Testing and Personal Experience Using the Wooting one
I have been using the Wooting one for several months already, especially during gaming sessions. Like most gaming mechanical keyboards out there, the switches are really of a personal preference. And personally, I’m not a fan of linear non-clicky switches, like Cherry MX Red switch or this Red Flaretech switch. I prefer the Blue Flaretech clicky switch, too bad there are only four spare switches included in the package. So it took me quite a while to get used to the linear feel of the switch.
I’m actually impressed that after several months of use, all the RGB LEDs are still lighting and not a single one is busted. I got some mechanical keyboards before from well established companies, and sometimes one or more of the LEDs gets busted after a few months of use, or sometimes the LED/RGB lighting effects goes haywire for some unknown reason. I’m glad that even though this is the company’s first product, quality seems to be on top notch.
When it comes to typing experience, I’m not fond of using the Wooting one especially with its Red switch. It’s a personal preference so I don’t take it against the keyboard. The key caps feels good on my fingers and the distance between each keys are great as well. It’s a standard layout and I don’t think you’ll have difficulty in adjusting with it, except perhaps with the feel of the switch when you pressed it. Let me just be clear, you can buy the Wooting one in either Red Flaretech switch or Blue switches. It just so happen that the sample we have here comes with Red flaretech switches.
When it comes to gaming, this is where the Wooting one really shines and its capabilities or features put to good use. Like I said before, you’ll need to spend some time configuring the Wooting one via the Wootility to fit your preference and style. It really depends on the game you play (racing, first person shooter, RPG or MOBA); you’ll have to configure, customize and assign a different profile for each game or type of game. But once you have set it up and you’re good to go, you’ll find it somewhat weird to go back to a digital keyboard once you get used to the analog keys.
If there’s something that I think is missing on the Wooting one, they are probably the dedicated media keys and macros. But macros aren’t the focus of this keyboard, it’s the analog feel. Anyway, you can assign two commands in one key via the DKS feature. If you’re looking for the numeric keypads (because I sure do), Wooting also has the Wooting two. It’s the same with Wooting one, except that the Wooting two is a full-sized keyboard with numeric keypads.
Price and Availability
The Wooting one is now available and it comes with a retail price of $139.99 / €139.99. It was originally priced at $159.99 but you can get it now at a lower price. The company is also offering a full 2-year warranty for the Wooting one.
Wooting one Review: Conclusion
So there you have it guys, the name Wooting is very new in the market and their first product Wooting one is I think a success. It delivered what it was primarily designed for and its unique features (the analog keys) that would separate and distinguish the Wooting one from the rest of the crowded “gaming mechanical keyboard” market. The implementation of the analog function works well and it simply impresses me that a keyboard like this would actually exist. And on top of that, I wasn’t expecting that it would come from a small or startup company. To be honest, looking back years ago when I was still playing Need for Speed (series) on my desktop PC; I wished that someday someone would create a keyboard that would same similar analog features or pressure sensitivity like the console controllers have.
I don’t think I find any real flaws or deal breaker / cons on the Wooting one. I wouldn’t expect too much from this product since it’s their first after all and they delivered what they promised when they first launched its Kickstarter. Probably there might be some few bugs that needs fixing or some refinements in the Wootility. Another thing is that not all games might support the Wooting one’s analog features right off the bat. I hope the team will look into these so that more and more games would be able to take advantage of its analog feature. If I have to (really) nitpick; perhaps there is not dedicated media keys, no wrist pad and the Space Bar doesn’t have a “window” for the RGB light to pass through.
On the other side, the built or the chassis of the Wooting one feels really solid. It doesn’t feel (very) premium, nor does it scream branding and design. It’s a really simple keyboard; plain black and minimalist design. It looks neat and clean with no overly dramatic RGB lighting. The price is reasonable considering its unique features and price has gone down by $20 since initial release. The keycaps are standard and I think you can replace them with third party keys. But the more attractive feature is that you can replace the switches with other (compatible) Flaretech switches. Thanks to the latest Wootility version, there are now more RGB effects and configuration is easier compared to the previous version. Also, the profiles are saved on-board, not in your PC.
Overall, the Wooting one is a really great product and I think it’s a success. The team is also active when it comes to the development and further fine tuning and tweaking of their product. Again, if you’re looking for a full-sized Wooting keyboard with numeric keypads, there is the Wooting two. And I hope the team would be able to make, improve and expand their products even further – Wooting three, five or even X? Perhaps a matching analog mouse as well? Only time will tell.
