Ozone Strike Battle Spectra Gaming Keyboard Review

Ozone’s initial attempt at creating the best tenkeyless gaming experience through the Strike Battle was excellent. From its physical durability and minimalistic look to its simple and fast software, it’s definitely a favourite for Gamers.com.mt. However, Ozone thinks they’ve managed to further improve their great product through the Strike Battle Spectra for an increased price tag. Is it worth the investment?

First of all, we recommend that you familiarise yourself with the original product here http://www.gamers.com.mt/news/351/ozone-strike-battle-tenkeyless-mechanical-keyboard-review, since we reviewed it a while back and it’s safe to say that the names are similar for a reason. With the addition of “Spectra”, Ozone Gaming has added RGB effects to the product as they’ve countless times for their products – and we’re not complaining. Apart from that, not much else is different, but we’ll still break it down for you.

Starting from the unboxing experience, Ozone has managed to take it to the next level. Now rocking a “box-in-a-box” packaging, it gives the product an appreciated premium feel. Styrofoam on the keyboard along with a quick-guide, manual and warranty information is nostalgic of the original. An improved packaging shows that Ozone has re-thought everything, while maintaining the same package dimensions. Also, the design on the outside of the box feels more professional, using less information without hiding any of the important specifications.

Releasing it from its packaging, the identical weight of 685g and volume of 34 by 350 by 123mm is kept to the delight of consumers. Until now, it’s practically the same product, with the familiar aluminium plate and brushed plastic keys. On further inspection, there are a few differences. First off all, the function row keys have been modified; trading the previous functionality with a new one. This is an understandable change as before, having a polling rate and delay time toggle was neat but not exactly functional. Therefore, Ozone has redecorated with its modern design, having white highlights, which we’ve also seen on the Strike Pro Spectra which we reviewed here: http://www.gamers.com.mt/news/351/ozone-strike-battle-tenkeyless-mechanical-keyboard-review. What the functions do exactly is what we’ll leave for later. This change in function aesthetic also moves to the 6 key patch and the arrow keys.

Another physical difference is the fact that there is a transparent casing on each key, which as you could guess accentuates the RGB festival which awaits us. Yet, before that, a pleasant surprise awaits us down under. It’s great to see that Ozone has added internal cable routing towards the same direction.

The 1.5 m braided cable couldn’t be happier, as it also maintains its gold connection. The rubber feet at the bottom also take a deep breath as the packaging now includes 4 spare rubber feet. Overall, I’m glad that it retains the same black and sleek look, though now the type of switch you use will be visible through the casing whether its MX Cherry Red, Black, Brown or Blue. On a side note, it’s great to see that the type of key is labelled correctly, since last time it said MX Cherry Red when it was Brown.

Moving on to gaming features, the 64kb of onboard is ready to take on more settings. Full anti-ghosting is enjoyed on all keys along with a Gaming Mode as like before. Honestly, that’s is when it comes to adjusting performance as Ozone has denied access to polling rates and delay time which is fine by me.  So without further delay, let’s dive right into the software.

As with many other aspects of the product, it’s improved. Greater spacing avoids the cramped feeling which when gets from the previous iteration and helps make it look friendlier. The “Customize Layout” page replaces “Main Control without trading its function. Keys may be reassigned here to shortcuts, application, macros and whatever else you can think of. Then there’s “Macro Lab” which in turn takes a different approach to the “Macro Settings”. Creating them remains an easy enough process once you get the hang of it, this time distinguishing between keypress and text macros for ease of use-30 of which may be made over the 5 profiles.  And yes, we did deliberately skip the “Lighting FX” page because we’ve got a whole paragraph dedicated to it below.

Before we get down into the lights, however, we must first describe the colours themselves. Excellent is the only word that can describe the brightness, vibrancy and accuracy of the colours with an especially pretty white backlight. The transparent casing was a fantastic choice by Ozone as it embraces the new upgrades phenomenally as it shines over the aluminium faceplate. Lock functions glow white when used and enabling Game mode turns the button red. Now after that’s been discussed, onto the features we go.  With a list consisting of Static, Breathe, Wave, Ripple and Reactive, it has it all except for a Spectrum Cycling function which is available only through using the shortcuts on the keyboard. Speaking of the functions, they play a heavy roll when it comes to RGB effects.  All effects are adjustable through speed and brightness and that’s it. The software isn’t cohesive and doesn’t compile all the possible effects. For example, the Wave effect can be done right to left or diagonally or as a spiral through the keyboard only. There are a lot more exclusive effects which will take some playing around with the newly added white function keys. This doesn’t exactly take anything away from the product since all the effects are still there, but it would be appreciated if all the possibilities were compiled together- this can be added through a software update.

Also, three preset colour spaces are available for whatever game type you happen to be playing which are extremely easy to adjust. For features on this bad boy, we recommend a thorough read through the quick start manual to esnure you dont miss out on the potential fun. That's probably the only negative to the newly added RGB effects. 

So, is the €20 increase from €90 worth it? The Ozone Strike Pro Spectra is a prime example of how Ozone has matured over time and we’ve had the exciting opportunity of comparing it with its predecessor. Again you ask, but is it worth it? If we can put it this way, Ozone’s new updated product is so incredible that buying the previous iteration for just a little less makes no sense unless one has an incredible fetish for black and red. The Ozone Strike Pro Spectra is one hell of a product for a reasonable €110.

If Gamers.com.mt had one of those “Choice Awards”, it would go right here.

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