Cougar Mechanical Gaming Keyboard AttackX3-4IS Review

Some might like the clickies of a tactile switch and some might not.  I myself like the clickies, the louder the better, those around me like my wife, not so much.  In this review I am reviewing the Blue Keys.  Today I will be reviewing the Cougar Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (AttackX3-4IS).

Let’s start off with some of the features and specs of this keyboard.

Features and Specifications

• 108 keys
• Guaranteed lifetime of at least 50 Million strokes
• Cherry Black/ Blue/Brown/Red Mechanical Switches
• Roller Over Keys
  • 6-Key Roll Over (PS/2 Mode) 6 simultaneous keys
  • N-Key Roll Over (USB Mode) Unlimited simultaneous key
• Red Backlights
  • 5 Mode brightness adjustment
• 1 x Color Backlighted Keys
• 125 ~ 1000Hz Poling Rate
• 10 Programmable Keys
• On-Board Memory
• Anti-Slip Rubber Feet
• Cougar UIX System Software (Drivers)
• 7 Multi-Media Keys
• 10 Programmable Macro Keys
• Aluminum Brushed Structure
• On the Fly Mode Switching, allows you to change keyboard configurations quickly
• 3 full configuration profiles with on board memory to store them
• 8m (5.9Feet) Braided USB Cable
• Compatible with Windows XP, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10

A ton of stuff huh, well let’s check out the unboxing.

Not much in the box, keyboard and manual, but that’s OK because all we care about is the keyboard right?

Right out of the box, we notice that the cable itself is braided, I love the braiding.

And the USB connection has the Cougar logo on it:

And on the other side, the Keyboard and USB logos

Finally here is the Instruction manual.  It goes over the keys, what they do and how to use them.

Here’s the front

And the back.

Alright, let’s get to the keyboard already.

[nextpage title=”The Keyboard and Keys”]This is a sexy little keyboard; I love the fact that the base of the keyboard is brushed aluminum.

We get a little closer and see the lines usually associated with brushed aluminum.

The frame itself is plastic though, but if it were totally aluminum it would be a lot more expensive.  The screws evident along the sides of the keyboard and if you look closely give it that industrial feel.

The back of the keyboard is as basic as you can get

Flat black plastic, an indentation in the center of the keyboard leads to the product sticker and then continues.

And then there are 2 feet to keep it from being flat and are rubber tipped to keep the keyboard from sliding.  They name them the Anti-Slip Rubber Feet.

Back on the top of the keyboard, we can see the Cougar logo tastefully silk screened on the keyboard.

The keyboard actually has 108Keys, but what are all the extra keys about, well let’s check them out.

I will skip over a bit on the regular keys and show you the extras, even if some are multi-function.

Talking about functions, here is the function key, this along with another key unlocks features.  On standard keyboards, this might have been one addition Windows button.

Then on the right side of the keyboard, we have the Windows key, along with function it locks the Windows key.  This keeps you from accidentally pressing the windows key during games.  Right next to the Windows key is the Properties key, or right click.  If you select an icon in windows and right click on it, the drop down will show you the functions and properties of that icon; this key does the same thing.

Up on the top left hand corner, to the right of the Escape keys are the Function keys and the light key.  Along with the function key, this unlocks the F keys be allow you to use 3 sets of Macro’s (F1, F2 and F3) then F4 allows you again using the function key to change the brightness of the Red LED lighting.  There are 5 different modes, Off, Low, Medium, High and Breathing.  I will show you the lighting effects a little later in the review.  Another thing is that the LED light only comes in Red.

Here are the polling keys, I cannot honestly say I have noticed a difference between the different polling rates, but some may.

Here we can see F9 doubles as Play and Pause, F10 doubles as Stop, F11 doubles as Rewind/Previous and F12 doubles as Fast forward/Next.

To the right of those multi-media keys, we find Print Screen key doubles as a 6K rollover and the Pause/Break key doubles as the N-Key rollover.  I will describe these keys a little later on.

And when you thought there were no more multi-media keys, there are more.  I like these keys, in order there is Mute, Volume Down and Volume Up.  While this key is not a special key, I like the way they made the key look.  Take a look at the Asterisks key, just different.

Well, behind the keys and some of the keys I have described, there is the lighting.  Let’s take a little closer look at this.

[nextpage title=”Lighting Effects, Keys and UIX”]

In this video, I show you how the lighting effect works and I also show you how the Macro Keys work.  I go over the UIX software as well.

Hidden just above the brushed aluminum backdrop, and just below the keys are the lights and switches.  I lost control a little during this test, but I found it.

Here is CAPS LOCK lighting turned off

And what it looks like on

Here are what the key caps look like underneath.  I kept by functions under control by keeping the caps locked.

You will also notice that the Cherry MX switches here are blue but this exact keyboard comes with either Cherry MX Blue, Red, Black or Brown switches.  The ones linked in this review are the brown switches.

OK, so let’s see how these functions work, how the lighting works and learn a little of the UIX software.

[nextpage title=”Features and Functions”]

In this video, I show you how the LED Lighting works on the keyboard and then I show you how to set macro alone and with the UIX software as well.

It works pretty well and the software is very nice looking.

The UIX Software you can find here http://cougargaming.com/products/keyboards/attackx3/

When you first plug in the keyboard after installing the UIX software, it will look out into the World Wide Web and if it finds a firmware update for the keyboard, it will update it.  It did it with this when I first plugged it in, but I did not capture it.

On the screenshot below, I have the “Lighting Control” selected, from here you can set the different settings of the F4 key

On the “Key Assignment” button you can set your macros, you can see this is the Macro I set during the video.

Here you can see what the “Performance” key actually does.  From here you can set and adjust the Polling Rates, Repeat Delay, Rollover and then test these settings.  I will say that everything you change on the keyboard itself updates automatically on this software, that is kind of cool that it picks it up.

If you noticed on the UI there is a section that has 3 Modes, I have it highlighted below.  This lets you know that each of these lighting effects, polling rates, repeat delays and macros can have 3 different saves, so 3 different people have different settings they like, they can save them and use them as they please.

They can also be Editing through the “Game Profile Management” button just under the Profiles.

From here you can create a New Profile, Edit, Delete, Import, Export, Copy or Reset those profiles.  If you get mad at one of those 3 people that uses your keyboard and you kick them out, but they really want that profile, you can export it, send it to them and they can import it and use it like they were still using the same keyboard.

OK, now that you see how it works, let’s see how loud it is and how easy it is to type with it.

[nextpage title=”Typing and Noise”]In this video we can see how loud the MX Cherry Blue switches are.

I had the camera less than a foot from the keyboard, usually the keyboard is about 3 feet from your ears so gauge it as you will.

So can a keyboard change the way you type, how fast or how slow?  It is a standard interface, so it will not change it a whole lot, but it can improve it a tiny bit and degrade it.  Check it out here on 10fastfingers.com.

Not bad, but not great, not the keyboard fault but I had just woken up, imagine how much better I would have been.  Just agree with me on this one OK?

[nextpage title=”Final Thoughts and Conclusion”]

I really enjoyed this keyboard, there are only a few things wrong with it but they are not show stoppers by any means, unless you are an Apple user.

The first thing is that it only comes with Red lighting.  I love Blue and would prefer it be in blue, but I learned how to type in Middle School on a type writer (yes a type writer, not a keyboard) and with that I don’t need to look at the keyboard so it is not so bad.

It does not have a USB hub to maybe attach one of their own mice to, it takes up a USB port, and it should give one back.  USB ports are valuable and I feel like it would help sell more of their devices, maybe not a ton but some.  As a hub again, it does not have 3.5mm headphone/microphone jacks.

Lastly, but surely would boost sales drastically is the fact that they do not have Apple drivers, and with that will not support Apple.  Mind you, it’s a USB keyboard that really does not require drivers so surely it would work and if I have a Mac I would test this but I don’t and even their support site does not list Apple.  Not an Apple guy or anything, but it would drive sales.

Pros

• Great price
• Has a braided USB cable
• Is back-lighted
• Offers 5 modes of lighting
• Programmable Keys
• Multi-Media Keys
• High Quality Components
  • Brushed Aluminum
• Offers a variety of Cherry MX Switches (Red, Black, Blue and Brown)
• Optional Software Install: Does not require software to utilize all of the features

Cons

• Only one color LED option, Red
• No USB Hub
• No 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Jack
• No Apple Support

This is a great keyboard that offers just about everything one could want; with high quality components it feels very nice.  Not a fan of the Red back-lighting myself, but if they offered more than one color it surely would have cost more.  The USB hub and Headphone and Microphone port would have added cost as well to the final price and while nothing I have listed so far affects the final score, they would have been nice to have.  The last concern, that does affect the score but by only half a point keeping it from being a perfect review is the fact that it does not support Apple.

In all, if you are a PC person, this is a great keyboard and I do recommend it.  I give it a 4.5 out of 5.