Between food, rent and smartphones which are more expensive than $1,000 there’s likely not much cash left in your pocket to get a decent keyboard. But unless you have become a truly proficient touch-screen typist, you still want these prominent peripherals to write documents, browse the internet and type out mad 280-character screeds onto Twitter.
We’ve surveyed 10 of the most popular under $20 peripherals on Amazon to get the best cheap keyboards on the market. Some of these gadgets deliver cheap thrills and a few are just, well, inexpensive. Whether you need high speed or tenkeyless, wired or wireless, then there is likely a keyboard that fits your needs.
Best Gaming Keyboard Under $20
We have tested the most well-known Best Gaming Keyboard under $20 on Amazon to determine which ones provide cheap thrills and which ones are just cheap.
1. AmazonBasics Wired Keyboard
Although I was skeptical of a computer keyboard manufactured by Amazon, the AmazonBasics Wired Keyboard finally proved its worth with big, responsive keys, comfortable key travel and profile. Since the product’s name suggests, it gives you all of the basics you will need to run a computer: a full size keyboard, a few different media keys and a sensible key design.
The keyboard does not have foldable feet; rather, it’s on an angle by default. Touch typists will probably like this setup just fine, but people who prefer a totally flat keyboard should pick something different.
2. Anker A7726 Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard
The keys have amazingly good travel, given the peripheral’s small size (it is tenkeyless), but it is still relatively simple to type without mistakes. Although the media management and lookup keys are not discrete, they’re simple to activate, along with the device’s Bluetooth connectivity seems reliable. Aesthetically, it’s most likely the best cheap computer keyboard you can get to go along using a Mac.
3. Rii RK907 Ultra Slim Compact USB Wired Keyboard
For a keyboard that does not even break the $10 range, the Rii RK907 performed surprisingly well. The backspace and enter keys are of normal size, and there is a row of helpful extra keys at the top. This includes discrete media controllers, as well as buttons to take you to your own default Internet browser, email client and audio player.
The keys are unremarkable — neither as stiff nor as mushy as cheap membrane keys get, although the journey remains fairly short. While it’s hardly lavish, the RK907 gives you more than you would expect for the price.
4. Dell KB216 Wired Keyboard
If you have ever worked at a corporate office, you have either used the Dell KB216, or else something very similar to it. Regardless of a shallow secret travel and comparatively small secrets, the Dell KB216 is not bad. With discrete volume keys and elastic keycaps, you could conceivably type on this model all day and not suffer too much wrist fatigue.
My only thing is that the keyboard occupies up a surprising quantity of desk space; I’ve worked together with full-size gaming keyboards which were smaller. It is not the best cheap keyboard you can get, but if it’s good enough for the workplace, it’s probably good enough for most home applications.
5. Macally USB Wired Keyboard
If you’ve been around computers for some time, you probably know you could depend on HP at a pinch to get a cheap, reliable keyboard that looks essentially the exact same now as it did in the early’90s.
In my notes to your HP K1500, I wrote that it could be”difficult to imagine a generic keyboard.” But generic isn’t necessarily bad. Regardless of shallow secret travel, the K1500 earns some brownie points because of its exceptionally thin body and reasonably responsive keys. There aren’t any extra keys of any sort, but for under $10, were you anticipating any?
6. OMOTON Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard
The Omoton Wireless Keyboard is a fairly standard Mac-style knockoff peripheral, and it could be worse. Though Omoton clearly designed the device with iOS in your mind, it works fairly well with Macs and PCs, also.
Additionally, it is a tenkeyless version, so take that into account. While this one does not have anything special to offer PC users, those on iOS and MacOS should discover that it works pretty well for the price.
7. Microsoft Wired 600
Although the Microsoft Wired 600 isn’t bad, per se, it’s one of the weaker wired models I tested. Between shallow key travel and an overall mushy feel, typing on it for lengthy periods of time is not very comfortable. On the other hand, it has discrete media control buttons, in addition to Windows 10-specific buttons, which can bring up Search, Settings and the Calculator.
You could probably get by with the Wired 600 as your everyday computer keyboard, but there are far better choices out there for a similar cost.
8. Arteck HB030B Universal Slim Portable Wireless Bluetooth Colors Backlit Keyboard
The vibrant Arteck HB030B keypad used to claim it had been discounted from $80, but don’t be duped; this was likely only an artificial price jack to make users feel like they had been getting a great deal. While the HB030B comes with a solid Bluetooth wireless link and seven quite backlighting color options, it does not have much else going for it.
The keyboard doesn’t have any feet, so you are going to have to utilize it absolutely flat, and that is a deal-breaker for many touch typists.
9. VicTsing Gaming Keyboard
Do not be fooled by this VicTsing Gaming Keyboard’s name; nothing about it is really acceptable for gaming. Between the mushy keys, the oddly shaped Enter key and a lack of media keys, this keyboard is more likely to hamper your gaming skills than help them.
There are just two gaming-focused from the VicTsing: the capability to lock down that the Windows key (which can be useful) and a random rainbow lighting pattern (that are not). The lighting has too few colours to be authentic RGB, and it’s not so bright, to boot.
Worst of all, the VicTsing doesn’t have any expandable feet, meaning that it’s stuck at a set conformation — an embarrassing place for touch typists and players alike. If you’re searching for best cheap keyboard you’ll be able to buy, you will need to look elsewhere.
10. Logitech MK270 Mouse and Keyboard Combo
Both devices are wireless and connect via a handy USB dongle. The small, slick mouse is a bit on the sensitive side, but the MK270 keyboard is a superbly easy peripheral using well-designed keys, a discrete media pub and a slightly ergonomic design. You can spend a lot more cash for a keyboard that unsuccessfully apes Logitech’s design; the MK270 lets you get the real deal, and a mouse, for under $20.