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If you’re looking for a low-profile wireless gaming keyboard, you might still be looking — there aren’t too many on the market, as “gaming” usually suggests a focus on performance, while “low-profile” usually suggests compromising performance for convenience and portability. But there are a few low-profile gaming keyboards out there, such as Logitech’s G915 — which found its way onto our list of best wireless gaming keyboards several times over the years since it first launched in 2019.
Needless to say, it’s time for an update — but Logitech knows better than to fix what isn’t broken. So, it’s not too surprising that the new Logitech G915 X TKL looks almost identical to the original G915 — right down to the wrapped aluminum top plate, dedicated connectivity, game mode, lighting, and media buttons, and light-up “G” logo in the upper left corner. But there are changes that you can’t see on the surface — namely, Logitech’s new low-profile switches (in linear, tactile, or clicky), which have been refined for more stable keypresses and compatibility with third-party keycaps. The new board also sports decent battery life (if you turn off the RGB backlighting), tri-mode wireless connectivity, and a slightly more solid (and heftier) case build.
The G915 X series includes both a full-size and a TKL option — we’re taking a look at the TKL version, which comes in black and white and was priced at $199.99 when it launched in Sept. 2024, but now appears to have increased in price to $229.99.
Design and Construction of the G915 X TKL
The G915 X TKL is a wireless low-profile gaming keyboard with a tenkeyless (TKL) layout. This means it has a full function row, arrow keys, and a navigation cluster, but no 10-key numberpad.
The keyboard is sleek, as in slim, but it sports a pretty roomy layout, with space between the function keys and dedicated connectivity buttons and media keys located along the top. It comes in two colorways — white, which has a silver brushed-aluminum top plate and white keys with shine-through legends; and black, which has a gunmetal gray brushed-aluminum top plate and black keycaps with shinethrough legends.
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The G915 X TKL looks a lot like its predecessor, the G915 TKL. The keyboard sports the same brushed-aluminum top plate — though it’s now slightly thicker (1.5mm vs 1.2mm) for (slightly) more structural strength and a more premium typing experience.
The brushed-aluminum top plate wraps around the sides, giving the keyboard unique, rounded edges. It features Logitech’s “G” logo — backlit, as this is the flagship lineup of Logitech’s low-profile gaming keyboards, after all — and eight round, backlit, soft-touch buttons. The first two buttons are for switching between 2.4GHz “Lightspeed” wireless and Bluetooth connections — like the G515 Lightspeed TKL, the G915 X TKL can only connect to one Bluetooth device at a time, so you can really only switch quickly between two devices. (Still, that’s probably all you need — how many Bluetooth devices do you need to type on at once?)
The next button turns on Game Mode, which you can set up in Logitech’s G Hub software, and the last button in that cluster adjusts the brightness of the backlighting (or turns it off completely). The next four-button cluster is just media keys, and is pretty self-explanatory: rewind, play/pause, fast forward, and mute.
There’s also a wide metal volume roller, which has light striations for grip and a smooth (not notched) roll. The media keys and volume roller are remappable; the connectivity/game mode/lighting buttons are not. If you’re the kind of person who uses dedicated media keys and likes to switch between connections or in and out of Game Mode quickly, the G915 X TKL lays it all out there for you. But if you’re like me, who almost never uses dedicated media keys or switches away from her PC, this does seem like a waste of space.
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The G915 X TKL is a slim but moderate-sized keyboard. It measures 15.2 inches (368mm) wide by 5.91 inches (150mm) deep, and is 0.88 inches (22.6mm) thick at its thickest point, including keycaps.
It has the exact same dimensions as its predecessor, the G915 TKL, though the new G915 X TKL is slightly heavier at 1.9 pounds (860g), vs the original’s 1.8 pounds (810g). It’s surprisingly heavy for how slim it is, and the weight makes it feel like a solid, well-built board.
The keyboard may not be the most compact low-profile keyboard, but the roomier layout makes for a more comfortable typing experience — the Fn keys are spaced (in groups of four), which makes it easier to touch-type Fn shortcuts without looking at the keyboard, and the arrow keys and navigation cluster are not right up next to the alphanumeric keys.
This might not seem like a big deal, but trust me — it’s much easier to switch to a roomy layout like this than it is to switch to something ultra-compact, like the perfectly-fit-together Nuphy Air75 V2.
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On the back of the keyboard, you’ll find four strips of anti-slip rubber and two sets of flip-out feet, which set the typing angle to 4 degrees or 8 degrees. There’s also a convenient slot for storing the 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle, which is always handy on a keyboard that’s sized for travel like the G915 X TKL is.
In the box, the G915 X TKL comes with a 5.9-foot (1.8m) USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a USB extender, and a 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle.
Specs
|
Size |
TKL |
|
Number of keys |
88 |
|
Switches |
Linear Tactile Clicky |
|
Backlighting |
Yes |
|
Onboard Storage |
Yes |
|
Dedicated Media Keys |
Yes |
|
Game Mode |
Yes |
|
Additional Ports |
0 |
|
Connectivity |
2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, wired (USB-C) |
|
Cable |
5.9ft. / 1.8m USB-C to USB-A cable |
|
Keycaps |
Double-shot PBT |
|
Construction |
Plastic chassis Anodized aluminum top plate |
|
Software |
G Hub |
|
Dimensions (LxWxH) |
15.2 x 5.91 x 0.88 inches / 368 x 150 x 22.6 mm |
|
Weight |
30.34oz. / 860g |
|
MSRP / Price at Time of Review |
$199.99 / $229.99 |
|
Release Date |
Sept. 17, 2024 |
Typing and Gaming Experience on the G915 X TKL
The G915 X TKL now features Logitech’s new, redesigned low-profile switches in linear, tactile, or clicky. They’re the same switches we saw in the Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL — low-profile with a POM cross-style stem for a more stable keypress, a better typing experience, and compatibility with third-party keycaps.
Our review unit came with linear switches, which have an actuation force of 43g and actuate at 1.3mm (reduced from 1.5mm in the old switches), with a total travel distance of 3.2mm (increased from 2.7mm in the old switches). The switches feature a smooth, consistent keypress with no tactile bump or audible click, and were speedy enough for me to keep up (as much as I normally can, anyway), in fist-person shooters like Counter-Strike 2.
Gamers usually like linear switches for their speed, and I will say that the linear switches’ slightly lower actuation force did seem to make a difference here — not one that was noticeable in gaming so much as it was in typing, however. My fingers were flying across the keyboard so quickly that I did initially find myself making quite a few errors, and I blame that on the lighter actuation. The linear switches have the lightest actuation force; the tactile switches have an actuation force of 45g, while the clicky switches have an actuation force of 48g. (All three switch types have the same actuation point and total travel distance.)
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The keycaps also likely contributed, at least somewhat, to the learning curve on this keyboard — they’re wide and flat, with lightly curved tops and that slightly gritty texture you expect from double-shot PBT keycaps.
The higher-quality double-shot PBT keycaps are definitely appreciated — while the switches have been updated to be compatible with third-party keycaps, that doesn’t mean there are tons of low-profile keycaps out there — and regular keycaps won’t work on a low-profile switch. The keycaps have shine-through legends, which are crisp and clear and show off the keyboard’s bright RGB backlighting perfectly.
The G915 X TKL does suffer from some of the same issues as its cheaper counterpart, the G515 Lightspeed TKL, especially when it comes to sound: this is a pretty rattly keyboard, though Logitech has done a decent job of sound-dampening in the case.
The switches are factory-lubed and feel smooth, but typing on this keyboard will get you a consistent, lightweight rattling from the keycaps every time you press a key down. It’s not necessarily an unpleasant sound, but it’s not what most keyboard enthusiasts are looking for in a keyboard. The G915 X TKL has an aluminum top plate, so it doesn’t get the same plasticky rattle as the G515 Lightspeed TKL did in our testing, but it does occasionally give some mild metallic pings. That said, typing on a low-profile keyboard always involves some sort of compromise.
Features and Software of the G915 X TKL
The G915 X TKL is configurable with G Hub, which is Logitech’s universal gaming peripheral software. You can use G Hub to customize the keyboard’s lighting (and sync the lighting effects with other Logitech G products you might own), remap keys and buttons, and set up game mode.
Remapping in G Hub is more convoluted than it needs to be, but thanks to Logitech’s new “Keycontrol,” you can map three layers deep — primary, Fn, and G-Shift. You can also save profiles in the software and on the device itself, and tie profiles to specific apps or games. The media keys and the volume roller are reprogrammable, but the first four buttons (2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, Game Mode, and lighting) are not.
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The keyboard features bright, per-key backlighting, which looks great against the shiny, top plate. In G Hub you can customize the color of each key individually, if you want — and this includes the Logitech “G” logo and each of the buttons along the top.
G Hub also comes preloaded with a handful of standard effects — color cycle, breathing, audio visualizer, etc. — and allows you to create and save your own animated lighting effects, which can be layered. You can control the brightness of the backlight directly from the keyboard using the dedicated lighting button.
The G915 X TKL has three forms of connectivity — 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired (via USB-C). The first connectivity button toggles between 2.4GHz wireless and wired, while the second button switches to Bluetooth (and can also be held down to enter pairing mode). You can only connect to one Bluetooth device at a time, however, so this is not the keyboard for you if you have multiple phones.
Logitech rates the G915 X TKL’s battery life at “up to 1000 hours” over 2.4GHz wireless — but that’s with the backlighting off, of course. With the lighting on at full brightness you can expect to get around 42 hours, which is still pretty good — enough to get you through more than a week’s worth of pretty heavy usage before you’ll need to recharge.
The Bottom Line
If you were looking to replace your G915 TKL with a slightly better G915 TKL, the G915 X TKL is a solid update to the line. It features more versatile switches — though they’re not hot-swappable — better battery life, and a solidly-built case — and it’s speedy enough, even for competitive gamers. And while the typing experience is a little rattly, it’s not bad — once you get used to the lighter-weight switches and flat, smooth keycaps, you’ll be typing up a storm on this keyboard without any issues.
There are low-profile keyboards with better typing experiences, but they tend to be mediocre for gaming — the Lofree Edge and the Chilkey ND75 LP both sound and feel great, but aren’t great for gaming despite their general specs (N-key rollover, 1,000 Hz polling rate) suggesting they are. While gaming peripheral software often infuriates me, it does happen to have a lot of features that are convenient for, well, gaming — and while G Hub is overcomplicated, it’s a decent companion when you’re, well, gaming.
Of course, if you’re looking for something very similar to the G915 X TKL, just… cheaper, the less premium G515 Lightspeed TKL is the same size and thickness and costs $139.99.
