The Best Gaming Keyboards for 2021: TKL, 60%, and More

Although that powerful PC next to you seems like the most important aspect of a gaming setup, it’s your peripherals that you interact with regularly. Using a standard mouse or keyboard will get you started, but dedicated gaming gear will vastly improve your PC gaming experience.

Of course, it’s easy to recommend the most expensive keyboards as the best, but chances are that you aren’t looking to spend as good as much as $250 on a keyboard. These gaming keyboard balance features, performance, and value, primarily focusing on mechanical keyboards with the click-clack factor we all crave.

The best gaming keyboards at a glance

The best gaming keyboard: Logitech G513

Why you should buy this: The Logitech G513 is a well-rounded, sleek design mechanical keyboard with a great feature set.

Who it’s for: Anyone that’s interested in a sleek and comfortable mechanical keyboard.

Why we chose the Logitech G513:
It might have come out back in 2018, but the G513 keeps up well in today’s market with a well-rounded feature set that makes it an interesting contender. Although it doesn’t feature dedicated media keys, that’s the only drawback to an otherwise excellent design.

It features a beautiful aluminum design, a thick-sleeved USB cable with a USB-Passthrough port, a choice of Romer-G linear and tactile switches, and a wrist rest that is oh-so-comfortable. If you ask me, the combination of the wrist rest paired with the tactile switches makes this one of the most comfortable gaming keyboards money can buy, and at the end of the day, that is the most important thing a plank should get right. Priced at $129 – $150, with street pricing often a smidge lower, it’s also within reach for many gamers.

The best budget gaming keyboard: Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT

Why you should buy this: it’s an affordable, spill-resistant keyboard that comes with most of the expected gaming goodies.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants in on Corsair’s RGB lighting but doesn’t want to pony up big cash for a full mechanical plank.

Why we chose the Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT:
Priced at $70, the K55 RGB Pro XT is a new option that comes in at a very friendly price point. Although it isn’t mechanical, it features a membrane design that is surprisingly pleasant to type on and it comes complete with all the features you otherwise generally want on a gaming keyboard: Per-key RGB lighting, macro support, a full layout, wrist rest, and media keys.

In fact, the K55 RGB Pro XT even goes a step beyond what many mechanical planks offer, bringing spill resistance to your desk. If you’re someone that enjoys eating and drinking at your PC, that could be a disaster-saving feature.

If you’re looking for an all-around keyboard that looks great, has most of the gaming features you’d expect, and doesn’t break the bank, the Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT is definitely one to shortlist.

The best wireless gaming keyboard: Logitech G915 Lightspeed

Why you should buy this: It is hands-down the best sleek wireless gaming keyboard currently on the market.

Who it’s for: The ‘money is no object’ shopper who wants nothing but the best.

Why we chose the Logitech G915 Lightspeed:
Logitech’s G915 Lightspeed mechanical keyboard offers everything anyone could ever want from a mechanical keyboard — everything except one thing: it’s expensive at $250 (though often discounted to $200), making it a tough pill to swallow.

But if you do choose to go down this route, I can tell you that it won’t leave you disappointed. From its sleek low-profile aluminum body to the low-profile mechanical switches, excellent per-key RGB lighting, and perfectly good battery life (especially considering the vivid RGB), the G915 Lightspeed is a keyboard that will leave you happy for years to come.

Its battery life is excellent, lasting well over a week with the lighting on bright and 12+ hour days, typing action is superbly comfortable, and its gaming performance is as snappy as wired over the fast Logitech Lightspeed wireless connection. There’s no wrist rest, but that’s made up for by the low-profile design — it simply doesn’t need one. We’re generally hesitant to recommend wireless keyboards for gaming, but this is one that just gets it right. And there’s a TKL (tenkeyless) version for fans of compact layouts.

The best low-profile gaming keyboard: Keychron K1

Why you should buy this: It’s a budget-friendly low-profile keyboard with wireless connectivity.

Who it’s for: Gamers who prefer a more subdued aesthetic.

Why we chose the Keychron K1:
Though not strictly a gaming keyboard, with a mechanical design and optional RGB lighting, the Keychron K1 v4 is surprisingly popular in the gaming community. It is Keychron’s latest iteration of a low-profile mechanical keyboard, and it can be configured to suit your needs at a friendly price point.

Want a full-size keyboard or TKL? Want RGB, or are you happy with just white backlighting? Do you want Low Profile Red, Blue, or Brown switches? The K1 can be configured to do all those things, and all variants offer Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

Priced at $74 for the basic TKL plank with white backlighting, and just $99 for the full-size variant with RGB, it’s also not an expensive keyboard, offering a lot of value. The only real concerns here are the latency of the wireless connection, but in practice, unless you’re playing ultra-competitive online games, we haven’t noticed wireless connectivity to be an issue.

The best TKL gaming keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB TKL Tournament Edition

Why you should buy this: With 8000 Hz Polling, MX Speed-Silver switches, PBT keycaps, and more, this is among the best TKL keyboards currently on the market.

Who it’s for: The shopper who wants a high-quality TKL keyboard for competitive gaming.

Why we chose the K70 RGB TKL Tournament Edition:
Although I’m a little confused why it took Corsair until 2021 to release a fully-featured TKL keyboard, there’s no denying that it’s a great gaming keyboard. I’m glad it’s finally here. This one comes with Hyper Axon 8,000Hz polling, which, paired with the speedy Cherry MX Speed Silver switches makes it one of the fastest, if not the fastest TKL gaming keyboard money can buy.

Of course, optical switches would be preferred, but that would drive up the price, and the $140 price point is just what we appreciate about the K70 TKL RGB Tournament Edition.

With Corsair’s aluminum chassis, excellent RGB ecosystem, fast responses, and included PBT keycaps, the K70 RGB TKL Tournament Edition offers a surprising number of features at its price point and is sure to make TKL fans who have been waiting for a keyboard like this from Corsair happy.

Read our in-depth Corsair K70 RGB TKL Tournament Edition review

The best 65% gaming keyboard: Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed

Why you should buy this: With a 65% layout, wireless connectivity, RGB lighting, and excellent switches, this is one keyboard that can do it all.

Who it’s for: Small keyboard fans who want dedicated arrow and delete keys, paired with wireless connectivity

Why we chose the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini: Razer’s Blackwidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed is a small keyboard that can do it all. This board has a 65% layout, which is a smidge bigger than the super-compact 60% keyboards, but this added 5% adds arrow keys, a dedicated delete key, page up, down, and insert, making it a whole lot more practical for everyday use.

Meanwhile, Razer decided to pull out all the stops and stick every good bit of tech into the V3 Mini Hyperspeed, which includes, you guessed it, excellent wireless connectivity and the company’s superb Razer Yellow switches, which have some of the most enjoyable typing action. The biggest catch is its price as it’s a bit expensive at $180.

Read our in-depth Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini review

The best 60% gaming keyboard: Corsair K65 RGB Mini

Why you should buy this: It’s a simple, no-frills 60% keyboard with great RGB lighting.

Who it’s for: Buyers who want a 60% keyboard that just gets it right.

Why we chose the Corsair K65 RGB Mini:
Corsair might not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of 60% keyboards, but its K65 RGB Mini offers up a surprisingly pleasant little keyboard without trying to re-invent the wheel. It features a classic 60% layout which means you’ll have to get accustomed to having a lot of keys as a secondary function, but it will reward you with a generous amount of desk space and minimalist looks.

Indeed, Corsair’s 60% plank is so small, there’s a lot more room for mousing around, and that’s great in competitive online shooters where it’s all about the mouse action.

Read our in-depth Corsair K65 RGB Mini review

The best custom gaming keyboard: Keychron Q1

Why you should buy this: It’s a wonderfully manufactured, customizable keyboard that doesn’t cost a fortune

Who it’s for: Custom keyboard lovers looking for something great without breaking the bank

Why we chose the Keychron Q1:
Keychron’s Q1 comes into the keyboard market as perhaps a slightly unusual player, but it might be one of the best keyboards ever made. From its milled aluminum frame, hot-swappable, lubed switches and stabilizers, RGB lighting, internal damping, included premium coiled cable, there’s a lot to love about the Q1. Its 75% layout also bodes well to many different workloads, offering a great balance between a small size for gaming, yet with enough keys to deal with most everyday tasks.

And at $150 as a bare board, or $170 with switches and keycaps, the Keychron Q1  doesn’t cost a fortune. In fact, between the build quality of the CNC-milled and anodized aluminum chassis, lubed Gateron switches, and premium coiled USB-C cable, we’re wondering how Keychron isn’t making a loss on these.

Read our in-depth Keychron Q1 review

Research and buying tips

What layout is best for gaming?

Generally, keyboards come in a standard 104-key layout complete with a numpad. But for gaming, it can be interesting to contemplate smaller keyboard layouts, sacrificing practicality in favor of a more compact keyboard. The primary reason you would want to do this is to clear up desk space for your mouse – having a wide-open space for your mouse next to a small keyboard allows you to play at lower DPI settings and make longer sweeps without running into your keyboard, and thus increase your in-game performance. Trust me when I say that it makes a big difference.

A full-size keyboard is a good option if it’s your only keyboard and it will need to double as a work keyboard. The 60% keyboard layouts are the best for first-person shooters, but as they make a lot of sacrifices to meet the compact footprint requirements, TKL (Tenkeyless, or num-pad free) keyboards generally offer a more desirable balance of features.

What about switches?

In the world of gaming keyboards, switches are all the rave. Generally, mechanical keyboards always take the prize in this category, mainly for the feel of their mechanical actuation. Traditionally, there are three main types of switches: Linear, tactile, and clicky. Linear switches travel down with equal force along the stroke, whereas tactile switches have a distinct ‘bump’ on the way down. Clicky switches have tactile travel but also offer a ‘click’ halfway through the stroke to indicate that they have actuated and sent the signal to the PC.

But by now, there are more switch options than just Cherry MX Red, Brown, and Blue. These come in low-profile now too, and there is a new ‘MX Speed Silver’ switch on the market, which is like a linear ‘Red’ switch but with a faster actuation point and lighter travel.

Meanwhile, a lot of keyboard manufacturers are coming out with their own switches, like Corsair’s OPX optical switch, Razer has its own, Logitech has the Romer-G switch on many of its keyboards, and there are third-party switch makers like Kailh and Gateron that provide switches also used in many of today’s keyboards.

Generally, I recommend linear switches for pure gamers and tactile switches for those that also type a lot. If you’re only typing, a clicky ‘Blue’ switch can be very satisfying, though your environment might not be quite as appreciative of your click-clacking keyboard if you go down that route, generally leaving the choice between linear and tactile switches.

If your keyboard is still too loud, you can always consider o-rings to dampen the end of your keys’ travel and prevent the loud clacking when the keys bottom out.

Is all RGB illumination the same?

Generally, all gaming hardware nowadays comes with RGB lighting, whether that’s something you care for or not. Personally, I don’t so I just pick a preferred color, or white and leave it there, but if you do then it can be worthwhile to do your research into the RGB implementation of a keyboard.

Whereas many planks have per-key illumination, not all allow you to customize the illumination very well. The best ecosystems, such as those from Corsair, Logitech, and Razer, have software that runs on your PC that allows you to get very nit-picky about your lighting effects. Cheaper keyboards may have similar systems but generally rely on on-keyboard lighting profiles that lack any significant customization options beyond a select few effect type and color options.

Additionally, the RGB lighting quality can also vary massively between keyboards. Some have very lackluster implementations that lack vibrancy and brightness, while others offer exactly that. This can depend on the keycap, switch type, and the color of the backplate underneath the switches.

What about ergonomics?

A good keyboard with the right switch type, elevation, and a quality wrist rest can do miracles for your typing comfort. But more important is the posture you maintain. Sit too low, and you’ll perch your shoulders up. Sit too high, and you’ll have to carry your arms. A wrist rest is easy to improvise with a towel, but wrist pain can take weeks to recover from. Do yourself a favor and adjust your seat, desk, and monitor to the correct height to ensure you don’t have to miss gaming sessions with your friends.

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