Monitor manufacturer AOC announced its first-ever gaming mice and keyboards earlier this year. The Agon AGK700 ($179.99) is the more expensive and luxurious of its first two keyboards, the flagship of a small, new fleet. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a high-end full-size keyboard, with Cherry MX switches, dedicated macro buttons, media keys, and USB passthrough. It has a few eccentricities, including a handful of pre-programmed buttons and extra keys, but nothing really makes it stand out from other flagships. It’s simply a competent, mostly balanced first offering from a rookie keyboard maker.
So Many Buttons
By default, a full-size keyboard has 104 keys; the Agon AGK700 has 108, adding dedicated media controls—skip back, skip forward, play/pause, and stop—in the top-right corner above the number pad.
The Agon AGK700 features Cherry MX Red (linear) or MX Blue (clicky) key switches. Clicky switches, like the ones in my review unit, have a balanced typing feel for gaming and work, and they maximize the clacking sound the keys make. They’re a little antisocial in an open-plan office, but great for working from home. Just make sure to mute yourself before taking notes on a Zoom call.
In addition to the keys, there are eight preset buttons along the top edge of the keyboard, and five customizable macro buttons on the left edge. The preset ones include Game Mode, Home, Mute, and RGB on/off. Some are extremely niche, such as the button that switches WASD and arrow inputs, which is mostly helpful for left-handed gamers. A Music button that opens Windows Media Player feels dated in the streaming media era. Aside from the specifically customizable macro buttons, these buttons cannot be reassigned through the G-Tools configuration app, so the ones you don’t need feel like a waste of space.
At least the keyboard looks sharp. The dark gray brushed aluminum top plate is a sleek base coat, with a pop of color from the bright red volume wheel at top-center and a heaping helping of RGBs. The tall, round buttons fill the wide bezels, making the 1.44-by-18.00-by-6.63-inch (HWD) design look more compact than it really is.
But once you factor in the detachable wrist rest, it’s impossible to deny that this is a big keyboard that demands a lot of real estate. The leatherette-coated wrist rest is bigger than average, adding an extra 2.21 inches of depth, which is great for comfort but takes a fair amount of extra space. The rest is very firm and provides good support, keeping your hands at perfect typing level.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that the Agon AGK700 has a USB passthrough port behind the far edge of the keyboard. Even as more gaming mice pivot to wireless connections, having a USB port close at hand for quickly adding and removing peripherals is very nice to have.
Working With G-Tools
On Windows PCs, AOC’s G-Tools configuration app lets you remap all 108 keys and the five open macro buttons, and change the keyboard’s RGB lighting. The menus are clear and straightforward, but the configuration options for the Agon AGK700 feel limited, especially since so many buttons can’t be changed.
The Agon AGK700 can store up to five profiles in onboard storage, which is the standard for a premium keyboard. Unfortunately, G-Tools doesn’t give you the ability to make other profiles and store them on your computer, a common courtesy that lets players make abundant game-specific customizations.
A Flagship Like Any Other
Every aspect of AOC’s Agon AGK700 feels about as good as you would expect from a high-end keyboard: no more, no less. It has well-made switches and lots of useful features. It looks good, though it doesn’t stand out among gaming keyboards. Even the price, $179.99, is about average for high-end keyboards with USB passthrough and similar features.
G-Tools is a mild liability compared to the versatile and polished software from more well-established brands like Corsair and Razer, but the equivalent keyboards from those brands—the K100 RGB and the Razer Huntsman V2 Analog—both cost more than $200. If you want to save a few bucks and still get flagship features, the Agon AGK700 will be perfectly serviceable. It’s a strong first attempt from AOC and bodes well for its future keyboards.
