Early Verdict
The Turtle Beach Impact 500 is an attractive option for TKL fans that want a no-frills mechanical keyboard, but the price is a little steep.
Pros
- +
Simple, cool and solid design
- +
Works with Macs and older PCs (6KRO)
- +
Totally plug-and-play
- +
Little extraneous key noise
Cons
- -
Pricey for a keyboard with no frills
- -
Costar stabilizers
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Introduction And Specifications
It's not an insult to say that there's nothing extraordinary about Turtle Beach's Impact 500 mechanical keyboard. In fact, it's almost as if it was designed that way. The all-black tenkeyless Impact 500 features no backlit keys and has a simple and compact rectangular design, almost as if the Das Keyboard 4C Professional and Nixeus Moda v2 got together and had a baby.
Also, yes, Turtle Beach makes keyboards. Like many companies these days, Turtle Beach is testing the waters of gaming peripherals, and the Impact 500 and the higher-end Impact 700 are among the company's early efforts. (There's also a non-mechanical-switch Impact 100 keyboard and two gaming mice from the company.)
Specifications
Note: There are several specifications that Turtle Beach has not published, and my questions to company representatives regarding those details have gone unanswered.
MORE: How We Test Mechanical Keyboards
MORE: Keyboard Reviews
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