by theygamesGravastar is a relatively new company in the gaming peripherals space, with its first mice, the Mercury M1 and M2 arriving earlier this year. Now the company is back with a new keyboard, the Gravastar Mercury K1, which continues the company’s unique alien-esque approach to peripheral design, and includes a very bizarre height adjustment system.
This new contender for our best gaming keyboard guide comes in three different versions – the K1 Pro, K1, and K1 Lite. All these Gravastar boards sport the same overall organic design, which is striking enough, but the K1 Pro goes a step further with legs that sprout from the rear corners of the keyboard.
These legs aren’t just for show either, as they can be bent inwards to raise the rear height of the keyboard. It sounds like a silly idea, but it kind of won us over while we were trying the boards at Gravastar’s IFA trade show booth. With all the thousands of ways manufacturers are making keyboards customizable and unique, none of them are doing anything quite like this.
What’s more, the K1 Pro’s frame is actually all built from aluminum, which is quite the feat for such a flowing, hole-filled, single-piece design. It’s even more impressive that Gravastar has managed to pack in RGB lighting on the sides and even the feet themselves.
The non-Pro K1 uses a plastic frame and drops the adjustable legs, but still looks highly impactful in its black or white colors. Meanwhile, the K1 Lite houses a smaller battery – all the keyboards are wireless – and drops the side RGB lighting, for a lighter build. The latter is even available in a transparent black finish that looks amazing with its matching transparent black keycaps.
All the keyboards come in a compact 75% layout and use either Kailh or BSUN switches, depending on the model. The keyboards are only available for pre-order in US English layouts at the moment, though.
The Gravastar Mercury K1 Lite price is $89.95 direct from Gravastar, while the K1 is $129.95 and the K1 Pro is $149.95 in its black or white keycap versions, or $179.95 for the “Cyberpunk” semi-transparent keycap version shown in these pictures.
Gravastar was also teasing its new gaming mouse (front, black), which is a much lighter-weight followup to its M1 and M2. Those mice weighed over 80g, with their aluminum frames, but the new model weighs only 49g, which should make it a far more compelling option when it launches later this month.
For more from the show floor at IFA, check out our IFA story hub, which includes our first look at Acer’s new 600Hz gaming monitor, the Nitro XV240 F6.