Some time ago, Amazon launched its own catalog of gaming peripherals in its online store, under the embrace of its AmazonBasics brand. Since then, it sells both a mechanical keyboard and a mouse included in the gaming category and at quite reasonable prices as is typical of this brand, but are these peripherals worth it?
Actually, we have to say that the price of both the mechanical keyboard and the mouse are not very typical of the AmazonBasics brand. This is a brand in which the store sells its own products, all of them actually rebranded, at very competitive prices with those that seek to overshadow much larger manufacturers by attracting users by price. This is not the case with the brand’s gaming mouse and keyboard, whose prices are in the market average and even above in the case of the mouse.
The AmazonBasics mechanical keyboard
According to the information provided by Amazon itself, this mechanical keyboard uses OUTEMU Blue switches, so they have a useful life of 50 million keystrokes, which is not bad at all, and in this case they are switches with tactile feedback and sound. clicky (the typical switch that you either love it or hate it, because it’s quite loud). Programmable macro keys (5 in total) are included on the left side, and of course you can’t miss the configurable RGB LED lighting .
It should be noted that a removable soft-touch wrist rest is included to provide the device with greater ergonomics, and it is a wrist rest that is aesthetically identical to the one used by Corsair in the first models of its gaming keyboards, more than five years ago. We must also say that the keyboard lacks a USB Passthrough connection, an almost essential element in high-end gaming keyboards and that makes us see that this, obviously, is not. What it does have is Full N-Key Rollover anti-ghosting technology.
The configuration of both the keys and the lighting and macros is done using its own software, a software with many shortcomings, everything is said but still in a somewhat archaic way, it even allows you to configure the lighting for each key independently.
Also, for some reason it seems quite difficult to find both the software to download (it comes included on a CD along with the keyboard, but who uses a CD reader today?) And the instruction manual.
The gaming mouse
It is an ergonomically designed mouse for right-handed users that has a total of 9 programmable buttons through its own software, just like the keyboard. It has an optical sensor (they do not specify which one specifically) with up to 12,000 DPI sensitivity and that allows you to change the resolution profile “on the fly” with a maximum of 5 configurable profiles. It has LEDs on the mouse itself to show the DPI level configured at all times.
Amazon says that this mouse uses top-quality Omron switches that hold 50 million keystrokes, and they have also incorporated a system of 5 weights of 5 grams each with which to modify the weight of the device (which is not specified … on the web says it weighs 168 grams but this would be an extremely heavy mouse).
Of course, you can not miss the configurable RGB lighting on this mouse, also via software. What this device lacks is internal memory, so we will always have to have the AmazonBasics software open to be able to execute the macros that we want to configure, as well as to maintain the configured sensitivity levels.
Are AmazonBasics gaming peripherals worth it?
Let’s start at the end: the mouse has a price of about 18 euros, and really for what it contributes, it could be worth it to many users, as long as they do not intend to use it in “extreme gaming” or in very game sessions. intense, since the quality of materials leaves a lot to be desired (after all, it is a mouse of 18 euros). The truth is that our recommendation is that you wait until there are other gaming mice from renowned brands on offer, because for little more you can buy a much better mouse.
As for the keyboard, if you are not too demanding with it (remember that it has OUTEMU Blue switches, which are not precisely the best on the market) it may also be worth it, but for the price it really has you can also find other options a lot best and reputable brands that guarantee better manufacturing quality.
In summary, AmazonBasics gaming peripherals can be “worth” for undemanding users who, living up to the name of the peripherals, are only going to give it a basic use. However, if you are a demanding gamer and you are looking for better performance and durability, then we recommend that even if it is paying more money, you go for peripherals from more renowned brands.