Almost sadly, it may now be time to put the old G15 out to pasture. At E3 in July, Logitech gave us a first look at a revamped G15 design destined to phase out the older model in time for the holiday buying season. In preparing a facelift for the company's flagship gaming keyboard we're told Logitech took user feedback on the original design quite seriously, addressing almost all of the biggest criticisms of the old design in the new model.
As such, the new G15 is both smaller and more feature rich than the original design. The first version was really wide due to the 18 macro buttons to the left of the QWERTY keys. Too wide, in fact, to fit in most standard sized keyboard cutouts or desk shelves. The new G15 ditches 12 of them, cutting its allotment to 6 and the overall width of the keyboard by roughly 3-inches. That's probably not a huge loss to anyone but the most macro-frenzied, and we'll admit we never came up with enough commands to utilize all 18 of the original model's dedicated keys. For those really committed to macro-ing, the new G15 does offer three small buttons above the remaining 6-macro keys that cycle the keyboard though different macro modes, essentially allowing the full compliment of 18-macros to still be accessible in the new design.
Logitech also refined other aspects of the G15. The two built-in USB ports are relocated to more accessible locations behind the LCD, which is itself a better version of what preceded it. Though dimensionally smaller and no longer on a hinge, the new G15's integrated LCD offers the same resolution as the original (160 x 43). Some owners were displeased with the brightness of the original screen, which could be slightly glaring in a dark room due to its grey and white colors. In the new model Logitech went with a red-orange display that is still quite legible in both florescent office lighting and in the dark, yet does not effect night vision or glare.
We're big fans of the G15's LCD in both its previous and current manifestations. Out of the box, the new G15 LCD offers readouts that include a combined clock, date, and e-mail notification display; a CPU and RAM load readout; stop watch and timer tools; and a media display if iTunes or a similar player is in action. Most are useful, and four buttons directly below the LCD are used to control tools like the stop watch, which is nice if you're into timing the spawns of weapons in FPS games.
Logitech was also hoping to draw in some gaming developer support to allow games to interface with the G15's LCD to display things like current weapon and ammo. Though some games did feature support, the list is pretty short. Happily though, a relatively dedicated G15 fan base developed and has coded patches to add support to popular games. The same community also developed nice tools like RSS-alerts that can be pretty useful if you're inclined to set them up. We are so inclined, and appreciate this capability in both the old and new G15. Though we were at first a little bummed to see the LCD get smaller in the new version, we're now swayed to its superiority thanks to its more legible colors, tighter resolution, and smoother animations in transitions.
Most other aspects of the G15 remain, or are only cosmetically altered. The keyboard still features a gaming mode, which disables the Windows key, and built in media controls (play / pause, stop, track forward / back, mute, and volume up / down). While the first model featured blue backlighting, the new G15 glows subtly in orange, which matches the LCD and is likewise much less prone to causing eye strain or glare when used in a dark room. To really make the peeps with sensitive eyes happy, there's even a dedicated button that can disable all backlighting (including the LCD's), or alternate between low and high brightness settings.
Key response on the new G15 feels a little bit snappier than the old model, but that's probably because the old one was used heavily for two years. Regardless, we like it for both typing and gaming. Keystrokes are solid and direct, and buttons like Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, and Ctrl are large enough to make hitting them easy with the FPS-style W, A, S, D claw.
In pretty much all respects the new G15 is as good as, if not better than, the older model. Retail price remains the same as the original model, $99.99, which is pretty much what all flagship gaming keyboards cost these days.