Performance

There is 14-key rollover USB here out of the box, as Aqua's test confirms. Cherry decided to call this full N-key rollover, which is incorrect, and I urge them to correct this sooner rather than later. Similarly, no key chatter was detected on all the keys using Switch Hitter.


With the combination of its programmed buttons and the key assignment options due to KeyMan, the MX Board 3.0 ends up being a versatile keyboard for most users. Lack of backlighting aside, I would say the low-profile nature of the keyboard is the main thing to be aware of here as it is potentially a deal breaker to some, though also its unique selling point for many others. Personally, I really like its low profile, and combined with the quiet MX Brown switches, it led to a very satisfying typing experience. I did use KeyMan for some simply Adobe CC and MS Office macros, as well as a means to dedicate some buttons to opening programs and pausing and resuming playback. As you may have noticed by now, there are no dedicated indicator LEDs here, and they are integrated into the switches as relevant, with the respective keycaps having a small notch to allow for the red LEDs underneath to shine through, as seen above. This is the last of the updates Cherry has made, with the initial version having green LEDs instead. Finally, Ctrl + Home/Win button deactivates the two Win keys, and the combination when pressed again re-activates them. This is a bit weird in that it defeats the whole purpose of having a dedicated key, but it prevents accidental use, and you can also just re-assign the button via KeyMan if you don't anticipate ever needing it as-is.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the Cherry MX Board 3.0 sample at ~105 WPM. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out here, although you can definitely prevent this from happening with practice for an even quieter experience than what we already get thanks to the low profile, thick keycaps, plastic case, and the switch option here. In terms of actuation and typing, these were no different from the vast majority of other MX Brown switches I have used before, with excellent quality control from Cherry. Their average actuation force was 44.91 cN across twenty random switches tested, and bottoming out felt just fine as well with nothing in particular standing out.