Logitech G413 gaming keyboard review â€“ Mechanical on a budget

April 24, 2017
Technology

One of my favorite features on the keyboard is the USB 2.0 pass-through port. When left unused, it sits subtly on the upper-right corner of the keyboard, out of sight. If you plug in the second USB jack, though, you can then use that to plug in something like a wireless mouse receiver, which is what I used it for. This puts the receiver much closer to the mouse and eliminates a lot of the metal and electricity that could interfere with the signal.

Like other Logitech G keyboards, the Function keys can be reprogrammed to perform other functions. I have one, for example, set to turn off my monitors all at the same time. But in lieu of dedicated media keys, Logitech has taken the same tact they took with the G Pro and given the keyboard an FN key with which you can play, pause, and otherwise manipulate your media. In the Logitech software, you can invert the FN key functionality, making the media functions the primary function of those keys, while the standard functions require the FN key to be pressed.

Iâ€™m not sure Iâ€™ll leave the keys inverted like that, but I control my media a lot more often than I hit F11 or Print Screen, so itâ€™s a nice bonus.

QWERKY keyboard

The board does have a few quirks worth mentioning. One is that Logitech has omitted a NUMLOCK light from the keyboardâ€™s status display. There are lights for caps lock and game mode (which disables the Windows and other use-specified) keys, but the light for the NUMLOCK key is conspicuously missing. Instead, when you hit the key, it pops up an overlay on-screen.

For me, this becomes annoying anytime I reboot my computer, as my current config, for some reason, absolutely refuses to respect my keyboardâ€™s NUMLOCK status, regardless of keyboard or port. Feel free to hop into the comments to let me know how bad I am at computers.

I can struggle through it, and it rarely is an issue otherwise, but a keyboard with a ten key pad and no NUMLOCK key seems like a weird omission.

One oversight I want to reiterate from the G Pro keyboard is how Logitech is under-utilizing that FN key. With an FN key, every key on your keyboard could theoretically have a secondary function â€“ not just the media keys. You could customize this thing to the nines and make it do all kinds of wild tricks that make no sense to anyone but you. I really hope this is something Logitech can introduce in a future firmware update.

My biggest issue with the G314 might be a defect with mine, but I feel I should bring it up here. The spacebar, at times, would catch during use. Now, during typing, I donâ€™t remember it happening at all. For me this was when I was playing games.

A bit of tinkering suggests to me that the problem is in how the spacebar lies on the guides on the left and right sides that keep the whole thing level and even. When Iâ€™m typing, my thumbs sit to either side of the spacebarâ€™s center. When I play games, though, my right thumb sits on the very corner of the key, and that seems to be the way to reproduce it. I donâ€™t have this issue with other Logitech keyboards. With how similar it is to other boards, Iâ€™m tempted to chalk this up to a manufacturing defect and not a problem with the model.

Other features

The G314 also offers up a couple other features that didnâ€™t really do anything for me personally, but theyâ€™re worth mentioning here. Underneath the keyboard are a pair of cord guides that will let you run a cord directly under the keyboard. And while the keyboardâ€™s standard keys are the usual, slightly convex keycaps we know and love, the keyboard comes with a set of â€œcontouredâ€ keys that provide a deeper divot that some people like for use with gaming. I donâ€™t really like them, but theyâ€™re there for those who like them and optional for those who donâ€™t.

The G413 is, if youâ€™re looking for a slightly cheaper mechanical keyboard, worth a try. While we tend to buy our stuff online these days, it wouldnâ€™t be a bad idea to give this one a try in real life first. Logitech has supplied Best Buy with its own model featuring silver aluminum and white lights instead of the carbon looks with red, so it should be pretty easy to find and give a chance.

Iâ€™m sticking with my G810, but at $70 less? This isnâ€™t a bad option at all. Logitech is putting out keyboards at a breakneck pace lately, so you might wait to see if they go even further down the budget path, but itâ€™s unlikely youâ€™ll regret this one if the look trips your trigger.