Logitech G316 X 98 Review – The More Affordable Sister of G512 X

The Logitech G316 X 98 is a wired gaming keyboard that slots in as the more affordable sibling to the G512 X, and it does a surprisingly good job of making high-end gaming features accessible without stripping everything back to bare bones. At AUD $199.95, it sits in that interesting middle ground where you expect some compromises, but the compromises here are fewer than you’d think.

LOGITECH G316 X 98 REVIEW – PACKAGING CONTENTS AND UNBOXING

Inside the box you get the G316 X 98 keyboard, a 1.8m detachable USB-A cable, and documentation. Logitech keeps it clean and simple here. No extra keycaps in the box like the G512 X to keep the price down, though customisation kits are available separately if you want to mix and match.

LOGITECH G316 X 98 REVIEW – DESIGN AND FEATURES

The G316 X 98 is a 98% layout keyboard, so you keep your numpad while losing very little else. It measures 384mm wide and 140mm deep, which makes it a chunky, substantial board. The 880g weight without the cable tells you this isn’t something you’re throwing into a bag for a LAN party. On the desk though, that weight works in its favour. It sits firmly and doesn’t shift around even during intense gaming sessions.

The build leans on plastic, and it does show. Coming from the G512 X, the more premium feel is noticeably absent here. That said, the G316 X still looks good on a desk. Logitech hasn’t made it look cheap, just clearly more affordable. The finish and overall aesthetic hold up well under RGB lighting, which helps a lot.

Speaking of lighting, the LIGHTSYNC RGB implementation on the G316 X is pretty good for the price. Per-key lighting looks great, and while you don’t get the front-facing Lightbar that the G512 X carries, the 30 customisable light bar zones along the side still give the keyboard plenty of visual personality. The presets available through G HUB are varied and well-designed enough that most people won’t need to spend much time customising from scratch.

The G316 X has a dot-matrix LED display (something that is absent on the G512 X) paired with the control dial. When you adjust the volume, you don’t just see a volume icon change on the display. The RGB lighting across the keyboard animates in sync with the action. It’s a small touch, but it makes adjusting settings feel alive rather than functional. Volume, media playback, brightness, and report rate are all controllable through the dial, and the display feedback makes each adjustment satisfying to use.

The keyboard ships with two switch options. The Tactile variant has a 2.2mm actuation distance and 55g actuation force, while the Linear variant is lighter at 1.9mm and 40g. I found the switches on the stiffer side compared to what I’m used to, and while responsiveness isn’t in question, it’s worth keeping in mind if you plan to use this keyboard for long typing sessions at work. For gaming, the stiffness is less of an issue, but for hours of document work it might wear on you. Hot-swappable switches are supported, which means you can pull out the defaults and drop in your preferred stem style without any soldering. Make sure to check my G512 X review to see how easy it is to swap switches.

The gasket-mounted structure with sound-dampening layers delivers on the “thocky” promise to a reasonable degree. The sound and feel are satisfying, notably better than what you’d expect from a keyboard at this price tier.

LOGITECH G316 X 98 REVIEW – PERFORMANCE

The headline spec is the 8 kHz report rate, and it’s worth understanding what that actually means in context. Standard gaming keyboards run at 1 kHz, meaning they report their position to your PC 1,000 times per second. The G316 X does it 8,000 times per second, cutting input latency to near-imperceptible levels. For casual and mid-level gamers, the difference might not be something you consciously feel, but it is there. For competitive players, particularly those in fast-paced shooters or RTS games where fractions of a second matter, it’s a meaningful advantage.

The 8 kHz rate needs to be enabled through G HUB software. Once you’re in there, you can also configure LIGHTSYNC RGB lighting, set up macros, remap keys, and adjust the game mode key behaviour. G HUB is a known quantity at this point and it handles everything the G316 X needs without drama.

LOGITECH G316 X 98 REVIEW CONCLUSION

At AUD $199.95, the Logitech G316 X 98 makes a strong case for itself. You’re getting an 8 kHz polling rate, hot-swappable switches, per-key RGB, a dot-matrix LED display with a control dial, and a gasket-mounted build for under A$200. The G512 X offers a more premium construction and the front Lightbar, but it also costs more. If you want the core gaming performance and most of the style without stretching the budget to the flagship, the G316 X fills that gap well.

Disclosure: Logitech G316 X 98 review sample was supplied for reviewing