Razer Cynosa Lite: Gaming Keyboard Review


It’s probably no shock to you that this reviewer, who writes quite a lot each week, is very interested in how keys feel on a keyboard. The Razer Cynosa Lite was received with a sense of excitement.

But what do we look for in a keyboard? Well, it’s fine to have a keyboard to game on, but you don’t want to keep swapping keyboards like pens in a pencil case for different uses.

You want an all-rounder, one that works for everything when it counts, and this is what the entry-level Razer Cynosa Lite is. Let's see how it holds up...

Feel - Score 85

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As this is a full-layout keyboard, all the keys work as expected, and feel great. The travel is there and when playing

RE: Resistance

and

Half-Life 2

, all worked as expected.

The only caveat was the small enter key; compared to other function keys like ‘shift’ and ‘backspace’, this is one key that would have been better to have the original shape.

Usually, this key would be pressed for a ‘pause’ screen, but instead, a punctuation key is used here instead. There shouldn’t be a learning curve for the enter key, not in any keyboard.

It’s also ‘spill-resistant’, and while there was no Irn Bru spilt when testing it, the design of the keyboard makes you think that it will be able to withstand a spill or two when the time comes.

Fast and it works well

Something that the

RK100

didn’t work well for, was for documents. Here, the Razer works well, especially when you’re working on banners and speedrun tables for your Twitch streams, or even just having the odd Google Docs moment. There’s no chance of missing certain keys when typing and each key is spacious enough to get the job done when it counts.

Another part that’s different from the RK100 is the type of keys, as these are membrane instead of mechanical. This is the reason why it feels softer on the touch, but it works as intended, and when playing games such as

Counterstrike: GO

, the response time when pressing a key and the action being done on screen is fast and it works well.

The Chroma Studio found in the

Razer Basilisk

mouse also works here, and the key binding works well. There’s also settings to disable the ‘Windows’ key when in a game, so that common mistake can be non-existent.

RGB - Score 70

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Similar to other products from

Razer

, there are RGB options here, and they can be customised through ‘Synapse’ and Chroma-Studio as well.

But when it came to the brightness of the keys, they were very dim, even at 100% of brightness. Settings were changed to see if other cycles of ‘breathing’ or even ‘random’ would light the keyboard up a bit more, but the dimness still stayed. It's not quite a nineties rave show, to be honest, which might be what some people want.

Not quite a nineties rave show

There’s also only one light on all keys; there can’t be multiple colours, which is a shame, but for an entry-level keyboard like this, it makes sense.

But if you can only see the colours after 8PM or when the curtains are drawn, then it makes the whole feature a bit pointless if you’re shopping for a keyboard to have an RGB feature.

Price - Score 95

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For

£40 on Amazon

, it’s a straight forward price for an entry-level keyboard. The RGB may falter but you get customization through ‘Synapse’, and if you own another Razer device, you can sync the colours up and not have to worry about being blinded by a rainbow of colours at once from all the devices.

Our Score

Pros

  • Affordable price
  • Great feel of the keys for work and games
  • Easy customisation thanks to 'Synapse'

Cons

  • Small enter key was a strange decision
  • RGB is poor in the brightness department
  • Only one colour at a time

Overall it’s a good entry-level keyboard, whether you're planning to do some casual gaming or mix it in with a few evenings of Google Docs. The RGB brightness is a letdown here, but the customization of it through ‘Synapse’, along with the customisation of the keys themselves do make up for that.

It’s a keyboard that will keep you in good stead, and for £40 it’s a very affordable one from Razer that will keep you going for the years to come. Just don't expect a light show when you really need one.

Read more:

Apple Magic Keyboard Review

For more articles like this, take a look at our New Peripherals, Peripherals, and Reviews pages.