I have the very fortunate position of getting to review the latest and greatest gaming controllers for a living. If you ask me to pick a side on the controller-versus-mouse-and-keyboard war, I will knowingly go down swinging, and pick a gamepad pretty much every time. Now before you call me an idiot on Twitter, I know - first-person aiming with a mouse and the number of functions on a keyboard vastly outperform the very best controllers that exist. But still, I prefer a pro controller.
I could go on and on about my thoughts on this fiery debate, but in truth, I actually hate it. I'm a firm believer in choosing the hardware that's right for you - whether it's right for comfort, accessibility, or what you individually feel more effective with. I also hate how toxic that online war can be, and I'm constantly on the lookout for pacifying options that split themselves down the middle of the best PC controllers and the best gaming keyboards.
Enter Azeron, a brand that makes custom keypads that are designed to suit your every comfort whim, while offering the massive functionality and speed of a full-sized keyboard. This time last year I reviewed the Azeron Cyborg in a previous job, and when you first see it you might think it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. To quote our Tabletop and Merch Editor, "It looks like it holds your hand with its weird robot fingers." It's currently $11 off for the standard version at Amazon, or nearly $30 less for the special edition alternative.
The idea is that you rest one hand in this ergonomic cradle, and use simple finger twitches to click its keys. You don't need to find the WASD home position or always keep a digit locked to those in-game functions. Your thumb has a joystick to use for movement on the side of the pad, and your other hand is free to use a mouse as you would normally. Compared to a keyboard (which I've never felt at home on), an Azeron keypad gives me so much confidence I'm pressing the right keys while having the familiar thumbstick movement I'd have on the best PS5 controllers.
The great news is that Azeron has a range of keypads available on Amazon, and with Prime Day gaming deals raging on for the October Big Deal Days event, the brand is running a few exclusive discounts.
You can currently save up to $60 on Azeron's Cyborg keypads. More specifically, there's a 10% discount on a few special edition Cyborg colors, including Beast, White Lime, Sneaky Lily.
These deals are, annoyingly, only available in the US, and seem to be exclusive to Prime Members. If you're already wise to Azeron's antics, you can refresh a keypad you already own with new grip tapes that are 5% cheaper too.
When I'm not testing out the latest controllers on PC, I barely ever use a keyboard. Especially in competitive first-person shooters. Don't get me wrong, my loyalty will always probably be to a gamepad, but the Azeron Cyborg offers me the best of every world, so why wouldn't I use it? I even found it improved my speedrunning time in Dishonored, a game I've played with every device available.
Admittedly, it can be a bit of a faff to set up for each game - you assign each of the cradle's 29 keys to typical keyboard functions, but since every game differs ever so slightly, it can result in you spending a lot of time in the setup phase before a game.
When you do get things tailored to your liking though, the experience of playing with an Azeron Cyborg is unreal. Nothing else I've tested so far has blended the worlds of keyboard and gamepads so coherently, and in a lot of games, it actually makes me a much better player.
More of today's best Prime Day deals
- Nintendo Switch: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle now $299.99 at Amazon
- PS5: free $100 gift card with purchase at Dell
- Xbox Series X: refurbished consoles now just $399.99 at Amazon
- Seagate 1TB Xbox Storage: now just $129.99 (was $219.99) at Amazon
- Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (RTX 4080): now $2,099 (was $2,749) at B&H Photo
- Board games: save up to $25 on Arkham Horror, Disney Villainous and more
- Chairs: Homall and GTPlayer chairs now starting at $89.99
- Desks: up to $150 off Arozzi Arena, Eureka Ergonomic and more
- Controllers: Xbox Elite Series 2 now just $99.99 (was $129.99)
- Gaming laptops: Razer Blade laptops up to $1,000 off
- Headsets: SteelSeries, Turtle Beach, and Razer from $34.95
- Keyboards: Logitech decks now starting at $49.99
- PCs: save up to $300 on prebuilt RTX 4070 rigs
- Projectors: budget projectors now starting at just $79
- Storage: 1TB WDBlack SN850X now $79.99 (was $179.99)
- Streaming: save up to $30 on Blue Yeti mics
- TVs: 4K TVs now starting at $199.99
- Meta Quest: Asgard's Wrath Quest 3 bundle available at Best Buy
- Mice: Razer, Logitech and more now starting at $24
- Mobile: new Turtle Beach Atom controller $10 off
- Monitors: Curved 240Hz monitors from just $139
Happy to stick with regular controllers for now? Our price comparison software below will help show you the biggest deals in your area on a few hand-picked models.
Want more gaming accessory deals this Prime Day? Take a look at the best gaming headsets, the best gaming mouse, and the best VR headsets.
