Belkin is now diving into this market with the new n52te. The 'te' stands for Tournament Edition, and signifies the product as an evolved version of the popular Nostromo SpeedPad n52, which was itself a follow-on to the original Nostromo SpeedPad n50 (review circa 2002). Like its predecessors, the n52te offers an array of keyboard-ish keys arranged in a futuristically-ergonomic array, coupled with a mouse-wheel and digital d-pad.
Belkin worked with popular gaming mouse manufacturer Razer in crafting the n52te as an upgrade of the existing n52, and the influence of the mouse company is pretty easy to identify. The n52te's keys and mouse wheel are illuminated in Razer's favorite tone of blue, which makes it look rather attractive when in the presence of Razer's Tarantula keyboard (review) and DeathAdder mouse (review). The backlight cannot be dimmed, which is somewhat unfortunate as it is quite bright, but it can be turned off completely for a more stealthy appearance. Other Razer additions to the design include a removable joystick head that snaps into the center of the digital D-pad, a plasto-rubber coating on the curving palm area that matches the coating on the DeathAdder mouse, and revised placement of stabilizing feet on the underside.
Though Razer certainly did improve the aesthetics of the n52 in the 'te' addition, not all of the refinements prove beneficial in a utilitarian sense. The joystick head mounted on the D-pad does offer extra leverage, but its surface is very lightly textured hard plastic that isn't easy to get good thumb-traction upon. We really wish the plasto-rubber of the palm area had been applied to the joystick head as well, as this would have offered much better grip. We were also displeased with the revised placement of the stabilizing feet. Whereas the original n52 made use of a single rubber foot, the six rubberized feet of the n52te allow the entire device to rock forwards and backwards slightly if the user puts weight upon the tail end of the palm rest, which is what naturally tends to happen in use. This movement, though slight, is annoying while playing a game, as most players like having their peripherals feel very firmly planted.
Looking past these issues, we moved on to play testing the n52te. Like its predecessors, and current competition, the n52te proved itself pretty useful for its ability to offer extra keys within easy striking range of the directional WASD equivalent buttons for things like macro'ed spells in MMOs and grenades or flashlights in FPSs. The 14 keyboard-like keys in the main action array of the n52te have a nice light throw and are intelligently arrayed at different angles and heights to make for ergonomic access and easy tactile recognition. The mouse wheel, too, is conveniently positioned and spins with good response. Though potentially unnecessary since pretty much any mouse also has a wheel for weapons selection in FPS titles, the n52te's wheel came in handy when we paired it with a Novint Falcon (review), which doesn't have a wheel. Flight-sim players or creative macro-programmers may also like an extra mouse wheel to work with.
Though the 14-keyboard buttons and wheel felt good, we weren't very happy with the round thumb button above the D-Pad and the side button that equates to the space bar on a keyboard. The round thumb button has a squishy throw and a mushy click, which makes it useful only to replicate the Alt or Shift keys, as these generally need to be held down to crouch or walk in various titles. The '15' button space-bar equivalent is even more disappointing, as it wobbles on its spring and has a long throw with a lot of resistance. Most gamers are accustomed to very light throw space bars for jumping in FPS titles and have learned something of a flick move with the thumb to trigger the reaction quickly. The resistance and depth of the n52te's 15-button does not allow this move to work, which is rather bothersome. We chose to dedicate the 15-button to replicating Shift and the round thumb button to Alt, moving Space (jump) to the 11-button in the main action array.
Rearranging the keys in this manner was quite simple, as the Razer-designed drivers and macro software for the n52te are rather easy to use. Button assignments are represented visually, and a visual macro-editor is built right into the software. Timing delays are easy to arrange, and macro-repetition settings are within easy reach. Installation went smoothly in Vista 32-Bit, and none of our games had any issues working with the n52te.
Conclusion
Belkin's n52te has some serious faults that we are surprised Belkin, and Razer, didn't address before brining the product to market. The 15-button's wobbly, hard, long throw is particularly egregious, as the traditional keyboard Space bar it replicates is none of those things. The slippery D-Pad joystick head and wobbly stabilizer feet are also issues we have to believe were apparent in any pre-production playtesting that occurred, yet were inexplicably not addressed. That's sad, as the n52te is otherwise exceedingly comfortable, useful, and very cool looking. Regardless, we expect more from a $69.99 peripheral with such a sold manufacturer's pedigree.