ASUS is no stranger to gaming keyboards, but its previous mechanical and Hall effect efforts have been mostly focussed on the gaming realm. With the launch of the ProArt KD300, ASUS seems to be targeting the creator and office worker demographic that has previously been occupied by brands like Keychron, NuPhy, and Lofree. Despite this new target market, the ProArt KD300 seems to share the same basic hardware as the ASUS ROG Falchion RX gaming keyboard. The ProArt KD300 is a 65% keyboard, meaning there is a dedicated arrow cluster and a navigation column on the far right edge, but the F row is hidden in a secondary layer under the num row. It borrows the Falchion RX’s touch panel and custom ASUS Red (linear) Optical switches, meaning there are no alternative keycap options. The switches have a middle-of-the road actuation force of 40-55 gf, and the keyboard is only available with linear Red switches.

The touch panel on the ProArt KD300 is moved to the rear of the keyboard, instead of the top panel, leaving the keyboard with a clean matte charcoal aesthetic—which ASUS calls Black Aerolite. The touch panel can be configured along with the rest of the keyboard’s mapping in the Gear Link web app, and it supports gestures, media, brightness, and volume controls, and execution of features like mouse scrolling and clicking. The ProArt KD300 can connect both via a USB Type-C port or via Bluetooth or 2.4 GHz wireless, and those wireless connectivity modes are supported by a 4,000 mAh battery that ASUS says will last up to 16 months with the backlighting off in 2.4 GHz mode. The keyboard polls at 1,000 Hz in both 2.4 GHz and wired mode, with Bluetooth dropping the polling rate down to 133 Hz. There are also convenience features, like an OS selection switch to toggle Windows or macOS modes as well as a three-way toggle switch for Bluetooth, wired, and 2.4 GHz connection modes. It appears as though the case is injection-molded plastic, and the keyboard uses a tray mount, an aluminium plate, and a floating keycap design—the benefit of a plastic case is that ASUS could include built-in dongle storage and flip-out feet for additional 4.5° and 8° typing angles. The ProArt KD300 is not yet available globally, but it has launched in China with a retail price of RMB 999 ($145 converted), so international pricing will likely be close to that of its ASUS ROG Falchion RX sibling, which retails for $199.99 but is routinely available for $139.99 on Amazon.