Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn mechanical keyboard review
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Appearance - 9/10
9/10
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Features - 6/10
6/10
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Materials - 6/10
6/10
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Performance - 9/10
9/10
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Portability - 9/10
9/10
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Value - 6/10
6/10
Summary
The Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn is one unique looking keyboard with interesting in-house developed Romer-G switches and some funky keycaps but disappoints with its high price tag and lack of RGB lighting and macro support offered by the competition.
Overall
7.5/10Pros
+ Compact size
+ Unique asymmetrical frame
+ Refreshing design
+ Huge grippy rubber feet; sturdy flip out feet
+ Even and bright illumination; no light leakage between the keys
+ Romer-G switches are silent; early actuation point for faster keypress registration
+ Lightweight
+ Free smartphone dock — Arx Control Dock
Cons
– Unnecessary chunky bits bulk up the keyboard
– Short flip out feet
– Non-detachable cable; poor cable management
– Romer-G switches do not support Cherry keycaps
– Included keycaps are uncomfortable compared to conventional keycaps
– Feels plasticky
– No macro or key reassignment feature
– Arx Control App needs more functions to be attractive
– Expensive
Ah, Logitech. A veteran in the PC peripherals industry, Logitech knows how to make stuff that work, and even at a good price, most of the time. Harnessing that experience, they designed their own switches to overcome the limited quantity of Cherry MX RGB switches, and thus the Romer-G mechanical switches were born and built into the G910 Orion Spark which featured RGB backlighting. Fast forward to 2015, the more compact Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn was released for fans of the TKL keyboard layout, which is what we have here today.
Unboxing
The top panel sports a clear product image and the labeling, as well as proudly declaring the use of exclusive Romer-G mechanical keys.
The underside of the box has some of the highlight features of the keyboard, as well as a very lonely testimony by a pro-gamer in the upper right corner. The packaging of the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn is really thin compared to any other mechanical keyboard I have reviewed. I doubted the sturdiness of the packaging but considering the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn arrived at my doorstep in perfect condition, I believe there is no issue there.
Opening it up, we see the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn in all its glory. You don’t get much in the way of included accessories, as besides the keyboard itself you only get a tiny piece documentation.
Appearance
The Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn looks outlandish, appearing like some soft of weird alien weapon. Whether you dig this design or not depends on your individual tastes, but I find the scattering of blue accents and asymmetrical shape quite refreshing compared to the all-black rectangular keyboards I have been using recently.
While attempting to be compact by forsaking the numpad, the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn featured many unnecessary chunks which made the keyboard bigger than it needs to be. The loop at the side can’t be used for easier carrying, although it may be used for cable management if you want to carry it around. Even then, it is still very impractical as it will take ages to unwind the cable. The palm rest which is neither long nor elevated enough to offer support just takes up more precious space on my table.
Taking a look under the keyboard, it was entirely blue. The large rubber feet will help keep the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn firmly planted on your desk. The flip out feet are also very wide which lends a sense of sturdiness, but more on that later.
As usual for Logitech, they didn’t give the USB connector on the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn a gold plating. Since gold plating doesn’t actually enhance performance, I will not hold it against it. However I will hold the non-detachable cable and horrible exit point against the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn.
But that’s not all! Logitech threw in an Arx Control Dock with the keyboard. While I am disappointed that I cannot dock my phone at the top of my keyboard, it does allow me to put it anywhere I please.
Specification
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| Body material | Plastic |
| Keycap | Laser engraved ABS keycaps |
| USB report rate | 1000 Hz |
| Switch type | Romer-G |
| Microprocessor | N/A |
| Cable | 1.8m, non-detachable |
| Weight | 765 g |
| Included accessories | Quick start guide |
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User Experience
The first thing I realized when I removed this keyboard from the box is its weight or lack of it. Weighing just 765 grams, it is nearly half the weight of most average full-sized keyboard. Being this light, it is absolutely perfect to be carried along to tournaments or LAN parties. Then you are faced with the non-removable cable. Non-detachable cables are a known liability when transporting peripherals in a bag, and yet Logitech designed the G310 Atlas Dawn to be so light and compact, but didn’t consider this point.
The non-detachable cable is not only bad for portability, it is also bad for cable management. The cable exits the body of the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn on the upper right edge, and the absence of cable routing channels on the underside of of the keyboard also exacerbates the issue as I could not find a way to properly route it to the left from having the cable snake its way across my laptop.
The switches here are the exclusive Romer-G mechanical switches which some may like while some absolutely abhor their existence. Personally, I do not find them to be game-changing but I don’t hate them either. Romer-G switches switches do feel different and actuate faster than any Cherry or Kailh mechanical switches with the actuation point at only 1.5 mm. Bottoming out on the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn is also less noisy as it features padding for noise reduction. In essence, you get a fast actuating, tactile and silent key with the Romer-G switches. Logitech also claims a 70 million presses lifespan, longer than Cherry’s claim of 50 million for their MX mechanical switches.
The Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn features keycaps with facets instead of the usual curvature found on other keycaps. I do not find these enjoyable to use at all as I found it difficult to slide my hand from one key to another like I usually am able to with conventional keycaps. Another issue is the inconsistent shape of the keycaps. Some keycaps feature 4 facets while some only feature 3. The flat surface of the keycaps is also less comfortable to press on compared to the curved surface of conventional keycaps. Their only redeeming point is that they look good.
The backlighting of the keys are some of the brightest I have ever seen and they can glow in any color as long as it’s blue. The lack of RGB lighting at this price point is sure to turn away many potential buyers. The white LEDs are directly under the blue plastic keycaps, resulting in even and bright illumination of the legends. Note that the Romer-G switches do not have any light leaking out from the sides of the keys, unlike Cherry MX switches which feature a “glow” around each key.
You do get to adjust the brightness of the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn via the dedicated shortcut key on the top right corner of this keyboard. And oh the other hotkey is the Gaming Mode, which deactivates the Windows and Menu keys by default, but can be configured via the Logitech Gaming Software.
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Logitech Gaming Software offers really sparse customization for this keyboard. Heck, you can’t even program any macros. You do get to set which keys you want disabled when you press the Gaming Mode hotkey as well as whether how you want your blue backlighting to illuminate, but that’s about all it can do.
Still remember the Arx Control Dock? Logitech Arx Control is an app which allows you to monitor your system status as well as allow you to control media from your smartphone. Basically Logitech wants you to open the app, put the phone in the dock, leave the phone screen on and use the app. No one will use their phone just to monitor their system stats when there are many other software in Windows which can do that, and the media keys are redundant. Still gotta thank Logitech for including a good looking smartphone dock FOC though.
No dedicated media keys on the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn, but they are integrated into the top row of keys. They can on be used in combination with the Fn key. I like this configuration as it reduces the need to even waste more space just to add more keys to control media. I actually control everything on my Logitech G502 Proteus Core which features way too many keys so I have never used the media control keys on any keyboard I use.
Conclusion
The Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn is a great looking keyboard, I give it that. However when it was conceived to look this great, the designers forgot that fingertips are naturally rounded, and that the keycaps which will be in contact with those very rounded fingertips are better curved than flat. The absence of RGB lighting and macro/key reassignment features at the high price of RM499 is also disappointing. Aside from that, the Logitech G310 Atlas Dawn is a pretty great keyboard especially if you like the rather silent operation and early actuation point of the Romer-G switches. However the similarity to membrane keyboards is a major turn off for me. The light weight will be of benefit those who lug their keyboards around frequently.
