SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless review: Undersized overkill

Are you a gamer who’s comfortable paying (a lot) for a second gaming-centric keyboard? That’s the big underlying question of the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless. This 60% keyboard is as expensive as it is impractical as an everyday keyboard. But, boy oh boy, does it have some incredible features if you’re not put off by the price or some of the size limitations.

The price for the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is ridiculous. Like, $499RRP ridiculous. All of the bells and whistles aside, this is easily $200 pricier than other 60% wireless keyboards from competitors. You might be able to grab it for closer to $400, but the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless still feels cost prohibitive, even for a niche offering.

The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is the first 60% keyboard I’ve taken for a spin. While I get the logic of a tenkeyless keyboard, shedding the top-row F-keys, conceptually, means you lose more in easy-to-reach functionality than you gain in desk real estate. It doesn’t help that the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless isn’t exactly super lightweight.

Admittedly, the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless has performance in all the right gaming areas. By default, keystroke actuation is set to 1.8mm, which combos nicely with the 0.54ms response time on 2.4GHz wireless. That makes for an incredibly responsive keyboard that feels great and isn’t restricted by a cable.

The challenge for me, though, was testing in Battlefield games. With default settings, Battlefield games use F-keys, which the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless doesn’t have. You can hold down the SteelSeries-branded function key to modify buttons, which converts the top-row numerical keys to F-keys. That said, the function key is on the right of the keyboard, so not easily within reach with typical WSAD controls. This function key is also used for other keys missing by the nature of the 60% design, and while I appreciate the workaround, it’s not viable for all games without rebinding.

It was even trickier to use the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless as an everyday keyboard which, admittedly, isn’t the role of a 60% keyboard. That’s not to say you couldn’t adapt, but there’s a steep learning curve for muscle memory if you’re used to a full-sized or even tenkeyless keyboard.

For starters, the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is rated for up to 40 hours of battery life by SteelSeries, and I’d back that claim. After a full charge, I’ve effectively left it in 2.4GHz mode for around 11 days. While it’s not being used all the time, it handles standby well to preserve battery life.

If you forget to charge or run out of juice, there’s a USB-C cable on hand for charging. Plug it into the top left of the keyboard, which is next to the wireless switch. Move that switch hard left for 2.4GHz or right for Bluetooth. Good luck trying to put it in the middle to turn the keyboard off without stuffing it up at least once.

Bluetooth means the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless can work with any Bluetooth device that accepts keyboard input, which worked great with an Android tablet in my tests. For gamer purists, 2.4GHz offers the lowest latency, which is best used with 0.2mm actuation for the speediest inputs. That’s sensitive enough to activate with the lightest of touches, which will lay bare all of your terrible keystroke inaccuracies.

All of this is controlled within the SteelSeries Engine software, and there’s an impressive level of control in here. Change the actuation of all keys or on a per-key basis, including impressively granular options like dual actuation, dual bindings and customisable meta bindings.

The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless is an impressive piece of keyboard technology. It’s a wireless 60% keyboard powerhouse with an incredible degree of user control. But it’s way too expensive for a 60% keyboard that’s impractical for everyday use (unless you embrace the learning curve).