Hermes E1 Combination Review
Continuing with my line of PC gaming peripheral reviews I had the pleasure of checking out the Gamdias Hermes E1 Combination. The nice part on this is that you get a gaming keyboard, gaming mouse and mouse pad all in 1 bundle for a cost effective price of $79.99USD. So lets get into the review of the Hermes E1 Combo.
HERMES E1 Mechanical Keyboard
As every PC gamer knows one of the most important things a gamer can instantly notice is the switches that are under your keys. The E1 uses Gamdias Certified Blue switches for 50 million keystrokes and have a great tactical feedback response. A plus and a minus as keyboards go, a loud audible click that is made when pressing the keys which is amazing for when gaming with or without a gaming headset. However when you are not gaming the loud audible clicks can be semi annoying if you are typing for long periods of time. So just know exactly what you are looking for when it comes to switches each have pluses and minuses. As for gaming goes the loud audible plus the click of the switch is a major plus.
Lets step back and go over what else the Hermes E1 has to offer, made of an aluminum back plating the Hermes is heavier than some of the competitors and I must say I love the design, weight and color. The Aluminum not only feels cool to the touch but ads to the durability of your board which, is a plus to many gamers who may of rage quit a game before. The Hermes also offers 2 Programmable Macro Keys with the ease of pressing the FN key + Shift (G1) or B (G2). This is a nice touch for a gaming keyboard although, it’s only two macros keys that have to be hit in a combination rather than a separate key stroke it’s a nice touch for an entry level priced board. Another nice bonus for keyboard enthusiasts is the 21 key anti ghosting roll over. This allows for gamers to input multiple keys at and each get recognized individually and the input is read and sent correctly. While we are on the subject of keys I must point out that I personally am in love with the font they have used for their keyboard, this is however not a deal maker or breaker to many but is a nice addition for myself.
GAMDIAS HERA Software
Next lets talks about the additional software offered by GAMDIAS called “GAMDIAS HERA”. This software is your all in one center hub like so many other high end gaming peripherals. The HERMES E1 however is a limited LED experience, if you really love red then you’re in luck if not well you can turn it off. The software is very user friendly and compatible devices are detected and added to a menu bar below. From the program you can record your two macros, save multiple, load, and delete macros. Along with macros you can assign your six profiles and customize them even adding audio ques for when switching for easy recognition. You can also change the illumination of the E1 to three different shades of red or the “breathing effect” if you choose to set it on breath you can decide how quickly it breaths with either 4, 6, or 8 second intervals. This is a disappointment in the LED effects department because adding more effects is very common in gaming keyboards however, this is not a needed items to make a great and quality entry gaming board. As for what it does for my mouse I was surprised to know that even though it’s a LED mouse it was not supported or recognized by the software. My impression of the HERA software is that it’s a solid tool, clean, fluid and easy to use but personally for a gamer as myself semi useless as it didn’t offer much in the LED department and I don’t Macro all that much.
DEMETER E2 Optical Gaming Mouse
The first thing I noticed when removing the Demeter from it’s packaging was the weight in the back side of the mouse. The mouse is a very nice shape that contours to my hand naturally and is weighted in the right places for quick and easy movements. Speaking of quick and easy the Demeter has a perfectly positioned DPI button right behind the scroll wheel that changes the LED color to notify you of DPI changes. The DEMETER offers a precision hair splitting 3200 DPI capability starting at the default of 1200 (Red) 1600 (Baby Blue) 2400 (Blue) and finally the hair trigger 3200 (Purple). This feature alone was enough to replace my previous mouse and get me excited for the long night gaming session I was about to have. The sleek design and perfectly placed LED lighting makes the DEMETER look like a beastly gaming mouse and for the price of this combo I can’t believe they are able to pack this in to the deal even if their HERA software can’t customize the LED’s.
NYX E1 Mouse Mat
Everyone says nothing in this life is free, I would normally agree but GAMDIAS has made an exception with this combo. Retailing at $79.99USD the HERMES E1 + DEMETER E2 are more than enough for the dollar value but GAMDIAS has added a truly FREE Mouse Mat into the already excellent combo with the NYX E1 The design of the NYX is a perfect cross between high and low sensitivity delivering the perfect middle ground for an entry combo that packs a major punch to the High end peripherals.
As I have spent more and more hours gaming, reviewing, typing, editing video and audio I have been finding myself saying “Really this all for $79.99? How?” and that is exactly what I have yet to understand. I’m not positive exactly how they got this combo together but I do know that any new PC gamer or even a experienced gamer can’t go wrong with this combo in their arsenal. My final verdict is that if you need a excellent feeling keyboard and a ultra versatile DPI mouse the HERMES E1 Combo is the way to go.
