tap or a more pronounced press. In short, it works really well, and the form factor is easy short-hand for profile tweaking as it’s all separated to the right-hand side. Without question, this is one of the nicest gaming keyboards I’ve used in my time. 

Speaking of the design, the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL looks excellent, especially in white. The rounded aluminium backplate gives it a premium look and feel with the promise that it can take many years of intense gaming punishment. That’s owing to the second-generation proprietary optical switches. The keys can get noisy when typing up a storm but not to the extent of the company’s Green Clicky or Orange Tactile mechanical switches. 

The TKL form factor is also a good middle ground between a full-size deck and a smaller travel-friendly model without compromising too many keys. As the acronym implies, it’s missing the numpad, but you’ve still got a full row of function keys and media options which may play better with some cramped gaming desks. As someone who traditionally uses full-size boards, I didn’t find myself missing anything in my day-to-day when I wasn’t gaming here, so that’s definitely a plus even though it’s not unique to this model. 

It’s hard to think of a Razer product that doesn’t have the company’s Chroma RGB lighting baked in and the Huntsman V3 Pro TKL is no exception. It may be how the backlit keys look against the white, but things don’t look as bright as some competitors I’ve seen. The lighting itself is nice and even for sure, and can be handily tweaked to your liking through the Synapse software, but even in the dark, it’s a little dimmer than I was expecting even when dialled up to full brightness. 

The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL offers a wealth of customization options, which are going to be powerful for enthusiasts and handy for regular gamers, but it does come at a steep cost. Retailing for $220 / £220, it’s far from the cheapest model on the market, but so few of its rivals can offer this level of versatility. If you’re someone who takes competitive shooters and other genres seriously then you’ll love what this can do. However, if you’re not looking to make such small tweaks as you go then you may want to consider an alternative.