Roccat has introduced its Vulcan II Mini Air. This is a compact gaming keyboard. However, the special feature is the proximity sensors built into the keyboard. But what do players gain from being monitored by their gaming keyboard?
The company Roccat is known to many for its Kone mice and Vulcan keyboards. The Vulcan keyboards feature a unique, open design. Now, Roccat has introduced the Vulcan II Mini Air, a compact keyboard. Compact means that the keyboard ends to the right of the arrow keys and there is also no top function row. The format is even smaller than Tenkeyless (TKL), where only
the number pad is missing.
The special aspect of the Vulcan II Mini Air is not the small format, but another feature. According to the manufacturer, the Mini Air is the first optical keyboard with built-in proximity sensors. But what do players gain from this?
Proximity sensor is supposed to significantly improve battery life
According to the manufacturer, the new Vulcan keyboard utilizes proximity sensor technology. This is intended to primarily increase the battery life of the wireless keyboard. While the keyboard offers about 30 hours of runtime during continuous operation, with the help of the proximity sensor, it is said to last up to 750 hours of battery life.
Technical details of the Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air:
| Design/Interface | Wireless and wired, 60% keyboard |
| Key type | Optical switches (Roccat Titan), lifespan of 150 million keystrokes |
| Programmable keys | Yes, with Roccat Swarm |
| Illumination | RGB illumination |
| Compatibility | PC |
| Features | N-Key rollover and anti-ghosting, proximity sensors for adaptive battery life |
| Price (RRP) | 179.99 Euro |
How does it work? According to Roccat and Turtle Beach, the built-in proximity sensors are supposed to detect when players step away from the desk. If you get up, for example, because you’re going to dinner or are moving around the apartment, the keyboard is meant to recognize this and turn off certain functions, such as the lighting. This way, battery life is supposed to be maximized.
How well this actually works in practice, we can’t say yet. You’ll have to wait for initial independent tests that have tried out the keyboard for you.
What else does the keyboard offer? The Vulcan II Mini Air continues to rely on the familiar design with RGB illumination that you should know from the Vulcan keyboards. In addition to Roccat’s so-called Easy-Shift[+], to assign multiple functions to keys, the keyboard offers full (N-Key rollover and anti-ghosting technology. Under the keys, you will find the optical Titan switches.
It is still unfortunate that Roccat also uses ABS keycaps for the Vulcan II Mini Air and not higher-quality PBT keycaps. ABS keycaps typically wear out much faster unless they are made using the doubleshot process.
More keyboards: If you are looking for more interesting keyboards, you might be interested in a particularly unique keyboard. After all, for the following model, you have to pay 750 euros. What makes this keyboard so expensive, you can read on MeinMMO:
There is a mechanical keyboard for 750 euros – Why is it so expensive?
