I spent a year with this odd gaming 'keyboard.'

hiya, i used another strange looking device for a longer period of time than any sane person should. yet again, it’s surprisingly good!! expand for a more detailed review of the product itself.

i wanted to focus on the analog aspect of the device since i think it’s the most interesting, widely applicable aspect of this device, but i left out a lot of details about the actual product as a result.

good:
- it is highly adjustable and has a billion screws on the underside for making it fit your anatomy.
- all of the buttons are accessible and you have a ton of binds to work with.
- the software is intuitive and allows you to store two profiles on the keypad for quick switching.
- the build quality is solid considering it's all plastic
- the learning curve is not that steep for how strange the device looks.
- there’s some modding potential with their modular-ish design. kovaak 3d printed notches for wavedashing angles LOL. also good for replacement parts.
- the azeron uses microswitches, like ones you’d find in a mouse. they are VERY easy to press, but have a bit of pre/post travel.
- for things like doom eternal’s dash, it’s freeing to be able to dash at exact angles without requiring mouse movement.
- a lot of people have the complaint that an analog stick will never be as fast at changing directions as WASD. it’s true in a literal sense, but in practice, i have never once felt like my dodge was limited by my thumb’s speed and the only game where strafing that fast makes sense is OW. i recently also learned of a feature where you are able to press a button to invert the direction of your stick. as in: hold right, your character moves right. press the bind, you move left. release the bind, you move right. this negates the downside of analog movement and can let you strafe spam similarly to nulls.

bad:
- there are a good amount of games that do not support simultaneous input like apex.
- this device is very tall. i have a stack of towels i use to elevate my arm, but if i don’t use it, it creates some serious wrist discomfort.
- some buttons are easier to reach than others. this is definitely made worse by my small hands, but there are some buttons i have never pressed because i’d have make large movements to reach them. for things you want to be pressing in combat, it’s rough.
- my stick performance deteriorated over time quite a lot, it’s noticeably worse than other controllers now. natural for how long it’s been and i think you can replace it fairly easily.
- the 180 bind could technically be used for counterstrafing but i can't imagine it being as consistent as keyboard.
- certain techs like gdashing in gundam became inconsistent with the azeron, as any stick input while you're meant to have no movement keys pressed would kill the momentum.

so who is this for? i think if analog movement works in your game of choice it's honestly a very cool feeling device. for stuff like battlefield i could take it or leave it; nice to have but by no means necessary. but for games like tf2, i actually feel nerfed going back to a keyboard. i also already have good movement compensation with a keyboard and i suspect that the azeron would make movement compensation a lot more intuitive to learn and get good at for less experienced players.

it's a steep asking price, and the main selling point for me is definitely the analog feature. this is not the only way to get analog movement with mnk (namely maxxstick, hori ffxiv/tac pads, g13, or wooting. all of which suffer from some ergo issues outside of wooting), but if the customizability/binds/aesthetic appeal to you then it could be worth a consideration ^^

thank you:
to @ViscoseOCE, @MissColourz and @copwaster for all the support
to bri for the footage in this video, hope you’re doing well
to the cool and normal gamers, ty for the kindness
to you for watching/reading!

0:00 intro
1:00 why does this thing exist?
1:48 what is analog movement?
3:06 what's special about analog movement?
3:39 analog movement and the source engine
4:42 THE IMPOSSIBLE STRAFE
6:02 is it good in every game?
8:03 is it worth it?

music:
Spaaaaace - Portal 2 OST Volume 3
Bass String Short - Half Life OST
Green Haven - William Claeson
Message Between Worlds - William Benckert
Song for Mystia - Twitter Tohobu
Upgrade Station - Team Fortress 2 OST
Winter Hibernation - Magnus Ludvigsson
MEDIC! - Team Fortress 2 OST
Resurrections - Celeste OST
Hold on You - Thorn to Liver (tysm @trevorhilton1143, please listen to the rest of his work!!)
Exhale - Celeste OST

[pinguefy]

*hi, it’s been a minute! i’m thinking about creating a bit more again.*
5) the azeron is not the only way to get analog movement. try it with a controller in your left hand, or a maxxstick, hori ffxiv/tac pads, or g13 for a more permanent solution! though i've heard they're much less ergonomic. wooting also has analog but will be less intuitive to find exact diagonal angles or make circular movements. the azeron also solves any issues you might have with keyboard bindings and has very nice software, but if you don't need that, cheaper alternatives exist.

*addressing the most common argument against analog:* a lot of people also have the complaint that an analog stick will never be as fast at changing directions as WASD. it’s true in a literal sense, but in practice, i have never once felt like my dodge was limited by my thumb’s speed and the only game where strafing that fast makes sense is OW. that said, i recently learned about another feature where you are able to press a button to invert the direction of your stick. as in: hold right, your character moves right. press the bind, your character 180s to the left. release the bind, your character moves right. this effectively negates the one major downside of analog movement and can let you strafe spam similarly to nulls, on top of negating the downside of losing out on units while changing airstrafe inputs. technically this could be used for counterstrafing at any analog angle as well, but the timing would be rly tight.

my mental health has been steadily improving to the point where i have that passion for creation again. i can’t promise regular uploads but i do wanna try, since i still love the process of making stuff! just ask if you wanna know what game something in the video is, mouse, pad, sens, etc. thank u for watching/reading <3

[nzeu]

Analog movement with mouse for aim is such a genius yet simple idea.

[Kugelweber]

The strafe just looks so wrong after putting so much time into TF2... had no idea that was even possible

[eftisimus]

The movement edit starting at 3:44 is insanely smooth. so happy to randomly come back to your channel and find you've posted something again :D

[mrt_]

Btw, as SolarLight mentions in his Controller video, if you have a controller with a gyroscope and enable flick stick you can do a lot with just a controller.
You aim precisely by moving your controller, and you can spin and flick using the right stick for example. Now you can avoid a lot of the simultaneous controller and keyboard input issues in some games. I think you can even enable this stuff directly through steam rather than the game having to support it.

[apocalypsearisen]

Aiming with a mouse is pretty intuitive, but since I mostly play on controller, I often fumble the movements, this really is looking like the best of both worlds to me

[alfredojohnson]

burst into a smile when i saw this vid pop up in my sub feed, absolutely love what you create. audibly gasped when i saw that first rocket strafe lmao, fantastic video

[JuiceFromGA]

I've had mine for over 4 years upgraded to the cyborg after the first 2 years. I only use my keyboard to type in chat while gaming. It's completely changed my love for games I put down in the past due to wrist pain. The only bad thing I would say is sometimes the screws get loose over time but it's easy to tighten everything and adjust angles to your liking. Also sometimes if you pull too hard on the claw grip areas it will lift up if your using the optional angle stand.

[Women_Respecter]

The gameplay clip starting at 6:00 felt like old school YouTube. Good vibes, fun, MUSIC. Just an enjoyable atmosphere all around.

I've never watched a video from you before but just the joy from that segment earns a like and sub

[Azf]

Love how the rubber is so worn out on the stick, showing just how often pinguefy uses it

[WaffleWithNoToppings]

dude i missed you, your videos are some of what i consider some of the best on the platform and your ability to talk about the topics youre showing off on an extremely visceral level makes your videos stand out so much man. I just love all of your stuff and your mental heath videos helped me understand a lot of myself aswell. I really hope you stick around for the long run but even if you choose not to, your catalogue will keep me around for a very long time. this is definitely one of your best videos and i hope you get better.

[gefter]

literally last month i was watching your tf2 video thinking "man it sucks this guy doesn't make videos anymore", glad to see you're back

[yikes_xiii]

after all this time, i still love your calm commentary and hope you'll be making content again!
best wishes to you <3

[acshuley]

every video you make is different from the last, and even then almost all of them seem to resonate with me
you are one of my favourite youtubers

the first video i saw from you on raw accel was also amazing because of the music choice at the end - metropolis' strong chords and swings at the end of the song match perfectly with the footage of enemies flying through the air, crashing down
that was the first time i heard that song and its stuck with me ever since

i also enjoy how you collect lots of fps peripherals but you aren't involved in drama or have a massive ego

[nmydwqs]

damn i was going to put this in the corner while i do other stuff, but you're video format was so captivating I hadn't realized I'm already 80% of the way through it! great video

[cambo]

Welcome back!! I've always missed the movement when I switched from PS4 to controller, having access to that 360 degrees movement was so nice, I get stuck on map geometry and doors way more since switching to PC.

[HazeruYoutube]

I literally subscribed yesterday and was sad to see you hadn't uploaded in 2 years. we are so back.

[bradgrandorff]

My tip for the thumbstick, map another key as well on the Cyborg to W, and use that to move forward as well. It makes it far more responsive as generally speaking forward is used often in games, while using left, right and back on the thumbstick.
I have tons of hours with the Cyborg and that has made things so much more comfortable and responsive.

[ruruchi_]

I'm glad I waited two years for this video. You've just opened my mind about what is possible with analog movement, and now I feel so limited with just my bare keyboard. Incredible video as you always do, it feels like Funorange's content but for FPS games.

[ConnectSpeedRunner]

I'm glad new music is so easy to find, Thorn to Liver's, 'Hold on You' is a great listen. It's a good share.