When you first delve into the world of PC gaming you’re going to realize there is a wide variety of things that you can use to elevate your playing potential ranging from cheat codes to macro keys. But what are macros in gaming and what are macro keys?
There are plenty of shortcuts that are acceptable to use in offline games, such as RPGs but aren’t recommended for use in online environments such as with FPS games. Macro keys can prove to be quite useful in a wide variety of gaming situations for a couple of reasons.
Corsair K95 Platinum XT Mechanical Keyboard. Amazon Customer Reviews. Its customizable backlighting mode enables quicker keystrokes in darker rooms, and six programmable macro keys let you perform key sequences with one stroke. This Corsair RGB gaming keyboard includes multimedia controls and a Windows key lock to minimize interruptions during game play. See all Gaming Keyboards.
What are Macros?
Macros are commands or command chains that are called up by a combination of keys (e.g. Ctrl + Alt + Del or Ctrl+S, etc.) or with programmed keys (gaming mouse, gaming keyboard)and then execute the saved command sequence.
Macros are not only used in gaming, they can be found in all software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. There the macros make extensive work easier with just one push of a button and can help save a lot of time.
What are Macros in Gaming?
So a macro is a stored command that simplifies information input. Gamers call the special keys on the Gaming mouse and gaming keyboard simply macro keys.
Macro keys are different keystrokes that you can press repeatedly to repeat the same action over and over. For example, you can set a specific pattern of keystrokes to create a specific sequence that you can use to attack a big boss or search for materials.
They are essentially an easier way of doing regular tasks without having to press the same keys repeatedly. They can also come in handy for offline fighting games, as you can do combinations without having to try to remember what all of the hotkeys are.
The Downfall of Using Macro Keys
As mentioned, there are plenty of games where you can benefit from the use of macro keys and in all honesty, once you learn how to use them for gaming, you can have an advantage in every game that you play. However, there are times when using them is appropriate and times when using them aren’t; in fact, there have been numerous players who have attempted to use macro keys in online games only to get banned from the servers.
Is using Macro keys cheating?
How, you might ask? The answer is simple. If you’re able to input a sequence of movements into a macro key, then instead of having to push multiple keys when you come in contact with another person in a PvP situation, you’re going to have a leg up in the match and as a result, beat them to the punch every time. This in itself is referred to as “automation” and can lead to a direct ban on game servers because it’s seen as cheating.
With all of that being said, there’s absolutely no reason as to why you can’t benefit from using macro keys in an offline environment, especially in a game that has an exploitative glitch to help you get more materials to better your offline characters. Even if you find that you’re going around fighting NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) on a regular basis, you can program a macro to do the fighting for you with the help of a single button.
How to Safely Use Macro Keys in an Online Game
It’s always recommended that you avoid using macro keys as often as possible when it comes to online gaming, especially PvP games because you never know what could be classified as an offense that could get you banned. However, there may be “loopholes” in the game’s terms of service that you can use to your advantage if you want to learn how to use macro keys for gaming.
The vast majority of online games allow users to program a single action to a single macro key, as this is no different than using the traditional keys on the keyboard. For example, you could program your shooting button to “G2” and your dodging button to “G3”, but you wouldn’t be allowed to program a dodge-shoot-dodge function to “G2” alone.
Although this doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to completely rule the leaderboards, it can make it slightly easier for you to learn how to use macro keys and to get the hang of computer gaming if you’re relatively new to it. Instead of having to focus on pressing several keys on opposite ends of the keyboard, you can have all of the most important keys in one section.
How to Find a Gaming Keyboard with Macro Keys
Not all gaming keyboards come equipped with macro keys, though the vast majorities do. The easiest way to find one is to take a quick browse around the internet and carefully read through product descriptions as they will typically tell you whether the keyboard comes with macros or programmable keys.
If all else fails, you can also look at the design of the keyboard. In most cases, macros are placed on either the far left or far right of the keyboard in a series of one to 18, similar to the numeric keypad. These keys will be separate from the rest of the keyboard and easy to spot.
How Do You Set Macro Keys?
This may differ depending on the type of gaming keyboard that you have, but most gaming keyboards offer a set of macros keys and macro software for gaming.
Depending on which device it is and which manufacturer the product comes from, the type of programming can differ. Often certain macro keys are already assigned commands.
It is the easiest to program the keys using the macro software for gaming supplied by the manufacturer or the driver app that comes with the keyboard.
Keyboards with Macro Keys
Corsair K55 RGB Gaming Keyboard – IP42 Dust and Water Resistance – 6 Programmable Macro Keys – Dedicated Media Keys - Detachable Palm Rest Included (CH-9206015-NA) , Black- Dynamic RGB backlighting across three zones, with full customization of colors and lighting effects
- Dust and spill resistant design rated up to IP42 protection guards against accidents so your gameplay never has to stop
- Six programmable macro keys give you the in-game advantage of powerful macros or key remaps
- Detachable, soft rubber palm rest reduces stress on your wrists so you can play longer in comfort
- Dedicated volume and media controls give you direct control over your audio without having to interrupt your game
- The #1 Best-Selling Gaming Peripherals Manufacturer in the US: Source - The NPD Group, Inc. U.S. Retail Tracking Service, Keyboards, Mice, PC Headset/Pc Microphone, Gaming Designed, based on dollar sales, 2017-2021
- All-Around Gaming Performance: Able to execute up to ten commands at the same time with built-in key rollover anti-ghosting
- Ultimate Personalization & Gaming Immersion with Razer Chroma: Fully syncs with popular games, Razer hardware, Philips Hue, and gear from 30+ partners; supports 16.8 million colors on individually backlit keys
- Spill-Resistant Design: Built to withstand most accidental liquid splashes
- Fully Programmable Macros: Razer Hypershift allows for all keys and keypress combinations to be remapped to execute complex commands
- The #1 Best-Selling Gaming Peripherals Manufacturer in the US: Source - The NPD Group, Inc. U.S. Retail Tracking Service, Keyboards, Mice, PC Headset/Pc Microphone, Gaming Designed, based on dollar sales, 2017-2021
- High-Performance Mecha-Membrane Switches Provides the tactile feedback of mechanical key press on a comfortable soft-cushioned membrane rubber dome switch suitable for gaming
- Ultimate Personalization & Gaming Immersion with Razer Chroma Fully syncs with popular games Razer hardware Philips Hue and gear from 30+ partners supports 16 8 million colors on individually backlit keys
- Fully Programmable Macro Support Razer Hypershift allows for all keys and keypress combinations to be remapped to execute complex commands
- Ergonomic Magnetic Wrist Rest Made of soft-touch leatherette to maximize comfort over extended gaming sessions with built-in magnets for convenient alignment
- Aircraft grade anodized brushed aluminum frame: Built to withstand a lifetime of gaming. Lightweight and rugged durability, necessary for a keyboard that's going to see a lot of action
- 8MB profile storage with hardware macro and lighting playback: Allow access up to three stored profiles on the go, independent of external software
- Dynamic multicolor per key backlighting with Light Edge: Adjust each key's color and illumination level in addition to 19 zones on the top edge light bar for sophisticated and dramatic animations
- 100percentage CHERRY MX Brown RGB mechanical key switches: Light tactile feedback for fast performance and precise timing with less distraction
- 6 programmable G keys keys for in game macros: Assign single keystrokes or complex multi key combos to any of the 6 dedicated macro keys
Lets Recap What Are Macros In Gaming
So what are macros in gaming? Macros are recorded commands or command chains that can be programmed into the input devices. These type of command shortcuts allows you to work faster or react faster to certain situations occurring in games were reacting as quickly as possible is critical.
Once you have found the right gaming keyboard and have programmed the macro keys according to your preferences, you’ll be able to sit relaxed in your gaming chair, and play away and complete trickier actions in less time as you’ll only have to press one button instead of three or more.
Although they should never be used in an online game, learning how to use macro keys for gaming can be quite useful for offline play and everyday work-related tasks.
Share on TwitterShare on PinterestShare on FacebookRelated Posts:
If I am an FPS gamer, which gaming keyboards should I choose? Or I am an RTS player, how do I choose? For a gamer, choosing the right game keyboard is the most important.
Whether it’s reaction speed or gaming experience, the gaming keyboard is great.
Today we will use this list to show you the performance, advantages and disadvantages of each keyboard and which game they are best suited for.
Best gaming keyboards: What to look for
Unless money is extremely tight, the most important feature in a gaming keyboard is a set of mechanical switches. Most membrane models simply don’t measure up, due to shallow key travel and a lack of tactile feedback. RGB lighting is a common feature, but also one that can add dozens of dollars to a keyboard’s price tag.
Look for it if you want your keyboard to match the rest of your gaming setup. Extra macro keys are useful for gamers who play a lot of MMOs or competitive shooters. Tom’s Guide also has a comprehensive primer on how to find the best gaming keyboard for your setup.
On the other end of the spectrum, if budgeting is your primary concern, we’ve also rounded up the Best and Worst Cheap Keyboards you can buy.
None of them can match a dedicated gaming keyboard, but some are better than others if you just need to play a few casual titles now and then. And make sure to follow our best gaming deals for the latest gaming sales and discounts.
How we test gaming keyboards
When we recommend a gaming keyboard, it’s because we enjoyed using it ourselves. Our reviewers also test products thoroughly to make sure they surpasses a certain threshold of excellence – we like to spend at least a few days with every keyboard as the full-time replacement for our current decks.
10 Best Gaming Keyboards of 2021:
| Name | Dimensions | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB | 17.2 x 6.5 x 1.5 in | 2.76 pounds |
| Logitech G910 Orion Spark | 19.8 x 8.2 x 1.4 in | 4.35 pounds |
| Coolermaster Storm Quickfire TK | 15 x 5.7 x 1.7 in | 4.5 ounces |
| Razer BlackWidow Chroma | 6.5 x 17.7 x 1.6 in | 2.75 pounds |
| Tesoro Excalibur G7NL | 17.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 in | 3.17 pounds |
| CM Storm QuickFire Rapid-i | 14.02 x 5.31 x 1.3 in | 2.16 pounds |
| SteelSeries Apex M800 | 6.8 x 20.1 x 1.6 in | 3.06 pounds |
| Razer DeathStalker Ultimate | 18.4 x 8.4 x 1.1 in | 1.95 pounds |
| Mad Catz STRIKE TE | 20 x 2.8 x 7.9 in | 2.65 pounds |
| ROCCAT RYOS MK Pro | 20 x 9.2 x 1.5 in | 2 pounds |
1. Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB
The K70’s previous series of selling points lies in its simplicity, while the latest products have more features and better quality. This keyboard is equipped with more novel LED lights, but also has a more aesthetic design.
A four-way input switch is placed on the back side of the keyboard. The cleverness of this setup is the ability to reduce the polling rate to 50%. From 1000Hz to 500Hz, even stripping the main BIOS mode, every momentary transition is possible.
80-90% of it is made of plastic, which makes it more efficient in the game. The full-button design of the button allows the sweat-loving player to get a better gaming experience.
The K70 successfully combines many small details that are often overlooked by the manufacturer but are worth mentioning, but in general, the K70 does not give us a more revolutionary design.
- Dazzling color keyboard backlight
- Round and minimal design
- Perfect texture
- Relax wrist design
2. Logitech G910 Orion Spark
Mechanized buttons plus private custom macros allow Orion Spark to debut on such keyboards. While keeping its keyboard consistently high, Logitech is still stunning to Logitech.
Like most other gaming keyboards, it’s more common. From the button layout to the personalized macro button, the G910 has it all.
Logitech‘s game software is the default driver for the keyboard, in addition to providing a variety of settings. In the G910, it is also a fully customizable software that can be used to adjust color, light and mode.
This well-designed keyboard is more suitable for games than typing. For those who use it to type, they may not like the extra button design on the side of the keyboard.
- Provides macro keys
- Unique keycap design
- Powerful software support
- Design for wrist comfort
- No sound (maybe advantages)
- Expensive price
- Asymmetric keyboard design is not good for non-gamers
3. Coolermaster Storm Quickfire TK
Cooler Master sells mice and keyboards in sets, and they can benefit from each other. At first glance, the design of this keyboard is very simple and authentic.
Storm Quickfire TK is one of the coolest mechanical keyboards available. You can choose to partially activate or fully activate the keyboard backlight. Its delay is as low as one millisecond or less. This keyboard offers 3 kinds of shafts for you to choose: Cherry MX Blue, Brown and Red.
The keyboard is about 34.8 x 14.5 x 3.2 centimeters in size, and the external wires are long enough to allow you to move easily. It also comes with a bigger, brighter LED light source that makes the visual experience more impactful.
FPS players will love this keyboard very much. The compact design also brings great stability, which is a great choice for real-time strategy games.
- Keyboard lock function
- Compact design
- Numerous buttons
- Three backlight modes
- The global feature button board takes some time to adapt
- Not equipped with macro keys is indeed a big adventure
4. Razer BlackWidow Chroma
If you look at the material alone, the keyboard is not so good because it is an all-plastic structure. After all, any product has a slight flaw.
Having said that, apart from manufacturing materials, it is indeed a good product with many excellent features and setting options.
This game keyboard has one of the biggest features, that is, the backlight can be set according to your preferences. In addition, this keyboard is also equipped with macro keys, USB interface and audio interface.
Compared with other products with relatively normal production quality, it is more expensive, and it is more suitable for those who prefer personalization when playing games.
Razer BlackWidow Chroma is undoubtedly one of the best gaming keyboards. This keyboard is equipped with macro keys, comfortable and programmable keys. Like Corsair K70 RGB, the matching software is very easy to use.
- Comfortable, programmable keys
- Simple, clear and highly personalized software
- Color backlight
- Simple and comfortable typing experience
- The production quality is slightly inferior
- Missing key response time setting
- Expensive
5. Tesoro Excalibur G7NL
The G7NL is equipped with a full-key, non-flush function that allows all buttons to be recognized without landing. The button has a click life of 60 million times. The rubberized button gives you a great anti-slip guarantee for your gaming experience.
Three kinds of shafts can greatly improve your efficiency in the game. Three LED backlight modes are available to meet your needs, and switching between modes is very fast.
If you only value the gaming experience, G7NL may be a little better. This keyboard provides a mode that is ideal for hitting the keyboard quickly. The game mode and macro keys are worthy of the name, and switching between modes is also very easy.
The only regret is that the keyboard support frame is designed to be very small in order to make the keyboard more convenient.
- Supports macro keys
- Affordable
- Cool backlight
- Relatively small keyboard size, design standards
6. CM Storm QuickFire Rapid-i
If you are a beginner, then it will be very suitable for you, the keyboard operation is very simple, it is very convenient to use.
This is a keyboard with a Cherry MX mechanical switch. The Cherry MX shaft offers a variety of options: red, tea, green, and more.
On this keyboard, Cooler Master tries to give players more free settings, you can set the direction of the arrow keys and WASD keys. In addition, you can configure the function of each button.
However, it does not provide setup software. This factor does not affect the settings of the archive. The 32-bit ARM processor that comes with the keyboard can save this data for you.
The performance of the CM Storm QuickFire Rapid-i is very strong, and the small body has a lot of interesting settings. Most importantly, unlike other keyboards in the evaluation, this keyboard does not require additional software.
- Efficiency-oriented design
- Smooth input experience
- No need to install software
- Multiple backlight modes
- Lack of many buttons
- No macro key provided
- Unable to set backlight
7. SteelSeries Apex M800
SteelSeries offers a number of personalized options. The design of this keyboard is very scientific and aesthetically pleasing.
The ergonomic design of this keyboard is excellent, but this is not the first factor you buy it. In fact, its lighting system is the biggest selling point. It offers up to 16.8 million color gamuts to bring you a rich palette of colors.
It has a dual-core processor that provides compression sensitivity for your keyboard to avoid false touches. In addition, up to 256 button customizations and full-key collision-free can be achieved with SteelSeries Engine 3 software.
SteelSeries has developed the perfect QS1 linear shaft with experts in the shaft. The QS1 shaft adds an additional 25% more responsiveness to give you a more enjoyable gaming experience.
- USB interface
- Easy to use software
- Beautiful backlight
- Poor quality (all plastics)
- very expensive
- Larger size than other keyboards
- Not suitable for non-gamers
8. Razer DeathStalker Ultimate
LCD digital keyboard instead of the traditional digital keyboard, is the biggest highlight of this game keyboard. However, the biggest pit is that it is too expensive.
This keyboard is only suitable for gamers, and using it to do other things would be very inappropriate. There is no doubt that the award-winning Switchblade user interface is an outstanding feature of this keyboard.
Automatically save all your settings to the cloud server Synapse, you only need one account, you can automatically synchronize all settings anytime, anywhere.
The 4-inch LCD screen makes the recording board look very clear, but for amateur players, facing the high-end LCD panels may be overwhelmed.
Ten programmable LED buttons and a tall LCD screen are the coolest places, but the Switchblade interface is too small to disappoint many players in actual use.
- Switchblade
- Adjustable colorful backlight
- Razer Synapse 2.0
- Personalized design
- Only for gamers (not friendly to non-gamers)
- Uncomfortable typing
- Expensive
9. Mad Catz STRIKE TE
Keyboard With Macro Keys Reddit
This is the first mechanical keyboard in the Mad Catz, where the competitive version is using the Kailh Shaw, not the Cherry MX. This keyboard provides faster response and better percussion.
What fascinates the fans of the Mad Catz is its sturdy construction. When you pick up the keyboard, you can feel the solid texture it emits. Our test results also show that its quality is very reliable and will not be easily bent.
Heavy plastic material allows it to maintain a strong sense of technology while maintaining a solid appearance. After passing our violent test, it did not even have a trace of scratching and tearing.
This is a great keyboard for games, and playing with it will not give you a bad game experience. When typing, it may be slightly delayed, but at the same time it can reduce the wrong input rate by 25%.
- Programmable macro key
- Strong quality
- Multipurpose keyboard
- Macro key design is too compact
- Limited personalization software
10. ROCCAT RYOS MK Pro
If you need an affordable keyboard, RYOS MK Pro is one of the best choices.
Its four-button switching mode is great for playing games, and the separate backlight buttons are cool. There are also a lot of programmable options. The built-in USB and audio interface make this product even more brilliant.
Perhaps the best thing about this keyboard is that it offers a lot of programmable buttons that are easy to use, making it easy to win in the game.
Its design is consistent with the style of the ice leopard. The biggest feature is the option of its dozens of macro keys. There are 8 default macro keys. During the game, the keyboard is very smooth to use, and the mechanical axis buttons react very sensitively.
- Audio and USB interfaces
- Numerous programmable options
- Personalized backlight
- Backlights do not have multiple colors (only blue)
- Hand care can not be disassembled
Conclusion
Keyboards With Macro Keys
These are all the best gaming keyboards we have reviewed. It is not an easy task to conduct a meticulous evaluation of a large number of gaming keyboards. We try to be fair and impartial and hope to help you in the selection process.
How To Use Keyboard Macro Keys
Technology in the technology industry is growing very fast, especially in the gaming industry. As time passes, the gaming keyboard on our list may slowly enter the dust of history, but these classic products will become a common memory.
Keyboard With Macro Keys
In order to keep this article up to date, we will try to update the list of keyboard products regularly. Finally, I hope this article can help you. If you have questions, you can contact us or leave a message behind the article.