KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
All-in-all, Cooler Master's MasterKeys S and MasterKeys L keyboards are both high-quality products that do a lot of things right.
For one, they are built very well. They continue to use internal metal frames which gives them great rigidity, and at this price point they are certainly of higher quality than many other keyboards I have reviewed.
The design is also simple and understated and generally the keyboards look good. They are not overly exciting to look at but they are not meant to be – these keyboards are simply designed to work and offer high-quality mechanical switches, and they do that very well.
Speaking of the switches, my press sample arrived with MX Green switches but UK retail products will only come with MX Brown switches. I do wish Cooler Master brought a bigger variety of switches but there we have it.
So, all-in-all, the keyboards themselves are very capable entry-level products – perfect for those who are looking for their first mechanical board, or for the experienced user who wants to cut away all of the RGB lighting and other gimmicky features we see from competing manufacturers.
However, Cooler Master's pricing does not quite add-up, as the MasterKeys S will cost £79.99 while the bigger L model will set you back £89.99. This is particularly strange given that you can find the MasterKeys Pro L RGB for £89.86 currently, while the Pro S White LED keyboard can be found for £76.32 (correct at time of writing).
It is nothing against the MasterKeys S or L, but getting a MasterKeys Pro series model instead – for the same or less money – really is a no-brainer. I can 100% see what Cooler Master is trying to do with these new keyboards, they just need the pricing to drop a fair bit for them to be viable options. As it stands, they are very good entry-level boards without the entry-level price-tag to match.
That said, we did get in-touch with Cooler Master to raise our concerns. They mentioned to us that the prices given before the keyboards' launch were MSRPs, not actual retail prices, and they hope that the actual retail prices will be a bit lower once the keyboards reach the market channel. We hope that will be the case, as these keyboards are certainly decent, the price just needs to be right.
Both keyboards will be available from Overclockers UK soon. We will update the review with links when we have them.
Discuss this review on Facebook over HERE.
Pros
- Good build quality.
- Understated design.
- On-board macro and repeat-rate settings.
- Cherry MX switches.
- PBT keycaps.
Cons
- MSRPs are too high for what they are. Cooler Master's own MasterKeys Pro keyboards can be found for the same or less money.
- Cherry MX Brown switches only.
KitGuru says: Taken on their own, the MasterKeys S and L boards are high-quality products designed to be simple-yet-effective. However, they need a hefty price-cut to justify the slimmed-down feature set, as the MasterKeys Pro series of boards can currently be found for the same or less money.
So is the judgment of 7 stars based solely on the price (which I agree, is way too much for what you get)? Because from what I now understand, they are perfect in what they are designed to to: no-nonsense solid mechanical keyboard. Particularly their brown switches makes them very interesting for people like my who primarily want a typing keyboard, but not annoy their office mates. In that case, less is a lot more.
Yes – if the price was right, these would score much higher. As it is, these are a tough sell considering the MasterKeys Pro equivalents can be found for the same or less money.