At a look

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Incredible battery life
• Dazzling RGB lighting
• Light weight

Cons

• Expensive
• Slippery keycaps
• No wrist relaxation

Our Verdict

The Vulcan II Mini Air is the keyboard for you if you’d like an RGB gentle present, and also you don’t need a USB spoiling the view. Oh, and when you’re prepared to pay a premium for each of these.

Price When Reviewed

$179.99

Best Prices Today: Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air keyboard

$179.99

The Vulcan II Mini Air is a wi-fi model of the Vulcan II Mini. Stop me if that is getting too stunning for you. But that reductive intro doesn’t inform the entire story, as a result of there’s loads of engineering occurring within the Vulcan II Mini Air past tossing a radio and a battery within the case and calling it a day. 

The keyboard’s phenomenal battery life makes wi-fi operation with its bombastic lighting enabled an actual choice, even when you’re an influence person. That’s a commendable innovation, even when it solely applies to a really area of interest sort of person. That area of interest is so particular — a small, premium, gaming, optical, wi-fi keyboard that may continuously dazzle you with RGB goodness — that it virtually justifies the excessive worth. 

Almost. At the tip of the day we’re speaking a couple of $180 for a mini keyboard, and for that sort of dough, you’d higher be delivering in any respect ranges. It’s out of consideration for many customers, however for that tiny little bit of the Venn diagram, it’s value it. 

Further studying: See our roundup of the best wireless gaming keyboards to find out about competing merchandise.

What’s new, Roccat (woah woah woah)?

At first look, not a lot has modified since I reviewed the Vulcan II Mini a 12 months in the past. You get the identical 65% structure with full arrow keys, the identical Titan II optical switches for quick, easy operation, and the identical “floating” keycaps that showcase Roccat’s best-in-class RGB lighting (together with the brilliant LEDs and clear change housing). The wi-fi model is about half an inch taller on the Y axis, simply sufficient to place an illuminated Roccat emblem above the keys. It additionally well shifts the USB-C port to the left, provides an influence change, and offers you a bit bay to stow the two.4GHz dongle. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The keyboard is heavier than the Vulcan II Mini…however shockingly, not by a lot. On my kitchen scale the wired board is 17.7 ounces, whereas the wi-fi one (sans dongle) is 20.4 ounces. Roccat managed to cram wi-fi {hardware} and a battery in there with lower than 3 ounces. For the sake of comparability, I threw the Corsair K65 Pro Mini on the dimensions, which has the identical 65% structure and optical switches however does not have a radio or battery, and it was a full ounce heavier than the Vulcan II Mini Air. Impressive! That sort of weight-saving makes the Roccat design a wonderful transportable board, although these floating keycaps imply you’ll positively need some sort of protecting case on it earlier than you throw it in a backpack. That’s one thing the Asus Falchion consists of within the field, by the way in which. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

To reiterate what I wrote in regards to the absolutely new, full-sized Vulcan II: Roccat is unbeatable on the subject of eye-popping RGB lights. In phrases of brightness, visibility (due to these skinny keycaps), and animation, it’s merely peerless in the mean time. All the identical issues apply to the Vulcan II Mini Air…besides that this little board is working on a battery. Which is, counter-intuitively, an enormous deal. 

How is the Vulcan Mini II Air battery?

With the lights on full energy and in wi-fi 2.4GHz mode, the Vulcan Mini II Air lasted 5 days on a battery cost for me. That won’t sound like a lot, so let me put it in context. One, do not forget that Roccat’s lighting system is insane—the main focus and positively the spotlight of the Vulcan collection. And two, I’m a heavy person to a presumably unhealthy diploma. A typical mini keyboard working absolutely animated RGB lights will final me sooner or later, maaaaaybe two if it’s fortunate. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

So when Roccat claims that this keyboard can final 150 hours (on the clock, not lively utilization) in its normal mode, or as much as 750 hours with the RGB disabled, I’m inclined to imagine it. The specs don’t say how massive the battery is, however with just some ounces of additional weight, it may well’t be capacious. This is, with out qualification, the very best battery life I’ve ever seen from a gaming keyboard. 

And on high of that, Roccat managed a trick I hardly ever see: immediate wake. With the two.4GHz dongle, the keyboard immediately wakes up from sleep and begins shining, able to enter instructions. Presumably that is because of the proximity sensors that the sunshine present will get going even earlier than you press a key, a really neat trick you must expertise in individual to understand. I’ve seen related tech on Logitech’s MX Keys line, however even these high-end boards don’t boast this sort of insane battery life. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

One final observe on the battery life. If you maintain down the Fn key, the LED beneath the V key turns into your battery bar, steadily going from inexperienced to yellow to orange to purple because the battery drains. A ultimate warning, the V key and the Roccat emblem flashing purple, lets you understand demise is imminent. But even “imminent” is relative with such longevity — for me, it began flashing about two or three hours earlier than it lastly gave up the ghost. Impressive. 

How is the Vulcan Mini II Air for gaming and typing?

Like its non-wireless variant — and in contrast to the full-sized, wired Vulcan II — the Vulcan II Mini Air comes outfitted with optical key switches. In distinction to a traditional mechanical keyboard change that closes a circuit with {an electrical} contact, these detect a key press by interrupting a beam of sunshine. This permits for (theoretically) super-fast efficiency and easy, unhindered motion from the highest of the important thing press to the underside, and again once more. 

Roccat and Corsair each provide optical switches, giving us a possibility to match the Vulcan II Mini Air to the K65 Pro Mini. And when it comes to typing and gaming, it isn’t nearly as good. Roccat’s switches really feel extra free and chattery, with extra motion within the keycaps even after they’re not getting used. Throw within the flat, slippery ABS keycaps that Roccat makes use of on the Vulcan line versus the pleasantly tough PBT caps on the Corsair, and the latter is the clear winner when it comes to typing and gaming “feel,” if not by an infinite margin. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Of course, you would at all times put PBT keycaps on the Vulcan. You may even put Corsair’s keycaps on the Vulcan, for the reason that structure is almost equivalent. But you then wouldn’t get the total advantage of Roccat’s lighting system, and I doubt anybody taken with shopping for this board is prepared to go that far. You can also’t swap out the switches, however that’s typical for optical designs. 

Roccat’s structure can also be much less intuitive than Corsair’s, although each commit the cardinal sin, for my part, of an unmovable Fn button. The Vulcan II Mini Air is much more restrictive than most, because the Windows, Esc, and proper Ctrl key are additionally off-limits. By default media keys are unfold between Z and the interval, typically necessitating two palms, and the Print Screen key’s on the O, precisely one spot left of the place it ought to be (in my thoughts, anyway). Of course all of that is configurable by way of software program, with a second operate layer out there by way of the Easy Shift system (set to Caps Lock by default). But no quantity of software program can re-print the default structure onto the keys. There’s no choice for re-binding or programming macros on the fly. 

As far as gaming chops go, the Vulcan II Mini Air presents 1,000Hz polling and N-key rollover, greater than any mere mortal may need make use of. With the exception of the slippery keycaps, I discovered it fairly comfortable, although I want the single-stage keyboard ft had an choice for a better profile. I additionally suppose that for the value tag, an included and matching wrist relaxation isn’t an excessive amount of to ask for. After all, the Vulcan II — a less expensive, wired board — has one. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Roccat’s Swarm software program is practical, if unspectacular. Like the Vulcan boards themselves, the massive draw is the lighting, and all the included defaults are each extra fascinating and far more easily animated than any of the competitors. You can customise the velocity, brightness, and shade of every, and if that’s not sufficient, program a completely customized system your self. 

As a wi-fi board Swarm has a bit extra to handle for this gadget, and it does so admirably. If you need much more excessive battery life you’ll be able to regulate the sensitivity of the keyboard’s proximity sensor or disable it solely. Doing so implies that the keyboard must wake from sleep, nevertheless it does so in a tiny fraction of a second, so it looks like a good trade-off to me. 

Should you purchase the Roccat Vulcan Mini II Air?

When I reviewed the $180 Corsair K70 Pro Mini Wireless, I referred to as its worth sky-high and dinged it for a scarcity of worth. The Roccat Vulcan II Mini Air is identical worth, with loads of the identical options, like a alternative of Bluetooth or 2.4GHz dongle wi-fi. So why do I feel it’s a significantly better deal? 

Plenty of causes. One, it’s only a higher board for touring, being the identical weight regardless of a bigger structure that features user-friendly arrow keys. It has sooner optical switches, and it has an unbeatable battery life. That’s true whether or not or not you like your gaming periods illuminated, and when you do, the Vulcan II Mini Air will delight your eyeballs with a lightweight present that lasts for days. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

That being stated, $180 continues to be some huge cash for a keyboard, particularly one which’s this small and doesn’t include extras like a wrist relaxation or case. So it’s solely value it for a really particular sort of gamer. That gamer is one who needs that lovely RGB goodness, needs it to final a protracted, very long time, and is okay with switches, keycaps, and structure that aren’t the very best round. 

If these caveats don’t trouble you, the Vulcan II Mini Air is well worth the excessive asking worth for a super-portable board that takes its gentle present on the street.