Ant Esports KM580 Combo Review: A Budget Delight

INTRODUCTION

The experience of typing on a mechanical keyboard can never be replaced but buying a mechanical keyboard can be a hassle with the vast majority of options out there and a good quality keyboard costs upwards of ₹5000. Most budget gaming keyboard use low quality membranes which get hard and stick in few months.

Now this is where the Ant Esports KM580 stands out from the competition. It’s a sub ₹1500 raised layout mem-chanical keyboard and gaming mouse combo which can satisfy you even if you are a gamer or a hard-working office user. It is a perfect addition to any PC and can instantly make a old PC look like a premium one.

DESIGN AND OVERVIEW

Keyboard:

The keyboard comes in a sleek yet durable black body that is covered by a Aluminium plate on the top to prevent any sort of warping or bending while typing or gaming. The keys are made of ABS plastic and are pretty durable because of their double shot nature.

The keys are a raised island type layout which is a pretty good decision by the manufacturer to minimise wear and tear on the membrane and keys to make the keyboard last longer. Under the keys is a white diffusion membrane which helps to diffuse the glow from the LED’s and makes sure that it doesn’t blind out the user in the dark.

They keyboard has a strong rubberised cable with ridges running along its length so as to minimize kinking. The keyboard is USB 2.0 compliant and works with variety of operating systems.

Sound Test:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/170XtxaOzw1MkqKfH7K124Apmo11W2Mi7/view?usp=sharing

Mouse:

Now coming to the mouse. It’s a high-performance gaming mouse that comes with a 3200dpi sensor with pretty decent tracking in games. The mouse surface is rubberized to prevent slipping during long gaming sessions and the keys are quite durable and tactile. The main clickers in the Mouse are from Huano and the secondary ones are YT blue dots. The cable is a braided 1.5m long one and is USB 2.0 compliant. The sensor goes all the way from 800-1600-2400-3200dpi.

The mouse feels quite good in hand and is pretty durable. The profile is ambidextrous with macro buttons on the left side of the mouse. The ambidextrous shape complimented with slim profile makes sure that the user doesn’t feel any fatigue on their hands.

DESIGN AND OVERVIEW

Keyboard Features & Specification:

• Weight: 663g

• Dimensions (LWH): 448x154x36 mm

• Gaming Mode

• 3 Colour Multi Led Zone

• Aluminium Top Plate

• Anti Ghosting keys

•  Low latency response time

• Rugged 1.5mtr long USB 2.0 cable

• Compatible with Windows 2000, 9x, XP, Vista, 7, 8.x, 10, 11 and Mac

Mouse Features and Specification:

• Weight: 86g without and 115g with cable

• Plug and play

• LED backlit scroll wheel and bright LED light

• Rubberized non slip finish

• Low friction Glides

• User Definable Colour settings from Red, White, Green, Blue, Pink, Cyan and Yellow

• Huano switches

• DPI adjustable to 800>1600>2400>3200

• Braided 1.5mtr long USB cable

• Compatible with Windows 2000, 9x, XP, Vista, 7, 8.x, 10, 11 and Mac

CONCLUSION

Having started out gaming in 2012 with a simple membrane keyboard I can say that the Ant Esports KM580 is miles ahead of that. The raised layout is pretty comfortable and tactile to type on and the LED backlit is icing on the cake as its diffused out and there are no hotspots. The setup was simple, just plug in and start playing.

The mouse was equally good. The clicks were precise and the tracking was decent. In game performance was tested with some FPS games like Apex legends, Valorant and both performed pretty well. The mouse tracking was smooth and it didn’t skip any steps and the keyboard didn’t misfire its keys even once. Some things like a slight textured keycap could have been added but considering the price I am not complaining.

For the price of ~₹1500 I will recommend the KM580 Combo to anyone who is short on the budget but still wants a decent experience.

Considering all points and build, performance, pricing and availability I will rate this Keyboard Mouse combo at a solid 9/10. These are pretty decent scores considering most manufacturers skimp out on a combo kit but Ant Esports proved them wrong and will hopefully continue with this quality in the future.

GALLERY

Here are some of the snaps that I took of the keyboard to highlight its design and led effects.