The excellent SteelSeries Apex 7 has had a major price cut from Amazon
A fantastic keyboard with a couple of fancy features.
SteelSeries make some excellent gaming keyboards, and their Apex Pro has long been a favourite of ours. If you want the majority of its features, including the OLED display, but don't mind a change of switches, their Apex 7 is a worthy second best option. It's also been subject to a sizeable reduction from Amazon again, bringing it down by £50 from its retail price to a more stomachable £120, for which you're getting an awful lot of keuboard.
The Apex 7 features pretty much all of the aesthetics of the more expensive Apex Pro, with a solid construction and frame comprised of aircraft-grade aluminium, which gives it a strong and durable feel with no deck flex. It's definitely a well-built keyboard that matches up well with its price tag. You also get a full complement of keys, nav cluster and number pad included, and the Apex 7 also comes with fun additions such as multimedia controls and its clever OLED display. That display can also be programmed to display certain information in SteelSeries' software, including Discord notifications, key info in CS:GO such as your K/D ratio, and PC component usage, so you can keep an eye on your vitals while you're engrossed in a game. It also comes with a comfortable rubberised magnetic wrist-rest too, helping you to be more comfortable.
Inside, the Apex 7 goes without SteelSeries' clever OmniPoint switches with their adjustable actuation points, and keeps things easy with the brand's own Red switches. These are a standard linear mechanical keyswitch that's well-suited to gaming, with a snappy keypress, and with a standard MX-stem fixing, you can also swap keycaps out easily with a wide range of aftermarket options if the ones SteelSeries provide aren't for you. SteelSeries themselves do their PrismCaps (sold separately), which allows RGB lighting to shine through a little better, if that's your jam. As this is also a wired 'board, there's no latency to worry about, and the Apex 7 also comes with full NKRO so you can press as many keys as you need.
If Red switches aren't for you though, then Amazon also has the Apex 7 available with either Browns or Blues for the same money, giving you plenty of options. Browns and Blues are both tactile switches, although take slightly different forms. Browns are a soft tactile switch, offering a lighter force than Blues, and featuring a soft bump halfway down the switch's travel. On the other hand, Blues are an audibly tactile switch, with a noticeable click when the switch is actuated. They are heavier than Browns, but are a favourite for some people who like the sound of clicky switches. It's nice for SteelSeries to offer the choice if Reds aren't your thing.
The fun of per-key RGB lighting here is also present, and it's suitably vibrant on the Apex 7. What's more, there's also support for SteelSeries' nifty companion software, SteelSeries Engine. Engine allows you to remap keys, change lighting effects, and program the OLED display on the Apex 7. It's all presented in a clean interface, and the software is easy to navigate, too.
£120 for such a capable gaming keyboard as the SteelSeries Apex 7 isn't really too much money, and if you want a fantastic all-round choice with the fun of an OLED display, this is well worth a look.