Cooler master has sent us a few keyboards to try. Most of you might have seen a surge of mechanical keyboard lovers lately. Most of them talks about custom keyboards. However, custom keyboards are not entirely cheap or affordable, and it’s definitely not readily available.
Mechanical keyboards have been around for sometime now and gaming brand have their own keyboards that are striving to compete with the competitive in the current times. No doubt, ready made keyboards are entry level friendly and serves well for those looking for gifts.
Cooler Master CK350
The Cooler Master CK350 is full size keyboard. The version we got came with Red Outemu Switches. The keyboard features a sleek brushed aluminum top with a black plastic bottom case.
It supports full RGB backlight customization even without a software installed, you can just change RGB profiles by pressing Fn key with F5/F9/F10 key. With the shine through ABS double shot keycaps, the RGB shines through nicely to whichever RGB profile you set it to.
Overall, the keyboard feels quite solid with the top aluminum chassis in comparison to some stock keyboards that are made out of flimsy plastic in the past. The CK350 comes with attached keyboard lift attached to the back to lift the keyboard at a better typing angle.
Typing on the CK350 is what you would expect from a stock red switch keyboard out there. Apart from sounding slightly hollow, I wouldn’t fuss too much over it as that is reasonable given its pricing and affordability.
Cooler Master CK530v2
In comparison with the CK350, the CK530V2 is a TKL keyboard (which means it comes without the number-pad section). Apart from that, comes with TTC’s Red Switches which are pretty good MX switches in the market. In terms of acoustic, these sound less hollow when compared to the CK350.
Cooler Master CK351
The Cooler Master CK351 is another full sized gaming keyboard by Cooler Master. The CK351 houses an optical switch in comparison with the outemu switches on the CK350. Apart from that, the CK351 is hot swappable but limited to optical switches.
We got to try out the CK351 with Brown switches. Personally, I am quite fussy when it comes to tactical switches but these are quite okay to type with.
User Experience
Among all 3 keyboards, I personally prefer the CK530V2 due to its size. As much as the CK351 is hot swappable, optical switches are not as common and does not has as much variety as the standard 5-pin/3 pin MX switches that are compatible with most keyboards out there.
These 3 mechanical keyboards are suitable as gifts or for those whom want to try out mechanical keyboard with a tight budget. The case of the keyboards are pretty solid for the price you are paying, do note that all of them comes with attached wire cables.
The CK351 and the CK530v2 even comes with compatible cooler master wrist rest which is a no fuss for those whom got their first mechanical keyboard without a wrist rest to go with.
Overall, these keyboards are suitable for those looking for a budget keyboard without the fuss of customization. The CK350 is priced just at RM182, while the CK530v2 is priced at RM229 and the CK351 is priced at RM299.
