Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro gaming keyboard review — Live long and prosper

About two years ago, I reviewed the ROCCAT (the original makers of these keyboards before being acquired by Turtle Beach) Vulcan II Max. What’s funny is it wasn’t in the original request, as I was asking about a headset they had just released. Little did I expect that the Vulcan II Max was a severely underrated keyboard, and if you’d like my thoughts, you can find them in the review here. Now, under a different banner, the Vulcan II TKL Pro is a new variant pushing to grab a place in a crowded TKL space, and after testing it for a while, the design team has done it again. The new Burst II Air gaming mouse pairs nicely with this keyboard, and you can check out that review here.

Inside the box you’ll find the Vulcan II TKL Pro gaming keyboard, palm rest, a 6ft USB-C cable, and the paperwork. The USB-C cable is braided, and that gives it the flexibility to move around your setup. I’m very happy to see an included palm rest for this one as well, and it’s pretty comfortable. It’s made of foam, so nothing too crazy, but it’s a nice bonus when plenty of keyboards don’t include them.

The Vulcan II TKL Pro itself is a thing of beauty. It comes in both white and black, and given I received the Vulcan II Max in black previously, I went with the white. Seriously, it’s stunning. Not only does the white base look nice, but the aluminum top plate is really sleek. The Vulcan II TKL Pro is just an aesthetically pleasing keyboard – something of a display piece for your desk. It also fits with a size that seems right in the middle of full-size and 60%. It’s true of most TKL keyboards, but it’s just good to see done right. We’ll get into the practicality of it later, but the keycaps are of a chicklet design, and they look nice and work well for this keyboard, allowing for the lighting to shine through.

There’s a lot of RGB lighting here too, and it’s gorgeous. As mentioned, the keycap design choice allows for you to see more of the keyboard lighting, and it works to perfection. This was the case with the Vulcan II Max, and it follows with the Vulcan II TKL Pro. With the new Swarm II software, you’ve got the opportunity to maximize your RGB lighting in the way you see fit. This might be the best RGB lighting on a gaming keyboard on the market.

As for performance, I love that this keyboard is outfitted with Hall Effect magnetic mechanical switches. I know companies can use some terms as buzzwords, but having the Hall Effect feature behind your product is a good thing. If you’re familiar with it in controllers, this allows for near non-existent stick drift, and with a keyboard that enables you to type like a madman without the fear of your keys sticking or ghosting.

In using this keyboard between different functions – gaming and typing – it’s clear to see this keyboard belongs with the bigger names out there. Even with the different type of keycaps, there’s a comfort you feel immediately when using it, even if you need a moment to adjust. The concave shape grants a nice grip to the user, although I occasionally mash a second key at the same time. I have smaller hands, so it’s not that. It’s either a design thing or just acclimating to the keyboard. Even so, the Vulcan II TKL Pro does support third-party keycaps, so you can swap things out if you want something different.

Playing a game feels natural on the Vulcan II TKL Pro, even if I suck on keyboard and mouse. I didn’t feel at a disadvantage when playing the likes of Halo Infinite multiplayer, and after I adjusted to the correct keys, even did decently well. For someone that generally complains about stretching his fingers to hit the right keys, everything is close enough together here that it works well. If a keyboard can make me feel comfortable using it, it’s a fantastic one, and you can add the Vulcan II TKL Pro to that list.

If you use a keyboard for gaming, the Vulcan II TKL Pro has some really crisp clicks to your presses that will feel responsive to you. A big part of this is the multiple actuation points, with forty preset heights and up to three inputs per key. Essentially, not only do the mechanical switches feel great, but they’re incredibly customizable. I’m not one to adjust a lot of these kinds of settings as I usually mess things up, but testing this in the Swarm software really shows off how much you can fine-tune your experience. With five on board profiles that let you change things up on the fly, you’re on your way to being a pro gamer.

All of this is powered by Turtle Beach’s updated Swarm II software. I wasn’t as big of a fan of the original, but it worked. The new app has a few quirks, but it looks much better on the screen with clear menu icons to take you into the customization. I’m especially happy with the lighting area, which not only shows the keys you’re hitting, but also has a lot of options for making the keyboard yours.

Of course, along with all of this form is function, with macros to add, profiles to swap up, actuation point levers, and more. Something really interesting is the macro manager, which actually has some presets for games built in. There are some really random ones (Valorant makes sense, but why is Sims 3 in here?), but it’s a nice extra. Easy Shift is another quick worthy shout out, with the ability to assign a secondary function to some keys. In the end, if you’re someone who wants to mess around with all kinds of customization, there’s a lot more here in the new Swarm II app.

To finish up, I don’t usually call out price, but the Vulcan II TKL Pro is a steal. At $150, you’re getting just about everything you could ask for in a gaming keyboard. I won’t bring up other keyboards here – I like for keyboards to stand out on their own – but the inexpensive nature of this one versus its competitors is astounding. It’s not cheaper because you’re getting less, you’re just getting a bargain.

You can pick up your Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro via this link!

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