Previously known for their line of budget, bang for the buck mice like the Perdition and Mammoth, nobody would’ve thought that Redragon’s debut into the mechanical keyboard market will be so successful. Considering the price and the manufacturer’s experience with mechanical keyboards, the sheer number of features and the quality on offer is perplexing. Let’s dive into our Redragon Yama Mechanical Keyboard review and take a closer look at what it has to offer.

What we played: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Playerunknown’s: Battlegrounds

*This item was not provided by Redragon. It was purchased by Unleash The Gamer for review purposes only.

COMFORT

After several extensive testing sessions (a.k.a. Playing video games), I can safely state that the Redragon Yama keyboard is relatively comfortable. If you’ve had no comfort issues with Corsair K63 or K70, then you’ll have no problems with this one, because they have very similar design philosophies. The multimedia buttons, which are positioned on the top side of the keyboard, are shaped differently than the other buttons, making them very easy to reach and use via muscle memory. 

DESIGN

From a design standpoint, the Redragon Yama is a huge step forward for the Chinese manufacturer. The design is pretty impressive considering that they weren’t exactly famous for delivering handsome peripherals. Like we’ve mentioned above, if you dig the Corsair school of keyboard design, you’ll like the Yama. It has a similarly blocky, yet elegant and streamlined design, with an Apple-ish coloring scheme that confers it with a unique charm.

Other than that, there’s not much else to say about its design. The buttons are nicely textured, preventing the fingers from slipping off the buttons due to sweat. Apart from some questionable decisions regarding the macro buttons – the position and the materials used – and other things that I’ll put under the ”pet peeve” category, the design is top-notch and a huge step forward for the company.

COMPACTNESS

The Redragon Yama is relatively large, but not to a degree where you’ll have trouble fitting it on a regular desk. Thanks to its uniform and streamlined design, the Yama doesn’t take more space than it needs to, so don’t worry if your desk is usually cluttered.

STURDINESS

If Walmart is out of your way, the Yama is so sturdy that it can easily serve as a baseball bat (please don’t do that). This keyboard is a freaking tank. The top plate is built out of aluminum, with a nice brushed finish, while the underside of the keyboard features a white, durable plastic plate that could crack a watermelon in hundreds of pieces. Being built primarily out of aluminum, the Yama is pretty heavy, so think twice before wedging it between your traveling essentials. 

CUSTOMIZATION

However, there are a few design quirks that we’d like to quickly address before heading on to the next entry, and they are related to customization.

But first, let’s start with the positives. The Redragon Yama features 12 dedicated keys for setting macros, as well as internal memory for saving the settings. They are nicely textured and nice to the touch.

The macro keys (G buttons) are decent, BUT they are terribly positioned. Physically reaching the buttons with your fingers will take longer than executing the commands yourself which, you know, defeats the purpose of having macro keys in the first place. Another thing worth mentioning is that the G-Keys are membrane. On the bright side, they make up for the awful placement with simple programming. Setting up and resetting the macros is as simple as punching several commands in certain combinations. For more details, you can check the (awkwardly) translated manual.

NOISE

For a mechanical keyboard of its size and shape, the Redragon Yama is surprisingly silent. Don’t get us wrong, this board is capable of causing a decent amount of racket, but not to a degree where it becomes annoying to other people. The keyboard offers a nice tactile feedback – which makes typing very satisfying -, but sadly without the characteristic ‘’click’’ thing. All in all, if you want a low-key board that offers the satisfying feedback of a mechanical keyboard without the risk of waking up the entire block, the Redragon Yama is the perfect compromise.

CONCLUSION

This concludes our Redragon Yama Mechanical Keyboard review. As far as budget keyboards are concerned, the Redragon Yama is a sound choice thanks to its sturdy build, quality keys and overall quality on the table. If you want something similar to what Corsair offers but you don’t want to break the bank, you should give this one a shot.