Review: Gamdias HERMES 7 Color Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Gamdias, Gamdias, Gamdias. Does the name sound familiar? If it does congratulations, either you’re familiar with the brand or you’ve read our recently published HERMES RGB Keyboard review. If you haven’t heard the name, then shame on you! While rather new to the marketplace, Gamdias is a good, up-and-coming gaming company who stand by their motto of “Gaming Art in Motion.” Believe it, their HERMES keyboards and ZEUS mice look crazy all lit up with these zany lighting effects. In this review, we dive into one of their ‘art-pieces,’ the HERMES 7 Color mechanical gaming keyboard. So without any further delay. Welcome to our Gamdias HERMES 7 Color Keyboard review.
Introducing the HERMES 7 Color Keyboard
Design Features
I’m going to start off on a bizarre note. It has to do with the seven colors of the HERMES 7 Color keyboard, so I’ll get right to it. Unless I’m color blind, and I’m fairly sure that I am not, there are only six colors on the HERMES 7 Color keyboard: green, blue, violet, pink, orange, and red. Look at the pictures here and on the Gamdias website. Can you spot all seven colors? I’ve looked everywhere, and the theory I have is that the Num-lock “panel” lights up a different shade of red than the red that lights up the bottom row. Like I said, it’s a weird note about the lighting, but an interesting observation as the packaging states “7 Color.”
Moving on, the HERMES 7 Color keyboard has a pleasant aesthetic that I thoroughly enjoy; even more so than the HERMES RGB. The keys are raised, at which point you can see all the lights underneath them. The keys have metal plate stabilizers for added durability. I noticed some reviewers complained, but I believe metal plate stabilizers adds to the keyboard quite well. The HERMES 7 Color is not as compact as the HERMES RGB. The former’s exact dimensions are 18.03 x 8.66 x 1.73 inches. What it lacks in compactness, it makes up for in comfort. The former has a larger wrist plate.
The keys are a bit touchy; it doesn’t take much force at all (45cN) for it to register as a key press. Key presses are quite audible and might drive a few people mental if you’re in the same room with them. Aforementioned occurred with said reviewer using said keyboard while writing this review.
The HERMES 7-Color keyboard has its Windows key on the left side, not on the right side like that of the HERMES RGB keyboard. And now, the Fn key is on the right side of the keyboard, unlike the HERMES RGB, where it’s on the left. As someone who uses the left Windows key a lot, this design choice pleases me. If you like it on the right, like on the HERMES RGB, then great. What I’m saying is it comes down to personal preference.
Wondering about N-key rollover? There’s no need to. Here are the 21 keys: Q, W, E, R, U, I, O, P, \, 7, 8, 9, +, Enter, Backspace, F9, F10, F11, F12, Scroll, and Pause. (Yes, this took a bit of research.)
Performance
When it comes to features, this keyboard is very similar to the HERMES RGB. It has the media player shortcuts, a keyboard lock, etc. There’s the “Gaming” lock/button which locks out the Windows key. There are options for brightness control, the ability to change the light pattern speed, and capacity to swap WASD to the arrow keys. The scroll lock notification is still missing from the Num-Lock panel while the key to right click on the keyboard is there. Each key has a 50 million button life cycle.
Both (HERMES 7 Color and RGB) keyboards have very stiff legs to pull up. The HERMES 7 Color legs aren’t as troublesome as the HERMES RGB, but still, I needed a flat head screwdriver to pull them up due to the lack of available finger space. Like the HERMES RGB, the HERMES 7 Color keyboard has Gamdias certified Kailh blue mechanical switches/TTC switches, and the whole thing is connected in with one USB.
They differ in lighting options, size, an extra feature on the HERMES 7 Color, the absence of any macro keys for the keyboard and the fact that the keyboard is not Hera-supported. The HERMES 7 Color keyboard has nine preset lighting modes, while the HERMES RGB has thirteen modes. A couple of these modes are the same on each keyboard. The nine lightning modes are as follows: Normal, Wave, Breathing, Circular Marquees, Marquee, Colored Ribbon, Rotation, Responsive Fade Out, and Ripple. My two favorites are the Colored Ribbon and Ripple as they have the most interesting patterns to them.
The keyboard also has five customizable profiles where you can choose which keys to light up. The HERMES RGB is the same way, but the HERMES 7 Color does this without the HERA software. One big difference is that each key on the HERMES RGB can light up with a unique color, while on the HERMES 7 Color, the color goes by row. As an example, the row containing the “Esc” key and “Pause Break” is green and only green.
[envira-gallery id=”6158″]The extra feature on this HERMES 7 Color keyboard is the Consecutive Attack Mode which is activated as quickly as changing the lighting mode. Once it’s enabled, you just press and hold down whatever key you used to attack, and you won’t have to spam it anymore. The keyboard doesn’t have any special macro keys. Since I never use macros, it’s not a problem for me.
You can take the absence of the HERA software as a good or bad thing. Personally, I like its absence because I felt the software was a bit sluggish and buggy, though it got the job done.
Conclusion
I truly like this HERMES 7 Color mechanical gaming keyboard. I like the feel, the aesthetic, and all the color schemes. This keyboard is going to be my principal gaming keyboard until such time when something significantly better comes along.
I don’t have any huge complaints with this keyboard. If I had to pick one, it would be the design itself, not on the keys, just the outside of the keyboard, the outline if you will, is somewhat plain.
The list price of the HERMES 7 Color Keyboard is $99. Fortunately, you can get it for around $50 at Amazon (see link at the bottom of this post.) If you’re looking for a replacement or just tired of your old keyboard, we suggest you pick this one up. In the US, each gaming keyboard comes with a 1-year warranty from date of purchase.
If you’re looking for that entry-level or lower-priced mechanical gaming keyboard, we can definitively say the Hermes 7 Color is a great choice. We recommend you check out this product before making your next purchase.[soliloquy id=”6139″]
Do you agree or disagree with any part of this post? Let us know in the comment section below or via social media. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.
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FTC Disclosure: Gamdias provided Beantown LLC with one (1) HERMES 7 Color Keyboard sample for review purposes. This writer’s opinion is 100% his own and is not a paid product ambassador.
All photographs are the copyrighted property of Beantown LLC and Gamdias © 2016.