CES 2013: Steelseries

Steelseries is one of our favorite PC gaming hardware companies. Their products aren’t always the most packed to the gills with features. But what they lack in spec sheet length they make up for in usability, simplicity and uniqueness.

Apex & Apex Raw

For 2013, Steelseries has two new keyboards, the Apex and Apex Raw. The Apex features five illumination zones with up to 16.8 million colors on hand, small bumps on the WASD cluster so finding the real “home” is faster while also freeing your eyes from key hunting as well as 20 key anti-ghosting. The Apex also features 22 macro keys with 4 individual layers meaning 88 total macros at your finger tips. Steelseries has packed the Apex with removable and interchangeable rubber feet that when installed, can help adjust the keyboard’s tilt for ultimate comfort.

The Apex Raw is physically the same as the normal Apex but drops the multi-color lightning for just white as well as dropping macro key count down to 17 from the normal Apex’s 22 and just 2 layers instead of 4. Both the Apex and Apex raw feature an enlarged spacebar and a Steelseries key that allows many special functions such as disabling the Windows key to prevent accidental in-game activation.


The software that powers the Apex and Apex Raw will function on Windows, Mac and Linux meaning the full power of Steelseries’ keyboards isn’t limited to just Windows – a huge plus for the Mac and Linux gamers of the world. The most unique feature of Steelseries’ keyboards, however, lies with their new keymapping feature built into their driver software that will (over time) map the keys you hit and in turn grow smarter, ultimately recommending new macros and suggesting new key mappings to improve your game and reduce time wasted stretching for improperly mapped keys.

The Apex will retail for $99 while the Apex Raw will hit shelves at $69 sometime in Q2.

Headphones

New to Steelseries’ audio lineup this year are the new Flux in-ear headphones. Two models are available: a $49 model with a single dynamic driver and a $99 model with a single balanced armature. The $49 model is simple and small in design and features three sets of silicone tips as well as memory foam tips for those who like the ultimate in comfort. The $99 armature based model features a more ergonomic ear piece that follows the ear canal more closely and ships with the same three sets of silicone tips and memory foam tips.

Tech specs ($99 Pro):

  • Frequency response: 15 – 22000 Hz
  • Impedance: 26 Ohm
  • Sensitivity: 105dB @ 1 Khz

*Waiting for final pricing/release information on both*