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The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro is one of the many keyboards out there that aim to earn a place on your desktop, as it attempts to leverage its Hall Effect magnetic switches and premium design to offer a final product that is elegant, functional, and nearly perfect for most users, sans a few quirks.
The team at Game Rant takes a closer look at what is arguably one of the most intriguing keyboards this year, with a focus on aesthetics, performance, and reliability below.
Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro Gaming Keyboard
Premium Build Meets Hall Effect Switches
The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro is the latest iteration of what was previously Roccat’s well-received Vulkan keyboard lineup. This new version has an updated aesthetic with new branding.The keyboard features magnetic mechanical switches, an anodized and sanded aluminum top plate in addition to adjustable actuation points (software-based), and per-key RGB lighting on offer.
Packaging And First Impressions
The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro comes in a compact box that just about fits the 75% keyboard with its USB cable, wrist rest, and a quick start guide tucked directly below it in the same package. The first thing one notices when they remove the plastic shroud is how premium the keyboard feels on its own with a polished aluminum plate housing all the switches and keycaps on top.
The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro comes in compact, but easy to unpack packaging.
The next impression, however, is less flattering when it comes to the keyboard, which also comes with a wrist rest to match. Turtle Beach opts for a non-magnetic wrist rest option that feels far less robust than what the actual keyboard does, making one question its place in what is essentially a premium-grade TKL keyboard that retails at more than $100.
The complete contents of the Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Keyboard retail box.
All in all, the package, while minimalistic and lacking the decals that some of its competition offers, gets the job done. The USB cable is braided and detachable, which should help with portability and requires a USB A connector on the device. A Type-C connector is used to connect to the keyboard.
The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Keyboard’s USB-C port is tucked away under the left side of the keyboard.
This might mean that users on a Mac or a Windows laptop or PC that lacks USB-A ports might need to pick up a USB-A to USB-C adapter or an alternate USB-C to C cable to get the keyboard working. To Turtle Beach’s credit, it does categorically state that the keyboard works with both Mac OS and Linux but lacks official software support, which we will be looking into shortly.
Setting Up The Keyboard And Installing The Requisite Software
Setting up the keyboard is relatively simple. The USB-C port on the keyboard itself is conveniently located on the left side of the keyboard, which can make cable management a tad easier at a personal level than keyboards that have a cord running down the middle.
The keyboard is instantly detected on Windows and the Quick Start Guide and a cursory Google search both offer information on what software is needed to make it all tick when it comes to customization: Turtle Beach’s Swarm II software suite.
The Swarm II suite feels functional and capable for entry-level and power users alike.
The software itself feels powerful and intuitive without overwhelming users with choices, even as it specifies most of the features that the Vulkan II TKL Pro offers, making it a relatively welcome and personal touch for a keyboard investment that gamers and power users alike would appreciate.
The Vulkan II TKL Pro requires a firmware update out of the box to utilize its features on the Swarm II suite.
It kicks off with 2 software updates for the suite itself despite having downloaded the latest version from the site, something that does deserve a second look (keeping an up to date binary on-site would save users some time) before updating the keyboard’s firmware, which is already on offer for the review unit. (Firmware at the time of testing is V 1.16 for the keyboard).
Not having to restart one’s PC, the relatively small amount of time to set up, and the less bloaty feeling that Turtle Beach’s solution offers are a welcome change from many of its peers that often overdo or over complicate their offerings.
The software allows users to adjust a plethora of options including RGB lighting patterns for their choice of keyboard.
Having per-key RGB illumination, the ability to adjust actuation points to be more accurate for users and, what is one of the smoother update sequences we have personally encountered on software that feels user-friendly and just complex enough to sate users wanting more control makes for one of the strongest proponent’s of Turtle Beach’s design.
Performance And Comfort Revisited
All the software functionality listed above, however, is meaningless if the keyboard itself does not offer both a mix of comfort and performance that most users demand at the highest tier, especially when they are spending as much as $150 on a gaming keyboard in 2024 in a market where there is plenty of competition at that price point.
The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro In All Its RGB-Lit Glory
The Vulkan II TKL Pro feels premium and easy to maneuver around even though one could ask for better keycaps than the ones included with the keyboard by default. It feels elegantly designed and future-proof in most settings thanks to its unique look, thanks to the distance between keys working in its favor on an aesthetic front.
The volume rocker on the Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro feels like a solid addition to a gaming keyboard that otherwise skips on media keys to retain its 75% TKL status.
Typing on the Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro does take a bit of time to get used to, especially when switching over from another mechanical keyboard (the Razer Huntsman Elite in this case) but once you get the hang of it, it feels like an extension of one’s arm, much like the keyboard it replaces.
Actuation Customization Galore
Setting the actuation point is great for games in particular because it can be used to stage various chained commands that would otherwise be more controller-suited, such as reloading a weapon in Gears of War or lobbing a grenade in Counter Strike.
While using multiple actuation points for multiple tasks seems a novel idea, it can be executed properly in a way that directly benefits gamers looking for a more customized experience that caters to their needs, something that we did toy around with and found quite interesting in certain titles.
Durability and Portability
The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro comes with switches rated to last as much as 150 million presses, making it one of the most rugged offerings in its price range, and it comes with 8MB of onboard memory and as many as 5 unique profiles, all of which can save custom lighting, macros and more for a truly unique experience.
Its weight also makes it a relatively easier option to carry around versus most of its competition, even as its palm rest is functional and gets the job done when the keyboard is in a raised profile using its rear legs, even if there are qualms about how well it gels with the overall design of the keyboard.
All things considered, the Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro is an excellent contender in terms of comfort and performance alike, but users might want to consider upgrading their keycaps to something that might be less flashy but offer a better feel for what is otherwise a promising candidate for one’s daily driver for work and gaming alike.
Should You Get The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro?
The Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro offers a promising, yet ambitious take that builds on the excellent Vulkan branding with plenty of upgrades under the hood, a solid software solution, and a design that impresses on all fronts save the wrist-rest, which can be an acquired taste for some users.
The wrist rest is still a functional design even if it feels a bit annoying to deal with, especially for a sub-$150 keyboard that otherwise feels premium and has plenty of things going for it, including its Hall Effect magnetic switches, per-key RGB lighting, and an industry-standard 1000Hz polling rate that make it both a looker and one that is a joy to type or game on.
All in all, the Turtle Beach Vulkan II TKL Pro is a solid offering that is priced in line with most of its competition and does have its quirks, as do most of its peers, but does shine on the aesthetics and the software front, which does give it a significant edge over many of its competitors, making it an easy recommendation for an elegantly designed gaming keyboard from the team at Game Rant.
It does happen to be on sale at the time of writing, trading down 13% or $20 over its MSRP at both Amazon and Best Buy, making it an easier to stomach choice at $130 than the $150 it normally commands at most retailers.
FAQ
Q: Does the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro Work Wirelessly?
The Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro is exclusively a wired keyboard and requires a USB-A connection to use the provided cable to connect to a PC or other platforms.
Q: Does the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro Work On Macs?
Yes, the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro does work on Macs but does not come with an equivalent software solution to match Turtle Beach’s Swarm II offering on Windows.
