For those with an Xbox One, the dream of using a real gaming keyboard and mouse designed to be used with the console today is your day. The Razer Turret for Xbox One is now available direct from Razer and the Microsoft Store for $250.
We got our hands on an early edition of the exciting peripheral – the first to be officially licensed by Microsoft and the only keyboard with a dedicated Xbox key. Since this isn't a cheap accessory, we figured a proper old fashioned unboxing and demo of how it all works was in order (we'll have a full review in the coming weeks).
Razer Turret for Xbox One what it is
Announced at CES 2019 the Razer Turret for Xbox One is the first official keyboard that's built for couch gaming. Here's what we said back then:
Though it looks like it's mostly a copy of Razer's existing Turret lapboard, the Turret for Xbox One comes with a couple of special tweaks. For one, it includes a dedicated Xbox button, allowing you to jump back to the home screen, turn off your console, and more without having to pick up a controller. The keyboard portion also includes "Xbox Dynamic Lighting," which leverages Chroma lighting that responds to the action going on in games that support it.
Of course, developers need to add support for general keyboard and mouse usage, but many of the biggest titles have already begun to do so, including:
Keyboard and mouse support + Xbox Dynamic Lighting
- X-Morph: Defense
- Vermintide 2
- Gears of War 5
- Day Z
- Deep Rock Galactic
- Children of Morta
- Moonlighter
- Roblox
- Strange Brigade
- Vigor
Only keyboard and mouse support
- Fortnite
- Warframe
- War Thunder
- Sims
- Minecraft
- Surviving Mars
- Minion Masters
- Warface
- Wargroove
- Bomber Crew
Those lists are continually being updated and we have a dedicated list for those to keep track.
Razer Turret for Xbox One first impressions
Weighing in at 1860 grams (4.10 pounds) the Turret for Xbox One is a heavy, dense accessory. That's a good thing as it's a satisfying feeling to have it in your lap while also preventing it from sliding around with intense gaming.
The mouse features a 5G optical sensor with up to 16,000 DPI sensitivity and 1000 Hz polling, all of which is configurable through the Turret's app for Xbox One. Contrasting with the weighty keyboard the mouse is featherlight (106 g / 0.21 lbs), perfect for those quick frags in a first-person shooter like Fortnite.
Xbox One mouse and keyboard support: Everything we know
Unboxing and setting up the Turret only took a few minutes. The keyboard and mouse are mostly charged out of the box. There is a single USB Type-A dongle included that broadcasts a 2.4 GHz wireless connection that's always shifting to find the strongest signal.
The box includes a Type-C cable to recharge the keyboard and a micro USB for the mouse. An included wall wart helps with the AC power part although users can piggyback the mouse recharging through the Turret keyboard directly (there's even a short cable for this so that you can use it during gaming).
Once plugged in the Xbox One works as expected. Mouse support for the Xbox OS is not ubiquitous, so you'll mostly rely on the keyboard's arrows and Enter key for navigation.
How to use a keyboard and mouse on Xbox One with ANY game
We then fired off one of my favorite games – X-Morph: Defense for Xbox – which worked beautifully with the whole setup.
The keyboard and mouse were responsive, and while I was used to playing Xmorph Defense with a controller, I quickly adapted to the familiar WASD and mouse gaming combo popular in so many PC games.
Build quality of the Razer Turret for Xbox One was excellent. The Chroma lighting – fully configurable by the user – is always a sweet visual treat, but also really helps in low light. The sliding mouse deck is also genius and was more than enough room for us to blast ships with no complaints.
Overall, the Razer Turret for Xbox One gave an excellent out-of-box experience. While it's not cheap – Razer products rarely are – the new two-year warranty program and overall feel of this setup were outstanding, making it ideal for the more serious gamer.
We'll have more on the Razer Turret for Xbox One in the coming weeks, but if you've been thinking of jumping into the wild, weird world of keyboard gaming on your couch Razer's Turret seems like the best of the best right now. If you need more and specifications info, you can find it directly on Razer's site.
Controllers? Who needs them?
With wireless functionality, a magnetic mouse pad, beautiful lighting effects, and Razer's seal of quality, the Razer Turret is looking to be one of 2019's most exciting Xbox accessories.
