If you’re looking for a wireless mechanical keyboard, especially the gaming variety, budget isn’t the first term that comes to mind. Indeed, the low-profileLogitech G515 LIGHTSPEED TKLis affordable, but you can hardly call it a budget keyboard, especially considering how good it is.
Logitech G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL
The Logitech G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL is a more affordable take on its higher-end low-profile mechanical keyboards, but while the materials and build may differ, you’re not missing out in terms of functionality. Choose between linear or tactile switches for comfort, then use the software to customize your ideal keyboard layout.
Price and Availability
The Logitech G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL is a lower-priced alternative to the G915 TKL. The G515 retails for $139, compared to $229 for the G915.
The G515 LIGHTSPEED TLK is available with either tactile switches, which are similar to the “brown” switches from other brands, or linear switches, more like other brands’ “red” switches. You also get a choice of Carbon or White for the color of the chassis and switches.
Specifications
Sleek Design and a Slim Build
While it’s hard to ignore the appeal of a mechanical keyboard’s accurate and customizable switches, the form factor isn’t for everyone. Whether you’re looking at a full-size or more streamlined model, they tend to be a little on the tall side.
Low-profile keyboards like the G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL cut the height of those standard keys in half. Logitech also opts for a slim build, giving it an appearance closer to a typical slim wireless keyboard.
This model is tenkeyless, meaning the number pad found on the right side of a full-size keyboard isn’t present. That’s not the only omission, as you won’t find dedicated volume keys or other media keys. Instead, like a laptop keyboard, you press the Fn key and the appropriately labeled key.
While the keyboard is the same basic size as the pricier G915, it’s lighter due to the difference in materials. The G515 is largely made from plastic, while the G915 uses metal for a more rugged build. Even so, during my time testing the G515, the build of the keyboard felt plenty sturdy.
The keycaps are double-shot ABS with large, easy-to-read lettering, letting the per-key RGB backlighting shine through without blinding. These keycaps are also replaceable, which is a nice touch. Just remember that these are low-profile caps, so you’d need to replace them with other low-profile caps.
The bottom of the keyboard has rubber strips to help it stay in place, which is useful given its light weight. The height is also adjustable with two sets of built-in feet that let you switch between flat, four degrees, and eight degrees of rise. You’ll also find a handy storage compartment for the 2.4GHz USB dongle on the bottom.
Simple Connectivity, Powerful Software
While I’ve referred several times to the G515 as a wireless keyboard, it can connect in three different ways. The first two are indeed wireless: a 2.4GHz LIGHTSPEED connection using the included USB-C dongle, plus Bluetooth. If you’re running out of battery or don’t want to risk wireless latency, use a wired USB-C connection.
For the majority of my time with the G515, I used the 2.4GHz mode. This offers low enough latency that I never found myself wishing I’d bothered to plug in, and the convenience factor was also useful. The connectivity switch is located on the top-right of the keyboard, right above the other keys, so swapping to Bluetooth to use on another computer was easy.
Bluetooth is convenient, and for basic computer usage, I never noticed latency worth worrying about. That said, if gaming is your main reason behind looking at the G515, you’ll want to stick to using the LIGHTSPEED dongle.
The keyboard’s basic functions work perfectly fine out of the box, butLogitech’s G-Hub software(available for Windows and macOS) lets you keep an eye on battery life, tweak your lighting, and endlessly customize your keyboard. It’s truly daunting how many keys you can assign across various layers, and that’s before you include the customizable G-Shift key that lets you add another layer.
That said, I do have some concerns about the software. Opening Discord after installing the G Hub software, I was greeted with a request from G Hub to know a disconcerting amount about which Discord servers I belonged to, among other things.
A Comfortable Typing Experience
As mentioned above, the G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL is available with two types of switches. My review unit came with tactile switches, which I greatly prefer to linear switches for typing. That said, the switches weren’t my first concern with this keyboard.
My daily driver keyboard is an agingRazer Huntsman, so I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get used to the low-profile nature of the Logitech. Much to my surprise, typing felt good right off the bat. Within an hour or so, I was typing on the keyboard like I’d been using it for months.
That said, this keyboard did feel distinctly different. For one, it feels like there is quite a bit more foam inside, which is a good thing. On the other hand, the shorter distance between the tactile bump of the switch and the actual key bottoming out was definitely noticeable.
Even with those differences, I still found the keyboard a joy to type on, and using it instead of my usual keyboard during testing wasn’t a problem at all. Fortunately, I don’t deal with spreadsheets or numbers in general all that often, so I didn’t think about the lack of a number pad.
Similarly, I’ve never been much of a media key user outside of a laptop’s volume or brightness keys. I wasn’t bothered by the location of any Function combinations for media controls because I was never searching for them.
Gaming, Low Profile Style
I started typing on the G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL before my first gaming sessions, and I had assumed that the instant familiarity I felt typing would carry over. That wasn’t the case. Instead, it took me a few hours to get used to gaming with the Logitech, which I hadn’t expected.
For typing, I kept the keyboard completely flat, which felt the most comfortable. That said, I found that using the four-degree angle made for much more comfortable gaming. Once I’d found the right setup, I again felt at home on the keyboard.
Playing The First Descendant, quick movements like dodging and double-jumping never felt sluggish. When I made a mistake, I never found myself blaming the keyboard.
One handy feature I found after gaming was that if you leave Game Mode on, the light will helpfully flash when you press a key the mode has disabled. That saved me at least a minute or two of frustration.
Battery Life: How Much Do You Like Backlighting?
Battery life isn’t something I typically consider when buying a keyboard. That said, while I happily used aKeychron K2wireless mechanical keyboard for years and can barely remember ever charging it, it wasn’t backlit, nor was it a gaming keyboard.
The Logitech G515 is a different beast. The company claims up to 36 hours of continuous use with backlight. That’s not absurdly short, but if you’re using the keyboard six to eight hours a day, it won’t even get you a whole week. That said, judging by my own testing, it seems to do a bit better than that estimate, likely thanks to how aggressively it turns off the backlighting.
If you turn off the backlighting, the battery life will be dramatically longer, with Logitech claiming up to 600 hours between charges. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test this because, well, I had to turn this review in eventually.
Should You Buy the Logitech G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL?
There’s a lot to like about the slim, low-profile nature of theLogitech G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL, especially once you’ve used it for a few hours. Despite the low weight and difference in materials from its pricier siblings, it feels well-built, and I wouldn’t doubt its longevity. Typing felt great immediately, and I got used to gaming on a low-profile keyboard much faster than I’d assumed I would.
The G Hub software is packed with features, but it’s nice to know that the keyboard works well enough without the need for the software to be installed. This part will be especially true if you’re more privacy-conscious, considering just how much the G Hub software wanted to poke into my Discord usage.
Software missteps aside, there is still plenty to like about the G515 LIGHTSPEED TKL. While it’s certainly pricier than plenty of other keyboards, its sacrifices in terms of materials won’t matter in many cases. If you’re looking for a low-profile mechanical keyboard and this fits your needs, it should be a great fit.
