Top-end board with nosebleed price proves a mixed-mech bag
Wow. We think it’s fair to say Cooler
Master’s peripherals division, CM Storm, has gone out on something of a limb
with the visual design of its new flagship keyboard.
Resembling a keytar that the white
Power Ranger might use (not to be mistaken with neo-facist park maintenance
officer White Power Ranger), the Mech certainly distinguishes itself from the
crowd with an aluminium top plate, those diagonal lines and that handle. That
handle. You’re either going to be completely sold on the bold look, or
completely reviled.
CM
Storm, has gone out on something of a limb with the visual design of its new
flagship keyboard.
Regardless of its looks, the Mech
performs very well. It boasts a full mechanical switch layout, available in
Cherry MX Red, Blue or Brown to suit even the pickiest typists (for reference,
Red are smooth, registering key press at half pressure; Blue are clicky, only
registering when you push the key all the way; and Brown are non-clicky and
very smooth).
It’s furnished with five macro keys,
each activating a bay that can hold 15 macros. There’s also a [Windows] key
activation toggle switch, adjustable lighting settings via the [Alt]+[F1] to
[F4] keys, two USB 3.0 passthrough ports and audio/line in jacks. All very
welcome additions.
Regardless
of its looks, the Mech performs very well.
Same but difference
You’d be hard pushed to find a gaming
board that didn’t offer mechanical switches today. The step up from an
office-type keyboard to mechanical was huge, but now it’s so ubiquitous that
tactile experience and performance vary very little from model to model. That
depends on what type of switch it’s furnished with of course, but as we saw
with the Roccat Ryos earlier this year, choosing for yourself is quickly
becoming the norm.
To assess a board’s quality, you need
to look elsewhere at the breadth of features it also offers. For example, it’s
a big deal that the Mech can store 60 key sequences. You’re not going to use
even half of those, but it’s a big deal. Corsair’s K95 Vengeance board can only
store 54, and it costs $215 compared to the Mech’s $248. You can sneer at the
concept of value in those terms, but if people didn’t keep buying $248 keyboards
for no good reason we wouldn’t be having this debate in the first place.
We’ve gone meta – let’s rein it in.
The Mech has tangible benefits over slightly cheaper boards as well. Its two
USB 3.0-ready pass-through ports are something of a rarity, and it’s 64-key
rollover is class-leading. However, these are attributes designed to win the
spec sheet war, to give some justification to being among the priciest boards
you can buy. What does it mean for you, sitting at home ready to play Keytar
Hero III? Not much.
The
Mech has tangible benefits over slightly cheaper boards as well.
Not as much as build quality does, and
compared to the aluminium chassis of Corsair boards or the bomb-proof build of
Q-Pad’s range, the Mech comes up short. We’re not convinced this CM Storm board
has one strong feature you can point at and say: ‘that’s worth paying more
for.’ Unless you’re drawn to its looks that is, in which case, we embrace your
taste for visual diversity like White Power Ranger never could.
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Vital Statistics ·
Price: $248 ·
Manufacturer:
Cooler Master ·
Switch type:
Cherry MX Red/Blue/Brown ·
Dimensions: 553
x 267 x 43mm ·
Weight: 1,686g ·
Rollover: 64
keys ·
Backlight:
Individual keys, customisable
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