Asus ROG Claymore Mechanical Keyboard Review

Manufacturer ASUS
Release Date November 8 2016
Where we got our copy Rebeltech
Where to buy Rebeltech , Wootware , Pricecheck

TheStrangerHAZ

Published April 19, 2017

The Box

Right off the bat, let me just say that this is absolutely the most gorgeous keyboard packaging I have seen. Ever.

Inside this large padded box you’ll find:

The Claymore and its detachable Numpad, each with their own velvet storage bag.

Detachable, braided cable.

A shiny Republic of Gamers certificate.

Two hard, 3D ROG logo stickers.

And finally all the manuals you would need.

Asus is known for their great packaging and the Claymore is no different.

The Visuals

Keeping with Asus’ current visual styling, the Claymore has a gun-metal gray aluminium body with raised “Aztec”-style lines that cover the entire frame of the keyboard. These little designs give the keyboard’s frame a rather nice texture. At first glance, it definitely gives off an ancient-alien machine impression (which fits in very well with Asus’ Strix line of products, even though the Claymore is not specifically part of that series).

The Claymore has a detachable keypad which can be reattached at either side of the device, specifically for those of us who hate having to let go of the mouse to use it. At the top of this Numpad is where you’ll find the lovely metal volume wheel which has a rather firm detent, giving you awesome granular volume control.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the Numpad actually attached to the sides of the keyboard since it uses a mechanism that allows it to slide on until pins on the Numpad itself are locked into position.

This whole process seemed to be a lot more finicky than it needed to be, especially when a simple magnet would’ve done the job better (much like how the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 I’m currently using, does). After it was connected, however, the RGB pattern instantly transitioned across the Numpad as well.

The Claymore itself is a standard-size keyboard (with the Numpad attached) and doesn’t feature any additional macro or dedicated media keys, unfortunately. A “Fn” key on the bottom right, allows you to use the other functions on the keyboard, including the standard media ones(which is possible to do using one hand at least).

A problem I’ve encountered with the Caps (and other lock keys by extension) on other keyboards was the fact that the status illumination LEDs weren’t very clear; Asus’ take on this, was to add a small white LED to the back of the lock button in use, effectively changing its colour. So far, this seems to be the best way to do it and I had no problems seeing if any of these keys were toggled.

Even though the Claymore is a full-size keyboard, I quickly realised that it was substantially smaller than other full-size mechanical keyboards I have used in the past. The frame itself seems to be more compact than usual. This – along with the velvet carry bag and light-weight of the keyboard – makes it very enticing to carry around to whatever LAN (or professional e-sport) events you may find yourself going to.

That reminds me, a quick shout out to Asus for the thin, braided AND detachable cable. This is the gold-standard that more companies should be implementing.

This brings me to my biggest problem with the Claymore’s physical design…the absence of a wrist rest. Why this practice still exists among the larger brand-name manufacturers is beyond me and is a point that can absolutely not be ignored.

The Performance

Now that we’ve stared the keyboard to death, how does it actually perform?

The Claymore has the option of four different Cherry MX switches (namely: Brown, Red, Blue or Black) which should be more than enough options to find the one best suited for you. The switches perform as well as you have come to expect from the Cherry brand so nothing to worry about there.

The keycaps are fairly light and not as textured as the G910 or BlackWidow v2’s unfortunately, but aren’t unpleasant to use. I noticed the keys stand slightly higher than usual as the stems of the switches aren’t recessed very far into the keyboard (if at all), this does contribute to more dust being collected under the keys but inversely makes it quite easy to clean underneath the keys as well.

A minor annoyance I experienced was the sound the keys made, which was quite unpleasant and sounded like it came from a piece of hardware that cost a tenth of the price. The volume of the keys, however aren’t the worst I’ve heard and probably won’t keep your neighbours up at night.

An interesting function found on the F1-F4 keys (called “repeat acceleration”) allows you to change how quickly a key repeats itself when held down. I have yet to find a practical use for this function but I’m sure many of evil geniuses out there will find one (perhaps as a way to spray semi-auto gunfire faster than one can click).

On the point of extra functions, this is where the Claymore surprises with its rather unusual ones. Since Asus is also a manufacturer of internal components, they have leveraged that position to include a number of motherboard-specific features accessible straight from the keyboard, such as being able to overclock your CPU, change your fan speeds, clear the CMOS and more! This is most definitely one of the more interesting designs I’ve seen incorporated into a peripheral and I wish this was more universally supported.

As it stands, this functionality only works with Asus motherboards (that have the relevant capabilities obviously) which drastically limits the number of people that would look at purchasing the Claymore in the first place.

Perhaps in the near future, we may get a keyboard (not necessarily from Asus*) that includes support for multiple motherboards across the leading brands.

* If Asus did manage to do this, however, it would be one of the most consumer-friendly decisions made in recent memory by any company in this space…nudge-nudge, wink-wink (◠﹏◕) ¬.

The Software

Asus produces multiple products across the PC industry from motherboards to GPU’s and everything in between. Unfortunately, they also choose to have a different piece of software (or multiple) for each of these components. The Claymore is no different and uses the ROG Armory software to alter lighting profiles and macros. Ignoring the frustrating practice of having so many pieces of software where one would suffice, for just the moment; let us turn our attention to the ROG Armory. Included is a rather powerful set of tools to create macros across most keys on the keyboard including the detachable Numpad, giving you the ability to create plenty of macros where you can easily reach them. This effectively compensates for the lack of dedicated macro keys in my opinion.

The lighting customisation, on the other hand, is lacklustre at best. Your options can be rather shallow and the Claymore has no type of automatic game profiling as seen with the previous keyboards we’ve looked at. This is quite sad for someone like myself who thoroughly enjoys playing around with the pretty lights.

Another piece of software also needs to be installed before certain features such as fan speeds can be adjusted using the keyboard itself.

Honestly, the Armory isn’t great and Asus as a whole would benefit greatly from having all these individual pieces compiled into a single software suite.

The Conclusion

The ROG Claymore is a different type of keyboard. Marketed to those who intend to move their peripherals around easily and with plenty of style. On that front, it completely succeeds.

The Claymore not only performs great but also makes use of functionality we have seen very few of the other brand-name manufacturers adopt (the detachable Numpad being a perfect example). Having internal component control mapped directly to functions on the keyboard is absolutely fantastic and WOULD be incredibly useful but by limiting the demographic of people that could actually use it to the few that have higher-end Asus motherboards; ultimately cuts out most people that would be looking to purchase the Claymore in the first place.

The last elephant in the room is a rather large one; the price. As it currently stands, the ROG Claymore is the MOST expensive mechanical keyboard for sale in South Africa, coming in at a whopping R3900 .

Even considering how premium the packaging is and how nice some of these features are, the ROG Claymore is just honestly not worth its price, compounded by the fact that the Claymore only has a ONE YEAR WARRANTY and requires you to have a ROG motherboard to use it effectively.

If Asus ever decides to drop the price of the Claymore, it would be a whole lot more competitive with the other high-end keyboard contenders, but at the moment, it’s really not.

This would be a perfect stepping stone for Asus to improve on some of these absolutely fantastic design decisions and who knows? In a couple of years, we may be looking at a real contender for the best mech keyboard around.

I’ve spent the last few keyboard reviews addressing a particular type of user. A category I fall squarely into; those of the permanent-setup, multi-macro, button-masher. In other words, someone who doesn’t move their setup around often and cares more about having extra functionality as well as a meaty weight to their keyboard. This is all well and good…until you run into a device that smacks you squarely in the face and forces you to listen to a different point of view. That device is the Asus ROG Claymore, a very different type of mechanical keyboard. The Box Right off the bat, let me just say that this is absolutely the most gorgeous keyboard packaging I have seen. Ever. Inside this large padded box you'll find: The Claymore and its detachable Numpad, each with their own velvet storage bag. Detachable, braided cable. A shiny Republic of Gamers certificate. Two hard, 3D ROG logo stickers. And finally all the manuals you would need. Asus is known for their great packaging and the Claymore is no different. The Visuals Keeping with Asus’ current visual styling, the Claymore has a gun-metal gray aluminium body with raised “Aztec”-style lines that cover the entire frame of the keyboard. These little designs give the keyboard's frame a rather nice texture. At first glance, it definitely gives off an ancient-alien machine impression (which fits in very well with Asus’ Strix line of products, even though the Claymore is not specifically part of that series). The Claymore has a detachable keypad which can be reattached at either side of the device, specifically for those of us who hate having to let go of the mouse to use it. At the top of this Numpad is where you’ll find the lovely metal volume wheel which has a rather firm detent, giving you awesome granular volume control. I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the Numpad actually attached to the sides of the keyboard since it uses a mechanism that allows it to slide on until pins on the Numpad itself are locked into position. This whole process seemed to be a lot more finicky than it needed to be, especially when a simple magnet would’ve done the job better (much like how the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 I’m currently using, does). After it was connected, however, the RGB pattern instantly transitioned across the Numpad as well. The Claymore itself is a standard-size keyboard (with the Numpad attached) and doesn’t feature any additional macro or dedicated media keys, unfortunately. A “Fn” key on the bottom right, allows you to use the other functions on the keyboard, including the standard media ones(which is possible to do using one hand at least). A problem I've encountered with the Caps (and other lock keys by extension) on other keyboards was the fact that the status illumination LEDs weren't very clear; Asus' take on this, was to add a small white LED to the back of the lock button in use, effectively changing its colour. So far, this…

Tech Review: Asus ROG Claymore Mechanical Keyboard Review

2017-04-19

TheStrangerHAZ

ASUS ROG Claymore

This becomes a 7 if the prices falls subsatially - 6

The most "premium" feeling keyboard I ever expect to use with some great forward-facing ideas, unfortunately it's too expensive and is aimed at a very small demographic.

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TheStrangerHAZ

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Article Tags: asus · ASUS Claymore · ASUS Claymore SA · Mech keyboards · ROG Claymore · The City of Gold

Article Categories: Tech Review