Peripherals News - Page 3

HYTE makes some pretty funk PC cases and components, and with CES 2024 underway, it's releasing two new firsts - a keyboard and an AIO liquid cooler. Now, you might think that you've seen it all when it comes to mechanical keyboards and coolers, especially when it comes to RGB lighting, but HYTE is here to prove you wrong.

The HYTE Keeb TKL is the company's first mechanical keyboard, and if you think per-key lighting is impressive, the entire Keeb TKL lights up. With double-shot PBT keycaps, gasket-mounted hardware, and an aluminum plate on the bottom, the polycarbonate case is a full RGB array.

It even sports modern features like hot-swappable switches, with the Keeb TKL packed with HYTE's in-house pre-lubed Fluffy Lavender switches designed for fast linear performance. Sporting an actuation distance of 1.5mm and force of 40 grams, they sound tailor-made for PC gaming.

ASUS Republic of Gamers, better known as ROG, is the company's premium gaming brand. At CES 2024, ASUS announced a new range of ROG gaming peripherals covering keyboards, mice, wireless earbuds, a professional-grade USB microphone, and a mobile controller.

Plus, the ROG Archer ErgoAir Gaming Backpack which includes an "innovative airflow tunnel back-rest design." It's a cool-looking laptop bag and backpack, but what immediately grabbed my attention was the new ROG Falchion RX Low Profile keyboard. A compact 65% keyboard that features all-new pre-lubed ROG RX Low-Profile optical switches that the company claims offer near-zero debounce delay and less wobble than any other low-profile switch on the market.

It looks awesome, too, with a minimal, futuristic design. The new ROG Keris II Ace ultralight gaming mouse sits next to the keyboard, with wired and wireless support and an overall weight of just 54 grams.

Kicking off CES 2024 strong, one of the biggest players in mobile accessories, Belkin, has announced a full range of Qi2 devices with just about something for everyone.

Qi2 is the latest in open wireless charging technology and is about to make a massive difference depending on how you charge. Similar to Apple's MagSafe chargers, Qi2 uses a similar setup with magnets that help you line up your device and the charger port.

This reduces the likelihood of a user failing to quickly throw a device on charge because the connector wasn't lined up correctly. The stand out of the new range is the Qi2-enabled BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Magnetic Stand. It sits fancy with a Qi2 charger for a phone, an Apple Watch charger, and a flat spot at the bottom to wirelessly charge AirPods or any other wireless charging-compatible devices.

Samsung Gaming Hub is a great feature in Smsung's range of Smart TVs, bringing all the biggest cloud gaming services into a single hub - Xbox Game Pass, GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna, Utomik, and more. Samsung Gaming Hub is also included in the company's latest Odyssey Monitors and portable projectors.

Supporting Bluetooth and wired controllers, Samsung is finally set to debut its first gaming peripherals at CES 2024. The new REPLAY Wireless Controller is 'Designed for Samsung Gaming Hub' and was developed in a partnership between Samsung and gaming accessory maker PDP.

It sports the Gaming Hub icon on an Xbox-logo-style button that launches you into Samsung Gaming Hub.

MSI and Capcom have partnered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Monster Hunter game series. They are introducing a new line of Monster Hunter PC products, including a gaming laptop, GeForce RTX GPU, gaming controller, case, motherboard, monitor, and liquid cooler. Yeah, the line-up ticks every PC gaming box.

The Monster Hunter franchise is relatively new to PC, but the success of Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Rise is undeniable. Released in 2018, Monster Hunter: World still manages to hit an incredible 150,000+ daily concurrent peak player counts on Steam.

MSI is set to showcase these Monster Hunter products, inspired by the iconic in-game monster Rathalos, at its CES 2024 booth. With the launch set to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Monster Hunter franchise, let's take a closer look at the MSI and Capcom Limited Edition Monster Hunter PC hardware line-up.

We got our first look at G.SKILL's new WigiDash device, a 'PC Command Touch Panel' back at Computex - a fully customizable widget and dashboard that reminded us of the Elgato Stream deck, but for keeping track of system info like temperatures and performance. The versatility goes far beyond that, with the 7-inch IPS touch panel (with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels) able to control media and launch apps.

G.SKILL has designed the WigiDash to be highly customizable, giving you full control over the 5x4 grid layout via the powerful and dedicated WigiDash Manager Software. There's a minimalist quality here reminiscent of Microsoft's 'Metro' design, with the ability to drag and drop tiles while customizing the text and color or adding icons.

Hardware enthusiasts will get a kick out of the third-party software integration, including HWiNFO and AIDA64 SensorPanel. It's available now via Amazon for $129.99 USD.

The new Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra Wireless Smart Game Controller for Xbox and PC is available now in the U.S. (other regions like Australia are getting this in January 2024). As a premium gaming controller, it does something we haven't seen before - it features a full-color Connected Command Display. Yeah, a small LCD screen on your Xbox controller is very cool.

Not simply a gimmick, the Connected Command Display offers gamers a new way to customize RGB lighting, make adjustments to game and chat audio settings, thumbstick sensitivity, remap buttons, and more. And that includes getting chat notifications from apps on your phone.

The Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra Wireless Smart Game Controller, admittedly a mouthful of a name, is the company's premium controller. So, the fancy display is backed by premium materials, ergonomic grips, and tactile switches for all buttons, and the D-Pad is rated with a five-million-click lifecycle. The sticks also use contactless Hall Effect sensors for accuracy, durability, and to avoid stick drift.

Mechanical keyboards come in all shapes and sizes with different switches and levels of customization to suit any need. For those who love retro PC hardware from the 1990s, where grey and beige hardware was the order of the day, the new LOFREE BLOCK 98 wireless mechanical keyboard might be the keyboard you've been looking for.

Right off the bat, the minimal grey and beige aesthetics of this look awesome (yeah, count me as a fan of retro PC hardware) thanks to the touches of orange found on two knobs in the top right-hand corner. By default, one controls volume with a press-to-mute function, while the other switches between wired, wireless, and off. Having an off switch on a keyboard feels old-school.

Of course, the real kicker is the fact that it's a 98% form-factor keyboard with some impressive specs - from a custom stabilizer to multiple layers of padding to PBT keycaps and a hot-swappable self-lubricating Full POM Switch design. Quadruple sound dampening here results in a satisfyingly quiet and smooth type.

Wrapped in gold foil, the latest custom Xbox controller from Microsoft is an edible block of chocolate - with the company calling it the "first-ever official edible Xbox Controller made of 100% pure chocolate." The reason why there's a chocolate Xbox controller is to celebrate the release of the new Warner Bros. "Wonka" film hitting cinemas this December. The promotion also extends to a custom Wonka-Inspired Xbox Series X.

The good news is that the Xbox Series X that looks like a giant chocolate bar isn't edible; it's a fully functioning console with Wonka aesthetics. The custom console is bundled with a console display stand modeled after Willy Wonka's chocolate store. "While the console may look like one of Wonka's famous chocolate bars, the Wonka-inspired Xbox Series X is not edible," the announcement writes.

Best of all, Microsoft, Warner Bros., and the Xbox team are giving away these one-of-a-kind creations via X (formerly Twitter) as part of the latest Xbox sweepstakes competition open to all Xbox regions and markets around the globe.

CORSAIR is expanding its keyboard line-up with a new special edition version of the K70 CORE - with the new CORSAIR K70 CORE SE giving the keyboard a style makeover thanks to the excellent use of white, silver, and yellow flourishes. The combination gives the overall look of the mechanical keyboard a retro meets modern feel that, for me, easily trumps the standard all-black edition.

Hardware-wise, it's no slouch, with pre-lubricated CORSAIR MLX Red linear mechanical switches for smooth performance over the 70 million keystroke lifespan. Throw in two layers of sound-dampening foam, and the CORSAIR K70 CORE SE aims to deliver on acoustics, type-feel and looks.

A nice 'green' touch comes from the keyboard's bottom case, constructed with 85% post-consumer recycled materials, making it the most eco-friendly gaming keyboard CORSAIR has ever produced.