Digital Trends

Logitech G15

December 13th, 2007 | by Josh Norem

Features and Design

Logitech’s G15 keyboard is a product that needs no introduction. The first revision, dubbed the “G15 Gaming Keyboard,”  was an awesome keyboard, and was generally great for gaming. Not so much because of the multitude of macro keys and the largely useless LCD, but rather because of the backlit keys and the comfortable layout. There were a few problems of course, including its size and the fact that the LCD was mostly a gimmick, but overall it was great that Logitech was making an effort to make a truly hardcore keyboard with a thoughtful design.

Now the company has redesigned the G15, and dropped the “Gaming” portion of its name, perhaps to appeal to a wider audience. The biggest change is that it’s now much smaller, which is a good thing in our opinion. There’s no longer a huge array of macro buttons on the left-side of the keyboard. Instead there is just a single strip of six keys, and then three “channel” keys giving you access to 18 macros.

There’s a “macro record” button that makes recording macros very simple. You just press the MR button, press a macro key that you want to use, then type out your combination of keys, and press the MR button again and you’re done. You can also use the included software to make macros and assign keys to certain functions.

The included software lets you easily assign functions to the six macro keys

The LCD screen is now locked in place, rather than being on a hinge so you can either flip it up or close it completely. It features a rather large assortment of doohickeys, such as support for WoW, Ventrilo, Fraps and a number of games listed here. There are also media control buttons, and two unpowered USB ports behind the LCD.

The included software for the LCD is easy to use, and lets you enable, disable and configure the included widgets.

Logitech’s software lets you enable, disable or configure what’s displayed on the LCD

Instead of blue backlighting, the G15 now features soft amber lighting. One welcome addition is you can now cycle the backlighting with a push of the button. The cycle includes lights off, a soft glow, and a brighter glow.

Finally, underneath the keyboard there are channels for your headset wires, which is handy.