Gadgetory

what's up guys so all the way back in October I took a look at the Tesoro libera supreme mechanical keyboard which impressed me more with its macro keys and pass-through options than its underwhelming lighting effects the rudimentary lighting modes felt uninspired compared to other RGB keyboards I'd seen and tunability options and the software left something to be desired fast-forward six months and enter the Libero spectrum a similarly dressed RGB keyboard with a whole new bag of tricks largely thanks to a revamped LED controller though for as many changes being brought to the spectrum it hasn't fallen far from its roots so first I'm gonna briefly touch on what's been carried over from the Libero supreme if you want more information on these features you can check out my review on that keyboard somewhere over here so starting off you still get 105 mechanical keys with Cale switches available in blue brown red or black truth be told I find these Cale Browns which is noticeably harder to press than their cherry MX equivalents which could lead to faster finger fatigue during long typing or gaming sessions the Cale switches are also louder and give off an echo a spring noise particularly the larger Keys like spacebar + Enter for these reasons I've compared the way I feel about Cale switches to the way I feel about Cale and I could see how this might be a deterrent for those used to the sound and feel of Cherry MX but apart from sharing the same switches as the Lovera supreme the spectrum also has the same USB 2 + audio pass-throughs along with an included DC cable for juicing your USB ports when charging mobile devices the familiar LED indicators make their return with PC mode which disables the wind lock key and the macro recording button that lets you record macros on the fly effectively bypassing the software all files and settings can once again be saved on 512 kilobits of onboard memory and additional features includes 6 + n key role over two levels of adjustable incline and the same light yet sturdy plastic body however not everything about the frame is identical and I suppose this is where we switch gears to what's new about the spectrum the keyboard now sports an all-black aesthetic which I think most of us can agree looks a thousand times better than the grey Lovera supreme with that supremely hideous purple trim by the LED indicators this tells us two things one the spectrum will likely have no problems matching the color scheme of your setup and two - Sora recently replaced their lead engineer with one who is in colorblind some they call a black keyboard unoriginal and boring but I'll take that over a keyboard resembling a woman's walking shoe any day of the week another change of the keyboard is the omission of the three macro buttons that were located just beneath the space bar on the supreme this was probably a handy feature for macro centric gamers but the fact that you can still macro any key on the spectrum makes this a small step back for most users while you still get five custom profiles they've been shifted over from the f/8 through f12 keys to the f1 through f5 keys making them slightly more Within Reach the up and down arrow keys now serve the secondary function of five level LED brightness adjustment while the left and right arrows toggle through nine different LED modes which I'll touch on later slightly improved are the side LED strips whose color rarely matched the rest of the keys on the Libero supreme while there's still a bit dimmer they do seem to match with key colors more closely and finally I saved the best for last the LEDs themselves are leaps and bounds better than not only its predecessors but both of the other RGB keyboards I've spent the most time with the Logitech G 9 10 and Corsair k70 RGB the LEDs on the spectrum produced deep rich colors that get extremely bright even in well-lit rooms partially thanks to their external top mounted design as compared to the shrouded LEDs on the k70 RGB for example the spectrums ability to smoothly fade between colors is also second to none a feature on other models that exhibits noticeable flickering but of course an RGB keyboard is only half Hardware as its custom software plays an important role in bringing out the board's full potential the program is thankfully small at just 14 megabytes and equally lightweight using less than 20 megabytes of system memory at the top of the window are buttons for PC mode and your five custom profiles and just below is a full key layout where you can begin customizing clicking on any key opens up several assignment options located in the lower left corner the first of which being macros allowing you to record any number of keystrokes which you can then designate their delay time and repetition key assignment simply replaces the function of the selected key to another key of your choosing you can also set keys to launch specific programs for increased productivity the sync program option lets you assign an application to one of your five custom profiles and will automatically switch to that profile anytime the application is launched this is a great feature if you like to create unique profiles for each of your video games for example as being able to switch between them autonomously means one less step to think about in certain situations you might wish for a key to be disabled entirely so there's a disabled button for doing just that there's also a button for quickly resetting a key to its default action the illumination panel is where you can change the backlighting color of your LEDs using either the basic preset colors the RGB numeric values or the narrow spectrum bar which I would have liked to see open up into a larger window for more precise color selection under the lighting effects tab are the nine LED modes that I mentioned earlier could be selected with the left and right arrow keys standard lights up all the keys on the board in a single color pretty standard trigger enables reactive LEDs which light up for a brief moment when pressed before gradually fading away ripple shoots light out in all directions starting from the depressed key while firework creates more of an AoE effect by lighting up the depressed key and all others immediately surrounding it half of the keys light up in your designated backlit color while the other half glow in a random color predetermined by the software this was one of my favorite lighting effects on the spectrum but it's too bad you don't have the option to select both colors for greater customization much like the ripple effect radiation shoots color out the left and right but only to the row of keys in which you've initiated the keystroke breathing mode creates the same old breeding effect were used to but the spectrum manages to pull it off with impeccable fluidity making it look like the keyboard is actually breathing as opposed to just cycling through incrementally small levels of brightness the cherry on top would have been an option for speed adjustment but unfortunately most of these nine lighting effects are more or less fixed rainbow waves initiates the classic rainbow effect found on nearly every major RGB keyboard and I can't stress enough how buttery smooth the LEDs transition from color to color another cool thing is at the floor underneath the keys receive a ton of secondhand illumination from the LEDs which really makes the spectrum pop on your desk with the keyboards headphone jack plugged in the audio effect makes the LEDs dance to the sound of any Tunes you play on your PC while it's fun to watch your keyboard rave to the roots and storm the effect starts diminishing below 50% system volume making it difficult to enjoy the light show at lower listening levels and rounding out the lighting effects is spectrum colors which allows you to change each individual key on the board to a color of your choosing this is where you can really fine-tune your keys for different applications game genres or play styles Tesoro could take a lesson from logitech on this one by giving the option to organize keys into zones instead of having the user assign key lighting one by one on the bright side clicking on a key does open up a larger color window for easier selection once you've got your colors down you can have the LEDs shine in either standard breathing or trigger mode per your preference while I reckon most users will be satisfied with the spectrums lighting options the software itself experiences frequent crashes and has some inherently awkward flaws that need to be fixed for one certain settings like macros or program launching take an uncomfortably long time to apply spanning anywhere from 7 to 15 seconds to take effect another gripe is that you can't quickly click from one setting to another without first exiting the pop-out menu that the first setting brings up having to click the exit button before browsing another setting is counterintuitive and just flat-out annoying additionally there's no way to change the color of the blue LED indicators which might not match well with the rest of your boards color scheme a glaring drawback first edit continuity overall I like this board a lot better than the Libero supreme both in form and function the spectrum keeps all the good stuff from its older model and brings sweet redemption in areas that were lacking the side LED issue has been fixed for the most part and going all black was a very smart move I don't think I'll ever be a fan of kale switches and if there's any deal-breaker here for me personally this would probably be it there are a few decibels too loud and they're just not as comfortable to type on as Cherry MX without a doubt this keyboard saving grace is in the name this that term of backlit LEDs is what I've always hoped for in an RGB keyboard in terms of brightness vibrancy and performance unfortunately the killer lighting is backed by buggy software whose UI and slowdowns need to be addressed let me know what you guys think of this keyboard in the comments below and don't forget to toss me a like on this video if you enjoyed it special thanks to today's sponsor lynda.com for supporting this channel which supports me so I can support you so you should consider supporting them it's the support but if you guys are interested they've got HD online tutorials for days on just about every topic in the digital media world all videos are led by industry professionals that make you feel like you're in a classroom only if classrooms were messy and smelled like potato chips if you want to give it a whirl you can try it up for free by heading over to lynda.com slash awesomesauce and start your free trial today