CES is known for its big reveals, industry shakers, innovative designs and futurist products that may never see the light of day. Conference goer’s eyes are filled with flashing LEDs and loud booming speakers, with walls of televisions and screens that can be rolled up and put in your pocket. So, it might sound a bit unusual that one of the products that drew my attention immediately was the keyboard by Matias.
What caught my eye about the Matias keyboard was how elegant it appeared. It’s ultra-thin design, RGB backlit keys and black anodized aluminum enclosure screamed distinction. When I was offered an opportunity to review it first hand, I jumped at it.
Matias provided me with the black anodized aluminum wired PC keyboard for my review. The keyboard is available for both MAC and PC, comes in a variety of colors and a wireless version is also available if you prefer. Setting up the keyboard was as simple as it gets, just plug in the USB connector into a free USB slot on your computer and Windows handles the rest.
The keyboard is ultra-thin, measuring only ¾” and light, weighing just over 1.3 pounds. It is slightly elevated in back, which for me provided just the right amount of angle for my typing skills. The base is fixed though, so there are no adjustable feet to increase the angle if one desires but I personally didn’t find that to be an issue. The keyboard has some very solid rubber feet to prevent it from sliding while in use and sliding was never an issue while I was typing.
The keys have a noticeable “clicky” feel with 2mm of key travel. It provides a fantastic tactile feel and yet is quiet enough to be used while talking on the phone. Compared to the keyboard on my Lenovo ThinkPad, the Matias keyboard has a far more responsive feel and is much more enjoyable to use. A dial on the back of the keyboard allows you to adjust the color as you wish, and the backlight is adjustable from Off (0%) to Very Bright (100%) utilizing the fn +/- keys. The dial if turned all the way to the right or left sets the LEDs to white (100% RED/GREEN/BLUE), but if you turn the dial slightly back in either direction reduces the blue component of the white giving it a more yellow appearance and greatly reducing eye-strain in dark rooms. I like that the dial allows you to fine tune the color to your choosing.
In addition to the 5-foot USB cable (which was certainly long enough for me to run it to the other side of my desk), it also includes a built in USB 2.0 port which is hidden in the base on the underside of the numpad. This USB port is a perfect place to plug in a USB adapter for a wireless mouse or to connect a USB drive. Matias went to great lengths to hide away anything that might detract from the elegance of the keyboard itself, and its inclusion of the USB port was a welcome one.
As one would expect in other high-quality keyboards, there are your typical function keys that double as multimedia keys, including next, previous and play/pause. There are also dedicated volume buttons and a dedicated mute button. However, one button stood out above the rest, which is something I personally have never come across in the many keyboards I’ve used in the past. There is not one, but two TAB keys. One TAB key where you would expect it, on the left-hand side above the caps lock key and a second one above the numpad, which made utilizing the numpad in a spreadsheet a breeze. Two TAB keys seem like such an obvious inclusion that you wonder why other keyboard manufactures hadn’t considered it as well. Sometimes even the smallest innovations can make the largest impact on a device.
The Matias RGB Backlit Wired Aluminum Keyboard has now become my daily driver. It’s a joy to use, with just the right amount of tactile responsiveness that I love, but without the loud annoying click that comes along with many similar keyboards. It exudes elegance and sophistication with its beautiful black aluminum and subtle RGB lighting and looks at home on even the most expensive desk. For some not being able to adjust the angle might be an issue, but I found the angle to be perfectly comfortable for extended use. This keyboard is an absolute joy and has become a permanent fixture on my desk. Check it out on their webpage here: https://matias.ca/aluminum/pc-rgb/
What I liked: Elegance, Black Aluminum, Tactile Feel, Extra Tab Key
What I liked less: No additional angle adjustment
4.5 out of 5 stars
