When it comes to gaming peripherals, Logitech is one of my go-to brands for high-powered mice and mechanical keyboards. The company’s G line of products usually makes up a considerable fraction of the tech you’ll find on both my home and work desks.
But Logitech’s latest release is a stark departure from the hardware that already adorns my workspace, like the G Pro keyboard and the G903 wireless mouse. The G613 wireless keyboard — and its desk companion the G603 mouse — are part of a peripheral suite which offers wireless functionality in a package that looks like a business executive’s setup, but performs like a gamer’s go-to rig.
The G613 might look like it came from a cubicle, but its mechanical switches and customization options make it worthy of the Logitech G name — proving that you don’t need fancy lights to be a reliable gaming keyboard.
Designed for Executives, Specced for Gamers
Understated is a great word for the G613. When I first took it out of the box, I was surprised at its pseudo-corporate aesthetic and feel. Had I not known it was part of the company’s gaming lineup, I would have assumed it came from its core set of office productivity peripherals rather than the G series.
The G613 sports a charcoal chassis made from textured plastic, with some black accents on the keycaps and wrist rest. On the underside of its unibody is an inset for holding both the wireless dongle and the two AA batteries that are required to power the keyboard. It was a little strange to see a mechanical keyboard running on batteries rather than a charging system — but given that those two AAs will provide you with around 18 months of use, that’s hardly a demerit for the G613.
Topside, under the keycaps, you’ll find Logitech’s proprietary Romer-G mechanical switches that actuate at a distance of 1.5mm — which is, according to Logitech, 25% shorter than its leading competitor. These switches are also rated for 70 million strokes, so your ult key won’t get worn out anytime soon.
In the top right corner are your standard dedicated media keys (mute, volume control, play/pause, rewind, fast-forward) and a button to toggle Game Mode. Adjoining those keys are two buttons used for switching between your wireless connection and your Bluetooth connection — a feature that I’ll talk about more extensively later in this review.
The G613’s left side features a full row of six customizable G-keys that can be programmed to execute macros or other inputs of your choice using Logitech’s utility software.
To RGB, or Not to RGB
It’s important to note that neither the primary QWERTY keys nor the secondary media keys on the G613 feature any sort of RGB back-lighting. Instead, they’re the standard black-and-white caps that you’d find on any other board that isn’t being marketed to gamers.
This is an intentional design choice that looks clean and ultimately serves the “office suite” feel of the G613/G603 combo, but I still find it a bit problematic. Forgoing RGB is understandable when manufacturing budget keyboard lines, but less so in the $100+ range of products.
There are plenty of boards at a similar price point that offer full-spectrum RGB customization (like the SteelSeries Apex 750 or Corsair K95), and many of those that don’t still offer a more limited form of backlighting (like the red glow of the Cherry MX 6.0 or the HyperX Alloy Elite). So the fact that there’s no backlighting options of any kind seems like a bit of an oversight with this keyboard, and it definitely made gaming in a darkened room significantly harder than I would have liked.
Ergonomic Comfort Meets Professional Performance
Despite lacking RGB illumination, there’s a lot to love about the overall feel of the G613 — especially when it comes to ergonomics.
Taking cues from its corporate aesthetic, this keyboard is designed much more ergonomically than other gaming keyboards I’ve used in the past. There are no awkwardly tall keys with sharp edges, no weird angles that are more for form than function.
Instead, this board raises up to an angle that’s far more comfortable than what most mechanical keyboards offer, and it boasts keys that are smooth and responsive enough to be comfortable whether you’re holding down movement controls or typing at the speed of light. Using this board for long periods of time was painless and problem-free, even though it’s lacking a truly supportive wrist rest.
The keys themselves were as responsive as the marketing materials made them sound. Those Romer-G switches can easily hold their own when compared to the pervasive Cherry switch, and they’re significantly easier to type on than other mechanical keys I’ve used. The response time with each stroke was lighting-fast, and I rarely had issues with missed inputs or wireless latency.
However, the Romer-Gs did have a very unique sound to them. The G613’s keys were quite loud, but not like the weighty thunks of most mechanical switches. Instead, each keypress was demarcated with a sort of echoing click that sounded vaguely cheap — as though a mechanical switch had been planted inside a membrane board. This was especially apparent on the spacebar, and was noticeable enough that my co-worker commented on it a few times when my typing got particularly frenetic.
The board’s dedicated media keys suffered from a similar issue, as their feedback felt rather cheap and unsatisfying with each click.
If you’re able to tune that out or it simply doesn’t bother you, though, the G613 is as comfortable and responsive as any keyboard on the market right now — wireless or otherwise.
Multi-Host Wireless Capabilities & Peripheral Functionality
The design and performance of the G613 are solid, but secondary functionality is where this keyboard really shines — and the multi-host wireless feature is by far the best thing about it.
Logitech has designed the G613 to work as either a wireless keyboard or a Bluetooth keyboard, and allows you to switch back and forth between the two simply by clicking the dedicated buttons I mentioned above. To put it simply, this means that you can use this keyboard interchangeably and instantaneously with two different devices — your PC and your phone, your gaming PC and your streaming PC, or so on.
Because the unit I was using came with a nifty little stand for my phone, I connected it to my Google Pixel via Bluetooth and left the wireless dongle in my PC. Using the one-click switch, I was able to move between the two platforms with ease. It was fast and simple enough that anytime I got sniped in Paladins, I could switch over to my phone and answer a text or respond to a work email and be back on my PC before my death timer was up.
Although there is a little bit of lag when switching between wireless and Bluetooth, overall, this multi-host wireless function works exactly as advertised and proved to be an incredible convenience. It’s a feature I didn’t know I wanted until I had it in my hands, and the G613 implements it beautifully.
Verdict
Logitech’s G613 keyboard is an interesting iteration in the G series of peripherals. It certainly offers the mechanical performance and input customization that you’d expect from a gaming keyboard, but in a package that seems to favor ergonomics and multi-functionality over eye-catching lights or an edgy design.
The keyboard’s $149.99 price tag is a little hard to swallow given its feature set. If you’re looking for a product that will check all the boxes of a traditional gaming keyboard (full-spectrum RGB, etc.) at the same price point, there are plenty of others out there for you to consider. But if you need a highly functional and enduringly comfortable keyboard that will let you type reports and gank casuals from your workspace, this wireless board is definitely worth your consideration.
You can purchase the Logitech G613 here.
[Note: Logitech provided the G613 keyboard used for this review.]
Published: Oct 18, 2017 03:47 pm