Marvo KG914 Review

The KG914 is another budget TKL offering from Marvo. It is slightly more expensive than the KG901 that I reviewed recently, the main reason being it’s full RGB and comes with the more reputable Outemu blue switches. In my local currency this keyboard is going for R500, which comes up to about 30 US dollars.

One thing I didn’t like about the KG901 was the bulky frame. The KG914 addresses this with a nice frameless and compact design. I really like the sleek look of this keyboard and it made a good first impression. Unfortunately the KG914 doesn’t have the sturdy build of the 901. It feels much lighter and there is a fair amount of frame bend. The top plate isn’t very sturdy either, and the slightest amount of downward pressure causes it to bend. So I found the build a little underwhelming here, especially considering that it’s a more expensive board. This keyboard is not going to withstand many episodes of keyboard rage, so make sure you handle it with care.

The KG914 comes with the standard ANSI layout and OEM profile. We have the usual multimedia functions and quick access on F1-12. I was very happy to see volume control on the F9-12 segment, as it allowed me to do volume control with one hand. Also nice to see a Windows Lock option for gaming. The RGB controls are a little bit different on this keyboard. To change the colour scheme, you press Fn with F9. There are four levels of brightness that can be adjusted with Fn + PgUp or PgDn. You can tune the RGB to your liking by adjusting the speed, direction and colour. You can also record your own RGB schemes, by choosing one of the five profiles and recording with Fn + Escape.

The keycaps are ABS, which is to be expected for a budget keyboard. They have a nice textured feel. I must say that I like the font of Marvo keyboards. It’s a neutral font with medium thickness. So it allows more backlighting to shine through while not being obnoxious. There are around 20 colour schemes to choose from, and the RGB looks very vibrant. Apart from the flashy branding, this keyboard looks really good thanks to its compact design, neutral font and eyecatching RGB.

The KG914 comes with Outemu blues, which are tactile and clicky switches with an actuation force of 60g. As with the KG901, the stabiliser were disappointing. I immediately picked up the rattle on the bigger keys, especially space bar. Being a little bit more expensive than the KG901, I was expecting an improvement in the stabs. But the dealbreaker for me here is the typing experience. It is pretty much impossible for me to type fast on this keyboard. Whenever I try to fast typing, I keep swapping letters around or pressing space bar too early. I’m not quite sure why this was happening. It could be the switches or a glitch. I did a test where I was typing and didn’t look at the screen. And it felt okay, just like any other budget blue switch board, but when I looked at what I typed there were so many errors. I had to intentionally reduce my typing speed to avoid this from happening. So if you have a typing speed of below 90, the typing experience should be okay, but if you type above 90 I don’t think this is the keyboard for you.

Even though this was very off-putting to me, I think most users won’t even notice it. This keyboard is intended to be a budget, entry level keyboard, and it accomplishes that. You’re not going to pick this up if you’re a keyboard enthusiast with a typing speed of over 100WPM. So I am not going to be too critical here. The gaming performance was good, and I was able to move like I normally do in CSGO. The KG914 gives a pretty good ASMR typing sound. There is some slight metal pinging and of course the rattly space bar.

So all in all, this is a very good looking keyboard with average performance. I would definitely recommend the KG901 over this board. It doesn’t look as good but the typing experience is a lot better. If you don’t mind a full sized board, I would recommend the KG909 over the 901 and 914, as it has an even better typing experience and decent stabilisers.