Optical or mechanical; tactile or linear, customisable switches, switches.. What even are switches? Keyboards have gone above and beyond what we used a decade ago. Now, we have options. SteelSeries has a number of options to cater to all the needs of a regular office space, the average gamer, and even to a pro esports team. SteelSeries has provided us with the ‘Apex 9 Mini’ so we can test some of their current optical switches.

In the box, you will find the keyboard, the USB to USB-C cable, and a keycap puller. Surprisingly missing was a key switch remover tool. Boasting innovation with swappable optical switches, it was a shock that I had to pry them out by my fingernails to get a good look at them. Despite that, let’s get into the real nitty-gritty of the Apex 9 Mini.. the actual switches.

Being a mini, it is small. At a lightweight, 60% design size, it is compact with only the basic features and without a traditional number pad on the right. As a reviewer, the 60% size is actually my preferred size keyboard as it frees up so much space on my desk to spread my notes out. Perfect size for limited spacing. It also sports a braided power cable in a decent length, tough and durable, perfect for lasting and perfect for positioning. The keys are slightly concave for comfort but otherwise nothing very innovative with the whole overall design lacking any real flair, just simple and sleek in matte black. In contrast, each key also has its own individual RGB backlighting and a pleasing slight textured design that adds that glowish style to any setup. The aluminium alloy frame is lightweight but sturdy too.

The switches are definitely the foundation star of the Apex 9 Series. Firstly, they are shipped with OptiPoint linear optical switches. You might say though, what is the difference between mechanical and optical? Mechanical switches use their spring function to actuate in conjunction with over-moving parts, while an optical switch uses its spring by passing through a light to actuate a triggered response. Being swappable switches though as mentioned before, if you can’t customise every switch to your own needs you can invest in some others, to mix and match for your own needs.

The switches have a decent registration depth with 2-point actuation. This means it can be customised to register your keystrokes at 1mm for quickness or 1.5mm for accuracy, in 0.2 of a millisecond. Adding the optical switch’s ability to have zero debounce (not sending multiple signals as it lifts) and these sorts of response times, would be a dream for any pro player but what about a normie like myself? As an average gamer, I didn’t feel an overt difference between a mechanical and optical keyboard but my skills are lacking. I do feel the optical switches did feel smoother in quick succession and with multiple inputs but I wasn’t sure if my brain was tricking me as their overall keyboard is just so damn slick.

The SteelSeries Key blazend with their logo also acts like a control giving certain keys another function and I found myself using it mostly with Spotify running in the background to control the forwards, backwards, and pausing of my beats.

The SteelSeries GG software is the place to go for all your customization needs. This software is so easy to install and has such a user-friendly interface. Typical to most high-end keyboards this is where you can trick out your deck and make it more innovative and multifunctional. You can change the actuation point, key, dual and meta bindings (also accessed via the SteelSeries Keys), and your RGB lighting.

Switching it was easy with the seamless dropdowns and clear instructions. It didn’t take long before I was saving my own custom configurations for different games and just general quality-of-life procedures for work that need to find tuning to my personal comforts such as tightening all my key bindings to a more chilled experience such as typing reviews where I experimented with numbers as arrows.

Overall, The Apex 9 Mini by SteelSeries is a delightful little keyboard with responsive but durable switches. For AU$299 at www.jbhifi.com.au, SteelSeries has a legacy of knowing what the consumer wants and with their constant push in customisation even in switches proves they know what wave to ride. It’s refreshing.

Written by: Stacey