Redragon K556 RGB LED Backlit Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, 104 Keys Hot-Swap Mechanical Keyboard w/Aluminum Base, Upgraded Socket and Noise Absorbing Foams, Quiet Linear Red Switch

I had gotten another keyboard from another company that was more expensive than this one. It was struggling to work with my Imac even though it said it supported Apple. I returned it, and got this one instead. I am so glad that I got this keyboard instead! it works well with my Imac. Its satisfying to type with, is extremely sturdy with the metal frame, and has the best color schemes. The only tiny complaint I have is the spring feedback while typing. When some of the buttons (most annoyingly the spacebar) come back up, there is a resonating spring echo. For me it is something minor, and the rest of the features of the keyboard outweigh this small detail. This would be more for individuals with a sound sensitivity to small sounds like that. Overall, Im happy with my purchase, and would recommend this keyboard to anyone in the market for one.

Its been just a good keyboard. Its also unexpectedly heavy, so be ready for that. Also get a wrist pad if you dont float your wrists when typing. The software is primitive and the RGB spectrum isnt great. The color you select on screen often doesnt match what shows up on the keyboard unless you are close to a standard color, example, white is light purple, and the lighter you go on any color slowly turns into light purple. Has a twang that sounds like a spring being flicked in a metal box if you press the keys with normal typing force, so I constantly hear it. I hear people say its because the switches are seated in a metal frame, but I understand a common theme among higher quality mechanical keyboards is they are mostly metal, so Ill chalk this experience up to low build quality. Would be interesting to hear the switches in a plastic frame. They are also starting to develop a slight squeak. I havent tried lubing or isolation rings so not sure if that would help. I dont think the actuation force feels uniform across all keys. These brown switches have a barely noticeable ridge when pressed, my opinion is that they are just alright in terms of mechanical feel. It comes with other samples of switches, the blacks take more force but dont have a noticeable ridge when pressed, the reds just feel light and mushy, and the blue have a nice click that sounds similar to a mouse click but add in the twang and squeak issue I mentioned earlier and I dont think I could handle that... The caps lock indicator light will sometimes switch indication. Meaning when you press the caps lock key and the light turns on, youll be typing lowercase. It switches back on its own. I have no idea whats going on with that. This is my first mechanical keyboard, so I didnt want to spend a lot. You get what you pay for so thats why I rated 4 stars instead of 3, because a lot of this doesnt necessarily mean the keyboard is junky it just means it was constructed as a cheap mechanical keyboard. I went from low profile membrane to this and it definitely required a learning curve, but regardless of all of this I dont think Ill go back to membrane. In the future Ill just get something higher quality that has switches with more actuation force, less travel, and an ever so slight click if something like that exists.

[Original Review: April 2, 2019 - 1 Star] The Redragon K556 RGB arrived yesterday and I eagerly connected it to my computer. Unfortunately my Win 10 computer (HP Pavilion p6710f) doesnt recognize it as being connected. Ive tried connecting to several different USB ports, rebooting each time, but the keyboard stays dead. My old keyboard works in all of these ports. Installing their driver made no difference. Ive contacted Redragon via their website, as the red card in the package told me to do, so well see what sort of response I get. Meanwhile, it gets one star since you cant give zero. [Update, April 5 - 5 stars] Shortly after writing my initial review, I revisited my Amazon order and clicked the Get Product Support button. The Amazon agent responding to the chat gave me my choice of replacement keyboard or refund. With all the glowing reviews I was seeing here, I just figured I got a defective unit and asked for a replacement. It arrived today, and the instant I plugged it into a USB port on my desktop, it sprang to life, and Im using it to type this update. Im a touch typist and have no problem with the key feel and spacing. The laser-etched keytops let the backlighting shine through nicely and will serve me well for those evening/night computer sessions, and besides they just look cool. Im bumping my rating of the hardware up to 5 stars. Meanwhile, yesterday I received an email from Redragon in response to the message I had left on their website, apologizing for my problem and asking for a video. I replied asking a video of what -- there was nothing to show because the keyboard was dead. They responded asking for my order number and address so they could send me a MOUSE. I replied with the requested information, but pointed out that I had purchased a keyboard, not a mouse, and that Amazon was already sending me a replacement keyboard. Maybe theyre sending me a mouse to compensate me for my trouble (?). I feel they really want to stand behind their product, but there might be a communication problem. Anyhow, well see what ensues. [Added later] Never received a mouse ...

We use these for gaming. Great mechanical feedback and excellent quality for the price! No problems with keys or need to replace any so far. This brand is a great value. There are audible clicks when you use this keyboard, so if that annoys you (or anyone around you) you may not want to not opt to buy any mechanical keyboard. That said, I don’t think it’s that loud and I actually enjoy hearing the clicky sounds as I type. I’d guess that these would make anyone a better typist (and maybe gamer!) My kids are now mechanical keyboard converts. After moving off of a mushy membrane keyboard, they can’t believe the difference. :)

Ngl this is my first mechanical keyboard so I’m no expert but I still really like it. I type a lot both for fun and for school, I haven’t had an issue with the keys or the board itself. It’s heavy because of the metal base but I’m not planning on carrying it around with me or travelling with it. I like the heaviness because it doesn’t feel like it’s going to break. Recommend

This is a pretty quick and easy review. The construction is sturdy. The many different lighting options is great. No aura sync, but got it to match anyhow. All of the switches work great. Very responsive. I really cant say anything bad about this keyboard. I took a gamble on it and am very glad that I did. Its a keyboard, it works well, and it looks cool. Triple threat.

After I initially got this keyboard the left shift key began to quickly degenerate and became almost useless over the course of about a week. It got so bad that even holding it down firmly I could only get it to work very intermittently. Then, the left control button suddenly stopped working and was even worse. I definitely do not abuse or smash the keyboard so there was no reason for this to be happening other than a defect. The good news is that upon replacing the switches for those two keys with the two provided brown switches, they now work perfectly. I found a video on youtube that shows how to replace them and it was super easy with the provided tools. Really it took about 2 minutes to replace both. In case anyone has difficulty finding directions you use the larger plastic tool push down and clamp on a key (with the arms at the top and bottom of the key), then pull it straight up. It shouldnt take very much force. Then you use the metal tool to remove the switch (again with the arms at the top and bottom of the switch). The switch has little tabs holding them in place at the top and bottom which the tool needs to push in as you grab them in order to pull them out. Once the switch is out you just push a new one on with your hand and then push the key down on top of it. It seems like other people have had this same problem and solution. So, maybe the switches have a higher fail rate than they should. But, I actually like the design where there may be some bad switches but theyre super easy to replace. Its better in a way than having a keyboard with a lower fail rate, but where one broken key means your keyboard is dead forever. Putting the key issue aside, the pros of the keyboard in my opinion are: Typing and gaming is very nice once all your keys are working The colored LEDs look great and there are some very nice color options you can select without installing any software. Cons: It really is a bit loud with and if you pay close attention has a springy sort of after-sound after hitting a key To get all LED options you need software which I havent bothered to use.

If you want to get into a mechanical on the discount, this could be a good choice. Knock off cherry MX brown hall effect switches. Lots of LED, not full array-full zone, but ok. The unit performs well and is largely quiet except for the over travel by the switches. If you want a mechanical for work or games, you could do far worse

I have only been using the Red Dragon K556 going on three days now but the seller is asking for an honest review. So far, I am very happy with the entire process. I had originally been looking for an office keyboard that had some sort of back lighting and I had gone through a couple of much cheaper options before upgrading to this one from Red Dragon. When I first opened the packaging it was shipped in, I was a little concerned due to the minimal packing materials but upon inspecting the keyboard itself, it was in perfect condition, not a dent or scratch to be found. This is the first keyboard I have used that has an aluminum casing, It is very sturdy and I like the heft of it when moving it around. It just feels like a well made piece of equipment. The keyboard stays in place on the desk and doesnt slide around. I read one reviewer who said that by sliding the keyboard on the desk, the plastic tilting tabs on the bottom tended to flip closed on one side or the other making the keyboard wobble. This, so far, has not been my experience. I am able to slide it around a bit without affecting the tilting tabs. When first plugging it in, I noticed the nice length of the USB cable. It is plenty long enough to reach my tower that sits about two feet over and one foot down and I still have a nice excess to move the keyboard around a bit. I knew before purchasing that there were many more lighting functions one the K556 but I dont think I appreciated just how many options you have with back lighting colors and patterns. There are 9 different solid color options and I have not even explored how many light pattern options there are. I can tell you that there seem to be many multi-colored options to choose from. I primarily like one solid color but it can be fun to explore all the different options when you just dont feel the work happening. All colors can be completely turned off or they can be set to any of five levels of brightness. This K556 came with brown switches which have proved to be exactly what I had been looking for previously. I didnt really know much about switch brands, such as outemu or cherry but this brown switch is much quieter than the previous blue I used. Mind you it is not silent but it doesnt make much more noise than a soft clicking. The keys are very responsive, being what I suppose is a tactile keyboard. I notice that when typing faster, I dont have to mash the keys. Its almost as if they are two stage keys where you can feel the halfway mark which is as far as I need to push to get a response. The keys spring back instantly and smoothly. I had read another review where the reviewer experiences some sort or ringing or vibrating sound (I dont remember exactly) but they thought it may have been related to the aluminum casing or something. (Again, I think I am remembering this correctly) I do not experience any other sound other that the keys making their normal soft clicking. I have not used this for gaming, hence the three stars for the gaming feature but I cant imagine it being a poor gaming keyboard. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase but again, I have only been using it for three days now. Customer service instantly emailed me to ask for a review and to assure me that they were available within 24 hours should I have any problems. Hopefully it wont come to that. All of this was to say that so far, I am very happy with this purchase am am hoping for long usage.

EDIT - 4/21/20: I have owned this keyboard for about a month and a half. My overall impressions are extremely favorable, and I GREATLY prefer this keyboard to my other Redragon board with Outemu blues. However, I have noticed that the Up arrow key developed a springy noise that the other keys didnt. The keys are hot-swappable, so I exchanged the switch for one of the the extra brown switches included in the box. The up arrow key no longer has the noise, but one of the extra brown switches in the box did, so I am now out of usable brown replacement switches. Im not going to change my review, but be aware that the longevity of these Redragon-branded switches may not be up to par with name-brand switches. I will update this review if I experience any more of this. TL;DR: If you hate glossy keycaps and/or metallic pinging sounds while typing, the great features of this board wont be worth it to you. This keyboard has a lot of excellent qualities. It excels in a few categories, but it falls short in others, and the shortcomings are non-trivial. All of the positive things Ive read in reviews about this keyboard are true, but unfortunately, so are all the negatives. Pros: 1. Extremely heavy and well-built. I also own the K551 Vara from Redragon, and this seems even more solid than that beast. No flex or rattle to be found. 2. Very flexible RGB implementation. Im not all that concerned about RGB, but its here if you need it. There are on-board and software controls available. 3. Switches feel nice and there is a tactile bump with little noise. There is less tactility than I expected, but I am coming from blues and Im also a bit heavy-handed when it comes to typing, so this may be an irrelevant complaint for many. 4. Redragon offers an 18-month warranty, which is quite long for a Chinese brand that uses many of the same components as the competition. 5. Redragon includes 8 spare switches in the box, along with a switch-puller and keycap-puller. There are 2 browns, 2 blues, 2 reds, and 2 blacks. Cons: 1. The keycaps are nice and matte on the top, but the sides are glossy and appear quite cheap. The included keycap puller seems to use harder plastic than the keys, and IT WILL SCRATCH THE SIDES. If I end up keeping this keyboard, I will probably switch out the caps down the line. They are noticeably worse than the keycaps on my K551 Vara, which had a very nice matte texture on the sides as well as the top. 2. The metallic ping rumors are true. I feel like this is a result of the shape and metal construction of the keyboard case. It doesnt happen upon pressing down the key, but if you release a key and let it rebound with no pressure on it, you will hear it quite loudly. This will be especially obvious when typing quickly, as you will hear many pings together. Its slightly annoying and I could get used to it, but I dont feel I should have to. This is my main issue with the keyboard. As previously mentioned, I own another Redragon mechanical keyboard with blue Outemu switches, and the ping is present but MUCH less obvious. I think its an issue thats inherent with mechanical keyboards in general, but the switch choice and case design can exacerbate the problem. 3. The switches are NOT Outemu branded. Many reviews and Q&A responses on this listing mention Outemu switches. Because of previous positive experiences with Outemu switches, I was happy to hear that this keyboard uses them. It does not. The switches used, including the spares, are Redragon branded. They must have used Outemu in the past and recently started using their own. With that said, the switches look identical to actual Outemu browns Ive seen in video reviews of this and other keyboards, so its entirely possible that Redragon sources the switches from Outemu/Gaote and rebrands them. They do feel good, and though I have limited experience typing on browns, Im enjoying it so far. Im also changing the keycaps, so that may enhance the feel further. Overall Comments: With all things considered, the keyboard is excellent value, but has some flaws. The build, RGB, and overall feel are very impressive, as is the warranty, but the whole package feels less premium due to the cheap keycaps and the metallic ping. For 10-15 dollars less, there are options like the E-Element Z-88 that use similar brown Outemu switches and seem to have an identical layout and even probably use the same PCB judging by the RGB options. The Redragon K556 Devarajas seems to offer the best experience that can be had with brown switches at this price range, so for many buyers it will be worth the compromise. To get a significant upgrade in features or quality, Id expect to spend twice as much.