GAMDIAS HERMES M1 – Gaming Keyboard Review

In practice

One of the reasons for the length of time between this review and my past two GAMDIAS ones is mainly because I wanted to use the HERMES M1 for that little bit longer.

Over the past month or so I have done just that, putting the HERMES M1 through its paces in gaming with my friend DanLV as we progress through Borderlands The Pre-Sequel.

As well as the secondary life of a gaming keyboard, browsing the internet and writing some news posts.

Overall, it performed very well, though for some reason it did feel a bit cramped, which I think is down to what seem to be slightly wider and taller key caps.

The one on the left is a Ducky key cap and the one on the right is the GAMDIAS one.

It probably didn’t help that the HERMES I received was a mixture of ANSI and ISO with a single row return key.

The lighting is adequate. You don’t have much in the way of customising it except for three levels of brightness and a breathing mode.

And I’m still not overly sure where the seventh colour lives as I can only count six. (I don’t believe ‘off’ is a colour)

The switches themselves feel pretty good, though I suppose the test of any switch is in its longevity rather than what is still a short test here.

All the switches stayed even and tactile throughout my use and whilst these was the occasional ping whilst typing I was surprised how close the switches felt compared to my Cherry MX boards.

The GAMDIAS HERMES M1 was not without fault throughout this, over my use the keycaps have started to develop a bit of a shine, which makes me wonder over the longevity of the finish.

You should be able to use a standard set of ANSI keycaps as a suitable replacement however it will also mean swapping to that input layout when you use this keyboard.

For some bizarre reason a few of the keycaps, most noticeably the function row did not seem to be aligned properly, which could be down to a few reasons, but I feel that it is mostly related to the key caps themselves.

As you can see with the Ducky caps they are all in a line without issue but the GAMDIAS keycaps are just a little bit off. (And I admit comparing the GAMDIAS against a keyboard that is was sold for almost three times the cost is a bit harsh)

Much like marmite, you will either love or hate the wrist rest, and after a short bit of use, I will admit to substituting it with my Glorious Gaming one.