alright enough with the creepy music I just thought it was appropriate given
what came out of the package this is something actually quite special from a
small brand called Azeron and it's unlike anything I've used for gaming so
far both and the good and a bad way what started out as a unique showcase of DIY
talent back in 2017 has now evolved in something much more market friendly when
we talk about the small niche of users who like to macro everything onto their
keyboards and also beyond so gamepads and now with these gaming keypads and
the Azeron product is about that too but it's also about experimentation
customization on the whole new level with a few really interesting quirks so
let me tell you about my experience using this thing in-game which is both
extremely frustrating and fantastic at the same time right after this power up
your PC with be quite straight power Levin platinum series featuring 80 plus
platinum efficiency a fully modular design high quality Japanese capacitors
and a styling Lynx fan that's optimized for air flow and silence choose be quiet
and your components will thank you alright so let's start from the
beginning Azeron gets huge props for trying to cater to all gamers this means
you get to choose left or right-handed option choosing the size of the gamepad
based on your hand size with a handy printout then choosing the right wrist
rest either a flat or curved I get both but prefer the curved one because for my
hand size it just gives me much better ergonomics the flat one is a bit too
flat and finally you choose the color combination to fit your setup that
doesn't cost extra so there is no bling no RGB illumination the color you choose
is what sets it apart in terms of peripherals and design and I don't mind
that to finally have a gaming peripheral without RGB nice the downside here is
wait time as it may take up to 25 days for this thing to be produced
however given this whole thing is 3d printed I think the price
pretty fair given this thing is the most unique gaming keypad on the market right
now so let's take a closer look I don't know how you guys feel about this but I
kind of like the rough texture on the body and on the nail triggers it doesn't
feel as polished as like some mass-produced accessories but it is one
of the unique quirks and there is no gloss the plastic frame feels good the
extensions on the fingers have some density to them and when adjusting the
button towers they get into position very well that you can fully secure with
this cute screwdriver it's well grounded - with rubber pads at the bottom and the
way to the whole thing here is next to my ducky one too many for size reference
so if you're looking to save on desk space this should satisfy
now the first hiccup I encountered with this thing when plugging it in is that
my computer did not actually recognize it and that is it because I plugged it
into a USB 3 port and I had to plug in to USB 2 port update the firmware and
install the drivers for it to finally work on a USB 3 port so something to
keep in mind but now let's get to the fun part the 26 custom buttons the 5 way
directional pad and the full analog joystick so everything is customizable
with 2 onboard profiles that you can switch on the fly with this button on
the side or endless profiles through the software and more on that later the
switches are not your traditional keyboard switches though instead they're
using micro switches the same type used in mice very tactile short travel
distance easy to press and fairly quiet with a few unconventional locations on
the button towers giving you 6 buttons for the point finger 5 for the middle
and 4 for the rest and then the bottom here you can loosen them up adjust the
actual distance of each finger tower based on your hand size and based on
your finger length which is actually perfect you can literally customize this
to fall into your hand when you put it down without anything feeling weird or
out of place and for that Azeron gets another huge prop and finally here what
the switches sound like
actually a very close sound profile to the G305 now the button towers for your
point and middle fingers are slightly larger giving you extra buttons for the
top over here and they are a little bit awkward to learn how to press and not
forget to use them actually whereas everything else is a bit more in reach
and a little bit more comfortable to use than these two buttons but you
definitely have to train yourself on figuring out how to use these in the
most efficient way possible for your playstyle and for what games you play
and so it is precisely because of the switches I had to completely rethink my
gaming hand the three fingers that are normally around the wast area now had to
activate all other key binds and my thumb instead of hitting spacebar all
the time was in charge of movement with this analog stick and this is where the
frustration kicked in because my finger memory for FPS was totally messed up I'm
not used to moving with my thumb because I've never owned the console so this
actually would be a great transition from a console towards PC gaming because
it's kind of like combining the two in terms of ergonomics and customization
and giving you a little bit of that old-school joystick analog movement and
I literally spend hours reassigning keybinds for these four fingers that are
normally around the was the area I mean that was a bit unnatural especially for
fps for example I cannot strafe as fast as I can with a keyboard because going
left to right requires so much movement on the joystick and my thumb would
eventually slip even with these textured rubber pads which are included and
remapping movement to my natural was the area was really unnatural because of the
switch type perhaps if you're coming from a console the analog joystick will
feel totally natural to you but not having that instant reaction between a
and D on the keyboard I mean this is a lot of movement for for me to do a left
and right strafing which I just couldn't do with the analog
joystick but it is absolutely much easier and much faster to do on the
keyboard this also includes going forward and backwards too so it's not
just strafing left and right it's not having that like instantaneous control
of my character movement for FPS I will say that if you want to skip the whole
Anna like joystick navigation you could also remap Waze to like your
three fingers over here and navigate that way but for me personally the
travel distance and just not having the tactility that I'm used to on a
mechanical keyboard is a bit strange to program was into this area but it is
definitely an option but how about the games where it is fantastic so basically
any third-person perspective that will take advantage of that analog stick
witcher 3 is a perfect example so movement and that game is just much
better with the as our own gamepad and having spent time on my shortcuts made a
huge difference to enjoy this product versus being frustrated by it Witcher 3
is fantastic with the controller and now with the gamepad having that analog
movement gives you just a little bit more precise navigation with your horse
with your character and reconfiguring those shortcuts it's all rewarding in
the end right Dead Redemption 2 is another perfect example where the
joystick lets you do this and generally more precise movement while utilizing
all 26 buttons after a few hours of reconfiguring Mikey binds and honestly
that has been the most frustrating and time-consuming experience I like trying
to see what works and what doesn't in terms of all these buttons for your main
fingers because the thumb is pretty occupied with movement but like where do
you map how its spacebar where do you map out shift ctrl and alt like having
spacebar that I press with my middle finger it's it kind of bizarre and you
have to retrain physical memory thing your memory and just like literally
spend time training your hand so that your traditional was the area and
spacebar mashing is totally different which is why this thing did not work for
me in FPS games like Call of Duty no way I just go back to the keyboard
immediately but for other games I can kind of
myself and force myself to use this thing where it actually becomes
enjoyable I didn't have to deactivate some of the keys in the beginning
because I would activate them by accident again having not trained the
finger memory to let's say not click the buttons which are kind of like out of
sight where you press press them in and also these top buttons for your point
and make a middle fingers they're just kind of so awkward and for me I don't
know it feels unnatural for me to be lifting my fingers away from the buttons
that are mostly used but it's kind of still nice to have in case you want to
program something that you don't often use but you might and you don't want to
like reach for the keyboard shortcut and the way I would customize the switches
as I would go into the game see what shortcut does what I'll tab into the as
run software reconfigure those buttons to the switches and go back into the
game and this way I don't mess up with any of my keyboard shortcuts because if
I go back to the keyboard all those things are different and the keypad is
lets you do everything that you wanted to do without any of the hassle on the
software and lastly the software package is still in the early stages but I love
the simplicity approach to this complicated product you click a button
assign the key bind save to a profile and here's what you can do with the
joystick to either have full analog Xbox stick keyboard was or them together you
can even calibrate the joystick for motion sensitivity and direction so
instead of moving forward when you pressed forward if you move feel more
comfortable changing a direction when you click up that goes forward you can
do that easily in the software I have noticed a few instances and games like
Assassin's Creed Odyssey where enabling the joystick motion disables Mouse
support which is strange I did not experience that with Witcher 3 so that
is something to keep in mind therefore I had to disable the joystick and just
keep the was activated when I move the joystick around otherwise in all other
games Mouse was enabled while also giving me full joystick control and what
this product made me realize is how I am never leaving in keyboard behind for FPS
gaming but also how I've been kind of miss
the totally unique approach to button mapping is both brilliant and the
drawback and having to like reprogram your physical memory and all the
software keys and the fact that it's also 3d printed and so custom made to
you order is well worth the asking price if you don't feel natural with a
keyboard and one something that is a bit of a hybrid between like mallow switches
and a full analog joystick control this thing would definitely be on my
recommendation list as long as you commit and kind of accept the challenges
that it comes with this kind of unconventional and almost unnatural way
of clicking your binds but yeah you just got a train and give it all alright I'm
Dimitri thanks so much for watching check out this other relevant content
let me know if you are using gamepad or you know how is this like catering to a
very small niche of users I mean yes it does and I wouldn't necessarily use this
for like a Productivity one I probably rather just get something that is like
the Tartarus v2 that is slightly cheaper and has a bit more conventional way of
finding keys for that one area alright thanks much for watching and
I'll talk to you next
you