Today, we’re writing our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review which focuses on ASUS’ new mechanical keyboard.
If you’re shopping for a durable and quality gaming keyboard, the Strix Flare II Animate is a great option. The product is part of a fresh lineup that aims to set ASUS in a position that equals its competition.
It’s a stylish keyboard that’s designed to be an attractively bright centrepiece for any gaming setup. That means, it has every element that makes it an ideal mechanical keyboard to use.
These include hot-swap sockets, internal silencing, and customised multimedia controls. Additionally, it even has that premium feel which is difficult to find in today’s pre-built mechanical keyboards.
To learn more about the product, continue reading our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review. Get every essential information you need to know if this keyboard is something you need for your setup.
ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard Packaging
First up in our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review is the packaging. It’s always nice to see how the company chose to showcase their products once you purchase them. Also, it’s good to know what other inclusions are inside the package.
For this keyboard, ASUS opted to go with black and red colours for their box. It’s quite a big box that displays the company’s branding, product name, and a list of its key features. Additionally, the front displays an image of the keyboard itself with all of its LEDs lit.
The rear portion of the box displays another image of the keyboard. Plus, it also shows other components that are present. Here, you’ll also find details about the ROG NX, product specs, and ASUS contact information
Inside, there’s another cardboard box but with a simpler design and a plain black colour scheme. Of course, there’s an ROG logo at the centre to add a premium look to the package.
Inside the box, you’ll find the keyboard set securely in place. It’s wrapped in a soft piece of fabric that’s also ROG-branded. Additionally, you’ll also see an instruction guide, wrist rest, warranty card, and a pamphlet.
Don’t forget that there’s a little cardboard box present, and it’s in foam cutouts. It’s where ASUS keeps their ROG-branded plastic keycap puller and the switch remover.
ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard Review – Design and Functionality
After unboxing for our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review, we learned it’s a full-sized gaming keyboard. It has a nice and solid build to it, and comes with customisable RGB backlights.
Additions to its hardware include a hot-swap PCB for conveniently changing switches, and a dedicated media playback cluster. Plus, it also has its namesake dot matrix LED panel, 8K polling rate, and a built-in sound dampening foam. The latter is integrated into the chassis for enhanced acoustics.
Out of the box, the keyboard doesn’t look very much different from other similar products. Although it appears heavy, it’s much lighter than expected considering it’s a full-sized keyboard. Then, its aluminium top plate gives it a nice sturdy feel without any flex in its chassis.
To some users, the Strix Flare II Animate’s design may seem a bit plain. However, we prefer seeing it as simple and uncomplicated.
For its media, this is managed by a huge cluster along the top-left portion of the keyboard. Here, you’ll also find a switch and a knob.
The latter adjusts the volume while clicking it will conveniently mute audio. Then for the switch, it’ll let you skip tracks or play/pause. Its skip track is unique, and it almost feels as if it’s spring-loaded, thus, making it satisfying to use.
The wrist rest sports a faux leather exterior with ROG’s logo set on the top area’s bottom-left section. It also comes with a nice foam lining inside to support both your palms and wrists whenever necessary.
There are magnets on the keyboard’s surface while the base shows a number of rubber pads for increased friction. These are needed to prevent the keyboard from sliding on the table.
If you inspect the wrist rest, you’ll notice the integrated elevation profile and a cutout along the matting surface. It also comes with a built-in plastic light diffuser which we think is interesting.
Key Features of the ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard
We’ll now discuss the product’s key features in our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review.
Full of Flare
The Strix Flare II Animate is the ultimate mechanical keyboard that will boost your gaming experience. It’s loaded with multiple innovations like its customisable AniMe Matrix LED display, swappable key switches, sound-dampening foam, and PBT doubleshot keycaps.
Also, it offers dedicated media controls, 8,000 Hz polling rate, and 0.125ms response time for better user experience.
AniME Matrix LED Display
This ROG keyboard has the AniMe Matrix LED display that offers 312 programmable mini-LEDs. With this, you can showcase custom images and animations, system status & indicators, and audio visualisations. You can even set the AniMe Matrix display to display your laptop’s battery life, time & date, and mail notifications.
Stylish and Ergonomic
The detachable wrist rest features a built-in light diffuser, making it glow when connected to the Strix Flare II Animate.
Intuitive Controls
The metal media control keys of the Strix Flare II are arranged right at your fingertips for easy access. Turning the scroll wheel adjusts the volume or mutes the audio.
The knob is for play/pause and reversing or skipping tracks. For convenience, you can also program these into hotkeys.
AURA Sync
Aura Sync RGB allows you to control your system’s whole colour spectrum and lighting effects. This software lets you customise the individually lit keys of the Strix Flare II.
Armoury Crate
Armoury Crate is a software suite for system and lighting control. For this keyboard, you can set custom animations and images, audio visualisations, or system status monitoring.
Onboard Memory
The Strix Flare II Animate’s onboard memory lets you save up to six profiles which include five custom schemes. You can also use these anytime and anywhere.
100% Anti-ghosting + N-key Rollover
No matter how fast you play, your keypresses will be registered accurately and without miss.
Windows Lock Key
The Windows lock key lets you disable the Windows key with one press for uninterrupted gaming.
Recording Macro On-the-fly
When using this keyboard, you can record macros on the fly and map these to fully programmable keys.
USB Passthrough
USB 2.0 passthrough allows plugging in a mouse or flash drive, as well as charging mobile devices.
Specifications
Just like with our other reviews, we put great importance on the specifications of each product we showcase. So, this ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review is no different.
We’re sharing all the important tech specs you need to know about the mechanical keyboard. These will also help you determine if the product is ideal for your setup.
The Strix Flare II Animate comes with a choice of different ROG NX and Cherry MX mechanical RGB switches. For connectivity, it makes use of USB 2.0. When it comes to lighting, ASUS utilised the AniMe Matrix LED display, per-key RGB LEDS, and front underglow lighting.
The keyboard works with Windows 10, as well as the ROG Armoury Crate software. Lastly, it measures 435 x 165 x 38mm while its wrist rest is 435 x 85 x 27mm. Then, it weighs a total of 1,157g.
Hands-on with the ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard
Now, our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review can give you details on how the keyboard performed.
Typing on the Strix Flare II Animate was a very comfortable experience. We were able to maintain our usual WPM (words per minute) while typing which was extremely convenient. It took us less than five minutes to get used to the feel of the keyboard, and we were ready to go.
The wrist rest with memory foam was very comfortable for prolonged use. Then, the magnets that linked to the primary keyboard were genuinely efficient. These helped prevent the Strix Flare II Animate from sliding unnecessarily while we were using it.
Also, we found the RGB LED lights pretty cool since these shone brightly through the wrist rest. It looked great and worked excellently for our whole setup’s aesthetic.
Of course, we tried using it while playing games like Destiny 2, Halo, and the like. Here, inputs were consistent, and multimedia controls were positioned ideally which made adjusting audio levels easy. It was also convenient for us to change music while playing since it required less hand movements than usual.
Overall, the Strix Flare II Animate was great to use. The switches were smooth and had well-weighted springs which made the keys feel solid and stable. The built-in silencing also worked effectively and eliminated loud echoes and pings.
ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard Review Summary
The new Strix Flare II Animate from ASUS’ ROG line is a great keyboard with unique features. We were impressed with its customisable LED matrix, swappable switches, and other technologies used for improved gaming and typing experience. Plus, it has hot-swap capability, intuitive media controls, and more, which made us satisfied with the product.
We were pleased when we tested the product for our ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Mechanical Keyboard review. It performed flawlessly, was highly responsive, and it significantly improved our gameplay.
Overall, the Strix Flare II Animate is a reasonably priced product compared to the competitors on the market. Most importantly, it is packed with amazing features and delivers excellent performance, so we highly recommend it.
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