The Asus ROG Azoth is the first true gaming keyboard for enthusiasts from the Taiwanese tech giant. And, frankly, it’s a doozy. That’s a technical term that translates as a quality keeb that ticks all the boxes, then signs some more at the bottom of the list and ticks those off as well.
Asus is no stranger to mechanical keyboards. I’ve tested some of its previous ROG mech boards, even its near-smart hybrid Claymore board that got ahead of Mountain in the detachable numpad game but failed to hold it. I mean, literally. The loose attachment of the extra keyboard was one of the reasons I hated it so much.
But it’s only really dipped its toes into the enthusiast keyboard market. Well, the ROG Azoth (opens in new tab) Asus is going in with both feet, which is no real surprise given the burgeoning market for high-end custom keyboards.
Oddly enough, despite being in the middle of a global economic chaos of bordering apocalyptic proportions, there’s never been a better time to release a stupidly priced gaming keyboard because people are buying them. And when I say “stupidly priced” I’m not messing around; this thing is the first $300+ keyboard I’ve ever seen.
ROG Azoth Specifications
Measure: 75%
Base: Hot swappable
switches: ROG NX Linear|Tactile|Clicky
backlight: By key
Display: 2-inch OLED screen
Anti Ghosting: N key rollover
Poll: 1,000 Hz
Dimensions: 326x136x40mm
Weight: 1,186g (without cable)
connections: 2.4GHz|USB Type-C|Bluetooth
Battery life: 130 hours (without lighting)
Price: $350| £270 (opens in new tab)
However, it offers everything you could want from an avid Keeb. The build quality is absolutely exceptional and the weight of the Azoth is extreme. And I love that. It’s also built with all the pre-lubricated, gasketed, dampened details you need for that premium typing experience.
And premium it is. The Azoth is a joy to tap, especially now that I’ve completely replaced all of the included ROG NX switches that came with the board. Not that they’re all bad, the custom linear mechanical switches are Cherry MX Red analogs, but do have a nice feel. No, I just have some lovely Halo True switches that I bought to put in my Mountain Everest Max (opens in new tab) plate. That board has been retired in favor of Everest 60, and I left the Mountain Tactile switches in place.
That’s one of the must-haves for any keyboard with enthusiast pretensions: hot-swappable switches. We keyboard nerds love to replace switches unnecessarily for an infinitesimal difference in feel that even the princess of pea fame would find hard to notice. And the Azoth happily provides that, and with what I’ll say is my absolute favorite switch trigger bundled into the package. Yes, I actually have a favorite now.
Maybe I should go out more?
But I’ve torn finger meat on other triggers, and the bundled keycap trigger Asus ships in the box is also just as effective ergonomically. That’s not all though, as the company has done everything it can to prove its enthusiastic proclivities. With lubricant.
It’s surprisingly easy, unsurprisingly tedious work.
Yes, lube is the new badge of honor for Keeb enthusiasts. Of course, good switches must be pre-lubricated. Naturally. But with the Azoth, Asus offers a little doohickey that easily splits the standard MX-style switch or the new ROG NX switches so you can access the mechanism inside. Then with the li’l jar o’ lube in the box and the brush to apply it, you can rub in the necessary plastic for a super smooth effect.
It’s surprisingly easy, unsurprisingly tedious work, and you absolutely should never do it yourself.
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Aside from all that enthusiastic shiz, this is also a very effective gaming keyboard. It’s primarily wireless, offering both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as a wired USB Type-C connection for both power and data. And it’s a small form factor board too, though it’s definitely not an ultra-restrictive 60%.
It’s listed as a 75% keyboard, so while it completely dispenses with a numpad, you still get a full row of function keys across the top, Ins, Del, PgUp/Dn, and more importantly, you get cursor keys. It is an inevitably larger board than the Mount Everest 60 (opens in new tab), but that also means there’s more separation and no frustratingly small shift key. I personally dislike the positioning of the Delete key, but that’s my only complaint about the layout itself.
Peripheral software, it’s the worst.
Then you also get a two-tone OLED display in the top right corner, with a three-way switch that can be adjusted via the weakest part of the whole kit.
As usual, the ROG Azoth relies on Asus’ terrible Armory Crate software, and it just takes…so…damn…long…to do anything. Just switching tabs in the app, or trying to check for firmware updates, oh it’s endless. And sometimes it just doesn’t work at all, especially when you switch from USB to Wi-Fi and vice versa, and the app gets stuck in a permanent loading animation, throwing away any tweaked profile settings you’ve saved to it. somehow completely reset the device. Peripheral software, it’s the worst.
The frustrating thing is that once you get there, it actually offers some pretty useful buttons to tweak in regards to the controls or screen. Aside from the required LED backlight controls, you can also customize the control knob to deliver exactly what you want. By default the control has five discrete modes, which you can cycle through via a button at the end of it, but in the app you can add a customizable sixth and you can do that for practically anything. There are three ‘buttons’ on the switch (up, down and a click) and each can open a website, an application, other multimedia, keyboard or mouse functions or even a preset input text.
It’s pretty damn powerful.
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I also like that you can turn off all the modes you have do not want. I did show it with a lot of system information, but I currently have it set up as a multimedia control only, so only with the volume control and play/pause/skip track functionality. That means I don’t have to cycle back to get into the mode I’m looking for. I’ve also set the OLED to display the track info and EQ, though sometimes Armory Crate cuts out and flips it back to the Princess Leia image (no, not Which one) I loaded many firmware updates ago to test the custom image/gif chops.
The ROG Azoth is definitely the best gaming keyboard Asus has ever released, and the best enthusiast keyboard I’ve ever seen from a truly established brand that doesn’t target the segment. The Everest 60’s usefulness and detachable numeric keypad still gets my personal vote, but this is a very close second in terms of day-to-day use. And it’s definitely going to be my new office board…but only if I can swing it with Asus to leave the expensive Azoth with us. Because the real sticking point is that price.
I would never spend more than $300 on a gaming keyboard, so I don’t really know how to recommend that to you. I love it as a keeb in its own right, but unless that’s just pocket money in your world, the cost of the ROG Azoth is prohibitive.