Introduction

I think it's fair to say that the Building a Keyboard series is going to continue, with the first one doing well and the second one covering a unique set of switches. For the third entry, I wanted to deviate slightly from covering different switches as the main focus. The primary interest is instead the case/kit in the form of the Glorious GMMK PRO. We had taken a look at the company's first keyboard, the Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard (GMMK), back in 2019. It was one of the earliest to offer hot-swappable switches and remains one of the rare full-size offerings to be sold as a kit even today. The GMMK lead to the company being taken more seriously despite the divisive company name, and it aims to go beyond with the all-new GMMK PRO.


The GMMK PRO has had a history and then some with a marketing campaign targeting the enthusiast keyboard community in so many ways. Then came the official launch with a reservation list in November 2020, wherein customers could reserve a GMMK with a deposit, and it is only now that the units are shipping to said buyers. A little earlier, however, the media embargo broke with mostly YouTubers in mind that had mixed thoughts on whether the marketing hype was lived up to or not. We aim to answer this very question using a retail GMMK PRO, which only ships as a kit at this time and is why we also build an entire Glorious keyboard using the company's own Glorious Panda switches, custom keycaps, and a custom coiled cable!

Packaging and Custom Cable

Glorious, which may feel silly to refer to a company as, though not as silly as the full "Glorious PC Gaming Race," sent an entire kit to help with my plan to cover the GMMK PRO as the centerpiece to a keyboard build article. The company operates a web shop in the US, so we begin with a look at the shipping packaging and see the adoption of a bigger box than necessary. Filling available empty space inside is lots of packing paper, which helps fill out the space but also further protects the individual product boxes.


The company also provided an accessory that is neither of the kit, switch, or keycap category, so it gets covered on its own page. This accessory is the Glorious Coiled Cable shipping in a much better-sized box with a two-tone color scheme, company logo, and product name, as well as a window on the front for a sneak peek inside. Marketing features are tabulated on the back, alongside a render of the two-piece cable with individually named parts. A seal on the side keeps the contents in place, which we see is a plastic blister inlay holding the two pieces of the cable in two compartments and a fancy greeting card. The four connectors over the two cable pieces come protected with caps over the USB Type-C and Type-A connectors, or simpler plastic over the other two.


The shorter of the two pieces is the coiled section, which is what the product name is based on. Coiled cables have quickly become another way of expressing one's customization needs in the keyboard realm, and these cables tend to also be split with a fancier connector in the middle. This results in a shorter coiled section, typically 6" of the cable as is the case here, and USB Type-C on the keyboard end. The Type-C connector is gold-plated for oxidation resistance, and on the other end of the double-braided sleeving is a heavy-duty 5-pin female aviator connector.


The longer piece is 4' and has a USB Type-A source connector that is also gold-plated for oxidation resistance. The sleeving is equally thick and really well done, with the other end a metal 5-pin male aviator connector that plugs into the female end—it has a locking ring to further secure the fit, making for an impressive-looking cable if this is to your liking. The Glorious Coiled Cable comes in four color options and costs $50 as an optional extra.

GMMK PRO: Packaging and Closer Look

The GMMK PRO is likely what brought you here, and it is what we will ultimately be covering in more detail in this hybrid build/review article. Packaging is quite substantial and heavy, with the latter hinting towards the bulk of the kit itself. We see the company logo on front, but on a corner this time around, with the other three taken up to indicate the product name, language layout, and color. As such, we know that I have the US ANSI GMMK PRO in the Black Slate color, and there is a colorful render of the kit in the middle. This continues on the back with more specifications and marketing features laid out, as well as a notice that this is not a pre-built keyboard with the customer needing to purchase switches and keycaps separately, followed by the required assembly. Two seals and a double flap on the side keep the contents inside in place during transit.


The orange accents on the packaging continue on the inside with a note letting you know that you too have ascended to be part of the.. sigh.. Glorious PC Gaming Race. Okay then. The rest of the unboxing experience is quite nice, with the same greeting card as from the coiled cable in a cutout of thick foam underneath, where we see even thicker foam on all sides to protect the keyboard kit. There is a notch on the side to remove the kit, as well as a sticker logo on top if that interests you.


The other accessories are underneath the kit, and this also provides a better look at what is ultimately a foam box around the kit itself. We get a more standard cable, still braided and in black to match the kit itself. The sleeving is thinner and certainly not as fancy as the optional coiled cable, but this cable does not cost an extra $50, either. It goes from USB Type-A to Type-C, with orange plastic in the connectors themselves. There is also an orange keycap puller, but it unfortunately is the cheaper plastic ring-style puller that can scratch the sides of keycaps, and an equally cheap metal ring switch remover for when you need to remove the switches you have installed.

These two are not what I expected, especially with the rest of the premium unboxing experience. I am sure Glorious would rather you buy its better quality keycap puller and switch puller for a combined extra of $17.98, but those should have been inside the box to begin with. The final accessory is a set of replacement gaskets, which is the first indication of what makes the GMMK PRO a thing of its own as far as everything else we have covered here thus far is concerned. Lastly, we see the keyboard kit comes enclosed in a separate foam wrap for that extra protection. The company has an online user guide worth the read going over the GMMK PRO and all you need to get it up and running.


Be careful when removing the kit from that wrap since this is a hefty thing weighing 1.6 Kg by itself and taking up a relatively small footprint courtesy the 135 x 332 x 43 mm footprint, with the maximum height of 43 mm tapering down to 19 mm at the bottom. This means significant elevation is built into the case, and it is also a dense little thing made out of a two-piece-thick, CNC-machined aluminium case. The GMMK PRO comes in two colors, with the "white" more of a silver based on photos online. It is a 75% form factor kit in that you get the discrete keys from the alphanumeric section, aside from the fourth key on the bottom row past the space bar, and truncated R. Shift as well as 1u keys on the remaining three of the bottom row. In return, Glorious provides dedicated arrow keys as well as four additional keys to the right to bring back some of the Ins-Pg Dn cluster functionality. To the top-right corner is a fifth additional key, meaning five of those six keys are available, as well as a rotary encoder wheel that has a nice knurled finish on the knob in black to match the keyboard. Well, unless you want to replace the rotary knob, in which case Glorious will happily sell you replacements in two additional colors for $9.99 each at this time.

The keys are not one large bank as with some 75% keyboards, and the top case panel instead has split sections to distinguish the various keyboard sections while also adding structural integrity to the aluminium panel. On the side, we get a better look at the keyboard profile, but also see cutouts with plastic diffuser inserts for what is going to be side lighting on this RGB backlit keyboard. Branding in use is quite subtle, with the product name etched into the PCB that appears in the gap next to the space bar switch socket.


Nothing subtle on the back, though, as there is a massive GLORIOUS engraving in the aluminium that remains invisible in use. In fact, this means there is no visible branding with the switches and keycaps installed, making the GMMK an extremely clean keyboard. There is also the usual certification sticker on the back, but smaller and underneath the company name. We see eight screws, with two accessed via notches on the top that help keep the kit assembled. Four low-profile, circular rubber pads on the corner elevate the case off the desk to prevent scratches and add some friction to minimize movement. The high-profile case does somewhat mitigate the absence of keyboard feet, which are hard to do on aluminium cases, but the weight of the whole thing ensures it is not sliding anywhere.


Before we move on, let me talk about the stabilizers since they are one of the more involved things to replace for enthusiasts interested in the GMMK PRO. Termed the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) stabilizers, this is probably the main thing that drew criticism from media colleagues and the mechanical keyboard community as a whole since their marketing department hyped these up well past what they actually deliver. Yes, these are really good stabilizers as far as the design goes. There is minimal play, and they are pre-clipped screw-in plate-mount stabilizers made out of good quality materials, too. But there are better options out there for people, and there is no such thing as one best stabilizer design. Making this worse is that these retail units have far more lube applied on the stems and the bar than needed, so much so that I had to wipe off some of the excess to prevent sticking. These are no GOAT, but I can grant BOA (Better Than Average) if you want a cute acronym that also sounds like an animal.