SteelSeries PrismCaps Pudding Keycap Review

2023 Review Update: Still using the keycaps purchased in 2021. No impact so far to them. They’ve not discolored and still function fine.

There’s a new trend in the mechanical keyboard world known as pudding keys, which are not taking the niche but far more mainstream than it ever was community by storm, but more by a light drizzle. Pudding keycaps are keycaps that include a semi-transparent base to the key that allows RBG light to shine through, giving you more light for each key and a kind of “pudding” effect to the RBG glow of the keyboard.

Steelseries has joined the trend with the release of their PrismCaps, a set of pudding keys that work universally for most mechanical keyboards. I purchased my set at Best Buy for $29.99 and got them in about five days after ordering them, due to no local availability. SteelSeries has no involvement in this review.

Installation and First Looks

After opening the package, I took the included keycap puller (which is the same as almost all plastic keycap pullers) and pulled all the keys off of my keyboard, except for the side macro keys which did not come included (unique to the Corsair K95). I then installed each key carefully pressing down and voila, after about 20 minutes of very therapeutic work I had a brand new “coat of paint” on my keyboard.

By therapeutic, I mean it was very relaxing. Carefully pulling one key after the next. You can’t rush, as you don’t want to damage the plastic stabilizers for larger keys. You also don’t want to fling a key across the room being over zealous on the pull. Just relax and pull each key off one by one, storing them safely in a Ziploc bag or the box the PrismCaps came in.

The first thing I will say is they looked wonderful. I picked white keys for my black keyboard and the contrast along with the RGB lights just look absolutely wonderful. The pudding effect is very visible and really up-levels the RGB of the keyboard by at least a good, let’s pick a random non-scientific number here, 50%. Very nice!

Tactile Feel

From a finger tactile feel, it was a slight downgrade from the ultra premium Corsair K95 keys. Not a big notice, but they definitely have more of a different feel to them and they don’t have some of the cool tactile designs like the K95 spacebar has.

Speaking of the spacebar, that was the only actual downside to this kit. The light on my keyboard only shines from the switch in the center of the key, meaning that the pudding effect was completely ruined on the spacebar. Of course, snapping in the K95 spacebar (which feels amazing to me) and voila, the keyboard was absolutely even better than before. So what was a downside, quickly made me love the aesthetic anymore as it slightly muted the bottom row.

Something else to note is that the keys do feel good. When I say light downgrade, I mean very slight. These are still premium doubleshot keys that are perfect for typing or gaming. I would have loved, like the K95 had, some alternates for WASD and maybe some more random keys included for macro buttons or just emojis to fit in for other keys so I could get the full “pudding” effect, but overall I loved it.

Keycap Fit

The default kit did not fit my spacebar, alt, windows and right click buttons. However! There are included extras in different sizes that did fit, perfectly! So if that’s a concern, remember to buy these keys from a reputable retailer that’ll allow returns, but I have a feeling their ample alternate kit should take care of most gamers with standard sized keyboards.

Final Thoughts

That’s about all there is to cover. If you want more RGB out of your keyboard this is definitely the path to take. I do love the effect, the keys do figuratively look like little puddings each with a really beautiful glow to them. Having my spacebar be the default and the black metal base of my keyboard provided a wonderful contrast for the white keys, so I am definitely loving my unique look to my keyboard and enjoying the set overall.

At the price of $29.99 and likely less considering SteelSeries often offers 10% coupons every now and then and retailers love discounting tech like this, it’s an easy purchase for an easy upgrade if you have a mechanical keyboard or a keyboard with mechanical style switches. I imagine these keys work anywhere you have the cross shaped plastic bit for the switch, but definitely maybe pull a key off and check before your purchase or reach out to their friendly support.