Today we will get acquainted with the relatively affordable, but high-quality Hator Starfall RGB mechanical keyboard, which has nothing superfluous. At first glance, everything here is perfect – reliable switches, solid construction, and a minimum of additional functions. Is everything really so good? Let’s take a closer look.

Hator Starfall RGB design and construction

Hator Starfall RGB does not impress with its design, but not everyone needs some features. Everything is simple here, so simple that even the eye has nothing to catch. In my opinion, this is good. The construction and materials of the case are as practical as possible. No gloss, just metal, and matte plastic. The keyboard is full-sized but does not take up more space on the table than necessary.

You can’t call this model compact either, it’s standard. Its body, which is made of metal and plastic, is quite thick, but this did not affect the ease of use. The keyboard is quite heavy, its weight is 1 kilogram, which is typical for mechanical keyboards. It holds firmly on the surface, the rubber feet are responsible for this. There are also extendable legs for raising the keyboard.

The design is made according to the “skeleton” principle when the switches are partially visible. Given that the keyboard is equipped with RGB lighting, this solution looks stylish and is actually the only thing that somehow beautifies the appearance.

The Hator Starfall RGB is a wired keyboard and uses a fabric-wrapped USB cable to connect. It is connected to the keyboard itself using USB Type-C, and to the computer via USB Type-A.

The keycaps are plastic, pleasant to the touch, and they can be changed. Out of the box, the keyboard is fully equipped with Ukrainian and English layouts.

The set includes a set of interchangeable switches for the keys inherent in the russian layout and a tool for removing the caps. I welcome the decision not to use a hybrid layout for Ukrainian and russian languages, but to equip the keyboard with the Ukrainian language in the first place. I think that very soon we will forget about the russian language on the keyboards sold in Ukraine.

Switches and functionality

The Hator Starfall RGB is sold with two switch options – green and pink. Both are Hator’s own development and differ in the force required to press and the presence of tactile feedback. In our case, the keyboard is equipped with pink switches. They have no tactile or sound feedback.

The key is pressed smoothly with relatively little force required to press it – about 45 grams. This makes the switch look like Cherry MX Red. The resource declared by the manufacturer is 80 million clicks.

Keyboard functionality is very basic. All you can adjust is the backlight, and for this you do not need to install any additional software. Adjustment of backlight effects and its brightness is performed using the Fn modifier. In general, everything is quite clear and intuitive.