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

Use case: Ive owned this mechanical keyboard (MK) for almost three years and use it daily. Pros: Durable, inexpensive, bright RGBs, great option for someone looking for their first MK I spilled an entire drink on this keyboard. I simply unplugged it, rinsed it in the sink, and set it out to thoroughly dry. Continued to work fine once dry. This was over a year ago. All RGBs still work fine, despite being on all the time during use. Cons: After purchasing a higher tier MK, I can confirm there is a noticeable difference in quality of the keycaps and switches. This MK has more post wobble, louder keystrokes, and overall less sound dampening. This does not impact overall functionality, and is not really noticeable unless you have experience with a higher tier MK. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would recommend this to anyone looking for their first MK, but dont want to break the bank. I would not recommend this to MK enthusiasts who may be disappointed by the less enjoyable typing experience compared to other, more expensive MKs. If ergonomics are important to you, plan to purchase or make a wrist wrest. This is really a requirement for most MKs, including those that are expensive.

I have 2 of these, both going strong after more than 2 years of daily usage. The software is adequate but not great. I rarely use it - the light controls are functional enough from the keyboard that I havent really needed it. RGB is bright and nice enough for my needs. I dont do much with RGB customization though. I like the brown switches. The keyboard feels heavy duty - metal chassis and keycaps have been solid. Its as ergonomic as you get in typical keyboard format. Its comfortable to type on if you use a normal keyboard layout. Overall great entry level mechanical keyboard. Possibly higher quality than most entry level ones. Ive been happy with the durability and function. Nicer build and keycaps than the one-handed keyboard I have from them (K585 - which is fine this just has a better feel). I considered 4 starts b/c of the software, but I dont use that enough to deduct a star. Overall, I would purchase again if looking for this type of product.

I have purchased several Redragon brand items. K556 keyboard, Vampire Elite Mouse, and even the Zeus Headphones. All have been excellent quality! This keyboard in particular is very sturdy, has some weight to it to prevent it from sliding, durable solid feel for those who smash keys, and can keep up with quick strokes! Yes it is a wired keyboard and is does NOT have wireless abilities. Keeps you from having to charge it for using the light up RGB. Its very customizable with RGB colors and can handle different key switch colors like brown, red, blue or black. Black is the most quite, red is second to that, then brown and is more of a tactile sound, and blue that is very clacky. The back board and underside of the keyboard is made with metal. The keys have Shiney texture around the sides of the keys and a grippy texture on the surface. It does come with a few things like tools to help you remove keys and switches if you want or need to change or replace. It also comes with a set of demo switches so you have a better understanding of what kind of switches you would like to change too for the future. Along with all of that it comes with a cool sticker and user manual. This is an excellent keyboard for those who like having a solid board that doesnt take up alot of room, yet still wants 100+ keys. There is software available if you want it, go to the redragon website and look for the software tab. The software makes it more indepth with the color customization for the RGB. By the way, for a black keyboard the RGB is rather bright and can be dimmed. I believe its bright due to good quality and shiney sides of the keys. All in all, a very good choice. If you like a sturdy board that doesnt slide around your desk, you like a board that is durable and can handle some abuse, and or you enjoy the customization of switches and colors, then THIS is the board for you. Amazon does tend to have it cheaper than the actual brands website at times so just keep your eyes open. Good quality keyboards can get rather pricey and Id say this is TOP quality material for an inexpensive board! Enjoy!!

This is an amazing keyboard for the price. The one I received only came with extra red keys, but I dont mind that at all. I did have some issues getting the right software for the keyboard, but some emails with support fixed it in just a short time. Works great for gaming and typing. Ton of fun with all the different modes, especially with the one that causes ripples when you type. If you can type fast, its like chaos at your fingertips.

The keyboard is pretty sturdy and heavy, and I like the customizable options for colors, but I had an awful time with missed key presses. It worked fine for a few months before it became an issue. Reddragons customer service was responsive but they couldnt help me since I didnt buy directly from them. I got around the missed key problem by moving around some of the switches but it eventually got annoying to constantly keep removing/reinserting/switching them. Im not sure if its more of an issue with the keyboard itself or the Outemu switches, but I guess I got what I paid for. The switches were also more scratchy compared to the logitech kb I have now.

This is an amazing deal for what is a really nice keyboard. Full disclosure, this is my first Mech keyboard. It feels really nice to type on and game on. Pros: I love how they give you 8 blue switches to swap out if you want. It also includes the keycap puller and the switch puller. Changing switches is a breeze. I changed out the WASD keys along with E and Q as I usually bind those two keys in most games. I have two left over. Ill likely change out R. I want to buy more of the blue switches as Ive found I really like the tactile bump and the audible click. Im happy they came with the option to change out the switches. It is a full RGB keyboard (If you use the software) and at this price point, that is a pretty amazing feature. There are a lot of options for customization. I do wish you could mix and match the presets. I like the presets that wave out or briefly light up the key you press. I wish I could have that and light up WASD full time. Ive found that I just leave it on a setting that slowly rolls through all the colors. Works for me. You can customize each key color. It took me forever to find out how to do this in the software. Its under the preset Costal. Ive found that sometimes the software will show a key as being lit up on that preset, but the actual key isnt lit up. Deselecting and reselecting the key fixes that. Slight annoyance. More on how frustrating the software is in the cons section. CONS: The software looks like it was written by a 13 year old. It reminds me of the old Red Alert game. It just has some weird, old 90s software vibe with it. The version on the disc is 1.00 so I dont know if an update is available for it. Which brings me to con 2 about the software. You only get a mini disc with the software on it. For those of us who opt not to have optical drives (seriously, who puts a CD drive in a PC anymore?), this is an annoyance. No worries, Redragon has software available on their site. Oh wait, the one for the K556 isnt what is advertised. Its literally a .PNG file. Thats it. No software to download from their website for the K556. Support is non existent. I filled out their form asking for a link to working software last week. Still not have heard back. Luckily I have a dinosaur laptop with a CD tray. I just popped in the disc and installed it to a thumb drive and used that to get it to my PC. Annoying for sure. Redragon, seriously, put the correct download for the K556 software and update it for crying out loud. Im not trying to infiltrate a base with Tanya using your software. Overall, the actual keyboard is a 5. The software and the experience getting it set up was a 3. If you want the full 16 million color range of true RGB, you need the software. I would highly recommend this keyboard. I now really want one for work so I can annoy everyone I work with with my clicky blue switches. Get this keyboard and forget the rest.

Overall nice rgb keyboard

I needed another mechanical keyboard with back lit keycaps, standard 104 layout, smooth, positive tactile action and macro capability. My prior 2 Redragon K556 RGBs continue to work great after 4 years so I got another K556 as I have had bad experiences with several other (name brand) makes (such as the keycaps easily falling off. etc.). My 3 Redragon keyboards are sturdy, quality built with great brown switches. I have had no problems with the switches in the 4 yo ones (never needed the spares) and in any case for piece of mind the new K556 version allows wider switch replacement capability if ever needed. The variable brightness is great and the key click sound level is just right - not annoying. Initially I could not program it. I emailed them and received excellent overnight customer support that fixed a problem of my own making. (The programming software for the latest K556 version was not compatible with the software previously downloaded for the old K556s.)

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.

Pros: The keyboard is proper. It has a brushed aluminum look in black and feels great. It is made from some kind of metal and my favorite part is that its very lowkey. What I mean is that a lot of keyboards have their branding on display front and center where as this one has a very nice logo with matching color inserted into a very tiny space above the up arrow key. Its hardly noticeable and I like that. Ive been playing a few games here and there and all the keys are very responsive. The colors are awesome, so many options. From the top of my head I can remember maybe 10 or so options for lighting cycles and the entire RGB spectrum available. I dont mess around with that part much but its very nice to have in case I want to change the asthetic. The keys are superb, to be fair Ive never had a mechanical keyboard but my typing for work feels much faster and I make very few mistakes when typing in one go cause I feel like I hardly ever miss the correct key. Cons: Some very light dings on the corners where it seems the black paint was slightly scratched showing the bare silver metal under. For me, not a big deal cause after inspecting it, its only the paint itself, not the metal that was damaged. The keyboard is not light. Although I like the heaviness of it, I put it in the cons section cause that might not be for everyone. I personally like it because the weight keeps it from moving around. Conclusion: 10/10 honestly. I would buy a RedDragon again. Best price I could find for the full key arrangement I wanted which includes the numlock number keys for this price. I would probably get a different key setup as these browns are slightly louder than I had anticipated. But thats not a con, I just didnt do proper research into keys when I purchased. Still VERY happy with mine and wont be returning or exchanging. The noise is growing on me and kind of ASMR if Im being honest (weird as that sounds).