I remember the exact moment I knew my bulky, full-sized keyboard had to go. I was in a tense 1v3 clutch situation in Valorant, my heart pounding. I needed to execute a wide, sweeping mouse flick to catch the last opponent off-guard. As I swung my arm, the side of my mouse slammed directly into the corner of my keyboard, sending my crosshair flying wildly and my in-game character staring at the ceiling. I was eliminated, and my team lost the round. That single, frustrating moment crystallized a problem many FPS gamers face: the battle for desk real estate. A standard keyboard, with its number pad and function row, is a space hog. It cramps your mouse movement, forces an unnatural arm position, and can be the literal barrier between you and victory. The search for a compact, responsive, and affordable solution led me to explore the world of 60% keyboards, a category where the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard promises to deliver big performance in a tiny package.
- Slim Fresh K617: Redragon's new 60% layout wired keyboard in a refreshing style with a no-brainer affordable budget. Compact 61 keys with selected keycaps, dedicated for FPS Gamers and efficient...
- Hot-Swappable Socket: With the quiet mechanical stock red switch, linear and soft key travel makes every click easy to register. The upgraded hot-swappable socket fits with almost all other switches...
What to Consider Before Buying a Gaming Keyboard
A gaming keyboard is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for competitive advantage, ergonomic comfort, and personal expression. It’s the primary interface between you and the game world, where every millisecond and every keystroke counts. The right keyboard can improve your reaction time with faster switches, enhance your comfort during long sessions with a better layout, and free up critical desk space for unrestricted mouse movement. The main benefits are tangible: improved accuracy in shooters, faster ability execution in MOBAs, and a more satisfying and immersive experience overall. For many, the customizability—from keycaps to switches to lighting—is a major draw, allowing them to create a tool that is uniquely theirs.
The ideal customer for a compact mechanical keyboard like this is someone facing the exact issue I described: a competitive gamer, particularly in FPS titles, who needs maximum desk space for their mouse. It’s also perfect for aspiring keyboard enthusiasts who want to dip their toes into the world of modding—like swapping switches and keycaps—without a huge initial investment. However, this type of product might not be suitable for those who rely heavily on a number pad for work (like accountants or data entry specialists) or those who frequently use dedicated function keys and navigation arrows without wanting to learn a function layer. For those users, a larger TKL (tenkeyless) or full-sized keyboard might be a more practical, albeit less compact, alternative.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Form Factor & Space: A 60% layout, like the Fizz, omits the number pad, function row, and navigation cluster. This maximizes desk space but requires you to use a function (Fn) key combination to access those missing keys. Consider your workflow and gaming habits: do you need those dedicated keys instantly accessible, or are you willing to adapt for the extra mouse room?
- Switch Type & Performance: The switches are the heart of a mechanical keyboard. The K617 Fizz comes with linear red switches, which offer a smooth, quiet keypress without a tactile “bump.” This is ideal for rapid, repeated keystrokes in gaming. Other types include tactile (a noticeable bump) and clicky (a bump with an audible click), which some people prefer for typing. The fact that the Fizz is hot-swappable means you aren’t locked into one type, a massive performance feature for its price.
- Materials & Durability: The case of the Fizz is Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic, which is standard for budget keyboards. The keycaps are also typically ABS, which can develop a shine over time. More premium keyboards might use aluminum cases or PBT keycaps, which are more durable and resistant to shine. For the price, the Fizz’s build quality is surprisingly sturdy, but it’s important to set realistic expectations.
- Customization & Software: How much do you want to personalize your board? The Fizz offers vibrant RGB lighting and is hot-swappable, which is a huge plus for hardware customization. However, as we’ll explore, the software support can be confusing. If you demand granular, per-key RGB control and complex macros configured through a seamless app, you may need to look at higher-end options.
Understanding these factors will ensure you choose a keyboard that not only fits your desk, but also perfectly matches your gaming style and workflow.
While the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
- The compact tenkeyless design is the most popular form factor used by the pros, allowing you to position the keyboard for comfort and to maximize in-game performance.
- 【65% Compact Design】GEODMAER Wired gaming keyboard compact mini design, save space on the desktop, novel black & silver gray keycap color matching, separate arrow keys, No numpad, both gaming and...
- Dynamic RGB Backlighting: Light up your desktop with six onboard lighting effects, assign a color to each lighting zone, or program your own vibrant lighting effects across five RGB lighting zones...
First Impressions: A Splash of Color and Surprising Heft
Unboxing the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard was a genuinely pleasant surprise. In a market saturated with monotonous black and grey peripherals, the vibrant mixed white and pink colorway immediately stands out. It’s playful, modern, and as one user noted, “goes well with my pink/white desk set up. So cute!” In the box, we found the keyboard itself, a detachable USB-C to USB-A cable, a combination keycap and switch puller, a couple of Redragon stickers, and four spare switches. The inclusion of spare switches and a proper puller at this price point is a thoughtful touch that immediately signals this board is made for tinkering.
Picking it up, the first thing we noticed was its surprising weight. While made of ABS plastic, it feels dense and sturdy, not hollow or cheap. There’s minimal flex when twisted, and the two flip-out feet on the back provide a comfortable typing angle and are rubber-tipped to prevent sliding. Plugging it in via the included USB-C cable, the keyboard burst to life with a cascade of rainbow RGB light. The colors are bright, vivid, and shine through the legends on the keycaps clearly. While it can’t compete with the thousand-dollar custom builds, the initial look and feel of the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard far exceed its budget-friendly price tag.
Key Benefits
- Incredible value for money, packing features of more expensive boards
- Hot-swappable sockets (3/5-pin compatible) allow for extensive customization
- Compact 60% form factor is perfect for maximizing desk space for FPS gamers
- Smooth and quiet stock linear red switches are great for gaming and office use
Limitations
- Software support is confusing and seemingly non-existent for some versions
- RGB lighting is limited to preset rainbow effects on some models, with no single-color static option
Performance Deep Dive: Is the Fizz All Flash?
A keyboard can look great on a desk, but its true worth is measured in the heat of battle and during hours of typing. We put the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard through its paces in gaming marathons, extensive writing sessions, and even some light modding to see if its performance matches its stellar first impression. The short answer? Absolutely. It’s a surprisingly capable performer that consistently punches above its weight class.
The 60% Form Factor: Your Mouse’s New Best Friend
Switching from a full-sized keyboard to the 60% layout of the Fizz is a transformative experience for any FPS player. The sheer amount of extra space is immediately noticeable. Suddenly, we had an enormous, unrestricted canvas for our mouse. Low-sensitivity aiming, which requires large physical movements, felt natural and unhindered. We were no longer worried about colliding with the keyboard during a critical flick shot. This sentiment was echoed by a user who noted they “wanted a smaller 60% hotswappable one that wouldn’t break the bank and this was a great option.”
Of course, this compact size comes with a trade-off: the absence of dedicated arrow, function, and navigation keys. These are accessible via a secondary layer, activated by holding the ‘Fn’ key. For instance, Fn + I/J/K/L become your arrow keys. There’s a learning curve here, and it took us a couple of days to build the muscle memory. One user confirmed this, stating, “no sabia que me haria tanta falta,” which translates to “I didn’t know I would miss them so much.” This is a crucial consideration. If you are a programmer or writer who lives by the arrow keys and Home/End buttons, the adjustment period might be frustrating. However, for a user focused primarily on gaming, where WASD reigns supreme, the benefit of reclaimed desk space is a trade we’d make every single time. It’s a design choice dedicated to a specific purpose, and for FPS gaming, it excels.
Typing and Gaming Feel: Smooth, Quiet, and Responsive
The heart of any keyboard is its switches, and the stock linear red switches on the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard are impressively good for a budget board. They provide a smooth, linear travel from top to bottom with no tactile bump. This allows for very fast and fluid keystrokes, which is ideal for gaming where rapid double-taps and quick strafing are common. During intense sessions of CS:GO and Valorant, the keyboard felt snappy and responsive. We never experienced any input lag or missed presses, confirming one user’s experience that “It’s really responsive and way better than the cherry mx red switches I had previously.”
The sound profile is also a major highlight. It’s not silent, but it’s a pleasant, soft, and muted sound that many find satisfying. Users described it as “soft, but audible” and “creamy,” with “nice touch and sound when typing faster or playing games long-term.” It’s quiet enough to be used in a shared office or dorm room without annoying everyone around you, yet it still provides that satisfying feedback that membrane keyboards lack. For those chasing the popular “thocky” sound, one enthusiast noted that “lubing the switches does make a significant improvement to sound,” a testament to the board’s solid foundation for modification. Whether for gaming or general typing, the out-of-the-box experience is comfortable, accurate, and remarkably refined for a keyboard at this price point.
The Modder’s Dream: Hot-Swappability Changes Everything
Perhaps the single most important feature of the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard is that it’s hot-swappable. This is a premium feature that has, until recently, been reserved for much more expensive, enthusiast-grade keyboards. It means you can change the mechanical switches simply by pulling them out with the included tool and pushing new ones in—no soldering required. This transforms the keyboard from a static product into a customizable platform.
This was a huge draw for users, with one exclaiming, “I was extremely surprised to find such a cute, small, and inexpensive keyboard to my liking that was hot swappable.” Another user who preferred a different switch type confirmed the process was a breeze: “If you like creamy keyboards then this is for you hints the red switches. I prefer blue so I switched them out. With the tools that are provided it was a breeze.” The Fizz’s PCB supports both 3-pin and 5-pin switches, offering broad compatibility with a massive market of custom switches from brands like Gateron, Kailh, Akko, and more. This opens up a world of possibilities. You can start with the stock red switches and later upgrade to tactile browns for a better typing feel or loud clicky blues if you love audible feedback. This feature provides incredible long-term value and future-proofs your purchase, making the Fizz not just a great starter keyboard, but a great base for a long-term custom project. This feature that really sets it apart from other budget options.
RGB Lighting and Software: A Tale of Two Versions
The RGB lighting on the Fizz is undeniably vibrant and bright. The colors pop, and the included 20 preset modes offer a fun variety of effects, from rainbow waves to reactive typing patterns. As one user happily reported, “I love that it also ‘shoots’ rainbow LED lights whenever I press a button.” You can cycle through these modes and adjust brightness and speed directly on the keyboard using Fn key combinations (primarily Fn + Alt), which is simple and intuitive.
However, this is also where we encountered the product’s most significant and confusing flaw: the software. Multiple users reported a major issue, with one stating definitively, “The Red Dragon software and driver support does not work for this specific model.” After our own testing and research, we can confirm this seems to be the case for this specific Pink/White “rainbow” version. It appears there are different revisions of the K617 Fizz, and the Pro Software mentioned in the product description is only compatible with the versions that have full per-key RGB capabilities. This version appears to be hardware-locked to its 20 preset rainbow modes. You cannot set a static, single color. For someone who wants a clean, all-white or all-pink backlight to match their setup, this is a major dealbreaker. While one user found a workaround by downloading software for a different model, this is not a reliable solution. It’s a frustrating point of confusion that detracts from an otherwise excellent package and something potential buyers must be aware of.
What Other Users Are Saying
Looking across a wide range of feedback, the sentiment for the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard is overwhelmingly positive, especially when factoring in its price. The most common praise centers on its incredible value. One user summed it up perfectly: “this is such a fun and enjoyable keyboard that I would highly recommend for budget friendly fans.” Many, like us, were impressed by the sturdy build quality and the satisfying sound and feel of the stock switches, often comparing it favorably to boards costing two or three times as much. The hot-swap feature is consistently highlighted as a game-changer, with one reviewer noting they bought it specifically to replace a non-hotswappable $300 keyboard.
The main points of criticism are consistent and valid. The most significant complaint is the confusion surrounding the software and RGB limitations. As one user clearly stated, “this specific ‘K617 Fizz’ model does not have software support because this is the ‘rainbow’ version.” The other common critique comes from users unaccustomed to the 60% layout, who find the lack of dedicated arrow keys and function row too restrictive for their workflow. A few isolated reports mentioned a key not registering properly, but these seem to be rare quality control issues rather than a widespread design flaw. Overall, the consensus is that if you can live with the rainbow-only RGB and the compact layout, the value for money is nearly impossible to beat.
How Does the Redragon K617 Fizz Compare to the Alternatives?
The Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard carves out a powerful niche in the budget market, but how does it stack up when you have a bit more to spend or different needs? We compared it against three popular alternatives to see who comes out on top for different types of users.
1. RK ROYAL KLUDGE R75 Gasket Mount Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
- ROYAL KLUDGE R75 Wired Mechanical Keyboard - Adopts a 75% layout and a volume roller, making it a practical choice for gaming. It retains essential arrow and function keys while freeing up desk space....
- Gasket Mount Mechanical Keyboard - This custom keyboard features built-in triple absorption layers, including a sound absorbing poron cotton, an IXPE foam pad and the sponge case foam. In addition,...
The RK ROYAL KLUDGE R75 represents the logical next step up for an aspiring keyboard enthusiast. It features a 75% layout, which is a popular compromise that keeps a compact footprint while reintroducing dedicated arrow keys and a function row. Its key advantages over the Fizz are its more premium gasket-mount construction, which provides a softer, more flexible typing feel, and the inclusion of a programmable volume knob. It also fully supports QMK/VIA software for deep customization. Someone should choose the R75 over the Fizz if they want a more premium typing experience out of the box, need dedicated arrow keys, and are willing to spend a bit more for features that bridge the gap between budget and mid-range custom keyboards.
2. SteelSeries Apex Pro Gaming Keyboard Adjustable
- FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE & STUPIDLY FAST with OmniPoint 2.0 Adjustable HyperMagnetic switches
- RAPID TRIGGER — Eradicate latency arising from the physical movement of the switch through dynamic activation and deactivation of keys based on travel distance rather than a fixed point in the key...
The SteelSeries Apex Pro is in a completely different league, targeting serious competitive gamers and those with a much larger budget. Its headline feature is the HyperMagnetic switches with adjustable actuation. This allows users to customize the exact point at which a keypress is registered, from a hair-trigger 0.1mm for gaming to a deeper 4.0mm for typing, all on a per-key basis. It also boasts a premium aluminum frame, an OLED smart display, and a magnetic wrist rest. A user would choose the Apex Pro if their primary concern is absolute, cutting-edge performance and customizability, and price is not a major factor. It’s a professional-grade tool, whereas the Fizz is the incredibly capable and accessible entry point.
3. Razer Ornata V3 Gaming Keyboard
- LOW-PROFILE KEYS — With slimmer keycaps and shorter switches, enjoy natural hand positioning that allows for long hours of use with little strain
- MECHA-MEMBRANE SWITCHES — Fusing the snappy, clicky feedback of a mechanical switch with the familiar feel of a conventional keyboard, each keystroke is as satisfying as it is precise
The Razer Ornata V3 offers a different approach entirely. It uses Razer’s “Mecha-Membrane” switches, which aim to provide the soft, cushioned touch of a membrane keyboard with the tactile, clicky feedback of a mechanical switch. This makes it a great choice for users who find traditional mechanical keyboards too harsh or loud. The Ornata V3 is a low-profile, full-sized keyboard that includes a magnetic wrist rest for enhanced ergonomics. A user should opt for the Ornata V3 if they prioritize typing comfort over long periods, want a full-sized layout with a number pad, and prefer the unique hybrid feel of mecha-membrane switches over a purely mechanical experience.
Final Verdict: The Undisputed Budget Keyboard King?
After extensive testing, we can say with confidence that the Redragon K617 Fizz 60% Wired RGB Gaming Keyboard is a phenomenal product that redefines what a budget gaming keyboard can be. Its combination of a gamer-focused 60% layout, surprisingly smooth linear switches, and the game-changing inclusion of hot-swappable sockets creates a package that offers truly unbelievable value. It’s the perfect entry point for anyone curious about the world of mechanical keyboards or for any serious FPS gamer looking to maximize their desk space without emptying their wallet.
Yes, it has its compromises. The all-plastic construction, while sturdy, isn’t premium, and the software situation is a confusing mess that limits the RGB on certain models to rainbow effects only. However, these drawbacks feel minor when weighed against its core strengths and rock-bottom price. If you’re looking for a compact, capable, and customizable mechanical keyboard that performs far better than its price tag suggests, the Fizz is an absolute must-buy. For budget-conscious gamers and aspiring modders, this isn’t just a good choice; it’s arguably the best choice on the market today. If you’re ready to free up your desk space and elevate your gaming experience, you can check the latest price and secure your own Redragon K617 Fizz right now.
Last update on 2025-11-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API