Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless

Asus is back with a new keyboard. It's a keyboard that tries to fit into a very specific niche, offering almost all the keys of a traditional keyboard but narrowing the spacing so as not to take up too much desk space.

A choice that, on paper, promises to combine the usefulness of the numeric keypad with the convenience of a smaller format, while trying at the same time to maintain a price that is not entirely prohibitive compared to the sacred monsters of the Azoth line.

Under the hood

Analyzing the specifications, the Strix Morph 96 presents itself as a hot-swappable mechanical keyboard equipped with a printed circuit board with downward-facing LEDs, a refinement that lighting nerds will appreciate as it reduces interference with the lower-profile keys and improves the visual rendering of colors. The beating heart of the typing experience is entrusted to the second-generation ROG NX Snow linear keyboards, which arrive factory-lubricated and use a stem with side shields to prevent the entry of dust, with an initial actuation force of 40 grams that increases to 53 grams at the end of the travel and an actuation point positioned at 1.8 millimeters.

Connectivity is tri-mode, including a USB cable, Bluetooth 5.1, and a 2.4 GHz wireless connection via the ROG Omni receiver, which also allows you to connect a compatible mouse using a single port on your computer. The internal battery promises a claimed 590 hours of battery life with the lighting disabled in wireless mode, a very respectable figure. With the RGB LEDs enabled and the polling rate set to its maximum, the figure settles at around 100 hours of continuous use.

ROG Features

Aesthetically, the keyboard features a satin-finish gunmetal gray aluminum top plate mounted atop a black plastic bottom shell, a pairing that gives it a well-crafted feel, demonstrating Asus's increasingly positioning itself as a premium brand in every sense of the word. The overall design is gamer-esque, but not overly so, with side LED strips and text that aren't overly gaudy, maintaining a sober elegance that won't look out of place even in a work setting (except perhaps for the Asus ROG slogan on the space bar). The top left features a knurled wheel paired with a square button that allows you to navigate between various functions, such as adjusting the volume, changing tracks, or controlling the brightness.

In fact, during our sessions, it seemed useful almost exclusively for volume control, but the flexibility of having these options at your fingertips is still a welcome addition. The included keys are made of double-injected ABS plastic with an OEM profile, a slightly disappointing choice for this price range where PBT should be the standard, given that ABS tends to become shiny and slippery over time. As has often (always) been the case recently, Asus allows you to configure the device directly via your browser via the Gear Link web app, eliminating the need to install the cumbersome and often annoying Armoury Crate, although to record more complex macros or have the scroll wheel open websites, you'll still be forced to download a small companion extension for your operating system.

We got our hands on it

For typing and gaming, the Strix Morph 96 offers the best surprises thanks to a shock-absorbing internal structure with silicone gaskets and two layers of sound-absorbing material resting on a flexible polycarbonate plate. This engineering combination allows the keyboard to produce a truly enjoyable thumping noise, a full, muffled, and deep sound that doesn't produce annoying metallic echoes and makes every keystroke extremely satisfying, whether during long typing sessions or the most intense games.

The 96-percent layout, which cradles the arrow keys and number pad against the main block, undoubtedly takes some getting used to, especially at first, as the smaller size and lack of space between the keys inevitably lead to some inadvertent typing errors. In fast-paced games like first-person shooters, the responsiveness of the wireless connection is indistinguishable from a wired one, and the support for key rotation optimization technology offers a real advantage, as long as you remember that the keyboard is based on traditional mechanical switches and doesn't include the fast-actuating Hall-effect magnetic sensors found on more expensive esports-focused variants.

Bottom line

The Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless proves to be a solid and mature product, capable of fully convincing those looking for a compact keyboard but who don't want to give up the convenience of a numeric keypad for everyday tasks. In Switzerland, it's available for 170 CHF, placing it in a fierce market segment, where internal competition from Asus itself is fierce, not to mention other brands. It's still an excellent piece of hardware that stands out for the quality of its lubricated switches and splendid internal acoustics, making a huge step forward in terms of user experience thanks to the web configuration that doesn't clog up the computer with unnecessary background processes.