Asus announced the ROG Strix Scope II 96 keyboard and the ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD display

Asus has also presented a new keyboard and screen at Computex. Neither of them can be called too conventional, as the keyboard is 96% size class and the game screen is QD-OLED with a 32:9 aspect ratio.

The Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 is a special 96% size class. According to the company, it is designed for people who are annoyed by the empty space on the keyboard, but do not want to give up the numpad. The removed keys are Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause, Home and End and they can also be found behind the Fn key next to media functions and others. By placing the Insert, Delete and Page Up and Down keys next to the F keys and with small other adjustments, Asus has saved practically all wasted space. The functions hidden behind the Fn key work completely independent of software. In addition to the traditional keys, in the very top right corner there is a multi-function roller for managing various functions.

The Strix Scope II 96 uses the company’s new ROG NX Snow switches. The clutches are pre-lubricated for both the body and the stem with dry lube and Krytox GDL-205 for best results. The stabilizers of the longer keys are also pre-lubricated. The switches are linear and their connection point is 1.8 mm deep and the entire range of motion is 3.6 mm. The angle of the keyboard can be adjusted in three steps and the included wrist rest is a removable model. Sound-deadening foam is embedded in the body of the keyboard.

The included keycaps are made of PBT or UV-coated ABS plastic, depending on the region, but they are also compatible with all Cherry MX-compatible caps, i.e. caps suitable for a cross-headed stem. There are additional supports on two sides of the stem to stabilize the switches. The switches themselves can also be changed according to your own taste using the hotswap principle, if the MX Snows don’t fit your style.

The keyboard is wireless and connected to the computer with ROG SpeedNova technology. It is promised to enable operating times of up to 1500 hours with almost no delays using a frequency of 2.4 GHz and an update frequency of 1000 hertz. If you want to keep the RGB backlighting of the keys on, the operating time drops to 90 hours. At the end of the computer comes the ROG Omni Receiver, which can control several Asus wireless peripherals at the same time. Bluetooth is also supported, but there was no mention of its battery life. The keyboard battery is charged with a USB-C cable.

What’s new on the display side is the ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD, a curved (1800R) QD-OLED display with a super wide 32:9 aspect ratio. Its native resolution is 5120×1440, so in practice it corresponds to two 2560×1440 screens side by side. It is promised to reproduce 10-bit colors natively and cover up to 99% of the DCI-P3 color space. The maximum brightness of the screen is promised up to 1000 nits in the 3% field, but in practice it only reaches the lower DisplayHDR 400 True Black level. The panel supports a maximum refresh rate of 144 hertz with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certification.

Unfortunately, the monitor’s product pages are not yet public, so all the technical details are not yet known. On the connector side, however, there are DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 ports as well as USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports with Smart KVM support. One USB-C connection has also been included, which supports a maximum power supply of 90 watts for charging other devices.

Asus has not said when or at what price either of the new products will go on sale.

Sources: Asus (1), (2), (3)