An excellent keyboard, with a couple of small niggles
by ChazzaI wanted a keyboard that was both wireless and had a removable numpad, as I both play games (where you want a TKL keyboard or smaller to give more mouse space on the right of the keyboard) and use 3D creation software such as Blender (which relies heavily on the use of a numpad). The Claymore II meets both of these needs perfectly. The unboxing experience was excellent, with the main keyboard and the detachable numpad being presented in their own cloth sleeves which was a nice touch. The keyswitches are of the linear variety (RX Red) which feel very smooth and have a short actuation point. The keycaps also wobble less than on my other keyboards that all use the Cherry-style '+' stems. The RGB lighting is vibrant and can be controlled either from the keyboard itself using the FN key and the arrow keys, or through the ASUS Armory Crate (the lighting can even be controlled through the software when in wireless mode). The only two minor issues I have with the keyboard that I hope ASUS can address in a future version of the product is that the included wrist wrest, while a nice inclusion, is not quite tall enough, so it feels like my palm is always about to fall off it. The second minor annoyance is that the plastic pieces that cover the edges of the keyboard when the numpad is not being used don't seem particularly well secured. These minor issues aside, the Claymore II is an excellent keyboard with a lot of features that looks great and feels great to type on!