Kmart Anko light up mousepad is a $25 gaming must-have

It’s a product that usual retails for $100 but Kmart has an affordable version that’s been praised as “lit” and is a complete Christmas bargain.

REVIEW

Gaming is now mainstream and the market is flooded with all kinds of gaming accessories. Now Kmart has got in on the action bringing out a budget line up of gaming peripherals. I purchased their gaming mouse, keyboard and mousepad to find if they’re worth the money or even worth buying at all.

The first item on the list is the Anko Gaming Mouse Pad Light Up, aka mousepad, which cost me $25. A name-brand RGB mousepad can set you back up to $80-100, so I was pretty excited about this. I mean, it only needs to work as a mousepad and light up, right? Well, it certainly does that.

I was also surprised that it’s longer than it looks on the box - 70cm - which gives you plenty of room for mouse movement and a grippy surface for your keyboard. It worked as soon as I plugged it in (on Mac and PC) and it glows bright enough to even look good in the daytime! You can toggle the lighting colours through red, green, blue, pink, light blue, yellow and white and it even has a strobing rainbow mode and breathing effect.

The only drawback is that it easily picks up dirt or dust. However, isn’t the main point of buying this just to have a coloured light-up mousepad? You can’t really go wrong here! I’d totally recommend it.

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The Kmart Anko gaming keyboard and mouse on the light up mousepad.

Next I set up the Anko Gaming Mouse RGB Backlit Programmable 16000dpi (wild name!) which cost me $39. I was happy to find that after plugging it in it worked immediately (on both Mac and PC). Instantly the speed of the movement of the mouse felt right and I didn’t notice any lag.

The DPI of the mouse can be adjusted with a button on top (which changes the speeds of the mouse pointer’s movement). I was surprised to have so many options as there are six pre-programmed settings. The mouse is also RGB and has an awesome rainbow accent, with lighting that also shines through on the scroll wheel.

The weight of the mouse was only slightly lighter than I’m used to and it can even be adjusted.

If you have a PC there is free software that can be downloaded that allows you to program the buttons and lighting colours. Unfortunately, this software isn’t compatible with a Mac which means the mouse is basically a regular mouse with lights for Mac users.

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The Kmart Anko Gaming Mouse RGB Backlit Programmable 16000dpi is impressive for the price.

Overall, it was surprisingly functional and comfortable and I could see myself actually using it for gaming on a budget. I would also totally keep this as a backup mouse or use it for editing.

My last item, however, was not very good. The Anko Gaming Keyboard for $25 is a little clunky. Its best features are the flip out feet and drain holes (so that if you spill a drink on the keyboard the liquid will drain through). Though, unfortunately, the keyboard doesn’t feel very good to type on, which is the most important part.

The keys have slightly awkward spacing and although they feel clicky and tactile it’s not quite the right clickiness to mimic a pro gaming keyboard. The design looks reasonable, though, it feels fairly cheap and breakable and I can imagine that the letters may rub off on this keyboard after a few months.

The Anko Gaming Keyboard falls a bit short.

If anything the best feature of this keyboard is its RGB lighting. Which is easily adjustable, with multiple colours and effects, and the brightness is good too. It’s important to note the keyboard is clearly made for a PC - it will work if you’re a Mac user, though keyboard shortcuts will be different.

Overall, I do feel like these products are all fairly standard, cheap PC peripherals that are trying to disguise themselves as gaming products. In saying that, the only product I would be hesitant to recommend is the keyboard.

Each item is fairly good for the price and I think any child would be very happy to have these on their desk as they give the look and feel of premium gaming products. Though if you’re able to pay more, and if these items are for anyone over the age of twelve, then I would invest at least $100 (each) in a keyboard and mouse. Get the Kmart mousepad though, it’s lit.

Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawwesome | YouTube

Originally published as Kmart Anko light up mousepad is a $25 gaming must-have