Tecware Phantom S Review
This is what a $50 Mechanical Keyboard in 2025 is like
Disclaimer: Tecware 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: $49.99
The basics
Budget mechanical keyboards have absolutely plummeted in price in recent years. It’s becoming difficult to argue purchasing keyboards in triple-digit price ranges when one half the price can function and perform nearly as well. Known in the PC industry for their reliable budget offerings, Tecware’s Phantom S mechanical keyboard embodies a lot of the company’s core competencies through its no-nonsense offering here.
A small digital display under the volume knob
As a 75% layout, the Phantom S has 80 keys alongside a tiny square digital screen, and a volume knob. This is a plastic case and it certainly feels that way upon touch. I will say though that there wasn’t a whole lot of creaking while I tried to flex the board so it’s put together quite well for such an inexpensive piece. There’s also quite a lot of layered damping here that I’m happy to see on a cheap priced gasket mount design.
The most premium feeling item on the entire board is the volume knob– which Tecware has planted unique textures all around its metal material. The volume knob rotates extremely smoothly and emits a satisfying click. On the other hand, the digital display screen directly under the volume knob is a bit underwhelming. It functions as an indicator for connection type, battery life, and a clock. You can customize the display to push a GIF, but I personally don’t find that to be too beneficial. It’s just too small to have any meaningful customization flare behind it. I would have rather the Tecware just not have this as the board layout would look even cleaner and more minimalistic than it already is without it.
Customizibility
This board comes with Red Linear Switches that are complimented by double-shot ABS keycaps. They sound about as you’d expect from red linear switches. There’s a bit of hollow-ness behind the clanking and it's slightly too stiff for maxim fluid typing, but it’s a mechanical keyboard that sounds like what many think a basic mechanical keyboard should sound like. I also did a little bit of MMORPG gaming on here and the Phantom S was perfectly fine for that. It’s a 3 or 5-pin universal hot-swappable so if you want to change it up after a while, you certainly can do that.
I do like how the RGB looks on the Phantom S. The keycaps shine-through the symbology which makes it not only much easier to see in darker rooms, but it also looks a lot cleaner. The symbology contains the concentration of RGB colors and it just looks refined here. The three-tone color scheme is rather generic, yet then again, the combination of black, white and gray does have a Phantom-vibe behind it thus matching the namesake.
Connections
Force of Red
The actuation Force of these switches are 45 ± 8gf
There are three connectivity modes to choose from when using this wireless keyboard: pure Bluetooth 5.0, a 2.5Ghz receiver, and through the USB-C port. Tecware tacked on an interestingly shaped slider on the left frame wrapping over the board to control which mode the keyboard is in. It’s a little extra and doesn’t slide cleanly, but when you add a little extra leverage to the switch it does the job it's intended to do. The frame on the opposite side houses a USB receiver slot to store inside the body of the keyboard. I don’t recall reviewing another keyboard with a slot in this position, but it does look a little strange to look at located there.
One of my main annoyances with this keyboard is that it misses my first key press when waking up from sleep. It’s a wireless keyboard headache that I see on lower priced products and it rears its head on the Phantom S. After a while I got into the habit of pressing what I call a “phantom press” (pun intended) before I hit the actual first letter key I want to type on. It isn’t ideal, but it's just something you have to live with on this keyboard.
Since this is a wireless keyboard, it will need to be charged through the USB-C port on the top of the frame. A major disappointment for me was how often I ended up needing to charge the board. I wasn’t able to get even a solid full work week out of one charge from this 4000 mAh battery. While I liked the north-facing LEDs, I don’t think keeping the RGB settings on as well as connecting through Bluetooth should have that significant of a drain on the longevity of the mechanical keyboard. I think it's well within reason to expect at least more than 4 days of battery life on a keyboard nowadays. In fact, wireless keyboards should at a bare minimum survive 7 days with its RGB flare running.
Should you Buy?
To be frank, even for the low MSRP that the Phantom S sells at, I’m not sure if it is worth the tradeoff for the lackluster battery life and the slow wakeup times. It’s a decent mechanical keyboard in typing experience and for basic gaming purposes, but yet the market for mechanical keyboards is extremely competitive and there are lots of terrific options currently available, some even from Tecware’s own library.
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