The resistance and depth of the n52te's 15-button does not allow this move to work, which is rather bothersome. Most gamers are accustomed to very light throw space bars for jumping in FPS titles and have learned something of a flick move with the thumb to trigger the reaction quickly. The '15' button space-bar equivalent is even more disappointing, as it wobbles on its spring and has a long throw with a lot of resistance. The round thumb button has a squishy throw and a mushy click, which makes it useful only to replicate the Alt or Shift keys, as these generally need to be held down to crouch or walk in various titles. Though the 14-keyboard buttons and wheel felt good, we weren't very happy with the round thumb button above the D-Pad and the side button that equates to the space bar on a keyboard. Flight-sim players or creative macro-programmers may also like an extra mouse wheel to work with. Though potentially unnecessary since pretty much any mouse also has a wheel for weapons selection in FPS titles, the n52te's wheel came in handy when we paired it with a Novint Falcon (review), which doesn't have a wheel. The mouse wheel, too, is conveniently positioned and spins with good response. The 14 keyboard-like keys in the main action array of the n52te have a nice light throw and are intelligently arrayed at different angles and heights to make for ergonomic access and easy tactile recognition. Like its predecessors, and current competition, the n52te proved itself pretty useful for its ability to offer extra keys within easy striking range of the directional WASD equivalent buttons for things like macro'ed spells in MMOs and grenades or flashlights in FPSs. Looking past these issues, we moved on to play testing the n52te. This movement, though slight, is annoying while playing a game, as most players like having their peripherals feel very firmly planted. Whereas the original n52 made use of a single rubber foot, the six rubberized feet of the n52te allow the entire device to rock forwards and backwards slightly if the user puts weight upon the tail end of the palm rest, which is what naturally tends to happen in use. We were also displeased with the revised placement of the stabilizing feet. We really wish the plasto-rubber of the palm area had been applied to the joystick head as well, as this would have offered much better grip. The joystick head mounted on the D-pad does offer extra leverage, but its surface is very lightly textured hard plastic that isn't easy to get good thumb-traction upon.
Though Razer certainly did improve the aesthetics of the n52 in the 'te' addition, not all of the refinements prove beneficial in a utilitarian sense. Other Razer additions to the design include a removable joystick head that snaps into the center of the digital D-pad, a plasto-rubber coating on the curving palm area that matches the coating on the DeathAdder mouse, and revised placement of stabilizing feet on the underside.
The backlight cannot be dimmed, which is somewhat unfortunate as it is quite bright, but it can be turned off completely for a more stealthy appearance. The n52te's keys and mouse wheel are illuminated in Razer's favorite tone of blue, which makes it look rather attractive when in the presence of Razer's Tarantula keyboard (review) and DeathAdder mouse (review).
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Like its predecessors, the n52te offers an array of keyboard-ish keys arranged in a futuristically-ergonomic array, coupled with a mouse-wheel and digital d-pad.īelkin worked with popular gaming mouse manufacturer Razer in crafting the n52te as an upgrade of the existing n52, and the influence of the mouse company is pretty easy to identify. The 'te' stands for Tournament Edition, and signifies the product as an evolved version of the popular Nostromo SpeedPad n52, which was itself a follow-on to the original Nostromo SpeedPad n50 (review circa 2002). Products like the Zboard Fang (review), WolfKing Warrior (review), and Warrior XXtreme (review) offer extra keys arranged in different ergonomic arrangements to allow for easier and more convenient access to the critical buttons for FPS action.īelkin is now diving into this market with the new n52te. Today, gaming specific mice and keyboards abound, and the growing complexity of FPS and MMO titles has even spawned a new breed of peripherals that offer total alternatives to WASD keyboard keys. Back in the earliest days of the FPS genre when games like Wolfenstein 3D were blowing people's minds, gamers had to be content to combat their opponents armed with nothing more than generic mice and the standard W, A, S, D keys on their beige keyboards.
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