TechRadar Verdict

The Roccat Magma doesn’t make the best first impression with its cheap feeling build and overwhelming RGB effects. But once you’re used to it, you’ll find an incredibly competent and delightfully punchy gaming keyboard that won’t break the bank, and while it’s missing some of the cooler features of pricier mechanical keyboards, the Magma is still a great entry-level choice.

Pros

+
Fast, accurate keys
+
Impressively quiet keystrokes
+
Great for its price

Cons

-
Build feels a little cheap
-
RGB can be overwhelming
-
Relatively lacking in features

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Two-minute review

The Roccat Magma RGB might not exactly make for the best first impression. This budget gaming keyboard takes up a fair amount of real estate on your desk, especially when paired with the included palm rest. In addition, its build quality also feels a bit of the cheap side – not only is it much lighter, but it's also made of a hollow feeling material.

That initial impression of the Roccat Magma soon washes away, however, as you start typing on the keyboard. The individual keys are spaced enough that inaccuracy is actually quite rare, and keystrokes on it are so impressively quiet.

And, while the keyboard’s RGB lighting effect, made visible through a large membrane plate that sits under the keys, is honestly quite overwhelming at first, the quality of the RGB lighting is admittedly great. By default, the Roccat Magma uses the company’s AIMO lighting feature. This setting dynamically alters the RGB lighting’s colors and patterns based on the programs you’re using. It’s honestly pretty mesmerizing and does allow the Magma to stand out in the RGB crowd.

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This makes the Magma a solid gaming keyboard and a top budget gaming keyboard option, especially if you're looking for an alternative to noisier mechanical keyboards.

At £49.99 (around $70 / AU$90), the Roccat Magma also won’t break the bank. This makes it a superb choice as an entry level keyboard, especially if you’re choosing peripherals for your first gaming PC build, for example.

This is much more affordable than the Roccat Vulcan TKL Pro, which retails for £149 ($159, AU$239), and while the Magma misses out on the Vulcan’s premium features like its gorgeous gunmetal finish and tactile floating keys, the overall typing experience is superb on the Magma for its relatively low price point.

Moving over to gaming, the Roccat Magma performs admirably. Individual keys don’t give any unnecessary resistance. As such, moving and performing actions was swift and responsive, which provided a boon during intense multiplayer gameplay.

The Magma does miss out on the satisfying feel of a mechanical keyboard, however. That tactile, clicky feedback missing from the Magma might turn more experienced PC players away. On the other hand, keystrokes are relatively quiet, making the Magma pretty ideal if you like to game well into the night without waking up housemates, your significant other, or the kids.

What you might not get from the Roccat Magma, though, is a significant competitive edge. Unlike more specialized gaming keyboards like the Corsair K70 TKL, the Magma’s WASD keys aren’t raised or textured, a physical feature that often helps with competitive shooters like Valorant or Overwatch.

The Magma also doesn’t feature more bespoke gaming keyboard options that could help it stand out from the crowd, like a dedicated tournament mode to comply with esports play. It also lacks the tight form factor of tenkeyless gaming keyboards - that bulky numpad and RGB faceplate adding significant real estate to the build.

That being said, the fact the Magma is lacking the finer features of more advanced gaming keyboards by no means makes it a bad choice. On the contrary, the simplicity of the Magma makes it a perfect choice for entry-level PC gamers, especially if you’re on a tight budget after shelling out on a brand new gaming rig.

What the Magma does boast is its nifty Game Mode feature. As an example of its use, Game Mode converts the Caps Lock to an Easy-Shift feature by default. This prevents the Caps Lock from activating while in Game Mode, eliminating those all-caps chat box mishaps we’ve all experienced in multiplayer games. This combines with 26-key rollover, which should eliminate most possibilities of ghosting to give an overall solid gameplay experience.

If you’re into customizing your keyboard experience, the Magma is supported by Roccat Swarm, all-in-one customization software that allows you to alter RGB effects, individual key bindings, shortcuts and character repeat delay when holding down a key, among many other options. Multiple profile slots are also supported, as well as a range of key press sound effects, if that’s your thing.

Swarm, unfortunately, isn’t quite as robust as Corsair’s iCUE software, and there are some gimmicky options it could have done without, such as the aforementioned sound effect option. However, it’s still a good bit of software for beginners to have a play around with, and the ability to change default keybinds is certainly a very welcome accessibility option.

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Rhys is TRG's Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.