The Patriot Viper V760 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Conclusion

I always try to use every keyboard that we review as my personal keyboard for at least a week. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. The brown switches of the Viper V760 were ideal for such tasks, being very comfortable to continuously type on and quiet enough not to be bothersome, which can be very distracting when working late at night.

For gaming, the Viper V760 left me with mixed feelings. The keyboard itself is very comfortable and responsive, but the software needs considerable work. Thankfully, the capability to reprogram every key allowed me to program macros compiled with third party software to the keys, otherwise it would not be possible for me to program any usable macros with the company’s software. Aside from the (lack of) macro programming capabilities however, we also encountered several other issues, such as the software failing to start alongside with Windows 10 a couple of times, as well as hanging while programming the keyboard. These are clearly bugs that may be corrected in future versions of the software, but they will certainly frustrate some of the early adopters. It is suggested that users pull the latest version of the software to ensure it is updated.

Physically, the Viper V760 is very well made, with a durable chassis and aesthetically pleasing design. We also found the magnetic palm rest to be very functional, allowing its very quick attachment/removal. The addition of the USB port is also a bonus. What the Viper V760 lacks is a volume control wheel or dedicated buttons, as the use of keystroke combinations are rarely convenient for such tasks.

In terms of functionality, the Viper V760 is very good, with per key programmability and RGB lighting. Dedicated keys for mode switching would be useful, but they usually are not of critical importance. What certainly is in need of improvement is the software, as it is oversimplified for such a high tier product.

The biggest advantage that the Viper V760 has is its price tag. A very well made, fully programmable aluminum keyboard with mechanical switches and RGB lighting for $100 is not easily found. Similar products using Cherry’s products can be nearly twice as expensive. For users that feel they do not need anything more than a durable 104 keys programmable keyboard with RGB lighting and believe that the oversimplified software will be satisfactory for their tasks, we believe the Viper V760 is a wise choice and will certainly make a fine addition to their desktop.