Roccat is entering the compact keyboard market with the Vulcan Mini II, a 65% model that takes up the basics of the Vulcan range. Real novelty or simple “mini” version? Answer in our comprehensive test.
The keyboard gamer Roccat Vulcan II Mini takes the basics of the original Vulcan in a fashionable 65% format. It retains the main feature of the Vulcan range, which are the translucent switches surmounted by flat caps.
For the rest, this new model seems quite classic and rather lacking in features, although it seems to bring some new features to its switches. The price seems at first glance quite high since Roccat offers the Vulcan II Mini at the recommended price of 150 euros.
A true representative of the Vulcan range
The II Mini maintains its affiliation with the Vulcan range from Roccat with these floating and translucent optomechanical switches. These are again surmounted by very thin caps which thus leave plenty of time for the lighting to diffuse on the keyboard frame.
The RGB lighting is generally very convincing, but the characters are not always very readable depending on the color chosen, which is the case in this white livery. This isn’t necessarily a problem if you know the keyboard layout by heart. On the other hand, it can become annoying for the rapid use of the various shortcuts due to the 65% format of the Vulcan Mini II. Worse still, the characters are finally much more readable when the RGB lighting is deactivated (and during the day only).
The keyboard is as often built around a classic base combining plastic and metal. The brand has played the card of simplicity with a brushed metal plate, all in roundness, surrounded by a shiny metal zone on its contours. The Vulcan Mini II is therefore intended to be simple and discreet at the same time, if we omit its RGB lighting, of course.
With a relatively thin chassis, the keyboard is nevertheless perfectly rigid. The relative thinness of the body of the keyboard is however tainted by the significant height of the keys which will require a little adaptation to avoid typos. We also regret that no wrist rest is provided, which would have made sense, again because of the height of the keys.
The underside of the keyboard accommodates large non-slip pads as well as two-position retractable feet to raise the rear of the Vulcan Mini II. The connection is provided by a braided and matching USB-C cable and we really regret the absence of a wireless connection, especially at such a price.
The Vulcan Mini II has a column of keys on its right side which incorporates those generally found above the directional arrows. These are relegated to the bottom right of the keyboard. Keyboard 65% requires, many shortcuts are present, to fill the absence of certain keys.
A small keyboard for relatively complete functions
The various shortcuts offered on the Vulcan II Mini are accessible using the traditional “Fn” key. Apart from a multimedia control and keyboard lighting, we finally find all the keys removed by the transition to 65% format.
For example, the F1 to F12 keys take place on the top row. The keys accompanying the directional arrows are directly accessible on the far right of the keyboard, as specified above. Where Roccat stands out a bit from the competition is thanks to its dual RGB lighting.
Indeed, all the keys that can be activated using the “Fn” key are equipped with switches equipped with two independent LEDs. Thus, when the “Fn” function is activated, the secondary functionality is highlighted with dedicated lighting. This function is rather interesting, but ultimately quite gimmicky and not very useful on the white model due to the problems already mentioned in the previous part.
The Vulcan II Mini obviously remains compatible with the Roccat Swarm software, allowing you to customize its operation. The interface is still dated, but the tool works perfectly and is as always very complete. We will pass on the general settings which offer few interesting tools.
The key assignment is fully customizable with many features and other macros that can be recorded directly within the tool. RGB lighting is also customizable in detail knowing that you can also change the colors of the secondary LEDs of the function keys.
These different settings can be saved in profiles. The idea is as usual to assign them to our games and applications so that the tool automatically switches between them depending on the use cases.
The performances at the rendezvous, the necessary adaptation
The Roccat Vulcan Mini II is equipped with the brand’s optomechanical switches. On our test model, these are “red” type linear switches. This second generation stamped Titan II does not seem to change much in terms of characteristics since we find a total stroke of 3.6 mm with an activation point located at 1.4 mm and a necessary force of 45 g.
Concretely, we benefit here from switches that are a little more reactive than the Cherry MX Red, and therefore perfectly suited for competitive gaming on the FPS of the moment. We put them to the test in particular on call of duty and were fully satisfied with their performance. In the same way, they are quite suitable for writing.
As always with the Vulcan range, it is rather the keys that will have to be accommodated. Indeed, the latter offer quite prominent edges which tend to catch the fingertips when typing. If you are used to classic keys, it will take a little getting used to to find your bearings and avoid typos. Not to mention the rather large height of the keyboard which, in our opinion, makes it quite uncomfortable without using a wrist rest that we would like to find in the box, especially at such a price.
Despite these few hiccups, the Roccat Vulcan II Mini is still a keyboard delivering excellent performance.
Sound test
Price and availability of the Roccat Vulcan II Mini keyboard
The Roccat Vulcan II Mini keyboard is available at the recommended price of 150 euros.