I continue to be amazed by Whirlwind FX and the proprietary engine the company has created to power its keyboards. The first Whirlwind keyboard I saw was the Element at PAX East 2020. There, Whirlwind FX had linked 20 or so keyboards together and hung them up on a wall. Above them, a monitor played Youtube videos. Whatever happened on screen would be reflected on the array of keyboards in bright, vivid colors. It was almost as if each key on each keyboard was an individual pixel. You couldn’t exactly make out what the images were, but the way the images and colors on the screen were reflected on the keyboards was captivating.
I’ve seen integrated lighting in other gaming peripherals before, but the unscripted way that the Element keyboards could translate anything you put on the screen was really something else.
When I finally got my hands on the Element, I found the home experience to be just as impressive. One keyboard isn’t quite as flashy or eye-catching as an entire wall of keyboards of course, but the way that the keyboard can translate screen images to the keys is still a totally unique immersive experience. In my review of the Element, I called the keyboard a legitimate show-stopper and praised the potential of the SignalRGB engine, which allows anyone to make their own game-specific profiles and easily share them with the community.
This week, I’ve been using Whirlwind FX’s new Atom keyboard, a 60% version of the Element that loses the keypad and function keys but retains the core functionality of the original. The Atom offers all of the same game integrations as the full-sized Element, albeit with slightly less fidelity. Ultimately, the Atom loses more than most mini-keyboards simply because of how the lighting technology works. It’s a fantastic 60% keyboard with an exceptional form factor and feel, but when it comes to Whirlwind FX’s products, bigger is definitely better.
Most gaming products with RGB game integration require collaboration with the game developers. The engine that powers the keyboard is able to communicate with the game files and create custom lighting effects based on what’s happening in the game. This is why Corsair’s iCue engine has integration for specific games like Hyper Scape and Ghostrunner, but not every game.
Whirlwind FX’s SignalRGB system works differently. The engine doesn’t need to be integrated with any specific game, instead, it works by reading your screen and reproducing that data on your keys. This can be used to simply “match” the color regions to your keyboard, or it can be used in more sophisticated ways. A simple example: there’s a Fortnite profile that reads the size of your health bar. When it goes down, the keyboard flashes red to show that you’re taking damage. When you drink a health potion, the keyboard flashes blue as your health bar fills back up.
Lots of game-integrated peripherals can do stuff like this, but what makes Whirlwind’s engine so unique is that anyone can create these game integrations themselves. There are over 70 integrations for the most popular games, and new integrations are being made all the time.
The new Atom keyboard works exactly the same way, just on a smaller scale. The only problem is that it has fewer lights and therefore less screen accuracy. The integrations all generally work the same way, it’s just making less of an impact on your peripheral and less ambient light in your gaming space.
Plenty of people swear by 60% keyboards. I have friends that refuse to give up desk space for number pads and function keys they’ll never use. Personally, I prefer a battle station with every key possible, plus some more. The Atom is all most people need from a keyboard. It’s lightweight yet durable, and thanks to the removable USB-C cable, incredibly easy to transport. If you’re a mini-keyboard fan looking for something unique, I can’t think of many better options.
But for a brand that really hangs its hat on cool lighting, the Atom leaves something to be desired. The game integrations are great, but the general screen matching just doesn’t feel accurate enough with such a “low resolution” keyboard. Further, the ambient light has very little push. I think the Atom could have maintained its size and form factor but added more light regions on the edges to help give it a fuller effect.
Whirlwind FX has a really impressive engine. The keyboard wall at PAX demonstrates exactly what makes it so great. I’m interested in seeing Whirlwind go bigger, not smaller. It’s still a fantastic and affordable device that I would recommend to anyone in the market for a 60% keyboard, but the Element keyboard’s best feature is its lighting, and the Atom simply has 40% less.
