Sadly, the Anansi isn't the Naga. And therein lies its biggest fault -- you can't help but compare the two products, and the keyboard comes up short. It isn't a bad keyboard, but it lacks what made the Naga so excellent, and for the several things that it gets right it also manages to get a couple of things wrong. Without a doubt, it's going to serve better than the stock keyboard that comes with a new computer, but it's far from a must-have addition to your hardware.
As could be expected given the source company, the keyboard is responsive and sturdy. The associated taskbar program is lightweight, with a minimal memory footprint and the ability to set up a variety of profiles for given games. You can also switch profiles on the fly with the use of the Function key plus the number keys, rather than using the system tray icon, which is a convenient feature.
"In fact, in the default layout, the modifiers seem to be set up almost at random." |
OK, it's not a deal-breaker. The important thing are those extra keys, right? And the array of five keys on the left can certainly help with that all-left-hand functionality from before, letting you bind anything awkward right over there. The thumb modifier keys, meanwhile, let you use any combination of modifier keys, from Shift to Control-Shift-Alt, effectively giving you theoretical access to a huge range of keybinds in second. It does work with the Naga, as well, which could be a wonderful combination if you have a lot of commands to enter in short order.
Maybe it's just me, but when I sit down to play a game, I don't keep my wrists hovering above the keyboard as if I were playing the piano. They rest, well, right where the thumb modifiers are. And that means it's awfully easy to find part of my hand accidentally tripping one of the modifiers without intending to.
Another issue comes in the way that these thumb modifiers are laid out. There are five smaller keys and two larger ones, but contrary to what you might think (or what I thought), the two larger ones aren't bound by default to the more common modifiers (Alt and Control). In fact, in the default layout, the modifiers seem to be set up almost at random. You need to either go in, manually change all the bindings, and then learn them -- or learn the bindings as they are in the default, which doesn't have any particular rhyme or reason.
Oh, and if you've been accustomed to the layout of a normal keyboard for, say, the past however-freaking-long of your life? Yeah, it's going to take some effort for a while to remember that the keys are there below the spacebar.
"Once you've customized everything and have it working just the way you want, it can give you a lot of extra flexibility for extra keybinds and more convenient access..." |
The Anansi, on the flipside, forces you to immediately start fiddling with the settings and the keybindings of your favorite game to get working. Out of the box, it provides no real additional functionality. Once you've customized everything and have it working just the way you want, it can give you a lot of extra flexibility for extra keybinds and more convenient access, but it requires a fair bit of learning to use effectively.
I suppose that's the real takeaway from all of this. The Naga is an elegant and simple accessory that has a very short learning curve and a huge amount of benefit to the player. The Anansi, on the other hand, has a steep learning curve that may or may not help you much, depending on the game and your ability to relearn the layout. It doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement -- and I'm sorry for that, because I really wanted to adore this keyboard.
But I just don't. It works, it's good, and it's as high-quality as you would expect, but it isn't intuitive, and it's not the must-have product of its sister mouse. If you're looking to replace a stock keyboard, it's well worth considering, but it isn't significantly better or worse than other gaming keyboards overall.