This is new keyboard territory, and it can be a little tricky getting the Wooting One working in games, even though it supports Directinput and Xinput out of the box. In Overwatch, for example, I had to go into the game settings and disable WASD movement, which allows the keyboards WASD keys to function as analog stick axes. Fortunately there’s a growing community on Reddit, Discord and at sites like the Wootopia game profile archive working together to make getting up and running faster and easier.

Testing The Wooting One Keyboard In Overwatch

Wooting One Specs

Backlight: Individual backlit RGB with key-by-key programmability

Switch option: Red Flaretech (linear) or Blue Flaretech (clicky)

N-key rollover: Yes - full

Onboard memory: Save up to 4 profiles on the Wooting one

Cable: Micro-USB 2.0 to USB 2.0

Dimensions: 369mm x 161mm x 41mm

Weight: < 1 kg

Warranty: Full 2-year consumer warranty

Price: $159.99 at the Wooting Store

What’s Cool About It

It’s An Analog Keyboard: The Wooting One works as advertised: It’s a keyboard that allows for analog movement. Its an innovation, something the gaming keyboard market has been sorely lacking. Even if everybody just goes “Oh, that’s neat,” and then goes back to their game pads, I applaud the Wooting folks for doing something new.

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Optical Switches In General Are Pretty Great: Though I won’t be giving up my MX Browns and Zealios switches any time soon, optical switches are really nice. The response is fast and accurate. Since there aren’t two pieces of metal making contact there’s virtually no bounce, so there’s little need for a substantial debouncing delay in the firmware. Sure, only the most rapid typing gamers will notice the difference, but it’s there.

It’s A Lovely Little Board: Multicolored LEDs aside, the Wooting One is a nice and subdued tenkeyless keyboard. Not a lot of bells and whistles up top, which is good. The sides of the case feature indents perfect for gripping, should you want to hold it up to the world while standing on a precipice singing that one song from The Lion King. The underside has channels for three-way cable management, so the USB cable is never on the wrong side.

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Programming With The Wootility: As keyboard management software goes, the Wooting One’s “Wootility” is really nice. Users can quickly select a color and paint their preferred RGB lighting configuration on the fly. While the current version lacks animated lighting effects, an update due later this month will add all sorts of breathing, cascading and cycling goodness.

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Lights are nice, but the Wootility is also about setting up custom profiles for games, applications and everyday use. Keys can be mapped directly to their gamepad counterparts, while advanced features like double keystrokes—pressing a key to a certain point to input one thing and further to do another—are easily accessible for testing and tomfoolery.

My favorite feature of the Wootilty? Profiles can be shared via codes, rather than having to download files. 6541991c-b623-e3f1-9313-ee4076e8b06e. That’s a Battlefield 1 profile. Just plug it in and go. Love it.

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What’s Not So Great

Keycaps: The shine-through caps on the Wooting One are not great. It’s the same sort of thin ABS plastic most gaming-focused keyboards ship with these days, and I will never stop hating them. Fortunately the Flaretech switches have standard MX-style cross-shaped pegs, so replacing these should be painless.

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Spring Ping: Not quite as easily fixable as the keycaps, both the linear red and clicky blue Flaretech switches suffer from a metallic chirping effect known as “ping.” It’s a muted chime that comes from the spring inside the switch vibrating against the posts that hold it in place. Nothing opening every switch and applying a little lube won’t fix, but users not comfortable with digging about inside will have to deal with it.

Final Thoughts

The Wooting One’s analog action is something new in the gaming keyboard realm, and it’s hard to tell at the moment how useful it will be in the long run. Users are discovering new ways to take advantage of the feature every day. If you jump to the 5:26 mark in the video below, Wooting CEO and co-founder Calder Limmen shows off how tweaking the board’s analog curve improves shooting accuracy while moving slowly in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Ultimately the usefulness of the Wooting One will depend on the user. Players who like to fiddle around with settings and test out different configurations will likely have a ball figuring out creative ways to leverage analog keyboard movement. Others might want to wait until their favorite game shows up on Wooting’s tutorial page or the Wootopia profile archive. And for those who’d rather play their PC games with Xbox controllers, get out. Get the hell out right now.

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Okay, you can stay. But the stuff your fancy analog sticks and triggers do? A keyboard can do all of that now too.