Cherry KW 300 MX evaluation: Mechanical but quiet keyboard

Finest Costs Right now: Cherry KW 300 MX

Apple at present makes use of a really flat design for its personal keyboards: each the desktop keyboards for Macs and pocket book keyboards have elegant, flat keys and the important thing journey may be very brief—identical to on a laptop computer. This ensures the identical typing really feel on all units.

Nonetheless, followers of mechanical keyboards with actual key journey and a exact stress level is not going to be pleased with these enter units. There are quite a few options for them on the Mac: take a look at our critiques of the perfect Mac keyboards. An fascinating new wi-fi mannequin is the KW 300 MX from Cherry, which prices $149.99.

Visually, the keyboard makes a sober however very high-quality impression with its gray keys and black housing. The retro-look design could even remind some individuals of previous Mac keyboards such because the open-top Professional Keyboard.

Cherry has chosen a so-called 75% format and not using a quantity pad for this compact keyboard, which is at present in vogue. It’s about as vast as Apple’s Magic Keyboard and not using a quantity pad, however 3 times increased. This makes it best for small desks, and a mouse may also be positioned very near the keyboard with this format.

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As a consumer of a traditional keyboard, nevertheless, I needed to spend a while getting used to the unfamiliar place of among the keys throughout testing. The arrow keys, Enter key and Web page Up/Web page Down keys are barely offset in comparison with a regular keyboard. There is no such thing as a palm relaxation, however at the very least you may alter the angle of the keyboard with stands.

The Bluetooth keyboard can handle as much as 4 units, and even an iPad Professional can be utilized with it with none issues. Nonetheless, the KW 300 MX is much less appropriate for cell use, because it is just too heavy and thick at slightly below 750 grams.

A particular characteristic of the keyboard is a hanging rotary wheel on the facet, which additionally serves as an influence button and is backed by a bronze metallic floor. You may change on the keyboard by urgent and holding the wheel, and later change between two features by merely urgent it.

It’s a nifty characteristic, however I’m a bit upset with the vary of features. The rotary wheel can solely be used to regulate the brightness of the keyboard lighting in phases or to vary the quantity of the Mac. Each are helpful, however given the restricted vary of features, the rotary wheel looks like a missed alternative to me.

The backlight is kind of vivid and white, and pink LEDs additionally point out configuration choices. For instance, after switching on, you may choose the 4 Bluetooth channels utilizing the F1 to F4 keys.

The built-in battery is charged through USB-C, however it’s also possible to join the keyboard on to a pc through USB-C. The battery ought to final for per week of use with the backlighting energetic, and Cherry claims a runtime of six weeks with the backlighting turned off. That’s not precisely lengthy, and most customers will most likely solely use the backlighting sparingly in the long term.

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Nice typing really feel

The largest drawback of many mechanical keyboards is that they’re very loud and disturb colleagues or flatmates with their loud keystrokes. Nonetheless, there are additionally quiet mechanical switches such because the MX2A Silent Purple, which might be put in within the KW 300 MX on request.

These switches, produced in Germany by Cherry, mix a first-class, exact typing expertise with acceptable noise ranges. The housing is even specifically insulated to additional cut back the quantity. Nonetheless, this doesn’t make the keyboard silent by any means; a keyboard similar to

These Cherry switches, manufactured in Germany, supply a first-class, exact typing expertise at a average quantity. The housing can be specifically insulated to additional cut back noise. Nonetheless, the keyboard isn’t utterly silent—fashions such because the Logitech Signature Slim Solar are considerably quieter.

The keyboard can be obtainable in a model with completely different switches, the Cherry MX2A Brown. These are so-called tactile switches, which supply barely stronger suggestions than the linear MX2A Purple. Nonetheless, the MX2A Brown can be fairly quiet and are primarily really useful by Cherry for workplace customers or programmers, whereas the MX2A Purple are extra appropriate for players.

Regardless of the insulation, the typing really feel is superb. Not like an Apple keyboard, the entire key journey is about 4 millimeters and you may really feel a definite stress level. As a result of insulation, that is softer than on different mechanical keyboards, however for my part it is a wonderful compromise. The sturdiness can be stated to be spectacular, with Cherry promising a lifespan of as much as 100 million keystrokes.

Mac compatibility

You may truly use nearly any Home windows keyboard on a Mac. Nonetheless, the Alt and Home windows keys are assigned in another way on Home windows keyboards, and you must reconfigure this through System Preferences > Keyboard .

Even with out this reconfiguration, the Cherry keyboard can supply Mac key assignments. All you must do is press the Fn and M keys for 3 seconds after switching on, and the keyboard will change to Mac mode. You may reactivate the default Home windows mode utilizing the Fn and W keys. You can even set this default individually for every of the 4 Bluetooth modes—for instance, should you use the keyboard on each a Mac and a Home windows pc.

The keyboard has one other particular characteristic to supply: it comes with three keyboard caps and a particular loop-shaped software that you should utilize to take away the three Home windows keys (Alt, Home windows and Alt Gr) and substitute them with Mac keys. The keys are specifically designed by the producer to be simply changed.

That is one other benefit over Apple’s delicate keyboards in relation to repairs. Sadly, the Keys software program for configuring the perform keys is barely obtainable for Home windows computer systems; there isn’t a Mac model.

Worth

The Cherry KW 300 MX prices $149.99 or £125.

Do you have to purchase the Cherry KW 300 MX?

The brand new Cherry KW 300 MX provides an fascinating different to Apple’s flat keyboards. It’s notably geared toward customers of compact mechanical keyboards who need to be thoughtful of their environment. The compromise between exact typing really feel and average quantity is properly achieved, and Mac compatibility is a welcome bonus. Nonetheless, it’s not with out its limitations: the compact format and relatively excessive design require some getting used to for a lot of Mac customers, and the restricted performance of the rotary management is considerably disappointing.