A Shiny Anime Coat on an Amazing Unit

As a PC gamer and also just a nerd in general, I’m finding myself investing more and more into getting my whole desk setup to look as cool as possible. Of course, performance is what matters most to me, but if you can collect gear that fits both style and substance, you know you’ve got something special on your hands.

That’s how I feel about the new MelGeek Centauri80 Rei Edition, which takes the already amazing (and incredible looking) MelGeek Centauri80 and implements design and theming around one of Evangelion’s most beloved heroines, Rei Ayanami.

This limited edition keyboard is already becoming my new everyday keyboard, because I already loved the standard edition, and the Rei Edition just makes everything cooler somehow. This is a special, unique, and high-performing keyboard.

Premium, Themed, A+ Packaging

If you’ve never owned a MelGeek product before, they really knock it out of the park with their packaging in both premium-feeling design as well as quality, safe construction. The Rei Ayanami Edition of the Centauri80 follows suit while also upping the ante even higher for fans of Evangelion.

The theming here is so darn strong, and makes opening up this keyboard feel like a special event. The design of the box itself and the typography and artwork on the front were enough to convince me that the package alone deserves a nice spot on one of my bookshelves somewhere.

The board is originally housed in a lovely interior box sporting Rei Ayanami’s name in cursive font, and also comes along with your USB-C to USB-C cable (the Centauri80 does not have wireless functionality), your key puller, some additional keys if you’d like to swap any out, and of course, the instruction manual and some bonus MelGeek stickers.

An Amazing-Looking Keyboard for Evangelion Fans

And then there’s the keyboard itself, which I can’t say enough good things about from a design perspective. Rei’s white and blue color theming is as strong as possible here, and as a result, this version of the Centauri80 looks ridiculously awesome. The aluminum construction of the board pairs the wonderful visual design with premium-feeling weight as well. This thing is sturdy.

But really, the Rei/Evangelion theming and tiny details here really set this keyboard apart, and truly make it a piece of tech that fans/gamers should want to get their hands on. In addition to the obvious things like color, there are little tweaks to the keys themselves, like Enter being labeled as “The First Girl,” Backspace being replaced with a missile, and Space being labeled with “Evangelion Prototype-00.”

The sides of the board carry the theming as well, so whatever angle you’re looking at it from, you’ll know this is an Evangelion-themed piece through and through.

The backside of the keyboard is particularly awesome, and even though you obviously won’t be looking at it all the time, this extra level of attention to detail and love for the anime really drives home how much of a passion project it seems like this unit was for MelGeek, which I highly respect.

Rei’s profile is etched into the back of the board, along with the text “You won’t die,” and “I will protect you.” Funny enough, “I will protect you” is how I feel about this keyboard too, because it’s so awesome.

Still the Same, Top-Shelf Performance and Feel

As I mentioned at the start of this review, I’ve actually already reviewed the MelGeek Centarui80. If you want more detailed information on the nitty-gritty of my experience with it, be sure to check out that review as well. But what is relevant to report here is that three months later, I’ve still been using it, and I still absolutely love it.

This is a very high-performing keyboard for gaming, and also features the MelGeek Hive app, which I’ve really come to love as well. Using Hive, you can fully customize every single aspect of the board’s functionality, from key mapping to actuation point fine-tuning and more. It’s super user-friendly and easy to use, even if this happens to be your first foray into the world of premium gaming keyboards.

The backlights of the keys look great, and can be set to many different functions, as well as customized to the exact color you’re looking for. The light bar that wraps around the base of the unit on the sides and back is also incredibly slick-looking, and once again, has several different settings you can choose from as well. It looks so, so cool when you figure out all your preferred settings.

My only small gripe here is that since the keys themselves are transparent, depending on the lighting in your room and the settings you choose, the keys can be hard to read. This is mitigated by finding the certain settings where this isn’t an issue, so I ultimately don’t see this as a massive detracting factor, just a small thing to note going into purchasing.

With the Centauri80 specifically, we should also briefly talk about the unit’s touchscreen, which honestly is much more useful than screens I’ve used on other keyboards. It has a ton of functionality you can use by swiping around with your finger. My favorite aspect, however, is the fact that you can also choose four additional keys to show up on the touchscreen, so if there’s anything on the board itself you feel like you’re missing, you can make up for it in this way.

Performance for gaming is stellar, as I’ve noted in my previous review, and nothing has changed this time around since this is the same board. Several professional gamers use the MelGeek Centauri line at this point, so you can be sure that this is a great choice for gamers of all skill levels and genres.

My favorite thing to note, however, is that the Centauri80 is also great to use as an everyday keyboard. This might not matter to you, but as someone who also does a ton of writing/typing and editing on my keyboard, I’ve found that other gaming boards can be a pain to use for these situations. The size and shape of the Centauri80’s keys make it wonderful to use for everything besides gaming too, which I personally value a lot.

It’s Hall Effect too, so you get that satisfying clickety-clack sound, but also at a pleasant and quiet enough decibel so that it’s never too overbearing and distracting.

Additional Specs and Information

For anyone interested in the specific numbers and detailed tech specs of the Centauri80, here is everything that MelGeek lists on their webpage:

• Actuation Force:35±10gf
• Total Actuation Travel: 0.1mm–3.4mm
• Switch Life: 100 Million Clicks
• USB Polling Rate: 8000Hz
• Scanning Rate: 16000Hz
• Latency:0.125ms
• Adjustable Precision: 0.01 mm
• RT (Rapid Trigger) Adjustment Range:0.01–2.5mm
• N-Key Rollover (NKRO): Yes
• Snap Tap Function: Yes (for fast stopping)
• Adjustable Dead Zone: Yes (0 dead zone supported)
• Super Key: Yes
• Adaptive Hall Correction Algorithm: Yes (for consistency and stability)
• Hotswap Sockets: Yes

It also bears mentioning that MelGeek does have one other Evangelion-themed keyboard currently available for purchase, which is the Centauri60 Asuka Edition. I will say, the red theming of this keyboard to match Asuka’s design is way cool, and I might actually personally prefer it to the overall theming of the Rei Edition. This is, of course, just my personal preference, and I’d still take the Rei board overall since I prefer having the touchscreen and extra bells/whistles of the Centauri80 compared to the 60.

Both editions also have available themed mousepads, as well as MelGeek’s Horus computer mouse, which I’ve yet to try out myself, but can imagine is also awesome if the two MelGeek keyboards I’ve now tested out are any indication.

Both boards and their accessories are available to order right now and should ship ASAP. You should also note that restocks are not currently planned at this time, so if you want any of these products, you should consider acting quickly.

Here’s the pricing breakdown and links for each of the two MelGeek x Evangelion keyboards:

MelGeek Centauri80 Rei Edition: $459

MelGeek Centauri60 Asuka Edition: $359

The MelGeek Centauri80 Rei Edition takes an already incredible keyboard and layers on top awesome theming for fans of the legendary Evangelion anime. It’s an especially sleek and premium-looking board that pairs wonderful design elements alongside truly excellent performance in both the gaming space, but also as an “everyday” keyboard. The Evangelion theming will vary in coolness from person to person, but regardless, it’s a lovely new form factor of the stellar Centauri80 Hall Effect keyboard.

Score: 9.5/10

Product provided by MelGeek for review.