Redragon Blue Siren K654 review: Cheap and cheerful

You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a keyboard to get great gaming performance — just ask Redragon. They have lots of budget options under $100, and the Blue Siren K654 has joined the roster.

The Blue Siren K654 packs a punch. This full-size keyboard comes with hot-swappable switches that are responsive and feel good, making it great for both typing and gaming. Its 1,000Hz polling rate ensures you don’t encounter latency issues while playing, and the responsive switches help you avoid typos. It’s a looker too, with its multi-tone shine-through blue keycaps and RGB backlighting. At just $69, it is one the best mechanical keyboards that’s definitely worth considering — as long as you can overlook a couple of flaws.

To find out more, read my full Redragon Blue Siren K654 review.

Redragon Blue Siren K654 review: Specs

Redragon Blue Siren K654 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A full-size wired mechanical keyboard with hot-swappable switches
• Who is it for? For people who don’t want to spend hundreds on a good productivity and gaming keyboard
• How much does it cost? The Redragon Blue Sire K654 is available for $69 at Amazon U.S. / £73 at Amazon U.K.
• What do we like? The design, gaming performance, typing experience, and the fact that it’s reasonably priced
• What don’t we like? The metallic pings while typing, the buggy software and the not-so-silent red switches

Redragon Blue Siren K654 review: The ups

From its lovely design and RGB lighting to its great gaming and typing performance, the Redragon Blue Siren K654 has a lot to offer.

Lovely design

Redragon has made some out-there keyboards, as the K686 Pro SE ($74) really caught my attention with its anime guise. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an anime fan to use the Blue Siren K654 as it comes in a more conventional design — and to me, it looks gorgeous. Blue is one of my favorite colors and the Blue Siren K654 uses multi-tone blue keycaps to create a gradient look.

Adding to the keyboard’s aesthetic are its RGB lighting and shine-through keycaps. By default, the LEDs are really bright — much pricier keyboards like the MelGeek MADE68 ($119) and NuPhy Nos75 ($223) would find themselves living in the Blue Siren K654’s shadow. The shine-through keycaps are a nice touch too, so people who aren’t accustomed to touch-typing will be comfortable using this keyboard in the dark. Not only is the frame backlit, but you also get RGB lighting around the frame, which is a nice touch, especially for those with RGB-heavy setups.

Great gaming performance

The Redragon Blue Siren K654 is a great keyboard for gaming, thanks to its 1,000Hz polling rate and switches that give good feedback. I tested the Outemu red linear mechanical switches which have a noticeable bounce back, nearly equivalent to a tactile feel, and they’re highly responsive too. These switches have an actuation force of 40g, so there’s very subtle resistance. The switches also have an actuation point of 2mm, which tells you how far you need to press a switch for it to activate. I found this to be suitable for both gaming and typing — best of both worlds.

I put the Blue Siren K654 through its paces in a variety of games, both casual and competitive, and I’m glad to report that it held its own and performed very well. I played a few matches in FIFA 22 and all the keys on the Blue Siren K654 were responsive, registering my presses when I needed to slink past defenders. In online matches too, I was able to hold my own against seasoned players by holding down Shift to chip over goalkeepers and score winning goals. I didn’t notice any latency issues while playing online either, thanks to the 1,000Hz polling rate.

Likewise, the keyboard performed really well in casual one-player games, such as Hitman. I could quickly access my inventory and swap weapons in the heat of the moment without worrying about whether the Blue Siren K654 would register my actions or not. The results were similar in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive where my movements were suitably snappy. This is a very reliable keyboard.

Good to type on

As I said above, the Redragon Blue Siren K654’s Outemu red switches we tested are well-suited to both gaming and typing. While the board comes with thick sound absorption foams, it isn’t the quietest keyboard, but that didn’t matter much to me. Also, the keycaps aren’t exactly ABS or PBT. Redragon says they’re “made of innovative PBT mixed ABS material” which seems true, as they feel neither as cheap as ABS keycaps nor as heavy-duty as PBT ones. Regardless, they feel better than pure-ABS keycaps under my fingertips.

I took a typing test on 10fastfingers.com to see how the Blue Siren K654 fared against other keyboards I’ve tested, and you can see the results above. Despite achieving slightly lower results than I’ve gotten on other keyboards, I still enjoyed using the Blue Siren K654. This board isn’t aimed solely at productivity, so if you want a keyboard that’s fit for work only, check out the Keychron V6 ($89) instead — a little pricier but well-worth the extra spend in my mind.

Reasonably priced

One of the Redragon Blue Siren K654’s most notable features is that it won’t break the bank. This full-size keyboard is available for $69 at Amazon U.S. / £73 at Amazon U.K. Full-size mechanical keyboards rarely come this cheap. The Blue Siren K654 finds itself competing against the likes of the Logitech K845 ($59 at Logitech U.S.), the Redragon K686 Pro SE ($74), and the MSI Vigor GK50 Elite LL ($68 at Amazon U.S.).

I’m looking forward to seeing how the Blue Siren K654 fares against the Lemokey X5, which I will be reviewing soon, as that full-size board costs just $49 at Amazon U.S.

Redragon Blue Siren K654 review: The downs

No keyboard is perfect and that’s the case with the Redragon Blue Siren K654, too. Its software doesn't work, and you can hear metallic pings when a key is pressed.

Questionable software

When we review mechanical keyboards, we always make it a point to test the companion software. But what do you do when the companion software refuses to install on your machine? Sadly, I wasn’t able to download the Redragon Blue Siren K654 software, as our Windows 11 testing laptop kept blocking the installation, reporting that the file might contain a virus or could potentially harm the system. After 30 minutes of trying everything in my power, I reached out to a Redragon representative for a solution. I will update this review when I hear back.

Metallic pings

This brings me to my next point: the metallic pings created when some keys are pressed. It took me back to when I was testing the not-so-good Kinesis Freestyle Pro ($179). The Redragon Blue Siren K654 has an all-aluminum frame, and these pings are probably caused by the metallic structure ringing. I was able to tune them out after using the keyboard for some time but it could prove to be frustrating for some users.

Redragon Blue Siren K654 review: Verdict

The Redragon Blue Siren K654 is a great mechanical keyboard with a little room for improvement. I’m a big fan of its multi-tone blue keycaps, the gradient design, and the RGB backlighting visible through the shine-through keycaps. The keyboard impresses in the performance department too; its 1,000Hz polling rate ensures you don’t notice any latency issues in online gaming. With responsive switches that feel good to type on, the Blue Siren K654 doubles as a good productivity keyboard — and it costs just $69.

But the keyboard has a couple of noteworthy drawbacks. The keyboard’s all-aluminum frame is fantastic but it results in metallic pings which can be frustrating. Also, I wasn’t able to test the software as our laptop said it contained a virus — but as I mentioned previously, I’ve reached out to a representative for a solution.

For $69, the Blue Siren K654 offers fantastic value for money, and casual gamers and typists will be pleasantly surprised with its performance.