Even if you're only barely familiar with mechanical keyboards, you'll immediately notice a trend — not many models are low-profile. Sure, you've got your Nuphys and Keychrons and Lofrees that appeal to mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, but the Asus ROG Falchion RX Low Profile caught my eye due to its unique value proposition. It's trying to bring users the best of both worlds — a compact & productive workhorse as well as a gaming performer. For the most part, it succeeds at this goal.

This being my first-ever low-profile mechanical keyboard review, I didn't fully know what I was in for. However, after having lived with it for a week now, I can confidently claim that this is one of the best keyboards I've ever used — low-profile or not. The biggest compliment I can offer it is that going low-profile doesn't take away much from the experience. It's still incredibly fast, a joy to type on, and looks stunning while at it. It isn't perfect, but it far surpassed my expectations.

About this review: Asus sent me the ROG Falchion RX Low Profile for this review, but had no input in its contents.

Pricing and availability

The Asus ROG Falchion RX Low Profile is available in a single colorway with two switch options — ROG RX Red (linear) and ROG RX Blue (clicky) optical switches. The unit I'm testing has the RX Red switches. While it launched for $170, you can currently buy it for around $140 from multiple retailers. Also, changing the switch option might change your price drastically on some marketplaces.

What I liked

Low-profile keyboards aren't so bad after all

I'll be the first to admit my erstwhile bias against low-profile keyboards. Being a mechanical keyboard nut, letting go of the feel and feedback of regular switches seemed unthinkable. The ROG Falchion RX, however, has gladly proven me wrong. Let's be clear — being a low-profile board, you can't expect a thocky or creamy sound or feedback. What you do get is a smooth, satisfying, and silent typing experience (yes, I'm proud of the alliteration).

I'm sure the pre-installed silicone foam and the pre-lubed optical switches are together contributing to the silent yet sturdy typing feel. I say this because if you type on, say, a low-profile membrane keyboard, the Apple Magic keyboard, or most laptop keyboards, you rarely get both good sound and great typing feedback. The ROG Falchion RX Low Profile manages to provide just that.

I had assumed the low-profile keycaps and switches wouldn't suit my taste, but after a week of use, I've grown quite fond of them. The design of this keyboard is undoubtedly a class apart. The white (more like gray) keycaps, aluminum top plate, and glass-like RGB light bar might make you feel like it's a much more expensive keyboard. I especially loved how bright the backlight is (even during the day), and the fact that it's centered on the legends and doesn't bleed between them.

Asus doesn't provide any battery capacity figures, but claims over 400 hours of battery life without any RGB. In my experience, charging the keyboard from 20% to 100% took almost 5 to 6 hours, but it looks like it'll last a long time. I only lost around 20% charge in a week (with RGB lighting turned on), so it might easily last you a month, considering a typical 5-day workweek with 6–8 hours of usage every day.

I also found the ROG Falchion RX great for gaming. The 2.4GHz polling rate of 1000Hz, and Aura Sync support (for Asus fans) are part of it, but most importantly, the low-profile switches don't feel odd when gaming. The 65% form factor isn't my favorite, but I can see many others finding it useful, especially those who want to game and work on the same keyboard.

There's on-the-fly macro recording from the keyboard itself, and six onboard profiles, five of which you can customize. I'd go so far as to declare the ROG Falchion RX a great Magic keyboard replacement if you own an iMac. After a week of using it, I'm finding it hard to go back to my previous daily driver. It looks like low-profile keyboards might have finally grown on me.

I'd also like to point out some small but impressive features that stood out during my week of testing:

• The dust cover is a nice touch. Not all keyboards come with one.
• The secondary legends come in incredibly handy. I didn't have to consult the manual at all.
• The stealth function (Fn + U) instantly minimizes all windows.
• There's zero delay in registering an input when coming back from sleep.
• At 590g, this keyboard is quite portable (and slim).
• Cleaning low-profile keycaps is much easier.

What could have been better

I really hate Armoury Crate

To start with the negatives, Asus has used ABS keycaps on this board. They might be UV-coated to prevent the awful shine that develops on ABS keycaps, but some users might not appreciate the exclusion of PBT keycaps at this price. Asus' competitors like Keychron and Nuphy are offering PBT keycaps on their low-profile keyboards at similar or lower prices. And it's not like they're skimping out on other features to do this.

Another exclusion is hot-swappable switches, which again, are seen on competing keyboards. This might be a minor downside since most users wouldn't want to replace their keycaps or switches. However, it still stands out, especially since the admittedly great typing experience still doesn't mandate completely proprietary switches. Other brands are offering users the option to swap switches, albeit from a limited set of options.

Probably my biggest complaint about the entire experience is Armoury Crate. Frankly, it sucks big time — it's bloated, slow, and takes a long time for the first launch. The download page wasn't even clear about what all to download — I had to download an additional program after already installing Armoury Crate (which wasn't detecting the keyboard at first). Even after installing the second program, I had to restart Armoury Crate for it to finally detect the keyboard.

Plus, when I switched from wired to 2.4GHz, I had to quit the program and relaunch it as it had stopped detecting the keyboard. Guess what? After relaunching, it still couldn't detect it. After several tries, I finally gave up. Using software to remap keys, customize lighting (which you can do from the keyboard itself), and using Aura Sync aren't too important to me, but if they are for you, you've been warned.

Some other minor cons that I'd like to point out are:

• The keycaps are a bit gray, and not exactly white, as they appear in some images.
• The secondary legends aren't visible in the dark, which might be problematic until you've memorized them.
• I didn't find the multi-function touch panel useful, as there are better ways to control volume, scroll the screen, or control the backlight brightness.
• I found myself typing faster on this keyboard, but also often pressed adjacent keys accidentally.

Should you buy the Asus ROG Falchion RX Low Profile?

If you're considering the ROG Falchion RX, you've already crossed the mental barrier against low-profile keyboards. What remains to be considered are the typing experience, gaming performance, functionality, design, and software support.

You should buy the ROG Falchion RX if:

• You're actively looking for a compact and low-profile keyboard that's great to type on
• You want an all-rounder that you can also use for gaming
• You want to replace your Apple Magic keyboard or laptop keyboard
• You appreciate a premium design and the white-toned colorway

You should avoid the ROG Falchion RX if:

• You want to swap keycaps and switches
• You don't like key combos and remapping keys
• You can't digest bad software