SteelSeries Apex M500

Mechanical keyboards for all

- Ian Evenden

KEYBOARDS AIMED AT gamers are so common at the moment, you’d be forgiven for being completely confused by them. A popular conceit is to brand them as some sort of esports tool, making you better at MOBAs in the same way that a Longhorns jersey makes you better at baseball. This sort of thing has worked in the world of meat space sports for so long, it’s no surprise it’s crossed over.

The M500 is a budget model, merely “designed with the world’s best esports teams,” without mentioning who they actually are—a solid slab of matt black plastic, with enough metal in its base to give it a decent weight and purchase on your desktop. Each key sits atop the dependable favorite Cherry MX Red switch, giving it the easy up and down motion of the Dow Jones Average, but lacking the responsive click found in the Blue variant. There’s no option to change the switches out, but the low level of force needed to activate them—they only have to move 2mm—makes the Reds a popular choice. With a rating of 50 million clicks, they should last a while, too.