Gaming is a serious business and various technology giants have dedicated a special part of their investments on making compelling hardware. While gaming consoles are one-time investments for casual gamers, the PC platform is preferred by enthusiasts, where one can continuously tweak the hardware to enhance the experience. We have reviewed a substantial number of gaming keyboards — both mechanical and membrane, and found them to be of major help in enhancing the gaming experience. However, a gaming keyboard from Razer’s portfolio visited our desk, which aims to cater to gamers looking for dedicated peripherals on a budget.
Named Cynosa Chroma, the Razer keyboard costs around Rs 4,999 and aims to offer the thrills of professional gaming gear on a restricted budget. The special focus on affordability is evident from the fact that it’s not a mechanical keyboard. Instead, it uses membrane keys, which might put off some enthusiasts. However, one has to pay a premium for mechanical keyboards, which is not the case with the Cynosa Chroma.
Despite having membrane keys, Razer has built in a comfortable amount of tactility into the keys for a satisfying feedback. While playing input-intensive games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 or Battlefield 1, we never felt that the keys could have done with some more tactility. Since this is a budget gaming keyboard, there are no dedicated programmable keys, which could be a letdown for those looking for a temporary gaming keyboard, or as a secondary keyboard. The keys are spaciously laid out and are comfortable to use, even when you are busy ploughing virtual battlefields for hours. The build quality is impressive as well. However, there’s no palm rest built into the keyboard.
Even when you aren’t exploring virtual worlds, the Cyanosa Chroma doesn’t disappoint. Typing lengthy documents with this humble keyboard is not an issue. Thanks to the clever layout of the keyboard, key ghosting is a rarity i.e. the layout is pretty familiar to a conventional keyboard meant for typing. The keyboard’s height can also be adjusted up to two levels. And, if you are worried about the spilling water while being engrossed in your gaming session, then you will glad to know that the Cynaosa Chroma is spill resistant.
The Cynosa Chroma offers one of the best RGB illuminations on a budget gaming keyboard.
However, since this is primarily a gaming keyboard, we need to talk about one of its most important features — the backlighting. All gaming peripherals differentiate themselves from the crowd of dull computing peripherals through colourful backlighting. Razer’s Chroma lighting is considered one of the best in the industry — a fact that can be seen even on their most affordable keyboard. The Cynaosa Chroma offers RGB backlighting for all individual keys, which is music to ears of a gamer who likes to customise the keyboard according to his/her taste. The LEDs can emit up to 16.8 million colours, which admittedly puts up a great light show. It is evident that the keyboard has been built with attention as the illumination is uniformly distributed across the keyboard, unlike some other budget keyboards where the illumination fades towards the edges.
The Cynosa Chroma relies on Razer Synapse 3 for controlling the light show.
The Cyanosa Chroma doesn’t feature any hardware button to cycle between different lighting effects. Instead, the keyboard relies on Razer’s Synapse 3 application, which is key to all of Razer’s Chroma-enabled peripherals. The Synapse 3 provides the user with a host of preset illumination effects that utilise the keyboard’s brilliant LED lighting. However, the application also offers users to create their custom lighting shows with several effects. Synapse 3 also allows users to create on-the-fly macro keys on any of its programmable keys. Therefore, you can choose your own suitable key for managing certain functions in your favourite game.
To sum it up, the Razer Cynaosa Chroma is a great way to enhance the gaming experience on a restricted budget of Rs 4,999. Despite having membrane keys, it offers a sufficiently satisfactorily feedback and is versatile even as a conventional keyboard for typing lengthy documents. The RGB illumination is surely one of the best we have seen in the budget segment, which when clubbed along with the Razer Synapse 3 application, offers tremendous value. Overall, if you are looking for a gaming keyboard that draws attention without burning a hole in your wallet, the Razer Cynaosa Chroma is definitely recommendable.
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