Syntech Chronos 68 Review
Super Fast!
It’s quite amazing how far gaming keyboards have come in just the last decade. With Rapid Trigger tech, Snap Tap tech, and Hall Effect magnetic switches just to name a few of the features, Syntech’s Chrono 68 mechanical gaming keyboard has just about everything an advanced performing gaming keyboard should have right now. If you’re a FPS gamer, then this might be a keyboard you should be paying attention to.
Disclaimer: Syntech sent us a unit free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
Retail Price: $179.99
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A Chernobyl Theme?
The Chronos 68 isn’t necessarily a unique looking keyboard. It’s built around an aluminum frame that has some good heft behind it. I have the yellow colorway which is a little confusing as the keyboard’s main color scheme is white like the white colorway, but it’s called yellow because the secondary accent keys are yellow. The actual white color’s secondary color scheme is black, but that board is called white because there’s also a third variant called black that’s legitimately just all black. Kind of silly naming convention if you ask me.
The nuclear themed symbology on the Chronos 68
I’m actually not too certain what Syntech was going for with the theme of the Chronos. I think yellow accompanies the white PBT keycaps well, but there’s a nuclear symbol on the escape cap, a door exit symbol on the enter key, and a caution label accompanied by a Model No. G-68 signature on the space bar. The board’s official name (as far as I’m aware) is Chronos 68, so shouldn’t the text read C-68? Where does the G come from? Maybe I’m missing a nod to a game or show, but I just think of this as the Chernobyl board now. If I were to purchase one of these for my own personal use, I’d likely choose the all-black model. It’s extremely clean looking to me from the photos.
Layout
Regardless of your aesthetic preferences, the Chronos 68 is still a solidly built 65% mechanical keyboard. While I don’t know what the G stands for on the board, I do know what the 68 means as I personally counted 68 keys on the Chronos. The Home, Delete, PGUP, and PGDOWN keys are piled into a row on the very far right of the board stacking on top of the Right Arrow key. It’s a compact board, but this type of setup frees up a lot more space for mouse action and that’s usually what gamers are looking for while playing shooting games. I do like that we at least retain a Home button here as that does help the day to day operations when using this to type documents.
The board itself is exceedingly clean with only a single USB-C port on the top left of the frame deviating from the clean aesthetics. I don’t like the port as it’s a narrow and deeply carved slot that requires certain cables to be able to plug into. Since this isn’t a wireless keyboard, it does need to be jacked into a computing device through this USB port so you’ll either have to use the cable that comes with the keyboard or another one that can tightly squeeze into the hole. My coiled aviator cables don’t match up with this hole and I surmise others will also need to rely on the included cable to initially get this thing running. On the next model, please use a flat USB-C port, I’m begging you Syntech.
Speaking of included things, Syntech throws in a compact wrist pad with the Chronos 68. It’s made to fit perfectly within the frame of the keyboard and I’ve been using it with the mechanical keyboard since I unboxed it. It’s not the most plush wrist rest out there, but for a free add-on I think it’ll benefit some users out there who are only beginning their desk setup. I won’t be personally using it after my review period, but I do appreciate when OEM’s provide buyers with things that they believe enhance the product’s experience.
Performance
Typing on the keyboard is satisfying thanks to the ultra low latency rate from the Chronos. It’s an 8000 Hz polling rate that makes input seem near instant. There’s some customizable aspects that are activated through dedicated hotkey combinations like setting shorter actuation, but those are things that benefit gaming more than typing. The board can quickly switch between gaming mode and a regular typing profile through dedicated hotkeys. I made use of this during my review period and after customizing the actuation and adding Snap Tap to the gaming profile, the need to quickly swap between profiles was made clearly obvious. I think the typing experience on the Chronos is fine as it is. It’s comfortable and the keycaps are clean and legible. This specific board we were sent utilizes Outemu Magnetic Sealed Switches where I found the typing acoustic to be quite satisfying. It isn’t a glaringly loud pop off the key, in fact it’s quite the opposite as the Chronos gives off a muted cushion ambiance. Nonetheless, the sound is still satisfying for mechanical keyboard lovers.
The main selling point for a keyboard of this caliber is in its upper echelon gaming capabilities. A hall effect board like this one can unlock extra performance based results thanks to its technology. You’ll first have to access the web based app which is pre-programed as a hotkey combination on the board. If I’m being honest, it’s a bit freaky to have a hotkey programmed that types up a random web address in your browser by itself. Even more honesty, the interface of the application is bland and generic. It’s not inviting to use at all. Aside from the point, it at least does give operators a quick way to get access to modifying the capabilities of the Chronos 68. Through this portal, you’ll be able to not only calibrate the keyboard, but customize stroke settings, key bindings, and of course RGB settings.
Just to deviate quickly to the RGBs- the RGB show on the Chronos is rather basic. It lights up the board in all of the generic rainbow colorways, while cycling through the same kind of lighting patterns you’ll see on gaming keyboards from every maker. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with it, but it also isn’t anything to write home about. It simply lights the board up in bright enough colors to let you know that it’s a keyboard meant for gaming.
Anyway, once you configure and enable the functions you want to use in the app, you’ll have access to little performance tricks that some other players using a traditional mechanical board won’t have. For me, the most beneficial addition to a gaming experience through a hall effect keyboard is the Snap Tap function.
This is a precise movement mechanic that has the keyboard prioritize the most recent directional input when there is a finger occupying a press on an opposite command. The easiest example of this is using A and D to go left and right. If you’re still holding down the A key to go left while you suddenly press the D key to go right, a traditional keyboard won’t be able to register the new direction and your character would stall. This keyboard through the Snap Tap ability will continue with the right movement because it’s the newest command sensed by the input of the D key. That’s quite beneficial because you really don’t realize how much energy and movement you exert pulling fingers off a key at such quick speeds to register another key for a command during gameplay. This is especially true for rapid and chaotic movements in shooting games. With the Chronos 68, I can casually change my character’s trajectory without rapidly releasing the previous directional input. Once you use it, it’s hard to go back to the old way of playing.
Now Rapid Trigger is another one of these hall effect keyboard cheat mechanics that allow gamers to drop the actuation to as low as 0.1mm. Whereas a traditional mechanical keyboard would still be registering an action from an input on a key press that had any amount of pressure asserted, Rapid Trigger would instantly stop that motion with the same amount of pressure released on the key. As we coin the term in sports, you can literally stop at a dime if you wanted to with the Chronos 68. Like I said before, this is most beneficial playing a fast paced FPS game where every slight angle and movement is key to keeping your head on your shoulder.
Fake News
Contrary to gossip online, no game currently bans the use of Rapid Trigger.
Make no mistake about it, Syntech has a really fast gaming keyboard here that’s quite competitive in pricing. Hall effect boards are starting to saturate the lower end of the gaming keyboard market, but the higher end boards still command quite a bit of money. The Chronos 68 is comparable to offerings from Razer and other brands that allow for these same types of technological amenities on their mechanical keyboards. I think it’s a fine entrant into the hall effect catalog of gaming keyboards and I’m interested to see Syntech’s lineup further expand down the line.
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