Summary

• The Redragon K585 DITI offers a satisfying gaming experience with customizable keys and a compact footprint.
• Perfect for Esports enthusiasts, this one-handed keyboard allows for quick key mapping and hot-swappable switches.
• At an affordable price, the K585 DITI provides a decent key count for gaming without sacrificing performance.

Thanks to their high accuracy, extensive customization support, and satisfying typing experience, mechanical keyboards are almost always the top preference for PC gamers. But sometimes, even the smallest 60% keyboard can end up being too large for your gaming space, making one-handed keyboards a decent investment if you don’t mind losing out some keys in exchange for a compact keyboard with a smaller footprint.

While you can't use these tiny keyboards for typing, they work well with most multiplayer titles, and the Redragon’s K585 DITI is one of the best one-handed keyboards that's worth looking into if you're into Esports. Admittedly, it has its fair share of flaws, but for a peripheral that barely costs $50, it’s a great option if you want to sink your teeth into a one-handed keyboard without breaking the bank.

About this review: I bought the blue switches version of the Redragon K585 DITI keyboard. The company had no input on the contents of this article.

Pricing, specs, and availability

The Redragon K585 DITI is available in two versions: a wired variant that retails for around $35-$40 and a wireless model that costs $10 more. Both variants are available on Amazon and Newegg, and you can choose between three models that feature distinct switches: blue switches provide the satisfying clicky that’s associated with typical mechanical keyboards, red switches have a slightly muffled sound and are usually preferred by gamers, while the brown variants offer more tactile bumps than their counterparts.

What I like

Hot swap sockets provide superior modding capabilities

The K585 model I’ve reviewed is equipped with blue switches, and the tactile feel and responsiveness of each keystroke is what you’d expect from a mechanical keyboard. It ships with OEM keycaps and Outemu switches, which look and function well for the most part. But thanks to the hot swap PCB on the K585, you’re also free to customize the keyboard to your heart’s content.

In fact, Redragon even provides keycap and switch pullers with the keyboard, and I had no trouble slotting some keys from my daily-driver keyboard into the K585. Under the keycaps, the hot swap sockets support 3-pin switches, so you’re not just limited to Outemu switches. If you’re into fine-tuning your mechanical keyboard, you’ll have a field day with the K585.

If you’re into fine-tuning your mechanical keyboard, you’ll have a field day with the K585.

The 42-key setup is decent for most games

The Redragon K585 DITI includes a total of 47 mechanical keys, including 28 typing keys, 5 function keys, 4 control keys, and 5 macro keys. 42 of these are mechanical keys that can be customized using the companion app, while the remaining 5 are buttons that can't be mapped to another input. Besides the Rec button, four are labeled from M1 to M4 and let you switch between different keyboard profiles.

Although the lower key count requires extensive mapping and properly configured macros for 4x strategy games and intricate CRPGs, the 42-key layout works well for titles from other genres, including FPS and casual titles.

Although the lower key count requires extensive mapping and properly configured macros for 4x strategy games and intricate CRPGs, the 42-key layout works well for titles from other genres.

The K585 supports USB pass-through on its extra Type-A port

The wired variant of the K585 DITI uses a USB Type-C port located at the upper left portion of the keyboard to pair with your system. It also includes an extra Type-A port that supports the USB pass-through facility, allowing you to plug another peripheral like a controller, mouse, or headset, directly into the K585 instead of your PC. Although it’s just one port, I found it to be quite useful when I wanted to plug in my USB-powered microphone without going through the hassle of connecting it to the rear IO ports on my desktop.

What I don’t like

The wrist rest isn't very comfortable

The Redragon K585 DITI ships with a plastic wrist rest that uses magnets to attach itself to the keyboard. While I appreciate the fact that the wrist rest can be effortlessly unmounted at will, it’s not the best if you want maximum comfort. For those used to comfy foam or rubber wrist rests, you’ll have a hard time getting used to the hard plastic wrist rest on the K585.

The companion app has some odd issues

Although the keyboard works really well, I can't say the same for the companion app that you'll need to install if you want to make full use of the Redragon K585. For starters, instead of providing a unified app that works across all their products, Redragon has separate applications for every accessory. As such, you’ll need to install multiple applications even if your desk setup includes other peripherals from Redragon.

"Some of the menu text tends to get cut-off mid-sentence in the companion app, though it fares a tad better in terms of functionality."

As for the application, the UI is rather unintuitive and has terrible scaling issues. On my Acer KG281K 4K monitor, some of the menu text tends to get cut-off mid-sentence in the companion app, though it fares a tad better in terms of functionality. Out of the 47 keys, you’re free to map 42 keys to single and macro inputs (but not both, at the same time). Besides letting you change the polling rate of the K585, the app also allows you to modify the RGB lighting via the weirdly spelled Ligh option. While the customization options for the backlit keys are decent, there are only a handful of lighting modes for you to try out. One feature that I did like, however, was that you can set up four different profiles from the app, and you're free to switch between them via the application or the M1-M4 keys.

Should you buy the Redragon K585?

You should buy the Redragon K585 if:

• You want a one-handed mechanical keyboard that doesn’t cost a fortune.
• You need a compact keyboard that has enough keys to cruise through your favorite Esports titles.
• You enjoy modding your keyboard and can spend hours setting up the perfect macros without getting deterred by the weirdly scaled UI of the companion app.

You shouldn’t buy the Redragon K585 if:

• Chatting via text messages is your preferred method of communicating with your in-game friends.
• You wish to replace a full-fledged keyboard with something smaller that's still good enough for typing.
• You want an ultra-soft and comfy wrist rest on your keyboard.

As someone whose library primarily consists of RPGs, I’ll admit that I had some difficulties adjusting to the reduced key count when I first used the K585. Baldur’s Gate 3, Tyranny, and Pillars of Eternity 2 seemed borderline unplayable without setting up two separate profiles and making full use of the macro buttons available on the K585 and my gaming mouse. But then again, those are some issues you’ll encounter with pretty much every one-handed keyboard, not just this particular offering from Redragon.

Meanwhile, Titanfall 2, Lethal Company, Palworld, No Man's Sky, and other multiplayer titles worked exceedingly well with the keyboard – as long as I used voice chat instead of communicating through text. Likewise, I had a similar experience with single-player games that didn’t require me to pull out a full-sized keyboard.

To conclude, as long as you don’t mind the plastic wrist rest and are willing to put up with the lackluster companion app, the Redragon K585 is a neat little device that works well with most E-Sports titles, and I’d heartily recommend it to anyone who needs an affordable one-handed keyboard.