Roccat Magma Mini 60% gaming keyboard review – 100% worth it

By David Burdette

Posted on February 6, 2023

Bigger is usually better, at least, that’s how the saying goes, I think. In any case, that’s not always right. Items of all shapes and sizes can be the best of the best depending on what you need. If what you need happens to be a 60% keyboard, then you’re in luck. Roccat has just released the Magma Mini in their line of gaming keyboards, and for something so tiny, it punches above its weight.

You aren’t going to be wowed when opening the box. There’s a keyboard and attached cable along with an instructional booklet. Minimal is better here, there isn’t much you need to get started. That being said, I wish the cable wasn’t attached. Given this keyboard is my idea of the perfect travel keyboard, I prefer being able to detach for travel. Otherwise, you get that whole “wrapping your cable around the keyboard” thing that just feels wrong. At least you have plenty of cable to do so, with roughly six feet to work with. It is rubber, though. I’d have paid a little more for braided.

That makes the Magma Mini less versatile than several keyboards. At $49.99 it’s a fantastic option for your budget, but if you’re like me and love to use 60% keyboards on the go, you’re limited by a permanent cable. Yes, you can use adapters, but that just makes the keyboard even less portable. Detachable cables are great, for both travel and using other connectivity when needed.

The Magma Mini itself though is a work of art. Sure, it’s not the Mona Lisa, but the way Roccat built it makes for one of the more aesthetically pleasing keyboards out there. The board itself is made of a plastic that feels extremely sturdy, curbing any fears that it was cheaply made. A classy Roccat logo adorns the lip facing the user, and the clean design is just fantastic.

Of course, if you’re here for RGB, the Magma Mini features one of my favorite styles. Besides the black border, the entire top panel is a see-through white, and backed by plenty of RGB lighting. It’s not just that the RGB shines brightly, but because of that choice, it radiates between the keys as well as through the back-lighting. I know many of us are drawn to the pretty colors approach, and it works beautifully with the Magma Mini.

I mentioned traveling earlier, and while the cable is still an annoyance to me, the Magma Mini is extremely portable. At just over a pound, you feel like you’re barely carrying anything, making it easy to take it with you just about anywhere. Along with that, it’s only a foot long in width, so fitting it into a bag is equally simple. This leads into it being optimal for any desk layout as well, being so small it will slide into any space easily. I have a huge desk, but it’s filled with a bunch of stuff, including the large SteelSeries Apex Pro keyboard with the wrist rest. Putting the Magma Mini in its place to do testing blew me away, opening up my desk space to an astronomical level. It’s supposed to be smaller as a 60%, so that’s no surprise, but sometimes it takes seeing to believe.

None of the above matters if it doesn’t perform well, and the Magma Mini does an admirable job filling in. I’ll always prefer my bigger keyboard, especially the ten keys, but the Magma Mini mitigates these losses well. One of the things that caught me a bit off guard was the missing directional keys. I found them eventually, sitting on the bottom right corner, but needing the function key to operate. Surprisingly, it’s not as much of a hassle as I expected, with the combo buttons feeling more natural the more I used the keyboard. Some combos aren’t as easy (my NVIDIA capture didn’t respond with the ALT-FN-F12 to initiate a capture), but everything largely works as it should.

As for typing away or gaming, I’ve noticed the Magma Mini to be as competent as I’d need it to be. This isn’t a mechanical keyboard, so I expected it to be quiet. It met this condition with ease, being arguably the quietest keyboard I own. Even without having special switches, the presses don’t require any substantial effort, with membrane keys being very responsive to all my typing. It’s the same when gaming, everything works wonderfully. Just don’t check my stats in those Call of Duty matches I tested it with, I promise it’s the player and not the equipment.

One of the last things I’d like to highlight is the IP33 rating. This means you’re protected in the case of spills and dust, with the keyboard able to keep things rolling if you get messy with a Red Bull or something. I don’t see a ton of spill resistance advertised with keyboards, so this is a big benefit. Nothing is worse than ruining an expensive keyboard with a drink, and with the design conducive to popping off the keys, the Magma Mini is also very easy to clean.

Roccat Magma Mini 60% gaming keyboard review – 100% worth it

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