Gadgetory

for the ultimate no compromises compact gaming PC look no further than the obsidian series 250 d from Corsair click now to learn more alright so the last time we talked about thermal takes TT eSports Poseidon we were marveling at how inexpensive the Poseidon was compared to competing backlit mechanical keyboards now they're back with the Poseidon Z a keyboard that is functionally pretty much the same thing that comes in at $10 cheaper so what did they do to reduce the price even further making it one of the least expensive full-size mechanical backlit keyboards on the market one word Cale no not cabbage key switches our first Poseidon this one right here used Cherry MX blue switches manufactured in Germany well our Poseidon Z uses blue switches oops that are manufactured in China by a company called Cale that happens to use the same color based naming scheme and also have a very similar internal design to their switches because cherries patent on their switch design has expired alright so then what is the difference well functionally not much the two keyboards are basically the same thing it's got a fairly plain-jane design with no real alterations to a standard 140 layout there's a gaming mode button at the top right that disables the Windows key and some media control keys that can be accessed with a function modifier that you'll find at the bottom right it also features a six to eight key n key rollover which I understand what they're saying it's six to eight key rollover depending on which Keys you're pressing but that isn't n key rollover hopefully they can get that fixed on their site soon and hopefully one of these days I'll get through a review of Thermaltake product without finding errors or typos on their box or website but anyway there's cable management down here so the cable can come out the right left they've also got nice high quality rubber grips on the bottom even on the foldout elevator piece that allows you to incline the keyboard the whole bottom of it is grippy and thumbs up for that but let's get into what is the difference why is it cheaper well because manufacturing in China is cheaper for all kinds of reasons cheaper labor and lower costs associated with transporting the switches to the factories where the completed keyboards watch will be assembled just to name a couple when you trade though in my experience is looser manufacturing tolerances I've used a couple of Kail blue switch keyboards so far and this one is noticeably heavier than any Cherry MX blue or even other Kail blue keyboard that I've used before closer to Cherry MX greens than to Cherry MX blue is just from typing on them and that's the difference I mean look at this you can probably even hear the difference Cherry MX blue kale blue well trust me there you can hear the difference even if you can't pick it up on the mic one cherry MX keyboard to another there will be variants as well but with a newer less proven manufacturer the potential for us to discover significant differences from batch to batch is definitely still there okay then - is it okay for Thermaltake to do this doesn't it feel deceptive and you know what no I don't think so honestly I'm pretty okay with the way Thermaltake is doing it they're not calling the switch is something that they're not they're just calling them TT eSports certified mechanical blue switches all things that they are and more importantly they're passing at least some of the savings on to the customer in the form of a lower price and a longer five-year warranty period this contrasts with razor's approach where they also discontinued all their cherry MX based keyboards but then charged exactly the same amount for the newer models with Chinese switches something that they may feel justified in doing since they're now rating their switches at 60 million keystrokes versus 50 million keystrokes but I would have liked to see a token discount or a longer warranty to go along with the longer waiting on the switches or something at least so there you have it this video ended up being more about kale than about the Poseidon's II but that really is the main story here anyway thank you for watching guys like this video if you liked it dislike it if you just liked it share it if you thought it was fantastic and other people need to see it not the good things and all that don't forget there is a support link in the video description you can buy t-shirts you can give us a monthly contribution you can I'm sure there are other things you is you can change your bookmarks to sites like Amazon to one that includes our affiliate code so we get a kickback whenever you buy pantyhose or whatever it is that you need and I think that pretty much wraps it up thank you for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe to Linus tech tips from unboxings reviews and other computer videos you