Cherry MX 8.2 TKL Wireless XAGA review

When it comes to PC gaming peripherals, I don't think many cause more arguments than keyboards—especially mechanical ones. These pressure input devices come in a huge variety of options depending on your preference, catering to things like size, feel, and of course look. Cherry is a well known name in the space, famous for delivering some of the best switches in the business. In the Cherry MX 8.2 TKL Wireless XAGA, the company's latest efforts are paired with a sleek ergonomic 80% form factor with tons of versatility.

The Cherry MX 8.2 TKL Wireless XAGA is a flashy little 80% unit straight out of the box with its solid yet light aluminium base. This version sports the double-shot PBT+PC keycaps with Cherry's new MX2A brown switches. There's a small power switch, connection light indicators, and USB-C ports easily accessible along the top of the board's back, while the underside houses clip out feet, serial numbers, a pin-hole recessed reset button, and plenty of rubber pads to keep it all stable. There's not much bezel to speak of, which keeps this board nice and slim without wasting any deskspace.

Each of the keycaps offer a subtle but comfortable divet that cradles my fingers, with the corners rounded and slanted downwards slightly. It makes for quite a comfortable way to rest my fingers, and it's fairly easy to slide from one key to another.

While the spacing is a little different to what I'm used to, it's a fairly intuitive setup and I found it relatively easy to sink back into the rhythm of typing. The double-shot PBT means these caps should outlast me. That includes the white letter indicators and functions; the key markings are part of the moulding process, making them theoretically impossible to wear out.

The keycaps are completely solid on top, so the RGB LED backlighting can only seep through the frosted sides of the keys. This prevents blinding light shining straight into your eyes, and gives a more subtle lighting experience than many other keys.

The LEDs can be customised, but the options are a bit more limited than most keyboards. It can do colour cycling, for example, but only in its chosen spectrum of colours and to all keys. The easiest way to do this is with the Cherry Utility app, which is weirdly 32-bit and feels quite old, but gives all the same options as hotkeys with less confusion.

While utility lights, like caps lock, aren't as obvious as they'd be on other keyboards, the toned down look has a classy uniformity. The lower lumens are a more calming touch, or if LEDs really aren't your thing, you can turn them off completely. This style of board is probably not the first choice for those who want to be blown away by their rave keys, but instead works well for a setup with a touch of style. Having the stars on the space bar be solid white like the other markings instead of letting LEDs pass through feels like the only true misstep here.

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The switches under these keys are Cherry's own MX2A Brown. Switches are another highly personal choice, and I'm a big fan of these new browns. As expected, they have a good level of tactility without being obnoxiously clacky. They're light and smooth, making it really easy to get into the flow of typing at breakneck speeds, while also offering the absolute certainty that you're getting that input while gaming too. I've recently taken up Warframe 1999 and my quick flippy parkour space hopping has been a breeze with these keys.

Cherry's MX 8.2 TKL Wireless XAGA has a wireless 2.4 GHz dongle for your fastest cable-free connection, but sadly nowhere to store it. It also supports three Bluetooth connections on top of this, but no profiles to help.

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The Bluetooth is fairly fast too, and you can swap between these connection modes really quickly using function keys. The LED indicator on the back of the board is the only way to tell which connection you're on, between the dongle or Bluetooth, and I haven't found a way to tell which of the three Bluetooth connections I'm using at a glance. The indicator light is also a red LED which simply feels incorrect for a Bluetooth indicator.

You can also go with a cable connection via the USB Type-C port on the back. The keyboard comes with a USB Type-C to USB Type-A cable, allowing for data transfer as well as charging—and yes, you can type and charge at the same time too. This is useful because while the battery life is great, it does take a fair while to charge, though I haven't found it to be a problem. The keyboard shuts all the LED bravado off when you're under 25%, so you've got heaps of warning. Ultimately, it took me about a month of use before I even needed to plug it in.

I think that's in part due to the default power saving options built into the keyboard. After 15 seconds of inactivity, it'll go into a sleep mode where the LEDs turn off but the board will still register inputs. After 15 minutes, it'll hibernate. This turns the device off and it can be quite slow to wake back up. Sometimes it can be a good few seconds before it'll recognise input, and it won't change device connections at all until it's well and good to go. These can be configured or even turned off in the app, and while the annoyance of having to wait a hot minute for this sleepy head to get moving may force your hand, I'm currently enjoying the elongated battery life a bit too much to mess with it.

With the MX 8.2 TKL Wireless XAGA, Cherry has delivered a versatile and portable keyboard that doesn't feel like you're sacrificing too much to get there. The Cherry Utility app definitely leaves much to be desired, and for a board over $200 designed to work across devices, it's odd to leave out profiles of any kind. This keyboard's somewhat subtle brand of RGB offers a cool looking experience, while those new Cherry MX Browns and double mould keycaps make for responsive and easy input. Being able to speedily swap connections between four different devices makes this keyboard the master of any study, while its battery life and compact size give it travel chops to boot. This keyboard can happily put in the work, but for what it costs you'd want to make sure it gets in plenty of overtime.