Value and Conclusion
- The Cherry MX Board 5.0 has an MSRP of $189.99 for the five US English SKUs, but good luck finding any of them for sale. The DE language version can be purchased for $150 from retailers online, as of the date of this article.
- A weird combination of keyboard and wrist rest feet allow for multiple different typing positions to better suit your use experience
- Good build quality with two thick ABS plastic pieces held together with screws and an internal steel plate
- The stock keycaps are better than average, with PBT doubleshot injection on the US English versions
- Onboard control over lighting and other pre-programmed functions
- Choice of five genuine Cherry switches to cater to linear, tactile, and clicky feedback preferences
- Rarely seen Cherry profile for those wanting it
- The US English versions have been unicorns since they were announced
- Stock keycaps are mediocre at best on the DE language version
- The ergonomic features aboard the MX Board 5.0 must be improved before touting it as a selling feature
You may be wondering what the point of reviewing something that is nearly impossible to buy would be. While a valid concern, it is one for Cherry, who still advertise this as a retail solution on their website with a datasheet that talks about the various SKUs available for distributors. Of the six SKUs, five come in US English (with a Euro symbol) and are more expensive as a result of them using PBT plastic keycaps with doubleshot injected legends when you do find them. The DE language version, Cherry being a German company after all, is more easily found, and at now $150, it is less than MSRP, albeit with worse keycaps. If anything, this is a continuation of the Cherry saga in which they do not recognize that they can't just price their consumer-grade peripherals this high, not support them over the years, and not bother to cut prices to make them more competitive over the years. For $190, you can get a more ergonomically designed keyboard with the same switches and more features, including the Mistel Barocco MD770 and Kinesis Freestyle Edge.
However, some things can get people interested in the MX Board 5.0, not least among which is the availability of the DE language version. Those favoring the lower-profile Cherry keycap profile will also find very few options to choose from, and build quality here is fairly good. That fairly unique wrist rest also does try to do more than any other, offering function in a time where wrist rests are either passable, bad, or bad with integrated RGB lighting. But as outlined before, I do not think the pros outweigh the cons, especially as the few US English versions that come up online tend to go for $200.