Page 4 - Conclusion
The Vulcan II TKL shows the experience Turtle Beach and its predecessors have had making keyboards, but it also reveals a bit more too. The Vulcan II TKL has the same tried-and-tested design with its island-style exposed switches and shallow keycaps to accentuate this. We have many excellent features like many secondary functions, an easy to find volume knob, and full NKRO. The individual RGB LED backlighting is excellent as are the switches with third-party keycap compatibility. I like the dual kickstands at the back. Turtle Beach's Swarm II software is usable and functions as you might expect. Internally, we have several layers of foam to reduce any vibration and resonance that may occur in daily use. There is also proof of lubrication for switches and stabilizers that should make for a better typing experience. However, when rubber meets the road, the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL shows a few more weaknesses. While the layout of the tenkeyless keyboard is as standard as they come, the typing experience of the Vulcan II TKL is not to my liking. Typing on the Titan HS switches felt clacky and unrefined. The travel of the stabilized keys was sloppy and squishy, rather than the expected smooth linear feel. Keys felt inconsistent from one another, and there were small squeaks I heard during my testing. The blame falls on the switches and the stabilizers. In addition, Turtle Beach needs to use PBT keycaps, as it is not worth the cost cutting. At the time of the review, the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL has a retail price of $120, which is neither cheap nor expensive. Its feature set is laudable, but I do hope Turtle Beach can address the typing feel in their next keyboards to make for a more enjoyable experience altogether.
Turtle Beach provided this product to APH Networks for the purposes of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
6/10 means A product with its advantages, but drawbacks should not be ignored before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 6.2/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The tenkeyless Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL mechanical keyboard comes with solid features, but is let down by an inconsistent typing feel throughout.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. A Closer Look - Disassembly and Internals
4. Conclusion
