Turtle Beach Vulcan II XP Reviewed: An Affordable Mechanical Keyboard With Compromises
In a Wired review, Turtle Beach's gaming-oriented Vulcan II XP mechanical keyboard is judged a decent entry-level option for its price, but one with several build-quality flaws.
The Vulcan II XP, a mechanical gaming keyboard from peripherals maker Turtle Beach, has been put to the test by technology publication Wired. Reviewer Matt Kamen concludes that it is an affordable entry point for people who have not yet moved to a mechanical keyboard, though more demanding players may find it lacking.
Features
Every individual key can be remapped, and layouts can be saved to one of five onboard profiles. A macro manager allows custom command combinations, and dozens of popular games are supported by default, including Counter-Strike, Overwatch and Skyrim. Presets also exist for office apps and Photoshop. Extra functions such as Easy-Shift and ReacTap let users duplicate keys or assign two commands to one key, but they can be fiddly to set up, and ReacTap may be banned in some competitive settings.
Typing and switches
The reviewer tested the version with linear switches; a tactile-switch model is also sold, with both available in black or white. Typing is described as enjoyable, though the smooth, quiet keys make it easy to hold one down by accident. Unlike Turtle Beach's earlier Vulcan II TKL Pro, these keys do not use Hall effect technology, but they are hot-swappable, supporting three-pin and five-pin switches. The company rates them at 50 million keystrokes, a third of the TKL Pro's 150 million. The polling rate is 1,000 Hz, or 1 millisecond response, short of pricier 8,000-Hz boards.
Flaws
On the review unit, the volume wheel worked in reverse even after a firmware update, and had to be remapped. The LEDs under the "0" and "." keys on the numeric keypad also stayed white regardless of the colour assigned. At times, undoing one input setting reset the whole profile.
Overall, the reviewer considers some of these annoyances forgivable given the price.