AULA K2 - one handed gaming keyboard

#AULA #AULAK2 #GamingKeybooard #Unboxing #Review

 

Am taking a break from writing long reviews / comments about Asian dramas and have decided to do a quick and short review of the AULA K2 gaming keyboard.  Although this is a gaming keyboard, I actually got this for a different purpose since I don't PC game much at all.  The only PC game I own is Civilization VI which I got for free from a game giveaway but I don't actually play it on the PC, I actually play that on my Nintendo Switch.  My two desktops and my Surface Pro 7 are all meant for work and I don't game on them, not even Minesweeper. 😅

I own a Surface Pro 7 with the Surface Pen and sometimes I like to use it like a cheap version of the Cintiq but when I lay it almost flat on the kickstand, the Surface Pro Type Cover gets in the way.  However, I can't really remove it because I want to use keyboard hotkeys in Photoshop and other programmes.  So I started looking for cheap solutions.  Some people recommended using a programmable keyboard or a number keypad and software like HID Macros and someone else recommended a programmable one handed gaming keyboard in the video below.

The 1byone single hand keyboard that I could not find. :(

I liked the one handed gaming keyboard solution and started looking for the one that was recommended but I couldn't find the recommended brand, 1byone.  So I started looking for something similar.  In the end I settled on the AULA K2 because it comes with it own software to customise the keys, it has several dedicated Macro keys and I liked it that the spacebar is on the side like the 1byone in the video above.  

First, let me do a simple unboxing and then I'll get into some of the details about the software that comes with the keyboard.

As you can see from the photo above, it comes in a hard carboard box which is sturdy enough.

The is foam packaging around the keyboard to keep it in place in the board and it's sturdy enough to ensure that the keyboard should arrive in good shape. 

Other than the essential packaging, it's pretty barebones.  You get the keyboard and a small booklet which is entirely in Chinese.  I actually didn't even read it.  I just went to the webstore I got this from and got the info I needed there.  But more on that later.

This is a wired USB keyboard and the cable length is probably about 2m long which I like.  It comes with a velcro cable strap with is nice.  The USB is encased in hard plastic with a blue crest design which I though was quite nice.

The wrist rest is made from non-slip silicon material according to the spec sheet on the store webpage.  It's not bad, quite comfortable.  Although the downside is that you can't remove it.

I have small hands but although the keyboard may seem a little big for my hands, it wasn't too much of a stretch to get to buttons that I needed.

This is a plug and play keyboard, so you don't actually need to get the driver / software from the manufacturer's website to use the keyboard.  Also, there are some built in keyboard shortcuts should you need them.  The most useful one for me is Tab+F2 because this is what I use to switch between the different custom configurations M1 to M5 but we'll get to that later. 

Tab + Esc: restore to factory mode 

Tab + F1: Light mode

Tab + F2: Custom configuration switch

Tab + F3: Volume + 

Tab + F4: Volume -

Tab + F5: Lock colour (breath, bright)

If you wish to re-map the keys and setup the Macros, you will need the driver / software.  The box doesn't include a CD but you can go to AULA's website to download the software.  The url is here:

http://en.aulacn.com/service/download/keyboard/?page=2

EDIT 3/3/2002:

Seems like the driver / software is no longer available on their webpage.  So I'll provide a link here for those who are looking for it. CLICK ME

You will need a software like Winrar for e.g. to unrar because they compressed it as a rar file.  After you unrar it, just install.  It's that simple.  By the way, I'm using the keyboard with the Windows 10 OS.  I don't own any Apple Mac products so I can't tell you how it works on a Mac. 

The major downside to getting this keyboard is that the software is all in Chinese. I didn't know it too  till I downloaded it after I got the keyboard and installed it.  I can read Chinese so I could get it to do what I needed it to relatively easily.  It comes with five dedicated Macro keys on the side which are really easy to setup using the software.  Re-mapping the other keys was also pretty easy.  But because it's all in Chinese, I will do a little translation later in this post for those who come across my post and may need some help.  I'm not going to translate everything since I'm also quite unfamiliar with some of the options. (Edit: I ended up translating all the options in the end 😅 )  I suspect they are options that gamers would find useful because the basic options are already good enough for me right now.

That said, I really wish the software was in English though, so that I can figure out some of the other options a little bit better since I'm not too familiar with creating Macros and I think there's a function where you can name and record your own Macros or something which I think could be quite useful.  I don't quite understand how it works yet, I'll probably need to go google it or something because the accompanying literature isn't very helpful.

Also, because I'm using a Surface Pro 7 and the software wasn't scaling properly, I had to hunt for a solution.  Thank you Google.  

As you can see, if you don't fix the scaling problem, there will be issues.  Firstly, you'll have to squint to see the options in the programme.  Secondly, in the Record Macros dialog box, all the text will be crunched up and you can't see properly.

After you fix it, it should look like the above two images.  I'll explain what needs to be done here for those who may find themselves in a similar predicament.  I had to go to the C:\Program Files (x86)\AULA\K2\ folder and change the properties on two .exe files to make it scale large enough so that I won't need to squint to be able to read the menu options etc properly on the software.  

You'll need to do this for the Knode.exe file and the config.exe file in the C:\Program Files (x86)\AULA\K2\ folder.  Right click on your mouse and select Properties.  Then select the Compatibility tab.  Then select "Change High DPI settings".  Under "High DPI scaling override", check that checkbox.  Then make sure you pick "System" in the pull down menu under "Override high DPI Scaling behaviour. Scaling performed by:"  I tried the other two options and it didn't do anything.  After that when you start the application, it should scale large enough that you should have no issues reading anything.

Not all the keys are programmable. Only these 29 keys are programmable when using the K2 software.  The keys circled in red are programable. 

First select either M1 to M5 to pick which one of the configurations you wish to set up.  This is particularly nice because you can set one up for gaming, if you game.  One for Photoshop, another one for Premiere etc.  You have 5 that you can setup and you can use Tab + F2 to switch between the five different configurations.

G1 to G5 are dedicated Macro keys.  First use your mouse to click on any one of the G1 to G5 keys that you wish to programme and the dialog box like the one in the image above will pop up.

单键设定 - if you want to map to just a single key, if you're using the G1 to G5 keys, this is a bit of a waste because these are the only keys where you can set Macros, that is, a combination of keys.

宏选择 - this is where you can select Macros that you've created using the Macro Manager

宏管理器 - Macro Manager.  You can find this on the bottom left, just under G1 to 5.  This is where you can record Macros.  I'll get to that later.

多媒体 - these are preconfigured settings to control various tools like volume, calculator etc

                媒体播放器 - Media Player

                播放／暂停 - Play / Pause

                停止播放 - Stop

                上一曲 - Next Track

                下一曲 - Previous Track

                音量减 - Volume Up

                音量加 - Volume Down

                静音 - Mute

                主页 - Home Page

                刷新 - Refresh

                停止 - Stop

                后退 - Back

                前进 - Forward

                收藏夹 - Favourites

                搜索 - Search

                我的电脑 - My Computer

                计算器 - Calculator

                邮件 - Mail

组合键设置 - Combination Key Settings.  This is where you can type it various keys to get you Macro.  Eg. Ctrl + Shift + N

选择鼠标按键 - Select mouse button. When you hit this button, you should get a pull down menu that looks like the above.   I didn't set any of the buttons to use these mouse functions so I don't know how well they work.

                        左键 - Left Click

                        右键 - Right Click

                        中键 - Middle Mouse Click

                        前进 - Forward

                        后退 - Back

                        上滚 - Scroll Up

                        下滚 - Scroll Down

The following are pretty standard software command so it should be pretty easy to understand.

确定 - Confirm

取消 - Cancel

默认 - Default

清除 - Clear

应用 - Apply

If you're re-mapping Alphabet keys or the space bar or the tilde key, then the dialog box that you will get will look like the one in the image above and you'll only get two customisation options.

单键设定 - to map to just a single key
多媒体 - these are preconfigured settings to control various tools like volume, calculator etc

Now I'll explain the 宏管理器 - Macro Manager which I only messed around with but didn't really use yet.  You can record Macros using this Macro Manager.  When you hit the 宏管理器 button, you'll get the dialog box.

You will need to hit the "+" button to add a Macro.  The software will automatically name it 宏1 in the 

宏名称 box but you can click in the box and rename it.  After you hit "+", it will activate the other buttons and you can start recording the Macro.

To record the Macro, hit 录制 type whatever combination of keys that you want and then hit 录制 again to stop recording.  It will add a list of commands that you have typed it and it will look something like the above.  You can select any of the lines e.g. highlighted in blue and shift the lines up and down with the buttons on the left.

上移到顶 - Move to the top

上移 - Move up

下移 - Move down

下移到底 - Move to the bottom

On the right side of the dialog box, you have the following options.

删除 - delete, if you wish to delete one of the lines

清空 - clear, to clear out all the lines

If  you wish to delete the entire Macro, then hit the "-" button.

When you're done you can hit 确定 to Confirm or 取消 to Cancel.

The above method that I have just described will allocate the same amount of time for each key press.  If you want the Macro Recorder to record the actual timing of each key press that you pressed while you typed in the Macro then check the box that says 记录按键延时 (Record key delay) before you type in your Macro.  I have no idea what the box next to it is for.  When you start the recording, it'll automatically input "1" but you can change the numbers.

I think recording Macro this way is probably something gamers will find useful.  For those of us who are trying to use this as a cheap hotkeys keyboard for graphics, video editing work etc, then it's probably not very important.

I picked up this Keyboard from AULA's Flagship Store on Lazada but I'm not sure if Lazada will ship to your country if you're not living in Singapore.  Anyway, AULA is a Mainland Chinese company so you can probably find it from other third party shippers if you wish to get it too.

p.s. In the end, this didn't turn out as quick or as short as I thought it would be. 😅😅😅