Today, we will talk about not one but two products that frankly have nothing to do with each other. However, a common thread that binds them is gaming. They will both appeal to gamers of different kinds. The Portronics K2 is a budget mechanical keyboard that will light up your PC gaming sessions without burning a hole in your pocket, while the special edition OnePlus 12R phone will more than appeal to the hardcore fans of Genshin Impact.
Both products may look a tad flashy on the surface but there’s ample depth to make them good performers too. We will move away from our standard review format and take a quick look at what’s good about these products, where they fall short and whether you should spend your money on either of them. Let’s find out.
Portronics K2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review at a glance
Pros:
- Good build quality, simple ergonomic design
- Fairly silent yet tactile keys lead to an enjoyable user experience
- Extremely comfortable to type on for long hours
- Even and adjustable lighting with multiple effects
- Over 20 dynamic lighting modes with customisation
- Multiple key combinations work well in gaming
- Affordable
Cons:
- Design can be a bit too funky for some
- Keypress needs a bit more resistance
- No palm rest
Rating: 4/5
Price: Rs 2,099
Actually, mechanical keyboards are not just meant for gamers but also for those who spend long hours typing out content on a computer (like yours truly). The Portronics K2 is a full-sized keyboard with 104 keys that uses red linear switches underneath. For those who aren’t well-versed with mechanical switches, the red ones are relatively softer to press and a lot less noisy as compared to blue switches.
Mechanical keyboards are known for their clickety-clack noise as people type on them, and that’s part of their charm. However, that noise can be distracting for others in a quiet room. That’s where red switches play a role in reducing the noise without taking away the tactile feel while typing. The Portronics K2 provides an enjoyable typing experience with just the right amount of noise. The keypress is slightly softer than ideal for me; it could have been done with a bit more resistance.
Mind you, it is nowhere as soft as an average membrane keyboard and also has a satisfying click sound. If you want the keypresses to be louder, you may want to consider the Portronics K1 which is pretty much the same keyboard but with blue switches. The construction and finish of the keys as well as the keyboard as a whole are quite good despite being an affordable product. The company branding on a transparent plate above the Num lock with diffused light is a nice touch; the colour transitions look cool.
Speaking of colour, this is a backlit keyboard with multiple lighting options; of course, it needs to be flashy to appeal to gamers, right? I am not so sure but never mind. Even before it’s lit, you get three different coloured keys here - blue, white and yellow, which can be quite funky for some. It was a bit too much to take for me initially but I got used to it eventually. Not sure the colour scheme has grown on me as much as the keyboard’s performance. Probably, the company should consider releasing a black variant of this keyboard too.
Coming back to the backlighting, it is highly customisable. Everything from the colours to their intensity to the transition effects can be altered. There are over 20 dynamic lighting modes for you to choose from, and some are quite cool indeed. While gaming, you also get an option to light up just the more commonly used gaming keys like WASD. The lighting never feels overwhelmingly bright even in a dimly lit room despite all the keys being perfectly visible.
I indulged in a bit of PC gaming with this keyboard and things were smooth and on expected lines. Multiple key combinations worked well and the gaming sessions were largely incident-free. For a better part of the month, I used this keyboard to write articles and it has been a positive experience void of any finger fatigue or pain. One thing I did miss though is a good old palm rest. The attached USB cable is long enough (1.5 metres) even if your CPU is a fair distance away.
The Portronics K2 mechanical gaming keyboard can be purchased for Rs 2,099 with a one-year warranty. It can often be spotted for a couple of hundreds less in online sales. At that price, there’s very little scope for complaint, and this keyboard is a very good option for those looking for an affordable mechanical keyboard for typing or gaming or simply looking to upgrade from a sticky membrane variant.
OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition Review at a glance
Pros:
- Excellent craftsmanship, tonnes of accessories
- Customisations extend to the software too
- Sturdy build, feels great in hand
- Powerful processing hardware
- Excellent high-res LTPO4 ProXDR AMOLED display
- Good main camera performance in varied lighting
- Good battery backup, fast charging
Cons:
- Dated support cameras, no telephoto camera
- No wireless charging
- Hard to find one
Rating: 4/5
Price: Rs 49,999
OnePlus has launched a collector’s edition of the OnePlus 12R smartphone for the fans of the hugely popular game, Genshin Impact. We have seen co-branded products before from different brands, but OnePlus has taken this collaboration to the next level. The craftsmanship is exquisite, be it the electro etched frosted glass back or the colour shades used reminiscent of the game’s central character or even the SIM ejector pin among a ton of accessories bundled in the special package.
Words may struggle to do justice to the artistry. So it’s best you look at the images in this article or the phone itself in person if you get a chance. The last part may be tougher than you think as the OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition is hard to find. The customisation is not limited to the phone’s back and accessories but extends to the user interface too. Right from phone unlock animations to the home screen to the icons in OxygenOS, everything is specially designed for this edition and the integration runs deep.
The phone arrived in a custom gift box with limited-edition merchandise. Some of the things included include a Keqing-themed phone case, the aforementioned SIM ejector in the shape of a Lightning Stiletto, an acrylic phone stand, stickers, pins, a themed charger, and a cable. This package is an object of desire for the hardcore fans of the game. And before we forget, at the heart of this artistry is a highly competent and powerful OnePlus 12R smartphone.
The 12R may not have all the bells and whistles of the company’s flagship phone, the OnePlus 12, but neither is its price as high. Having said that, it does borrow a lot of style from it and has powerful hardware to boot. The OnePlus 12R is powered by Qualcomm’s previous flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, which is still extremely powerful to handle any task you throw at it, including the latest games. The Genshin Impact edition comes with a generous 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. I wish OnePlus had used the faster UFS 4.0 storage on this variant.
The display on the OnePlus 12R is mighty impressive and a significant jump from its predecessor, 11R. You get a 6.78-inch curved LTPO4 ProXDR AMOLED display with a higher than Full HD resolution of 2780 x 1264 pixels. The HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliant screen supports 10-bit colour depth, 120 Hz variable refresh rate and can get up to 4500 nits bright. It is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The sharpness, contrast and colour reproduction are excellent.
The camera department here is not as equipped as that on the OnePlus 12 and lacks Hasselblad tuning too. We can live without the Hasselblad tricks but about time OnePlus improves the support cameras on their sub-flagship devices like the R series. You get an 8MP ultra-wide camera without auto-focus and an unimpressive 2MP macro camera. What is impressive though is its 50MP primary camera with a Sony IMX890 sensor and optical image stabilisation (OIS). It does a very good job in varied lighting including low light. You get a 16MP front camera for selfies and video calls.
Battery capacity has been bumped up to 5500 mAh and it lasts over a day and a half of moderate use, with the bundled 100W charger juicing it up fully in just under half an hour, which is quite impressive. The phone runs the latest OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 with the aforementioned Genshin Impact customisations. OnePlus promises multiple OS and security updates in the future.
The OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition is priced at Rs 49,999 if you can find one. You get a one year warranty on the product. The price tag is Rs 4,000 higher than the standard edition of the phone with similar RAM and storage, which is a perfectly acceptable premium for a limited edition device with a ton of merchandise and customisation, and especially for the high quality artistry.
