Product Info

Cougar Puri TKL

2018

Type

Keyboard

Price

$65

The Cougar brand is one that has found most of its success on giving you more for less. The Puri TKL is not much different with its pricing hitting an incredibly low $65 on Newegg for a fully mechanical keyboard, while still providing a detachable cable, and nice features like angle adjustment and LED Backlighting. With this keyboard I will be stepping out of my comfort zone, as I've never used a TKL keyboard before and generally buy/review more high end and full keyboards.

Cougar Puri TKL (Cherry MX RED) Specifications

Compact designN-key rollover3-step height and angle adjustmentMultimedia and function key shortcutsWhite LED backlighting1000Hz polling rateMagnetic protective coverDetachable USB cable150 x 370 x 40 mm (5.9 x 14.5 x 1.57 inch)1.2 KG (2.64 pounds)20 backlight presets

2 of 9

Impressions

Taking this out of the box I was quite impressed by its small footprint. While I have a large surface for my keyboard, those with space at a premium on the desk can get a lot out of this small keyboard. The lack of a wrist rest is totally understandable but something I sorely missed, the ergonomics are solid and after a few hours of use and writing a news article or two I acclimated to the differences and felt quite comfortable, though the lack of a number pad is something I did miss. I know for many gamers the numpad is something they never use but the utility is something that I took for granted.

2 of 9

Build Quality

It's construction and build quality are good for the price bracket it is in and isn't bad, but it doesn't compare to the higher end keyboards from Corsair or the Patriot Viper V770 I personally use. That being said it was still very sturdy and had almost no flex, taking quite a lot of pressure to get it to bend at all, so I wouldn't worry about having to baby this keyboard during travel, especially with the included magnetic travel cover (more on that later). The mechanical architecture uses Cherry MX Red switches with an actuation force of 45G and ABS plastic keycaps. It feels solid and has a bit of weight to it but not enough to make traveling an issue, there are 8 screws total on the top and bottom which are used to hold the magnetic cover in place. The bottom side has two separate kick stands for adjusting the height with 3 angles to use what fits you best (I used the highest one), the keycaps felt comfortable to rest my fingers on and had a bit of extra room for those with larger fingers.

The USB cable is braided and detachable which allows replacements to be easily found in case of damage to the wire or fraying, and also has channels to route the keyboard from the middle, left or right in order to minimize clutter, this to me was a huge bonus and a feature I didn't expect on a cheaper keyboard. Cougar also includes metal keycaps to replace WASD and arrow keys, though I left the standard keys on.

The magnetic travel cover is pretty nifty for the purpose it has, its a pretty rigid plastic and attaches easily to the keyboard with the screws on the corners.

User Experience

Gaming with the Puri TKL was at first a bit awkward, but wasn't a huge change from using my old Patriot V770 and after a day or so I didn't miss a beat. Writing was thankfully a good experience and the keys feel very similar to other keyboards I've used with Cherry MX Red switches.

2 of 9