Roccat SOVA Gaming Lapboard USB Keyboard English Layout - for PC, Xbox One, PS4, LED Light (Blue), Mechanical Keys, Built-In Mouse Pad, (Part# ROC-12-181)

Product Information

The keyboard uses a compact 75% size layout, as shown above and as explained below from this guide to keyboard sizes by The Keyboard Company.

The Turret, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as stable when I tried it out for myself during my CES demo, and the mouse mat area also felt a lot smaller than what you get on the Sova. What's more, while the Turret has the added bonus of coming with a bundled Razer Mamba Wireless mouse, the magnets it employs to hold it in place when it's not in use often got in the way when it actually came to playing games with it, and it often felt like I was struggling to move it where I wanted. There are no such restrictions with the Sova, and for once Roccat's tendency towards the big and bulky side of peripherals actually works out in their favour. The last and most important part of the design are the modular wrist rest and extendable mouse pad units. While no plan is in place to offer different styles of mouse pads or additional cushions, TechRadar was told that 3D-printer schematics would be provided to print your own modules. We liked And not the anemic little thing with the touchpad from the conference room at work. You need something better. Something bigger. keyboards are popular because they only shrink or remove a few keys compared to a TKL; most of the space saving is done by reducing the gap between different areas of the keyboard and placing keys like Insert, Delete and Home in a single column on the right side of the keyboard. However, these changes mean that finding replacement keycaps is sometimes difficult. The mouse bungee was also handy for cable management. However, we ended up removing it so that the mouse and keyboard could be put away separately when the Sova wasn’t in use; having the bungee in place lengthened the put-away and set-up process unnecessarily. Comfort & UsabilityThe 6-8 battery. It's not a huge qualm, but you would think that with so much additional space on the keyboard Roccat could easily increase the battery's capacity and recharge speed. (It'll take about four hours to go from no- to full-power.)

The DIY-ness of the Sova sounds a bit sketchy too. 3D printed technology is great - we love it, but not selling quality modules to consumers seems like a major misstep. Early verdict In the end, while I still love the K70 itself, I have serious issues with the Lapdog. It’s just too big, the pillow is functionally useless, and it uses its cavernous insides to prioritize cable storage over ergonomics. Of course, the Sova isn’t just for PC gaming — it’s also a fast and comfortable way to queue up music or videos to watch on your TV, compared to relatively clumsy mobile and TV apps. You may need to find a spot to keep it — the sideways placement shown above doesn’t work too well with a mouse attached — but having it accessible can be something of a time saver. Pictured above is the Roccat Sova, which goes on sale Aug. 31, and below it the Corsair Lapdog, available in limited quantities right now. Online, they both look, and frankly sound, pretty much the same. But once you get them both out of the box, the differences are immediately clear. More like a horseThe Sova is a comfortably expansive device, spanning the width of an average couch cushion. It’s divided into three zones, with an integrated keyboard in the upper left, a palm rest in the lower left and a mouse pad on the right side. The palmrest and mousepad are formed from plastic panels, which can be removed by pushing them up from the bottom. This presumably opens the door to functionally or aesthetically different alternatives, perhaps even made by third-parties or 3D printed at home. The Sova is supported by four cushions which clip into the underside of the unit, allowing the unit to lie flat on your lap without discomfort. ROCCAT's most popular software features reside under the hood of Sova, making it not only comfortable, convenient and customizable, but powerful. And all of this is controlled by ROCCAT's innovative Swarm technology, which unifies all of your ROCCAT products and technology in one simple to interface with location. With lightning-fast access to system commands, vital game functions and so much more, gamin in the living room with Sova means always having an edge, all while owning the couch. If you are looking for a truly premium and comfortable headset capable of gaming for several hours on end, the ROCCAT Syn Max Air is a good option.” The Vulcan II Mini Optical Gaming Keyboard succeeds in everything it sets out to do, a great option for a mini keyboard that I would recommend to anyone.”