Performance

With all functionality hardware based, there are no dedicated software drivers for the Cherry MX Board 5.0. As such, I have chosen to combine this section with the performance section below.

Performance

The MX Board 5.0 supports N-key rollover USB out of the box, which tested successfully using Aqua's test. Switch Hitter confirmed no chatter with these keys either, and as is usually the case these days, the right Windows keys is replaced with an Fn key.


When first connected and running, the keyboard lights up in a static white backlight on all keys. There is only white backlighting aboard the MX Board 5.0, and onboard control over brightness allows for 11 steps, which are also shown by the left-most indicator LED. As seen above, the legends underneath the primary ones are barely lit on all keycaps, which could be improved by using a different mold with secondary legends alongside the primary ones, or even RGB switches with LEDs underneath the switch for more central backlighting.

Aside from the static backlighting here, Cherry includes a breathing mode and pulse mode. These are accessed via onboard controls described in the manual, and I suspect most will just have the keyboard on static backlighting on or off without really trying these out. It is obvious that backlighting was only added to tick off a feature list, and typists in general will be satisfied with the single color white lighting we saw with the MK Night Typist recently as well.

The lighting controls aside, using the Cherry MX Board 5.0 is easy, and the pre-programmed functions for the Fn key row allow for media and volume control, as well as shortcuts for applications that are all listed via secondary legends on the keycaps. There is also a gaming and office mode setting, with the former disabling the functions of Win, Ctrl + Esc, Ctrl + Alt + Del, Alt + F4, and Alt + Tab. The base function as a full-size keyboard works well, but the large form factor with the wrist rest can be inefficient if you do not use the feet on the wrist rest for the many typing positions seen on page 3 of this review. The individually adjustable wrist rest does add more ergonomic customization than most keyboards, but comes off as a mediocre implementation that is neither here nor there.


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 5.0 sample at ~100 WPM as it comes out of the box with the Cougar Red switches. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. I did bottom out more often than not given the relatively lightweight keycaps and switches. The Cherry MX Red is arguably the most popular mechanical switch known today, with a 2 mm actuation and 4 mm travel distance and a rated 45 gf actuation force. The newer batch of these switches are rated for 100 million keystrokes via the new mold, and are also smoother in travel than before, which was a complaint the enthusiast keyboard community had before.