The brand Turtle Beach is associated with Xbox and PlayStation gaming headsets, but has a Turtle Beach gaming mouse and keyboard ever crossed your mind?
Over the years, we’ve seen the gaming orientated company make some massive changes to their presence. Turtle Beach has been pushing hard to be a large supplier of gaming accessories for all gamers, regardless if it’s for console or PC gaming. Previously, I had the opportunity to review three of Turtle Beach console headsets and the conclusions end with happy thoughts of the products.
What I’ve seen is a brand that is now producing some of the best products you can find on the market for gaming and the products are well worth the cost.
Recently, the company has evolved to join the keyboard and mouse market for PCs. With a steel-reinforced chassis and full LED backlit keyboard, followed by an ergonomic mouse, we can clearly see how Turtle Beach is entering the market with powerful, premium devices that focus on users who game and browse the internet.
Welcome to my review of the Turtle Beach Impact 700 keyboard and Grip 500 mouse. Throughout this dual product review I will be discussing the designs, functionality and my final thoughts of both units. I would like to thank Turtle Beach for providing me with these products.
The Design
Right away, Turtle Beach’s new Impact 700 keyboard reminds us what a traditional gaming keyboard looks like. Just by looking at the product box, you notice the gamer red and black background, and Turtle Beach gold as the overlay.
Before setup of the Impact 700 begins, you have to choose whether or not to install some of the included keycaps offered by Turtle Beach. Being a gaming keyboard, the optional keycaps are gaming orientated with the caps including a secondary pair of WASD keycaps, a GG keycap to replace your G key, a NOCTRL and INCOTRL to replace the standard control keycaps, two Turtle Beach and one Impact 700 branded keycap and finally, my personal favorite, a replaceable caps lock key labeled WRATHLK. The rest of the keys on the keyboard stay as they are, but do have an aggressive font with letters like T or H being slanted toward the bottom.
Referring to the product box again, Turtle Beach labels this PC accessory as a premium device. The Impact 700’s build quality is quite superb over the many other keyboards I have used in the past. There’s a hefty weight to the keyboard which comes from the steel-reinforcement and which helps to ensure it doesn’t move about on your desk. The entire keyboard is covered in a smooth rubberized coating to protect it against scratches and marks. All gamers can get emotional after a match, some more than others, and this keyboard is designed to take an “impact” if the person’s anger gets a hold of them.
The rest of the Impact 700’s body reveals two rear feet, rubber feet in the front to prevent sliding, two clips for a wrist rest and a rear mounted microphone/headphone jack as well as two USB 2.0 ports. While the rear I/O is a nice inclusion, it does mean the Impact 700 has a thick, woven cable coming out of the back of it and will require two USB ports on your computer to function correctly.
Just like its counterpart, the Turtle Beach Grip 500 mouse is branded as a
premium PC accessory. It too is covered in the same smooth rubberized coating that, so far, shows zero wear or any scratches.
A design overview of the Grip 500 shows that the mouse is wired via a USB 2.0 connection and is illuminated, just like the keyboard. Physical buttons found on the mouse are Omron switched left and right clicks, a rubberized and RGB illuminated scroll wheel, a DPI switch, and three thumb mounted buttons.
On the bottom of the mouse are three rubber pads that allow the mouse to slide about, but still have good control on a mousepad or wooden desk. Also on the bottom is the Avago 9800 laser sensor and a profile changing button that will change the illuminated scroll wheel depending on the profile selected.
Functionality
Turtle Beach opted to go with a plug-and-play driver for its Impact 700 keyboard, which is great since it means my computer doesn’t need to manage additional software and it also means it functions fully with PC or Mac. However, it does mean you lose out on features like changeable illumination designs or reprogrammable keys.
The gaming standard for keyboards is the popular Cherry MX key switches, switches that are high end and provide an overall good experience for gaming. Below each key on the Impact 700 is a Cherry MX Brown mechanical switch. There are many different choices when using a Cherry MX switch and they are differentiated by their name or color: Red, Blue, Brown, Green, Clear, or Black, and each acts differently. Most gamers will seek out Cherry MX blue switches if their sole purpose is meant for gaming only, but many people use one keyboard for everything, gaming and everyday usage, and that’s where the Cherry MX brown switches come into play.
If you’re used to membrane switches, this keyboard will be a big awakening to you as the keys are more responsive and are certainly louder with a “mechanical” sound. When it comes to typing on the Impact 700, I never had an issue finding a key location or happened to constantly misspell words. The keys themselves are pleasant to type with and every single one is illuminated with a red LED place directly below the key to provide a strong illumination. All of the keys are in their correct positions with no short shift, enter, or tab keys. The only complaint I have with the keys is the media keys for video, volume, and illumination control all require the use of the Function button, which means they cannot be operated with just one click.
Lastly, when it comes to illumination, users can choose between low, medium, or high strength as well as slow or fast breathing modes. I happened to leave my settings on high as it gave an easy-to-read keyboard for night operation. Strangely, Turtle Beach did not illuminate the spacebar.
Moving on to the Grip 500, I have been using the unit for a considerable amount of time for both internet browsing and gaming. The mouse is a plug-and-play device, but there is optional software that you can use for your system to send customizable profiles to the mouse.
The software allows you to configure five profiles, all of which can have different button configurations, DPIs settings, Macros, and are distinguished by their color on the scroll wheel. The mouse also has two locations of red LED backlighting, a Turtle Beach logo on the mouse and the front of the mouse contains two lights that project downwards. Inside the software, you can choose to have these LEDs stay solid, glow, or be in Battle mode which increase brightness with faster movement.
When it comes to gaming, the mouse is precise with its movement and can stop when the shot is within the crosshairs. The quick action DPI button is nice for switching between a run and shoot or sniper mode if needed.
Turtle Beach gives the Grip 500 a design that allows people to grip, lay, or use finger tips holding positions on the mouse and is optimized for right-handed users. In addition its larger size makes the mouse pleasing to use for those with bigger hands. The only change I would make is to have the scroll wheel able to switch between free-flowing or incremental steps. The Grip 500 uses an incremental scroll wheel by default.
My Final Thoughts
This entire review was typed using the Impact 700 and Grip 500 and it has been my main keyboard and mouse for my desktop over the past few weeks. The Impact 700’s typing experience is pleasant for those who want a keyboard for both gaming and internet browsing, and the Grip 500 is an excellent sidekick that also performs well in both worlds.
As mentioned in the introduction, this is Turtle Beach’s first move into a PC accessory market of keyboards and mice and they have done an excellent job at doing so. With the Impact 700 keyboard priced at $199.99 and the Grip 500 priced at $69.99, they make an excellent combination for those who seek a strong and durable gaming setup.
It should also be mentioned that Turtle Beach offers other models of their keyboards and mice. The Impact 500 is identical to the Impact 700 without the backlight and their Grip 300 uses an optical sensor in place of the laser in the Grip 700. Prices for the lower models are adjusted accordingly, but if your budget allows for it, it’s well worth the upgraded price for the higher end products.
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