Genesis Thor 303 TKL review – good mechanical keyboard at pleasant price

Mechanical keyboards are getting more and more popular among gamers. On the other hand, the good units are quite pricy. However, Genesis and their Thor 303 TKL are trying to convince the gaming audience that a good mechanical keyboard can be nicely priced as well. So, the Genesis Thor 303 TKL doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s loaded with a lot of features and other goodies.

First of all, it’s quite a looker with its nice design and white color. The manufacturer has created this piece of machinery to be durable as possible for that price tag – the frame is made of aluminum and the exchangeable Outemu Blue switches have a durability of up to 50 million clicks. That sounds impressive on paper and while we cannot click all the keys millions of times like crazy, we can check the durability of the keyboard – alright, we’ll not be going to smash it on the desk.

You can check the current price of Genesis Thor 303 TKL here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Contents

Specs Sheet

Design and construction

The box is a sturdy one so the keyboard inside is well protected. The package includes some stickers, a manual, two additional mechanical switches, a keycap remover, and a switch remover. The last two are really important if you want to replace fast some of the keycaps or the switches – these clips can be handy if you want to deep clean the keyboard. Now, the TKL variant is the more compact version of the Thor 303 – it lacks a NumPad and has 84 keycaps. If you want a full-blow keyboard with a NumberPad section (ergo, the one with the 104 keys) the non-TKL variant offers these things. The Genesis Thor 303 TKL is a compact unit, it measures 355 x 136 x 36 mm which means it can be fitted with ease in backpacks or suitcases. As we said earlier, the device sports an aluminum frame and in reality, this does its job well – we tried to twist and bend the keyboard on purpose and we didn’t hear any crackling sounds and everything remained intact. Sure, if you want to break it apart you will but in normal conditions, this keyboard will withstand harsh typing and aggressive keycap pressing during gaming.

It looks great in white, of course, if you like this kind of color scheme for peripherals. Removing the keys and the switches is super fast and easy with the aid of the provided tools that can be found in the box. The four rubber feet are making the keyboard stable on the desk so it’ll not slip if you push it a bit more rudely in some direction. On the bottom side of the keyboard, there is a dedicated USB canal for the cable which leads to better cable management on your desk. Speaking of the USB cable, this one is braided and it has white color as well.

Usage, Features, Setup, Software and Testing

Using the keyboard is business as usual. After connecting the USB cable to your PC you can start using the unit right away. There is dedicated software that can be downloaded from the official website of the manufacturer but you can control a lot of functions using shortcut combinations. For example, you can change the level of the backlight brightness, the speed of the backlight, and its color as well – this is possible by using shortcuts that can be found well-explained in the user manual. If you prefer a more user-friendly experience, the Genesis software is the right place to start, it has the abovementioned functionality and you can fine-tune the backlight and all its features, you can create macros, and you can create up to three different profiles based on your preferences. The Genesis Thor 303 TKL has built-in memory and it remembers your settings which is great when using the keyboard away from home on another computer / laptop.

The backlight can light up your desk almost like a lamp during the night you if bump the brightness to its maximum state. In our case, we prefer the brightness level decreased to around 15 or maybe 20%. The static color is the way to go if you plan to use the Genesis Thor 303 TKL for long hours because the higher brightness levels combined with light effects like “Wave” or “Breathing” can be too intrusive in the long run and pretty eye-pocking if you’re using this product in a dimmed room. We already mentioned some of the light effects, and the gaming software offers a lot more, you can use the “Prismo” effect, as well as “Rainbow”, “Flowers blossom”, “Response effect”, “Snake” and many more.

There are multimedia keys placed on the top side of the keyboard which can be used for different functions such as opening the Web browser, Calculator, Volume control, etc. The keycaps are quite tall which is just normal for a mechanical unit, the Outemu Brown switches come with a click actuation point of 1.8 mm and an actuation force of just 55 grams, while the response time is 8 ms. Specs-wise, this is great for a not-so-expensive keyboard, and in gaming, this unit feels great – we tried some Call Of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and there isn’t anything to moan about. Тhere is no lag while pressing the keycaps or some other weird behavior, everything is working like it’s supposed to be. Speaking of gaming, anti-ghosting works well, especially if you like to press a lot of keys at the same time. The only downside of the keyboard is the fact that it can’t be considered quiet during typing which is typical for a mechanical unit like this one.

Videos

Here are some videos that are showing the noise levels during usage.

And you can have a look at the RGB effects as well.

Verdict

For its price, the Genesis Thor 303 TKL offers a lot and it’s a pleasant surprise to see that a mechanical keyboard loaded with so many features doesn’t cost a fortune. The unit feels great during gaming and in our opinion, it can be used for typing as well if you’re alone in your room – yes, it’s not a quiet one because of its mechanical nature. The keycaps and the switches can be easily removed with the provided tools in the box. For the ones who prefer their peripherals to glow in different colors, Genesis bundled this keyboard with appropriate gaming software that can fine-tune the visual effect – you can control the brightness, you can choose between 25 different backlight modes, you can change the colors of the backlight, etc. In addition, you can create macros and the keyboard comes with built-in memory so it remembers all your specific settings and you can use the Genesis Thor 303 TKL on another PC without configuring anything.

The unit looks good in white (of course this depends on your personal preferences), it stands stable because of the rubber feet and there is a canal for the cable – this contributes to a more neat look on your desk. The keyboard is fairly compact so it’s not a problem to put it in your backpack when you’re on vacation. We like the build quality, the whole unit feels sturdy and this is mainly due to the aluminum frame which provides good support while using the keyboard harshly during gaming or typing. For that kind of price tag, the Genesis Thor 303 TKLGenesis Thor 303 TKL offers a lot – swappable keycaps and switches, rich-in customization backlight, the keycaps are grippy during usage, good gaming software, and the build quality is on point as well.

You can check the current price of Genesis Thor 303 TKL here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

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