Logitech G316 X 98 Wired Gaming Keyboard
design
I’ve been testing the black version of the G316 x 98 with tactile switches, which, if you’re in the UK like I am, are the only switches available at launch. It’s a pretty understated board for the most part, with a translucent purple escape key and media dial providing the only break from the plain black outfit. If you opt for the white board you’ll get teal accents, and you’re stuck with using them as unlike other brands, Logitech doesn’t include any less-outlandish caps in the box. It’s a clever bit of continuity, though, as the same purple and green pairings show up across Logitech’s G325 headsets too, so there’s some familiar family DNA showing up across the range.
I’m not suggesting you’ll spend much time waving your board around, but out of the box it was immediately apparent to me that this is one of Logitech’s cheaper offerings. It’s a fully plastic build and there’s serious, noticeable flex as a result, and an overall hollowness to the sound and feel that I don’t love. I’ve tested a fair few all-plastic boards recently and this one still manages to feel like a rung below them. Thankfully that flex doesn’t carry across once it’s in position, it’s far more robust and solid in use, but it’s not a great first impression. There’s also a lingering question of value when put up against dedicated, but perhaps less mainstream, keyboard brands. Next to something like the Keychron V1 Ultra 8K the quality difference in the hand is stark, and the likes of the Epomaker P65 bring rock solid aluminium construction at an even cheaper price again. It means, while OK, the G316 X 98 comes off feeling like the most budget option in the room, without carrying the most budget price tag.
One genuine bright spot, however, is the feet. Logitech’s gone with a flippable rubber system offering two angles rather than the usual flimsy flip-out plastic tabs, and it’s a good solution that works really well. So many boards seem to overlook adjustable feet entirely these days that it’s nice to see one done properly. There’s a really noticeable difference in feel between the two heights and the keyboard stays planted at both, no wobbling, no sliding about on the desk.
It’s not really a surprise from Logitech, but the branding and RGB lighting are where the G316 X 98 is perhaps at its strongest. The backlighting is incredibly bright and wonderfully saturated, and the shine-through keycap legends are bold and clear with a nice font choice. The light bar running above the function row is a similarly strong effort, super slick in motion and a real highlight of using the board day to day. Seeing blobs of light go flying across it as I adjusted volume levels with the top dial brought me a childish joy and I’ll admit to spending longer fiddling with my volume than I should have.
Technically the Logitech G316 X 98 is compatible with both Windows and Mac, though there isn’t parity between the experiences. There isn’t a set of alternate keycaps for Mac layouts and no dedicated Mac mode either. It was plug and play on my MacBook Air with the media controls working just fine, but it proved a guessing game of what was mapped to what in terms of things like Command. Considering how minor an addition of proper Mac keycaps would be, or even small secondary legends printed on the side of the existing keys, it’s a shame not to see some love extended to Mac users here.
performance
My Logitech G316 X 98 includes tactile switches that, having spent a week or two with, I’m not a massive fan of. There’s a definite bump, but it’s very early in the travel and feels more like you’re falling off a cliff than finding a speedbump along the way. They’re also firmer than I’d like for day to day typing and general use. That extra resistance brings a sluggishness with it that I found a little harsh over longer sessions, it’s not an unusable feeling by any means, just not one suited to my own preferences.
Then there’s the noise. This is one of, if not the, loudest boards I’ve tested in recent memory. I’m not going to start quoting dBs but if you’re a streamer hoping to keep your keyboard out of your audio mix, this isn’t your board. I don’t have anything against loud boards, the problem is on the G316 it’s not a noise I particularly enjoy. Some keyboards manage that creamy, satisfying thock that scratches an itch in a very specific part of your brain. This one doesn’t, it’s more like the loudest person at a party whose laugh cuts abrasively through every conversation in the room. I’m no switch sound snob, but I found this one grating. The good news is this is a hot-swappable board, so you could replace the entire set with something a little more satisfying if you wished, though that’s not a particularly cost effective way to go about business.
On the gaming side, I’ll hold my hands up, I’m not the kind of player who’s ever going to push an 8,000Hz polling rate to its limits. In fact, I’m not likely to ever even bring those limits on to the horizon, and if we’re honest, most people buying this board probably aren’t either. The G316 ships with polling rate set to 1K by default and I imagine a majority of gamers will leave it there, it’s more than enough for responsive play and I never felt like the board was lagging behind my ability. That sluggishness from the heavy, firm tactile switches is worth being aware of for certain fast-paced game types, I wouldn’t want to rely on it where rapid inputs can make the difference. Though it could just as easily work in your favour elsewhere, as I had very few accidental misclicks during testing and no specific issues with inputs registering. It’s a deliberate, accurate keyboard, it just lacks any feeling of fluidity and flow.
Perched in the top right corner, the dot-matrix display and control dial are a nice idea that are a little let down by how little they actually do. It’s capable of some really cute animations that are as charming as they are quirky. Most of the time, however, I had no real sense of why it’s showing what it was showing. As I write this, there’s a little animated speaker icon with sound waves pulsing out of it despite the fact I haven’t touched the volume all day. I assume this is because it’s set to volume control mode (it can also switch to controlling lighting or polling rate) but it’s confusing to see it implying levels are changing when they aren’t. At other times it decides to flip to a smiley face, or just fill up as a plain white square, with no clear logic for either of those. I’d like to see this space offered to the user with some level of customisation via G HUB, I’m sure developers could do some really nifty things with it, given the chance.
Speaking of G HUB, it’s the standard Logitech experience, so if you’ve used any Logitech G gear before you know roughly what you’re getting before you open it. There are a handful of options for adjusting lighting, polling rate, and rebinding inputs. However, as far as I can tell, several Mac-specific functions I lean on daily, like the emoji key or Spotlight, simply aren’t available to assign.
So, value. Logitech’s pitching this as its accessible entry point into a world of mechanical keyboards, and on that basis alone it does its job if you’re set on staying in the Logitech G ecosystem. But widen the lens even slightly and that positioning gets harder to defend. Boards from the likes of Epomaker and Keychron are offering a better level of finish for similar money, sometimes less, and having spent time with a few of them, I can say the G316 X 98 doesn’t stack up brilliantly in overall feel. To be clear, that’s not the same as saying it’s overpriced, what you get for the money here is reasonable enough taken on its own terms, it’s just not a standout when set against the company it’s keeping and that makes it much harder to recommend outside of brand allegiances.
summed up
The Logitech G316 X 98 does the basics of its brief well enough, it brings high-level internal specs to a proper 98% layout, offers hot-swappable switches, and some of the best lighting I’ve seen on a board. But get past the light show and the cracks start to appear in the experience, particularly when placed side by side with competitors.
The plastic case flexes more than it should and lacks any sort of premium feel, the switches feel like they’re fighting back at you and scream loudly at the same time, and a screen that could be a charming point of difference ends up not doing much. It’s a keyboard with some nice touches, but touches that don’t make up for how ordinary the most important aspects are, particularly next to what else the same money can buy right now.
