Today at CES 2021 ASUS officially announced a slew of different gaming products under its ROG brand, one of those being the Claymore II mechanical gaming keyboard.
Like most other gaming keyboard options out there the ROG Claymore II has RGB backlit keys and it uses mechanical switches. Unlike those options though, the Claymore II has a slightly transformative design. Making it a fantastic option for numpad diehards. Specifically those who are open to getting rid of the numpad but are finding it hard to let go of.
That’s because the Claymore II has a numpad that is detachable from the main unit. Meaning you can easily remove it and put it back on at your leisure. Giving you the kind of freedom that comes from not having to rely on this extra set of buttons.
And since the numpad detaches, it gives you that little bit of extra room on your desk. Which is usually pretty important when you’re playing games thanks to all the wrist movements of your mouse. It comes with a magnetic wrist rest too.
The ROG Claymore II is both a full-size gaming keyboard and a tenkeyless option
For PC gamers that opt for a desktop setup, one of the bigger conundrums is which keyboard to choose.
Do you go with a full-size keyboard that takes up more room but also gives you more keys to assign things to? Or do you consolidate things, save some space, and go with a tenkeyless option? ASUS isn’t making you choose with the Claymore II.
In a matter of seconds it changes from the full-size model to a tenkeyless model. Maybe you work from home and you use the same keyboard for both gaming and work. And maybe for work you find the numpad very useful. But not useful enough to use it while gaming.
This solves that issue. Even if it’s not one that many gamers are facing. The point is that with the Claymore II you have options in one unit.
The keyboard uses ASUS’ own ROG RX Blue Optical Mechanical Switches
This is a first for ASUS. According to the company, the Claymore II is its first device to use in-house ROG RX Blue Optical Mechanical Switches.
Which ASUS says gives the keys a “near-zero debounce delay” for immediate activation of the key. It also has the capability to go wired or wireless. Since it uses both a 2.4GHz dongle and USB Type-C for possible connections to your desktop.
In wireless mode, the keyboard features a 4,000mAh battery capacity which should last up to 40 hours before it needs to be plugged in. Like the ROG Swift monitor announced today, the Claymore II will be launching in Q2 of this year in the US and also doesn’t have a confirmed price yet.