SWAPPABLE Switches! Logitech G PRO X Keyboard Review

I’ve been patiently waiting for Logitech to release a new tenkeyless lineup inside the Pro series and the Logitech G Pro X keyboard is it. It’s awesome! Logitech is bringing out swappable switches into the mainstream, but that’s not going to be for everyone. Let’s see how competitive the Pro X is.

First, I want to Point out the original G Pro keyboard with Romer G Switches is being replaced with a new G Pro keyboard with GX blue switches for $129. I personally love the Romer G switch, but the proprietary nature of the stem meant no easy key cap swapping while all the new pro keyboards use Kailh switches with MX stems and at least that’s a positive.

Form Factor & Design

The Pro X keyboard however, is a $20 premium where the switches are not soldered to the board, and you can choose between three switch options. Honestly not much has changed in terms of form factor from the original, except now you can swap out switches and create custom mechanical layouts for your needs. It’s got the same really solid frame with plenty of weight that feels heavy on my desk compared to Razor’s latest edition, the Huntsman TE. I have two feelings about them keeping the same shell design. On the one hand I really liked the simplicity of the whole board with a tasteful G logo and the slightly larger forehead with that illumination toggle and the game toggle key that disables your windows function and copy keys plus whatever other key you want can be set in the software.

However, I was hoping for a slight redesign to give a new and fresh feel to the keyboard. For instance, the new iPhones came out and everyone has the square cut out for the camera bump and that’s how you know that’s the new iPhone is here. With this keyboard, it feels the same. Even the side pro text just reads Pro instead of Pro X. They kept the same fork style micro USB cable, meaning no Type-C on any of their gaming peripherals yet. Also, the keyboard still has two levels of angle adjustment featuring great stability. Unfortunately the bottom row of keys is not standardized, just like on the original, leaving limited options for key cap swapping and custom adventure – I mention this because the Razor Huntsman TE keyboard has a standardized  bottom row, and that is a huge thumbs up for those in the enthusiast community who are swapping key caps.

Switches & Key Caps

The main differences revolve around the switches and the key caps with the Pro and the Pro X keyboard. Gone are the Romer G switches. Now we have three Kailh variants or GX variants: linear, tactile and clicky. And because the LED on the switch is located at the top instead of centered like on the Romer G, the font on the key caps has been moved up to accommodate that shine through with secondary characters not being illuminated at all.

I also find the font to be a little bit inconsistent, like how bold the main letters and numbers are while everything around it, like your shift tab, home, pause, et cetera, are much smaller and thinner. In comparison, the illumination quality, however, is fantastic with great vibrancy and color accurate tones to what you set in the software, plus easy perky customization. The key caps are nothing fancy – be ready for visible finger oils after the first hour of use.

Swappable Switches

The swappable switches come in a set of 92, leaving you with four extra switches just in case as the TKL layout only needs 88. In the event you break one of the parts, you still have extra. There’s also a key cap/switch puller in the box as well. I think the intent here, if you buy an additional switch set, is not to replace the entire keyboard for something else, but to use different switch sets to mix and match two different mechanical layouts on the same keyboard. For example, I love tactile Browns for gaming and typing, so I swapped out that entire section in the middle with GX Brown switches while keeping the rest of the keyboard with GX Blues except for my shift, control, and space bar that I set with GX Reds.

That’s a really cool feature, but the downside is the price point at $49 per switch set. It means that whatever you buy, you’ll always end up having unused switches. Alternatively, you can buy your own set of MX style switches with plate mount instead of PCB mount from companies like NovelKeys and you’re spending about $20 for a hundred switches instead of buying them from Logitech for $50 and you have options to buy in fewer quantities to match your layout style. I feel that a set of 92 keys, even though you can replace the entire keyboard, is not something that I would recommend you doing because why not get the right switches for each area needed from the beginning. Now Logitech has mentioned that they are using specific tolerances for the frame itself and if you are using after markets, which is with the same MX style mount, they might become too loose or they might not be stable.

In my experience with Halo Clears, which are also from Kailh, fit with no problem although they were not as tight inside the frame as GX switches, but they’re not popping out whenever I pull out the key cap. These also were working just fine with the Pro X. This whole swappable nature of mechanical switches is very much appreciated in the gaming sector but with Logitech, is that a massive price disadvantage for the consumer? You’ll be spending way too much money buying switches from Logitech and buying the GX, versus if you were buy something in lower quantities with other Kailh variants that will fit and work with no problems. You’ll also be saving money. As for the process of swapping the switches themselves, it is very simple: Remove all the desired key caps, Use the switch puller to unmount a switch carefully, and insert back the desired switch in place very carefully to avoid bending one of those pins.

As for my preference between all three GX switches, I don’t like DGX blues because I have to lift my finger entirely off the key cap for it to re-balance back and I can’t be really fast with my strokes. GX Browns and GX Reds are both smooth with nice actuation. I do prefer the Browns over the linear style because I’ve become used to them. By the way, if you need macros the F1 through F12 keys can be assigned in the software, just don’t forget about the discrete media controls that are activated via the function key.

Conclusion

The original G Pro keyboard was my favorite; It sat at my desk for three years and there was nothing that could replace it, but the Romer G switch is no more and they welcome the GX introduction of switches into Logitech’s lineup because key cap swapping is now a thing and they can recreate the Romer G feel with the GX Browns, even though the specifications are slightly different.

I welcomed the whole mechanical switch customization with the Pro X keyboard. That is awesome, but it would have been the perfect keyboard if they had done two things. One is to reduce the quantity of mechanical switches that you can buy from Logitech. Instead of getting a whole set of 92, reduce the price and reduce the quantity to sets of 20 for certain sections of the keyboard. And two, the non-standardized bottom row is a huge bummer because Razer Huntsman TE was released with the standard bottom row, and they got so many thumbs up from the enthusiasts’ community. Logitech missed their chance here because the whole customization factor with the switches would have been the perfect compliment to customizing the key caps too, but unfortunately that’s not the case here.  

Buy items in this review from Amazon at the links below:

G PRO X Keyboard: https://geni.us/GPROKB

Original G Pro Keyboard: https://geni.us/GPROKB

Cooler Master MM710: https://geni.us/MM710

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