Fnatic Rush Pro Silent Keyboard Review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing and First Look3. Testing4. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

Fnatic Gear has quickly earned a good reputation for producing quality gaming peripherals. Today we are looking at a new keyboard from the company, the Rush Pro Silent. Very similar to the original Rush Pro, this new version differentiates itself by using Cherry MX Silent switches. Coming in at £89.99, is this a must-have keyboard?

The appeal of buying Fnatic Gear products is simple – they are usually high-quality, no-frills peripherals that just work. Today we will see if the same can be said for the Rush Pro Silent, so read on for our full review including a look at build quality, features and performance.

Specification

• Product Dimensions: Width: 448mm, Height: 148mm, Depth: 33mm
• Net Weight: 1275g
• Cable Length: 1.8m – 2.0m
• Switch Type: Cherry MX Red Silent

The Fnatic Gear Rush Pro Silent ships in a simple-looking yet attractive white box. A large product photo dominates the front of the box.

There are no unnecessary accessories inside, just a small quick-start guide.

Diving in to look at the keyboard itself, it is immediately obvious that the Rush Pro Silent has a ‘no-frills' design. It is made from plastic, but build quality is decent nonetheless – there is definitely some flex to the board, but not too much, and overall it is pretty solid.

There is also a detachable wrist-rest which attaches to the main body of the keyboard using two small clips. This wrist rest itself is also slightly sloped, so it should be nice and comfortable to use.

Before moving on, it is just worth mentioning that both the wrist rest and the keyboard are finished with a soft-touch coating, and while it does feel lovely and smooth, it is prone to picking up fingerprints and grease marks.

Taking a closer look at the board, we see that there are no dedicated multimedia keys – instead, these share space with the F-keys.

Other F-keys (F7-F11) also feature secondary numbers, from 1-5. This is because you can use these keys to switch profiles between 5 different profiles, each of which can be independently configured using the software.

F12 is worth mentioning as that enables ‘Fnatic mode' which disables the Windows key and enables any assigned macros.

Around the back of the board we find 2x USB 2.0 pass-through ports, great for those wishing to plug in a mouse or headset.

Lastly, the braided USB cable is gold-plated and measures 2m long.To test the Rush Pro Silent, I used it as my daily driver for nearly two weeks. During this time, I used it while playing games, typing reviews and performing other general tasks.

To start things off, let's look at the software.

The software side of things is definitely basic, but this is intentional – Fnatic want this keyboard to ‘just work', and the software is actually entirely optional.

This is because its only function is to create and map macros, so if you don't use macros, don't install the software. Users can assign macros using any one of 5 different profiles, and a total of 10 macros per profile is supported.

The macro mapping process itself is very simple, as you just need to select which key you want to map the macro to, and then select what function you want that key to have.

Personally, I am not one to tinker too much with a keyboard's settings, so this very basic approach does not bother me at all. In fact, I admire it as you can dive straight into using the board and everything works fine out-of-the-box.

Before moving on to physical performance of the Rush Pro Silent, I will also mention the keyboard's lighting. It is a red-only backlight which features 3 different brightness levels, as well a ‘breathing effect'. To adjust the backlight levels, simply use Fn+2 and Fn+8 to switch between the different brightness settings.

The LEDs do look good, and Fnatic has also fitted a red mid-plate underneath the keys which really helps the red light to spread out and create an underglow.

As for using the keyboard day-to-day, I can safely say it does what it says on the tin. Starting with the switches, the Cherry MX Silent switch is based on the MX Red switch so it has a 2mm actuation distance and a 45g actuation force requirement.

As for the ‘silent' part, it is obvious no mechanical switch is ever going to be truly silent, but I suppose calling them Cherry MX ‘Quieter' switches doesn't have quite the same ring to it. In any case, I found these switches are definitely a bit more muted than standard MX Reds but obviously they are still audible.

Using these switches while gaming is a good experience, as you would expect considering they perform just like MX Reds. They are pretty fast and nice and light, with their linear action being another reason as to why MX Reds are very popular with gamers.

Hardcore typists may prefer something with tactile feedback – MX Blues or Browns, for instance – but Fnatic Gear makes gaming keyboards so it is easy to understand why they've gone with the linear MX Silent switch.

Lastly, the Rush Pro Silent offers both NKRO and 6-key rollover, and you can choose between the two on-the-fly by pressing Fn+N, though you will have to disconnect and re-connect the USB cable to complete the process. Having both NKRO and 6-key rollover is supposedly handy for use with older applications which don't support NKRO, but I wouldn't imagine that such a scenario would apply to many gamers.The Rush Silent Pro is a new keyboard from the folks over at Fnatic Gear.

It fits very closely with Fnatic Gear's MO as it is a no-frills, basic gaming keyboard. This is made very clear by the simple software, lack of superfluous lighting and the understated design of the keyboard.

The highlight feature is the use of Cherry MX Silent switches, and I found these to perform as expected – after all, they are just modified MX Red switches.

However, the MX Silent switches do sound a bit more muted than a regular MX switch, but they are by no means dead-silent. Still, in a office or living room environment, they are likely to be less annoying to others around you.

Other than that, the keyboard performs very well, its wrist rest is comfortable and the backlight is nice and clear. For me, it ticks all the right boxes as a pure gaming keyboard.

All-in-all, the Fnatic Gear Rush Pro Silent comes well recommended. It is definitely not ground-breaking, but if you want something which ‘just works' without the unnecessary mod-cons of many other keyboards, this should be making your final shortlist.

You can buy one from Overclockers UK for £89.99 inc. VAT HERE. If you are not interested in the MX Silent switches, the original Rush Pro with MX Browns is available for £20 less HERE.

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Pros

• Simple, back-to-basics approach.
• Cherry MX switches.
• Solid build quality.
• Comfy wrist rest is included.
• Clear backlight.

Cons

• Soft-touch finish picks up marks easily.
• £20 premium for Silent switches.
• Red-only backlight.

KitGuru says: If you are looking for a mechanical gaming keyboard that just works, the Fnatic Gear Rush Silent Pro is a very good option and is worthy of your money.

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