Asus ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE Review

Design

• Enlarged 75% chassis
• Solid build quality
• Clever touch bar and roller combo

Compared to older Falchion products, the ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE has a bit of a different design. It’s moved up to a 75% layout, for instance, which adds a function row and a single-column nav cluster for added functionality. Against a 65% option that these have typically used, you get more options back than you realise without enlarging the overall chassis too much, which is why I’ve often preferred 75% layout keyboards.

That said, the signature touch of the Falchion lineup remains with the trademark touch bar across the top. This comes alongside a roller in the top right corner of the chassis, while both can be remapped for an array of functions in software.

The roller is a particularly ingenious addition, as by default, it’s used for fine-tuning the actuation point and the sensitivity of the keyboard’s rapid trigger without going into software, making on-the-fly changes very simple. Plus, there’s a toggle switch on the right side that can quickly enable and disable rapid trigger at the flick of a switch.

Otherwise, the ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE impresses with its fit and finish. Asus has maintained its use of a blend of plastic for the underside of the chassis and a metal top plate for added durability. If I’m being nitpicky, a full metal chassis would have been nice, given the price and what some rivals do, but there isn’t any deck flex to speak of, so what Asus has done here works out okay. 

In addition, this keyboard has doubleshot PBT keycaps for extra durability and a touch of quality. PBT is a much more durable and shine-resistant plastic than the typical ABS I’ve been used to seeing on keyboards for some time, gaming or not, and it’s a much smarter play for long-term use.

Performance

• Redesigned HFX V2 switches
• Light and especially speedy
• Fuss-free wired connection with faster reporting

It’s inside where Asus has given the ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE a hefty upgrade over its older V1 HE switches by kitting it out with newer HFX V2 switches. For reference, the V2s come with optimisations such as a shorter overall travel (3.5 mm vs 4 mm) that’s more noticeable in use than you’d think, plus a larger magnet for more precise customisation. It’s now possible to set the actuation or reset point in increments of 0.01 mm for super precise inputs.

If you’re unaware, the benefit of Hall-effect switches is thus: with there being adjustable actuation points, you can change how far up or down the travel you want an input to be registered. For where you need speed and responsiveness, such as for movement controls or a reload in FPS games, you can set it to high. Conversely, if you want to avoid pressing a key, you can set it as low down the travel as possible to avoid potential mis-hits.

Alongside making the overall travel shorter, the HFX V2 switches come with an even lighter actuation force of 32g against the 40g of the original. It makes these some of the lightest HE switches you’ll find, and combined with the shorter travel, some of the snappiest I’ve tested in some time.

Asus also moved to a POM stem that’s lubricated, meaning these switches are especially smooth and slick under the finger, and introduced a new block stem design to reduce key wobble and, in turn, aid stability. It certainly works out well; inside you’ll find five layers of sound dampening to nullify any potential rattle or ping – the acoustics here are excellent.

The brand also says this keyboard is hotswappable, so it’s technically possible to change the switches without the need for any soldering, although it doesn’t state which switches work in here besides the HFX V2 and V2X models (the difference between these is that the -X model has an even lighter 30 g force and a -X-style stabiliser assembly for further wobble reduction). It’s certainly very rare that you have the option to swap in more traditional three- or five-pin MX-style switches in an HE keyboard, after all.

Speed Tap, Asus’ take on SOCD-style strafing tech, is present too, though in practice it’s more a spec-sheet flourish than something you’ll want to use in ranked play, given most competitive titles will flag it and hand out bans.

All of this combines to make the ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE an immense gaming product, with snappy inputs and the ability to induce hyper-sensitive rapid trigger. I tested it in my usual runs of Counter-Strike 2, and was seriously impressed with the speed of movement, weapon switching and more besides.

This Asus keyboard is entirely wired, meaning a convenient and latency-free connection, plus there’s no need to worry about charging it up. You also get the benefit of 8000Hz polling, too, for more frequent reporting of inputs than other, more standard gaming keyboards. It might not be something that mere mortals can benefit from, but for the pros that this board is aimed at, where, to them, every fraction of a second counts, it’s a worthwhile addition.

Software and Lighting

• Clever web-based software
• Bright backlighting

With the Falchion Ace 75 HE, Asus moved away from the clunky Armoury Crate suite I was never the biggest fan of, and transitioned to Gear Link, a web-based solution.

Being entirely browser-based makes it feel noticeably lighter and snappier to navigate, and the feature set on offer is comprehensive, with actuation and reset point tuning, rapid trigger configuration, and more advanced options such as dynamic keystroke and mod tap for anyone who wants to dig deeper to personalise inputs to the nth degree.

The board’s RGB lighting is fully customisable through Gear Link too, and the software also governs the behaviour of the touch bar and roller, letting you assign them to whatever functions suit your workflow – be that media controls, actuation tweaks or custom macros. It’s a genuinely pleasant piece of software to spend time in, which hasn’t always been the case with Asus peripherals in the past.

Should you buy it?