The $79.99 Logitech G413 SE is a keyboard designed for those looking for a gaming-grade (but budget-priced) mechanical keyboard, complete with tactile switches, PBT keycaps, and an attractive design with white LED key backlighting. It’s a good-looking board that delivers the basics of a full-size keyboard at a decent price. It should appease gamers looking for a simple, entry-level board, but more discerning gamers will be turned off by how many useful features were trimmed to craft the G413 SE, especially compared with the board’s older sibling, the Logitech G413 Carbon.
The Design: Keeping It G-Minimal
Weighing in at just 1.4 pounds, the Logitech G413 SE is a lightweight full-size model, thanks to its aluminum alloy key deck, but it still remains surprisingly sturdy. It weighs less than other full-size boards, like the XPG Mage, and it wastes no space, either, measuring at 1.4 by 17.1 by 5 inches (HWD). In design, it’s almost identical to its predecessor, with the same striking black, brushed-finish top and bold LED key lighting. The same can be said for the tenkeyless variant (which lops off the number pad), available for $69.99.
Similarities are only skin deep, however, as the SE makes use of tactile switches from Long Hua, instead of the previous version’s Romer G tactile switches. (Romer G is Logitech’s own inhouse switch concoction.) Long Hua is a departure from Logitech’s branded switches, as well as from much more widely recognized mechanical switch types from Cherry Industrial, and commonly seen mechanical knockoffs from Kailh. In use, the keys aren’t very loud, but they also don’t provide much in the way of satisfying feedback, feeling somewhat mushy with every key press. Compared with the MSI GK71 Sonic‘s 35 grams of actuation force, or even the older G413’s 45 grams of actuation force, the G413 SE’s switches feel middling at best, without a crisp response or snap to them.
On the other hand, the PBT keycaps themselves fare much better. The durable material is both heat- and wear-resistant, and should last for a good amount of time, though we do miss the 12 faceted keycaps included with the older G413 model. Those shaped keycaps helped your fingers situate themselves.
The Logitech G413 SE also includes six-key rollover with an anti-ghosting gaming matrix. N-key rollover is the maximum number of keyboard keys that can be depressed while all keys register the input of the appropriate character. So, in this board’s case, you can push down up to six keys without losing any input. The six-key level is a bare necessity for any gaming keyboard at this point.
What Gets Cut?
While the board operates just fine, it doesn’t take long before you notice some of the surprising omissions Logitech makes for the G413 SE. The first glaring cut is the USB passthrough port, which would’ve added some more functionality to the board. Not the biggest loss, sure, but couple some of the other features missing, and the limits of the new model are more apparent.
For example, the G413 SE is not compatible with Logitech’s G Hub software, its standard software control panel for its gaming peripherals. That means the creation of programmable macros and any customization of the key backlight LEDs are out of the question. In addition, picking up the G413 SE versus the preceding Carbon model means you also lose out on the faceted keycaps, a keycap puller, and a 26-key rollover function (all included with the older G413). That’s not to mention other gaming amenities like a volume roller or a wrist rest included with some competing units.
The last rub is the pricing. Given that you get lesser key switches, no G Hub support for customizable macros or LED lighting, and no USB passthrough, you’d at least expect a significant price difference. But at list price, the G413 is only $10 cheaper than its $89.99 Carbon predecessor. And that’s at full price; you may be able to find a Carbon model cheaper than the SE. We did with a simple Google search.
‘Simple’ Doesn’t Necessarily Mean ‘Better’
If you’re in the market for a compact full-size mechanical keyboard with no interest in any further customization, you’ll find everything you’re looking for with the Logitech G413 SE. But if you want more from your gaming keyboard, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
This compact board has a handsome façade, but it is missing a few key features. These omissions mean the G413 SE pales in comparison to its 2017 predecessor, and it’s hard not to recommend similarly priced mechanical keyboards like the Drop ENTR Mechanical Keyboard, the G413 Carbon, or our feature-complete Editors’ Choice pick, the MSI GK71 Sonic, over this model.
