

The Strix Flare II Animate model I reviewed came with Asus NX Red switches, which aren’t my favorite. That’s just my preference, and if Asus ever decides to branch out, I’ll be the first in line. My only complaint with the design of the Strix Flare II Animate is that there aren’t tenkeyless or 65% versions available. No adjustment here I loved using the Strix Flare II Animate like this from the first keystroke. In this configuration, the height peaks at the intersection of the keyboard and wrist rest, with a subtle downward slope away from the keyboard. I ended up closing the back stands with the wrist rest attached, and it’s typing nirvana. It doesn’t break the typing experience, thankfully. With the back stand up, the wrist rest is nearly as tall as the bottom row of keys. It snaps into place perfectly and refuses to move, but it takes a bit of adjustment. It’s plump and comfy, and it goes a long way to make an argument for the Strix Flare II Animate against competition like the Razer Huntsman V2. It seems Asus set out to include every feature, functionally and visually, of gaming keyboards in 2022, and across the board, succeeded. Even better, you can snap off the diffusor to attach the faux leather wrist rest and carry the lighting through.
#Asus strix flare 2 full
The AniMe matrix is useful if you need it to be, downright cool when you want it to be, and it brings the look of the keyboard full circle.Īsus wanted to include every feature a gaming keyboard could have, and it succeeded. The matrix is just a little bundle of gamer clout, but a company could still screw that up. I’ll dig into configuring the matrix more below, but I had a custom animation up and running in a couple of minutes. By default, it shows an ROG logo that slowly pulses, and no matter how you configure it, the matrix will light up when you use function and media buttons on the keyboard. You’ll quickly forget about all of those details once the star of the show lights up: The 320-LED AniMe matrix.

They even snap together so you don’t have to store them apart. The thick braided cable comes with an ROG-branded cable tie already attached, and the keycap pullers are specifically designed to fit the keyboard’s look. Like the budget-focused Akko 3068B, it’s the details that make the difference on the Strix Flare II Animate. This is a premium keyboard from top to bottom, and Asus is quick to make you feel like it was money well spent. From the moment I opened the box, it was clear where the $220 went. The ROG Strix Flare II Animate doesn’t waste time trying to impress you. And after using it for a few weeks, I now know that it is. When Asus announced the keyboard earlier this month, I hoped it would be my gaming keyboard endgame. There’s a new ROG Ally competitor, and it’s even more portableĪsus is releasing an RTX 4060 as big as the RTX 4090 Newegg wants you to trust ChatGPT for product reviews
