Tesoro Lobera Spectrum Keyboard Review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing3. Testing4. Conclusion5. View All Pages

Overall, I am reasonably impressed with the Tesoro Lobera Spectrum. It is clear that Tesoro has been hard at work on perfecting its RGB functionality, which has improved leaps and bounds since we tested the Excalibur RGB a few months back.

While the LED colors did seem a little ‘washed out' compared to other keyboards we have tested, the Lobera Spectrum's range of effects work fantastically. Every effect ran smoothly on the keyboard, which is a big step up from the Excalibur – which was a bit on the slow side.

Unfortunately, Tesoro is once again let down by its software package. Many of the complaints I had back in February remain today. To put it bluntly, the Tesoro software package needs a serious overhaul, it is unintuitive and unpleasant to use. We have been told that Tesoro is in fact working on new software but no release date has been made available.

Once again, there is no mention of Kailh switches on the box, which I do believe should be fixed as switch type will play a big part in a customer's buying decision. The official Tesoro website does list Kailh switches but it seems bizarre to leave them off the box itself.

The Kailh switches are fine to use. The black switches my model came with were quite heavy to bottom out but quick enough to actuate. There is a fair amount of resistance as you try to bottom out the key, which is what sets the black switch apart from the red variant.

Unfortunately, Kailh switches do have a tendency to be quite loud and the space bar may end up giving off a ‘spring like echo' after a week or two of regular use. If you aren't an experienced mechanical keyboard user, then we would advise you to try to test out a couple of switch types before settling on a keyboard. Amazon have a handy returns policy which you can use.

The Tesoro Lobera Spectrum doesn't appear to be available in the UK yet. That said, Amazon US does have stock – at $140, although the black switch variant we tested today does not appear to be available.

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Pros:

• Excellent RGB lighting performance.
• Solid construction.
• USB and audio hub.

Cons:

• Software still needs a lot of work.

KitGuru Says: The Tesoro Lobera Spectrum is a decent enough mechanical keyboard. The RGB lighting performance could rival that of the Corsair K70 but it is let down by a weak software package. 

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