If you are a 90’s kid and have a PC, you may have memories of trying to play games like King of fighter, Virtua Cop, House of the Dead, and Roadrash using a keyboard and mouse. Online multiplayer games weren’t a thing back then. The only way to play multiplayer back then was to play split-screen and share the keyboard with your friend or sibling.
Keyboard and mouse have been the crowned king for decades when it came to main PC gaming accessories. Apart from gaming, the keyboard is a must-have accessory for PCs because it is needed for almost every task a PC can handle, including typing. Moreover, for gaming, keyboards have claimed the throne for a very long time because of their button layout and convenience.
However, there is a new competitor of the keyboard in the market for gaming. It is called the keypad. The idea of keypads is that it is basically a keyboard chopped down or reduced to half containing the essential buttons needed for gaming. It is a very sci-fi-looking gadget that you would probably expect to see in Tony Stark’s lab.
However, the keypad is not just a downsized keyboard, regardless of the looks. It is a lot more. This article will present a compelling argument on Keypad vs. Keyboard gaming by comparing them side to side. If you are stuck on picking between one of them, this article will help you make up your mind.
Gaming Keyboard: An Overview
The term “gaming” is assumed to be a marketing gimmick, and it is apparently overused. The gaming advertisement used for PC products was initially used to separate regular products from high-quality products because some products require optimization specifically for gaming. However, gaming keyboards are definitely not a gimmick.
It’s important to note that regular keyboards are a lot different than gaming keyboards. Regular keyboards have ghosting issues, low polling rate, high latency, and low accuracy issues.
Gaming requires different buttons to be pressed at the same time, and a regular keyboard won’t be able to register multiple buttons at the same time. Moreover, because of the latency and inaccuracy issue, the gaming experience will get hampered.
Gaming keyboards generally do not have these issues. The most basic gaming keyboard should come with anti-ghosting that would allow you to press different buttons at the same time without any issue. Moreover, the keypress latency should be significantly lower on a gaming keyboard. On top of that, there are many exciting features for gamers, like RGB.
There are different types of gaming keyboards in the market right now. These keyboards are different from each other in terms of build quality and mainly the technology behind the buttons. They are:
- Membrane keyboard: Membrane keyboards are the most common type of keyboard in the market right now. All the basic keyboards around you are membrane keyboards. Some cheap gaming keyboards are membrane keyboards as well.
Membrane keyboards use a rubber membrane underneath the buttons that comes in contact with the PCB each time a button is pressed. Compared to other keyboard types, membrane keyboards feature cheap construction, and the buttons feel super mushy.
- Mecha-Membrane keyboard: Mecha-Membrane keyboards are basically leveled-up membrane keyboards. They sit between the membrane and mechanical keyboards. The goal of mecha-membrane keyboards is to basically emulate a mechanical keyboard’s feeling through using technology similar to a membrane keyboard.
These keyboards are generally better than membrane keyboards in terms of build quality and feel. They might even come with RGB.
- Mechanical keyboards: Mechanical keyboards are the most popular form of gaming keyboards. These keyboards are superior to membrane keyboards and mecha-membrane keyboards in every aspect. They feature better build quality, mechanical switches, springy feeling, tactility, superior response time, and many other things.
Mechanical keyboards were considered to be super expensive because a mechanical keyboard below 100 dollars was unimaginable. $100 for a keyboard back then was a lot. However, nowadays, mechanical keyboards are available for as little as $10-20.
Keypad: An Overview
A gaming keyboard is a lot similar to gaming keyboards and a lot different than gaming keyboards. At a primary glance, it is a cut-down keyboard, making it compact with lesser buttons.
So, the difference between gaming keyboards and keypads is not much. However, it’s the subtle difference that makes them unique from one another.
The goal of a keypad is to make it as compact as possible so that it can be operated with one hand without moving it. Even though it has fewer buttons, it has the essential ones, and they are customizable.
The keypad does what a gaming keypad does but efficiently. It uses similar technology to keyboards. The features available on gaming keyboards are available on a keypad, and they even feature mechanical switches. The button layout has a touch of ergonomics allowing you to reach the buttons with ease.
Keypad vs. Keyboard Gaming: Which Setup Is Better?
Now that you know what a keypad and a keyboard are, let’s compare them side by side. This would help you to determine which is better and what you should use for gaming. We are going to consider different segments for a fair comparison.
Size
The size is the biggest physical difference between a keypad and a gaming keyboard.
- Keypad: Keypads are significantly smaller than keyboards, making them supercompact. The button layout is designed to make it possible to stuff so many buttons in a compact shape. Keypads could be great if you have very little desk space for gaming.
- Keyboard: A regular shaped keyboard is quite larger than a keypad. This is because it features a full button layout. However, there are many compact keyboards like 85 key, 75 key, 71 key, 60 key, and even 40 keys. So, you can still get a compact keyboard if you want one.
Ergonomics
There are significant ergonomic differences between keypads and keyboards in terms of ergonomics.
- Keypad: Keypads are extremely ergonomic, and this is one of the main elements of the design. Because of being ergonomic, you can comfortably use keypads with the slightest movement of your hands, even in prolonged gaming sessions, without any fatigue. You will be able to rest your wrist comfortably on the built-in soft wrist rest which every keypad comes with.
- Keyboard: It’s not that keyboards are not ergonomic at all – it’s very less so compared to keypads. However, if you use it with a wrist rest, it is not likely to cause any discomfort in longer gaming sessions. Moreover, there are new ergonomic keyboards in the market, which you could definitely check out if ergonomics matter that much for you.
Gaming performance
As this article is on gaming setups, the gaming performance of these accessories matters a lot.
- Keypad: Keypads are meant solely for gaming, and it ensures the best performance. It features anti-ghosting, low input latency, fast switches, and much more. So, for gaming performance, you cannot expect to cut any corners,
- Keyboard: As keypads are based on keyboards, the gaming performance is more or less on par.
Button layout
- Keypad: Usually, when you play any type of game, the left portion of the keyboard is the most used. While gaming, gamers barely need to use the right portion or the Numpad. Keypad capitalized on this idea and designed the button layout. The button and layouts are customizable, and you can assign them to the function you want. Obviously, it does not have as many buttons as a keyboard.
- Keyboard: Keyboards feature the standard layout, which has all the buttons you can ask for. These buttons are also customizable through your keyboard software or keyboard reassigning tools. You can even set macros and other things.
Typing
- Keypad: Keypad lacks keys, and this is the biggest downside. If you are looking forward to typing as well as gaming with a keypad, this will disappoint you. This means that the keypad is not a keyboard replacement, and you would need a keyboard anyway.
- Keyboard: A gaming keyboard is not limited to gaming only. The keyboard’s primary function is typing, and on top of that, you can play games as well. Gaming keyboards made gaming even better. So, you can play games of any type using a gaming keyboard.
Noise
- Keypad: Keypads come in small form format, and they don’t make a lot of noise compared to keyboards. However, if the keypad is using mechanical switches, it may be noisy and blue switches would be a nightmare if you are a discreet person.
- Keyboard: Keyboards are generally noisier because of the small form factor. However, you can use red or silent switches if you want your keyboard discreet and other sound-dampening
Price
- Keypad: Even though keypads are chopped-down keyboards, the price does not resemble that. It might be slightly cheaper than gaming keyboards, but high-quality keypads are priced equal to gaming keyboards. This does not make it a very good deal.
- Keyboard: You can find gaming keyboards in different price ranges. You can get mechanical gaming for as cheap as $20 and up to $300 for the premium ones.
Bottom line
The keypad is a fantastic PC gaming accessory, considering everything it is offering. It is solely designed for gamers, and more people might be switching to it in the near future, replacing keyboards for gaming. One thing you need to keep in mind is that keypads are exclusive for gaming, and you won’t be able to use them for any tasks other than gaming. So, you need a keyboard anyway.
On the other hand, gaming keyboards are the classic accessory for gaming as it is not exclusive to anything. You can use it for gaming, and the typing experience on it is much better than regular keyboards.
