ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov Gaming Keyboard review

Physically the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov and the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov is the same membrane gaming keyboard, with a slight difference. The difference between these two keyboard is the key selling point and that’s what we going to find out. This is my review of the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov, and let’s get straight down to the unboxing.

Unboxing

The keyboard comes in ARMAGGEDDON’s usual black and yellow style with a picture of the keyboard itself. At the top left we learn that this keyboard features spill proof, durable and silent keys and also anti-ghosting. Unlike the AK-555i that only had single color backlight, with the AK-566i you get 3 colors of pulsating LED lighting to choose from.

At the back, we have bilingual highlights of the features and the specifications. In the box, there’s pretty much nothing except the keyboard itself.

Appearance

The physical looks is very similar to the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov. The ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov is also made from plastic with matte and sandblasted surfaces across the deck. I do like that they went with a matte finish as they offer better resistance against fingerprints compared to glossy finishes. It also feels much more comfortable to use compared to glossy surfaces.

The AK-566i also comes with a spill proof design which helps in the event of a tipped cup of coffee finding its way onto your keyboard. Similar tp the AK-555i, it has three holes for drainage. The keyboard only has two rubbers feet; the grip is not great, but it is adequate.

ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov

Blue LED

ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov

Red LED

ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov

Purple LED

Evenly distribute across the keyboard, the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov has three color options with pulse effects. You can also set the brightness using the keyboard’s shortcuts.

Design wise its nothing much to comment as its body is identical with the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov’s. The ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov is pretty a normal keyboard with plastic body and fixed USB cable.

Specification

User Experience

When I reviewed the AK-555i, I was comparing it with another membrane keyboard. For the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov it was easy to see what’s better compared to the AK-555i itself. Typing on the AK-566i was much more comfortable due to a reworked membrane that is hands down better than the stiff membrane dome found in the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov. The ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov offers a typing experience that is smooth and silent.

With most keyboard in the market here using the familiar US keyboard layout, the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov with its UK layout is quite difficult to get used to. This is similar to the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov’s case. As a touch typist, having keys not where they belong caused me to face some difficulties when the “\” key always getting accidentally actuated. For gaming, it would not really be of much significance, but for typing it could take some time before you getting use to the layout.

Conclusion

The ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov shares the same price tag with the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov. If I was given an option of which one, I would definitely pick the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov. Overall the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov typing experience is much better than the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov. The only thing that need to fix is the keyboard layout.

The ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov is priced at RM69, but you might get better deal on some online retailer with combos and discount. If you are looking for affordable gaming keyboard from ARMAGGEDDON, the ARMAGGEDDON AK-566i Kalashnikov is definitelye a better option compared to the ARMAGGEDDON AK-555i Kalashnikov.