Das keyboard 4 professional
Best: overall
- Wireless: No
- Backlit: No
- Switch type: Cherry MX blue or brown
- Mac compatible: Separate version available
- Dimensions: 45.7 x 17.3 x 3.3cm
- Rating: 9/10
Mechanical keyboards don’t have to be brightly coloured monstrosities designed to appeal to those who’ve had too many energy drinks. If you’re someone who types a lot, you may appreciate the softer feel of a key that travels even just a few millimetres before getting its actuation point.
Das Keyboard might sound like a German engineering approach to keyboard design, but the company is actually from Austin, Texas, and the German for “the keyboard” is actually “die Tastatur”. The professional range from Das has an important feature – the key caps have letters printed on them rather than being blank. Blank keycaps supposedly help develop touch-typing skills, but we find them just a little forbidding, as if a barrier has been erected between us and the computer.
Take down that barrier, and you get a mechanical keyboard of robust construction with gold-plated switches (Cherry MX, with a choice of clicky blue or softer brown) that should last for 50 million keystrokes. The top of the keyboard is aluminium, you get a set of media keys including a volume dial, and there’s a two-port USB 3.0 hub tucked away around the back that’s just perfect for plugging in flash drives or charging your phone. The wrist rest, which is usually the least interesting part of a keyboard, doubles as a ruler. We’ve not come across a compelling use case for this yet, but we’re glad it’s there nonetheless.