ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile Keyboard Review

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile has a compact (65%) form factor, which means it has dedicated arrow keys and most keys from the navigation cluster, but it's missing the function row and Numpad found on full-size keyboards.

The above measurements are with the plastic dust cover removed. We've also taken supplemental measurements with the plastic cover placed under the keyboard below.

• Height: 2.9 cm
• Width: 31.2 cm
• Depth: 11.6 cm
• Weight: 0.715kg

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile has decent overall build quality. However, we encountered occasional key chatter (repeated keystrokes) during testing. This issue significantly impacts this keyboard's typing quality and gaming experience as unintentional repeat inputs occur on multiple keys and with unpredictable frequency. This issue is particularly unusual because the manufacturer advertises its switches as optical, which typically aren't prone to chattering. However, there's some language on ASUS's product page for these switches suggesting they may be a hybrid optical-mechanical design. This suggests it may not be an issue with the switches but rather a firmware issue that ASUS can address in a future update. We've only seen limited reports from the community about this issue, so it may only be a problem with a small number of units. We will continue monitoring the situation and update our review as needed. If you have this keyboard and have encountered key chatter issues, reach out to us in the comments.

Apart from the chatter issue we encountered on the unit we bought and tested, other build-quality elements of this keyboard are impressive. It has minimal deck flex, with a plastic bottom chassis and an aluminum top plate. Its ROG RX Low-Profile switches are pre-lubed from the factory and feel smooth overall. The keycaps are also very stable, and while they're made of ABS plastic (which often develops a slippery, shiny finish with extended use), ASUS indicates they have a UV coating designed to mitigate this. Unfortunately, while the stabilizers also do a great job of keeping larger keys stable, they aren't pre-lubed from the factory, so they sound somewhat inconsistent and produce faint rattling sounds. You can see a video of stabilizer performance here. That said, there are also two layers of silicone dampening foam inside the case that help to even out the overall sound profile and keep pinging noise to a minimum.

On the back of the board, there are a set of flat rubber feet and two rubber capped flip-out feet that all do a great job of keeping the board firmly in place on your desk without sliding around.

There's a mirrored finish panel on the top of the keyboard with Republic of Gamers branding and a touch control panel with dedicated media controls. However, this mirrored finish shows fingerprints easily and may be prone to scratches with rougher use.

Lastly, this keyboard also includes a plastic cover that you can place over the front or back. ASUS describes this as a dust cover. Unfortunately, it doesn't clip into place and is somewhat flexible in the middle, so it doesn't provide the same degree of protection a hard shell carrying case would. You can see images of the dust cover on top of the keyboard here and here.

This keyboard has a low-profile design, making it fairly comfortable to use with your palms resting on your desk without a wrist rest.

There are flip-out feet on the back of the keyboard that provide two additional incline angles. The Home Row Height listed above is in the tallest configuration, with the feet extended.

The Home Row Height at a medium incline is 24.4 mm, and with the board lying flat with the flip-out feet fully closed, the Home Row Height is 21.3 mm.

This keyboard doesn't provide hardware customizability options.

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile has full RGB backlighting. The touch panel on the top left edge allows you to adjust brightness, and you can cycle through RGB effects using hotkey combinations or the configuration software.

The shine-through keycaps on this keyboard allow you to easily read legends without any noticeable obstructions.

This keyboard comes with a braided USB-A to USB-C charging cable. It retains some kinks from its packaging.

ASUS advertises that this keyboard has a battery life of up to 430 hours when connected with its 2.4 GHz receiver and with all backlighting off.

You can record macros on the ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile using hotkey combinations or with the configuration software.

This keyboard has a touch panel on the top left edge that, by default, provides dedicated media controls and allows you to adjust backlighting brightness. You can see an animation from ASUS's product page for this keyboard that demonstrates how this feature works.

The touch controls allow you to cycle between control modes with a button next to the touch panel and customize how the panel functions using the configuration software. During testing, we found that this panel works well but occasionally fails to register inputs.

This keyboard has a Caps Lock indicator light but supports other lock keys using hotkey combinations, including FN lock, Scroll Lock, and Windows lock, which provide on-screen notifications but don't have indicator lights.

A range of other hotkey combinations are supported, including battery life display, windows lock, RGB effect presets, etc. Many hotkeys are indicated with printed legends on the front edge of keycaps. To reference a full list of hotkeys, you can see a digital version of the user manual from ASUS's website here.

• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• ROG Omni 2.4GHz USB wireless receiver
• Wireless receiver extender
• Plastic dust cover
• ROG stickers
• User documentation

Altogether, this keyboard provides only satisfactory typing quality. While most aspects are impressive, we experienced occasional key chatter (repeated keystrokes) on the unit we bought and tested, which significantly reduced the quality of the typing experience. For more details, see the Build Quality section.

The key chatter issue aside, the switches are pre-lubed from the factory and feel quite smooth. Two layers of internal sound-dampening silicone foam help round out the sound profile and minimize the overall typing noise.

All keys are very stable, and keystrokes are very consistent, even if you hit a key on an edge or corner. The stabilizers also do a great job of making keystrokes on larger keys feel even and consistent. Unfortunately, the stabilizers aren't pre-lubed. They feel somewhat inconsistent, and they rattle slightly but noticeably while typing.

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile is very quiet with the ROG RX Low-Profile Optical Red switches and is very unlikely to bother those around you.

You can also buy this keyboard with ROG clicky RX Low-Profile Optical Blue switches, which we expect to be significantly louder with high-pitched clicks.

You can buy this keyboard with linear ROG RX Low-Profile Optical Red switches or clicky ROG RX Low-Profile Optical Blue switches, both of which are pre-lubed from the factory.

We bought and tested this keyboard with linear ROG RX Low-Profile Optical Red switches, which are smooth and lightweight. Their low-profile design also has very short pre-travel, making keystrokes feel extremely quick and responsive.

You can also buy this keyboard with clicky ROG RX Low-Profile Optical Blue switches, which are heavier-feeling and have a slightly longer pre-travel distance. They also have a small but noticeable tactile bump to overcome and produce an audible click on each downstroke.

Unfortunately, we encountered occasional key chatter (repeat keystrokes) during testing. You can read more about this issue in the Build Quality section and can see what this looks like on our measuring equipment here.

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile has remarkably low single-key latency performance. It delivers an extremely responsive gaming experience at any competitive level.

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile has amazing multi-key latency performance, making it well-suited for playing any game that requires additional inputs while you're already pressing and maintaining multiple keys.

This keyboard supports a maximum polling rate of 1000Hz that isn't bottlenecked by other latency elements and supports NKRO by default.

This keyboard has an excellent 4-chord and 8-chord split delay, making it a great choice for playing rhythm games or other games requiring many simultaneous inputs.

The ASUS ROG Falchion RX Low Profile uses Armoury Crate for customization. This software is reasonably straightforward and allows you to customize various expected settings, including key assignments, macros, power settings, and RGB lighting.

That said, as with software options from other major manufacturers, Armoury Crate is the source of widespread criticism from the broader community. While we didn't experience any issues during the testing of this keyboard, many users online criticize this software for being unnecessarily bloated, requiring frequent updates, and taking up disproportionate system resources, among other complaints. This software may be frustrating if you prefer more lightweight software options or no software at all.

The configuration software is available on Windows and MacOS systems using an M1 chip or later. On Linux systems, all default keys work as expected, but there isn't a compatible software version.

All default controls, including media controls, work on Android, iOS, and iPadOS devices. However, there isn't a compatible configuration software version for these devices.