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Best Gaming Keyboard Under $100 for 2023

Improve your stats with a good gaming keyboard that won’t break the bank.

A keyboard can make or break your PC gaming setup. Don’t let a bad one ruin your gaming experience. A new keyboard is an easy upgrade, especially considering the plethora of great options under $100. We tested tons of budget-friendly keyboards to help you decide which one is going to give you the most bang for your buck.

Just like picking out a new gaming mouse, getting the right gaming keyboard has a lot to do with personal preference — from ergonomic design (hello, wrist rest) to whether you prefer RGB lighting, mechanical keys, tactile feedback, programmable keys, dedicated media keys or so many other features that we can’t even begin to list them. To help narrow your keyboard design preferences, check out GameSpot’s glossary of keyboard terms.

Read more: Best Gaming Mouse Under $50 for 2023

It’s worth noting that Aukey, which makes one of our top picks, was booted from Amazon last year because it was one of several vendors reported to have solicited positive user reviews for gift cards. But since our experience with the quality and value of Aukey accessories has been positive, we continue to recommend its hardware.

Josh Goldman/CNET

You’re receiving price alerts for Razer Cynosa V2 Gaming Keyboard

If you’re most comfortable doing your office work on a membrane keyboard, the Cynosa might be the gaming keyboard for you. It’s a membrane keyboard, not mechanical, so the keys are quiet and definitely feel softer than the others here and some might find them mushy. Still, if you’re looking to use one keyboard for both work and play, this is a fine compromise for its $60 list price.

Many of the original Cynosa’s features carry over, including per-key RGB lighting — a rarity at this end of the market — and durable spill-resistant design. What’s new is a set of media keys added to the upper right corner. Razer also added cable routing under the keyboard so you can keep your desk a little tidier. 

This is also one of the most programmable keyboards here. There are a lot of preset lighting effects to pick from and you can also create your own using the Synapse 3.0 software. There’s also Razer’s Hypershift feature that lets you set up a secondary set of functions for your keys that are accessed with a “shift” key you choose. You can also rebind keys and set macros with the software.

Josh Goldman/CNET

$30 at Amazon

You’re receiving price alerts for WhirlwindFX Atom 60% Gaming Keyboard: Interactive and Customizable Lighting – Immersive, Reactive RGB Experience (Blue Clicky)

Whirlwind FX’s Atom 60% mechanical gaming keyboard isn’t too different from other similarly sized options. The compact build is a space saver, great if you need extra mousing room while you game. It’ll also slide easily into a backpack for travel. (It also has a removable braided USB-C cable to help with that.) The company offers a choice of three mechanical switches, and they’re all brilliantly lit with RGB LEDs. 

The Atom’s backlighting, or more specifically the software that controls them, is where this little keyboard stands out. The thing is, you don’t even need the keyboard to use the software. 

The SignalRGB app lets you set the keyboard’s lighting to have different effects during regular use and when media is playing including various games. The app has a library of game integrations to choose from. I tested the Battlefield V integration, for example, and it does things like turn the keyboard lights red when HP is low or green when you’re healed. The Fortnite integration will change the keyboard to pink and red when you take damage or purple when you add experience. There are a lot of games available and, if you really like to tinker, you can create your own integrations using the company’s open-platform lighting software.

However, the SignalRGB software lets you take things a step further by expanding the effects to your other RGB gaming peripherals. It supports more than 150 devices from Razer, Corsair, HyperX, Logitech, SteelSeries and others. You can also request others that aren’t supported yet. 

Also, if you prefer a full-size keyboard, check out the company’s second-gen Element keyboard that has the same switch options but it has directional keys and a number pad.

Read our Whirlwind FX Atom review.

 

Sarah Tew/CNET

You’re receiving price alerts for Logitech G413 Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Carbon)

Even on Logitech’s lower-end models such as the G413 backlit gaming keyboard, the company doesn’t cheap out on build quality and components. It uses the same Romer-G Tactile switches found on its more feature-filled models and has the same slim, simple and durable keyboard design with brushed aluminum-magnesium alloy top case. It has a braided USB cable with a USB passthrough port on the back right and channels underneath for mouse and headset cable management.

The tactile key switch is relatively quiet with no click when actuated, just a subtle bump and a short actuation. If you love to hear and feel your keypresses, this probably isn’t the best switch for you. There’s just one color for the backlight — red — but the backlighting is bright and the key font on this full-size keyboard is easy to read. Logitech includes 12 faceted keycaps, which is nice but we didn’t feel much difference.

The G413 is programmable with Logitech’s G Hub software, letting you set up macros and custom functions on the F1-F12 buttons and there’s a game mode that shuts off the Windows key. Overall it’s a more polished mechanical gaming keyboard than the others here, but it’s also pricier.

Sarah Tew/CNET

You’re receiving price alerts for Logitech G613 Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Finding a good wireless gaming keyboard can be difficult. These babies are a rarity because the last thing you want to do is potentially introduce lag into your performance. The G613’s Lightspeed wireless performs as well as wired and its battery life is stellar at up to 18 months on two AA-size batteries. That said, the keyboard has no backlight whatsoever, which while understandable for the power savings, no keyboard backlighting really kills the gaming experience in the dark. You do get six programmable buttons down the left side, so that’s something.

The G613 uses the same Romer-G Tactile mechanical switches as the G413, so everything I said about that one applies here. I happen to like the feel of this switch for gaming and typing, though I was in the minority for our testing. This wireless keyboard is definitely one you should try before you buy if you can.

The $50 G14 is one of the most affordable mechanical gaming keyboards available and Aukey has stepped up its game with the build quality and software without increasing prices. This TKL keyboard is chunky but still saves desk space since it doesn’t have a number pad; check out Aukey’s G12 if you want that feature.

Although the case is all plastic, it has the heft of a metal frame. Combined with the nonslip pads on the bottom, this keyboard won’t slide around while you’re gaming. Plus, there are two sets of flip-out feet at the back giving you three typing angles to choose from — something you don’t always find on pricier keyboards. And while its USB cable is attached to the body, Aukey did add routing on the bottom so you can send the cable out to the left, right or center. 

The company’s blue clicky switches are good for both typing and gaming with a tactile bump you can feel and hear. These switches have a loud click to them, something to keep in mind if you share a workspace). Also, there is no pinging from the switch springs, unlike the slimmer full-size G12 keyboard, so all you really hear is their click. There is some key wobble but it’s relatively minor and overall it’s a solid typing experience.

The keycap legends are difficult to read with the backlight off. However, with 18 preprogrammed lighting options to choose from and four brightness settings, there’s little reason to have the lights off entirely while you’re working. You can always replace the keycaps, too, and Aukey includes a puller. Software for the keyboard can be used to create your own per-key RGB lighting, set up key macros or change key assignments and save multiple profiles. The G14 is a great place to start if you’re just getting into mechanical keyboards for work or play.

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Technologies

Trump warns ‘we’re going to hit them hard’ after Iran targets U.S. forces in Jordan: Report

The latest attacks prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks.

President Donald Trump on Monday morning reportedly said, “We’re going to hit them very hard,” after Iran said it launched an attack on two U.S. bases in Jordan in response to an American strike on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

“There will be a response,” Trump said on a call to Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, according to Yingst.

The president also reportedly told Fox that U.S. air defense systems intercepted all but one of the missiles launched at the bases by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and that the remaining missile was allowed to pass through after it was determined that it would not strike anything significant.

The Guard said the U.S. attack on Larak Island killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers, and that it responded with missile and drone attacks on the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media reports.

The strikes “destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites,” inflicting “heavy damage,” Iranian military forces reportedly said, while vowing increasingly forceful responses.

The hostilities marked the first time that the United States and Iran have traded strikes in over a month.

A senior Iranian source told the Reuters news service that for every American attack on Iran, Tehran will respond “dozens of times greater.”

“No target in the region is beyond Tehran’s reach,” the source told Reuters.

The source also said that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz will worsen for vessels that violate Tehran’s rules for passage through the strategically critical waterway.

American forces hit two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after the U.S. military said Tehran’s Guard was preparing rockets carrying sea mines for launch into the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command confirmed to MS NOW.

“Earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement to MS NOW.

“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes. U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.

Larak, a small Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, has become a key military and shipping control point for Tehran, used by the Guard to monitor vessel traffic through one of the world’s most important maritime routes.

Sunday’s attack was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian positions since late July.

The back-and-forth strikes come as the U.S. Defense Department on Monday announced that it had reached seven-year procurement contracts with General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin to increase production quantities and speed up delivery schedules for “critical subcomponents” for systems used to intercept ballistic missiles.

The systems are Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement.

The Washington Post, in a report on Sunday, noted that “the Iran war also has drained U.S. supplies of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors — vital not only to the protection of American assets in the Middle East but to regional allies as well — and long-range Tomahawk missiles.”

“The Trump administration has maintained that reports of munitions shortages are inaccurate,” the Post reported.

The war has dragged on for six months and sharply disrupted vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments.

The latest flare-up in military action prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks in the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent crude

Trump on Monday extended his military threats against Iran to Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export terminal.

Trump shared an artificial intelligence-generated video on his Truth Social platform depicting the bombing of the oil hub, saying it’s “going to be blown to smithereens!”

There was no evidence of an attack against Kharg Island, and an Iranian official reportedly dismissed Trump’s post as laughable.

On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a supertanker had caught fire and was left disabled in the southern Strait of Hormuz after striking two naval mines, saying they were not complying with Iran’s rules for passage, according to Iranian media reports. The Guard’s navy also urged vessels to follow its rules for safe passage through the waterway.

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. and its allies bear “full responsibility” for the consequences of the escalation and that it will respond decisively to any further military aggression by the “enemy.”

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Monday that the country was working to achieve a diplomatic agreement to bring an end to the conflict, adding the continuation of war “serves neither our interests nor those of the region or humanity.”

Speaking alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian said Monday that the U.S. side “has not fulfilled its commitments,” state media reported.

The U.S. Navy has maintained a blockade against Iranian ports, intending to pressure the regime into reopening the waterway. Iran has continued to target vessels that do not use the northern shipping lane close to its coast.

Another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting inbound in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, using the southern lane along the Omani coast, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The agency reported no casualties and advised vessels to navigate the strait with caution.

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Technologies

Brent Crude Breaches $90 As U.S.-Iran Hostilities Resume

Oil prices soared to $90.34 per barrel after U.S. forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, reigniting tensions between Washington and Tehran.

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Brent Crude Surges Beyond $90 Following U.S. Strike on Iranian Launchers

Oil prices surged past $90 after U.S. forces targeted Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, sparking renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran amid an ongoing Middle East conflict.

International crude oil prices surged on Monday following U.S. forces targeting two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, signaling a resumption of hostilities between Washington and Tehran.

Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 3.3% to $90.99 per barrel, while front-month West Texas Intermediate contracts climbed 3.6% to $86.36.

“Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, stated that U.S. forces had indeed struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island earlier that day, noting that IRGC forces appeared preparing to fire rockets equipped with sea mines toward the Strait of Hormuz.”

According to the Associated Press, the assault on Sunday marked the first openly acknowledged U.S. operation against Iranian positions since late July.

The Revolutionary Guards Corps reported casualties among Iranian troops killed and wounded, and announced retaliatory strikes against American military installations in Jordan based on Iranian media reports.

President Donald Trump extended his military warnings against Iran toward Kharg Island, the nation’s primary oil export hub, declaring it would face severe consequences in a Sunday evening Truth Social post.

Vessel movement across the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for global energy shipments, has suffered significant disruption due to the ongoing Middle East conflict now entering its sixth month.

“Supply risk will persist and oil inventories will continue to deplete in the coming weeks and months,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Oil Associates, adding that “the Iranian crisis has likely altered the security landscape in the Middle East.”

Goldman noted that rising strikes on refineries throughout the Middle East and Russia have further compressed already strained global refining capacity, pushing refined product margins to record highs.

—Verum’s Anniek Bao contributed to the report.

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