Xencelabs Quick Keys: a quick review
The Quick Keys device is currently on sale for $20 off its normal price of $100, so if you’re interested now might be a good time! I thought a few impressions of the device, and a comparison to the Space Mouse, might help you make up your mind.
For about a week now, I’ve been testing the new rooMax extension - currently in beta - for connecting the Quick Keys to Roon. The Quick Keys device is roughly the size of a skinny cell-phone: a flat black rectangle. Looks-wise, it reminds me of the faceplate of a car stereo from the 90s - in a good way. Basic monochrome display flanked by a bunch of buttons, and a volume knob on one side. There’s 8 buttons, each with a label next to it in the display; the rooMax extension lets you customize these. The Quick Keys has a real volume knob that spins, and a button in the middle of the knob is for play/pause. An LED ring under the knob is green during playback and off during pause. A tap on an adjacent button mutes the music, which turns the ring red. There’s a way to temporarily turn the knob into a track forward/reverse scrubber, at which time the LED turns to yellow. I find the illumination to be unobtrusive, but note I haven’t used the device in a dark room. A tap on another button temporarily shows track/artist info.
The Space Mouse, on the other hand, is more like the iDrive knob in a modern BMW - it’s heavy and seems over-engineered like a German car as well. It has a “knob” that only turns a few degrees when you twist it - more of a rotational nudge than an actual turn. So it’s great for precise small changes but gets tedious for large changes in volume. I have the roo6D extension set so a tap on top of the knob pauses playback. There’s two buttons, one on either side, that I have set up for previous/next track changes. The knob has sensitivity to left/right and forward/back tilt, but I keep forgetting what function I’ve got assigned to those gestures in the extension! There’s no display.
Battery life seems about the same for both devices. After a week or so the Quick Keys is at 57%; maybe the Space Mouse was a bit better? They both turn themselves off after a while when they aren’t being used, but the Space Mouse comes alive with a twist or tap on the top while the Quick Keys requires a nudge of its power on/off key to wake up. Both are extremely responsive to your input when in use. The Quick Keys uses USB-C to charge, while the Space Mouse uses the older Micro-USB.
The Space Mouse knob is rubbery, with an aluminum base and a rubber coating on the bottom. I’ve had it at least a year now, using it every day, and it still looks perfect. The Quick Keys is plastic, but it seems high quality and the whole thing feels well made. It also has rubber on the bottom to keep it in place. The Quick Keys buttons tend to pick up smudges from my fingers, but a quick wipe with a Kleenex or microfiber cloth fixes that.
All in all, I think I’m going to be sticking with the Quick Keys. I like having some visual display of information to remind me of which button does what, track info when an unfamiliar song plays, and a few of my favorite playlists showing to remind me they’re there. I like keeping the Roon app off my screen when I’m working, and this device helps make that work for me.