Turtle Beach KP7 Review: The accessory that does everything

I realize I’m probably in the minority, but I love full-size keyboards because I love 10-key numberpads. For data entry and for everything else (let’s face it, I don’t do much data entry). Since I often have to test keyboards that aren’t full-size, I’m always on the look out for a great standalone numberpad — but the options usually consist of $15 (and under) bargain bin finds or difficult-to-justify $100+ premium picks.

Turtle Beach’s Command Series KP7 isn’t exactly in the middle — it retails for $99.99, after all — but it’s an interesting option nonetheless. This 28-key modular gaming keypad is part of the brand’s recently-launched Command Series, which consists of several modular, multi-input peripherals (two keyboards, three mice, and this keypad). It’s designed to work with the series’ flagship Turtle Beach Command Series KB7 keyboard, which is a premium TKL keyboard with a built-in touchscreen. The KP7 hooks onto either side of the KB7, turning it into a full-size keyboard with a numberpad and a bunch of extra macro keys. The KB7 retails for $199.99, so the full set is just shy of $300. But the KP7 is interesting because it works very well on its own — in fact, it might even perform better as a standalone keypad than it does with the KB7 it’s designed to complement.

The KP7 is a modular gaming keypad with 28 keys, one clickable, programmable dial, and one (non-programmable) button for switching between numberpad mode and game mode. It can hook onto the right side of the KB7 to function as a typical numberpad, or it can hook onto the left side to function as a gaming keypad — complete with an extendable thumb bar. It features magnetic Hall Effect linear switch, bright per-key RGB backlighting, and its own mini wrist rest. It’s available now, as a separate purchase from the KB7, for $99.99.

Design of the KP7

The KP7 is a standalone macropad that consists of a 10-key numberpad surrounded by a bunch of other keys. At the top, there are three additional Fn keys, as well as a profile switch key — it seems Turtle Beach is really trying to push multiple profiles, because if you use this with the KB7 keyboard, this marks the fourth dedicated way to switch profiles. On the right of the numberpad are two columns of keys: The first column consists of the math function keys that usually surround a numberpad, and the second column has four dedicated macro keys.

In the bottom right corner there’s a programmable knob and an additional thumb button, which is set up by default as a space key. In the upper right corner there’s a small button that switches between numberpad mode and game mode — game mode turns the center keys into W / A / S / D (and changes the surrounding keys to the corresponding keys on the left half of the keyboard. It essentially becomes a gaming half-keyboard, sort of like Nordic Game Supply’s The Shrimp.

For the times you’re using it in gaming mode, the KP7’s lower right cluster of keys, including the dial, extend down and right so you can use them with your thumb while you’ve got your left hand on the center keys. The wrist rest is even cut out to accommodate the keys when extended, which is a nice touch.

The KP7 is well-built for a standalone numberpad — it follows the same design philosophy as Turtle Beach’s KB7, with a brushed aluminum top plate and a plastic chassis. It has low-profile linear switches, flat, double-shot PBT keycaps with shine-through legends, and bright, customizable RGB backlighting that extends to its silicon wrist rest, which is like a mini version of the wrist rest that comes with the KB7 (and, previously, the Roccat Vulcan II Max). The wrist rest slots into the bottom of the numberpad and is made of misty, translucent silicon with a grooved pattern that acts as a conduit for the lighting in the keypad. The wrist rest only attaches on one side of the keypad, so the lighting effect isn’t quite as bright or mesmerizing as is the lighting effect on the keyboard, but it’s still pretty and comfortable.

The KP7 has connectors on both sides that are designed to slot into the rails on either side of the Turtle Beach KB7 keyboard. The keypad gets its power from the keyboard when it’s connected, so you shouldn’t have to plug it in separately via USB-C, which is for when you want to use the keypad alone. However, I found that the keypad’s lighting seemed to be inconsistent when it was powered through the keyboard — it flickered and reset itself several times throughout my testing, but this did resolve itself when I plugged it in via its own USB port. Of course, plugging it in via USB port means the KB7 and KP7 keyboard combo takes up either one USB-C and one USB-A port or three USB-A ports, which is a lot for what is essentially a single full-size keyboard.

In the box, the KP7 comes with a 5.9-foot (1.8m) detachable braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a silicon wrist rest, and four glossy, textured keys keys (to replace the center W / A / S / D keys, for quicker tactile recognition), and a keycap puller. The back of the keypad has two sets of flip-out feet that raise the typing angle from flat to 5 – 7 degrees. These match the KB7, so you can raise and lower the entire setup as a single unit.

Specs

Performance of the KP7

It’s hard to judge a keypad’s performance on its own, but the KP7 has enough keys that it can function as a single-handed “controller.” It features the same linear magnetic Hall Effect switches as we saw in the KB7, with the same functionality — individually adjustable actuation point (between 0.1 and 3.2mm), Rapid Trigger, multi-input, and ReacTap (SOCD). It also sports an 8,000 Hz polling rate, so I guess if you’re playing a game that only requires the left half of your keyboard, this might be one way to get the ultra-low latency and speed of an 8,000 Hz magnetic switch keyboard without having to buy the whole keyboard (though it does cost exactly half of what the KB7 costs, and I don’t think it’s quite half the size).

The low-profile switches and flat keycaps make for pretty speedy input, and while the layout is slightly different from standard numberpad layouts, it’s not too bad — in numberpad mode, the first column to the right of the numbers has five keys, but the bottom two keys are both Enter and the two keys above that are both + (normally, the Enter and + keys are vertical 2U keys). It’s not quite the same, but it worked well enough for me for data input and other numberpad tasks.

The switches themselves are pre-lubed linear switches with a smooth, consistent keypress and no tactile or audible bump. Typing on the KP7 (well, for as much typing as you can do) is a surprisingly pleasant experience — it’s not going to wow any hardcore keyboard enthusiasts, but the linear switches, slim, flat keycaps, and speedy, lightweight Hall Effect actuation is a great combo for extra gaming keys. And, as the KP7 is entirely tactile, it’s much easier to integrate into your work (or game) flow. The extendable thumb bar (which just pulls away from the keyboard in a diagonal / downward direction) is also comfortable when you’re using the KP7 as a gamepad. The keys on the thumb bar are well-placed, but I did find the knob difficult to turn without hitting other keys, as it’s flush with the keys around it.

Software

The KP7 is programmable via Turtle Beach’s Swarm II software, which originally belonged to Roccat. It’s designed to work in tandem with the KB7 keyboard, but you can still program it fully without having to depend on the keyboard at all. You can use Swarm II to change the keypad’s actuation, toggle on and adjust Rapid Trigger and ReacTap, and set up multi-input. You can also use it to remap keys up to four layers deep (Fn, Game Mode, and Easy Shift).

You can customize the KP7’s bright, per-key RGB lighting in the software. This works pretty well when you’re just customizing the KP7 alone, but I had issues getting the keypad to light up seamlessly alongside the KB7 (they were often out of sync, and/or the KP7 seemed to go into hibernation immediately and often when it was connected to the KB7 — even if it was being powered separately via its own USB-C port.

The Bottom Line

The KP7 is an interesting product — it’s designed to work with the KB7, but I actually like it better as a standalone keypad. Partly because it works better as a standalone keypad — it was very finicky in my tests when it was connected to the KB7, regardless of whether it was powered separately or through the keyboard. This is probably because of the software, which, while fairly straightforward for the KP7, still wasn’t great. For example, I was prompted to update the KP7’s firmware everytime I connected it to the KB7 — but not when I used it as a standalone keypad.

The KP7 isn’t the only standalone numberpad-slash-gaming-keypad out there, but it’s the only one I’ve seen that manages to switch between the two modes pretty seamlessly. We tested Nordic Game Supply’s The Shrimp mini-keyboard a few years ago, but that was definitely designed as a gaming keypad first and a numberpad… not at all. At $99.99, the KP7 isn’t cheap, but it’s versatile enough that you can definitely make it worth it.