Hardware stub

Tesoro Releases "Lobera Supreme" RGB Backlit Mechanical Keyboard

Posted on July 30, 2014

The mechanical keyboard market seems to become more crowded each day. Recently, Tesoro made their keyboards available in North America, adding yet another brand to the myriad of boards on market. One of these keyboards is an RGB-backlit keyboard with Kailh mechanical switches, shipping under Tesoro’s branding as “Lobera Supreme” -- the Lobera being a mythological sword.

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This new keyboard by Tesoro features red, brown, blue, and black Kailh-made mechanical switches, which do feel ever-so-slightly different than their Cherry MX counterparts. Interestingly, this keyboard is rated for 60 million keystrokes per key compared to Cherry MX switches which are rated for 50 million keystrokes. Time will tell how well that holds up.

The Lobera Supreme is also clearly marketed towards gamers, with standard features like N-key rollover (with switchable 6-key rollover), gaming mode to disable the Windows key, a 1000Hz polling rate, and 5 profiles with up to 300 macro keys and 2000 macro key presses per profile. A feature that may be disliked by minimalists (but loved by others) is the RGB backlighting, which is present under every key and on the side of the keyboard. Until just recently, only Corsair was producing RGB keyboards -- but interest in the market and delays by Corsair have prompted competition from Rosewill, Tesoro, and others.

The LED backlight of the Lobera Supreme features four levels of brightness and lighting: breathing mode, color loop mode, and gaming mode in which only the gaming keys are illuminated. Something that seems to be common among Tesoro boards, this keyboard included, is dual USB 2.0 out (with a capacity of 500mA each when using the optional DC-in power plug), and the 3 program keys below the spacebar. The Tesoro Lobera Supreme includes a 3.5mm audio port for headphones. It also comes with an included wrist-rest that can be detached.

Tesoro’s Lobera Supreme’s MSRP is $140, which is a fair price considering its feature set. It is currently available at Amazon and Newegg for approximately that price. For a user needing a full-feature gaming keyboard on a mid-range budget, the Tesoro Lebora Supreme appears to fit the bill. Make sure to watch out for our review of this keyboard in the future. And don't forget to tell us what you think of this keyboard in the comments!

- Michael "The Bear" Kerns.