Closer Examination

The Cooler Master MK850 comes in a plastic clamshell to further protect it while keeping it free of dust for the unboxing experience. There are also two long strips of plastic that need to be peeled off the glossy plastic edges on the front and rear sides of the keyboard, which do end up being a fingerprint magnet, unfortunately. The MK850 is quite far removed from the design philosophy of the SK630 we recently saw, with only a minimalist design employed here. Indeed, this is an aggressive design chock-full of switches and keys beyond the usual 104-keys for the US ANSI layout, including a column of five macro keys, two separate wheels and more dedicated media control switches near the top left, and three more keys in the top-right corner where the indicator LEDs would normally be. This is a backlit keyboard where the respective indicator LEDs are tied to the specific keys themselves.

The MK850 uses a brushed aluminium frame that gets a subtle silver color finish, and lots of angles and beveled edges in the frame and bottom plastic case panel. There is nothing subtle about the MK850; it is loud and proud, but lighter than one would imagine for the size of the keyboard owing to the use of aluminium instead of a thicker steel plate and absence of a top case panel. Keycap legends are arranged such that secondary legends are underneath the primary ones, with some specific tertiary legends ending up on the front of the keycaps, and single legends on keycaps are at the top center, all of which collectively hints at where the backlighting on the keyboard will be biased toward. The typeface is clean, but could be larger, especially for the single-legend keycaps.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification, but it is instead printed on in a recess. There is a full-size Cooler Master logo below, and the recessed area opens up to three cable-routing channel options. Two rubber pads on the bottom corners also keep the keyboard from sliding around on the desk, and there are two keyboard feet at the top corners that also have rubber padding to add to this while introducing additional keyboard elevation.


The keyboard has an inset USB Type-C port in the recessed section on the back, which allows for the provided detachable cable to face away from the user. The cable fits in snugly here and connects to an available USB Type-A port on the other end. There are also two USB ports to the side that make use of the cable connection. Given the lack of a powered USB hub, an available USB 3.1 Gen 1 port should be used to allow for sufficient data and power transmission for not only the MK850, but these two spare USB Type-A ports on the keyboard. These can be used for a mouse or headset, for example, provided you do not run into power issues. On the other side of the cable are the two so-called precision wheels, both knurled for texture, which is again rare to see. Many high-end gaming keyboards come with a single wheel for volume control, and here, one is pre-programmed for the same purpose, while the other controls backlighting brightness out of the box.


The keycaps have an OEM profile, and the various rows are thus sculpted accordingly. They have a floating design, which allows for easier cleaning and replacement, but at the expense of potential light bleed. The included keycap puller is useful for pulling out keycaps that are not easily pulled out by hand, which is not recommended. The stock keycaps are mediocre at best, unfortunately, with thin ABS plastic and laser etched legends for primary, secondary, and tertiary legends alike. These will develop a shine, and the legends will also wear out sooner rather than later. Backlighting is also biased toward the primary legends at the top, which means the other legends will not be backlit as well assuming the LEDs are where they usually are on Cherry MX RGB keyboards. A "standard" bottom-row spacing enables increased compatibility with aftermarket keycap sets, although they will not cater to the keyboard-specific secondary and tertiary legends.


Cooler Master is vague about which switch options are available on the MK850, and this review is written before the product page is live. Their ControlPad had two switch options—the Cherry MX Red RGB and Gateron Red RGB—with my sample having all Cherry MX Red RGB switches. Linear switches are best used with any form of built-in analog control since the presence of a tactile bump can cause a deviation from an otherwise smooth analog control trend. The larger keycaps use Cherry stabilizers, which help when you want to remove said keycaps, but result in a mushy feeling when typing, especially on the large space bar.


Here is a look at the wrist rest in action. There are magnets in the keyboard body and the wrist rest to make the wrist rest easily attachable. A light bar has been put around the edges of the keyboard, which is why we have the glossy plastic panels there, and the bottom edge is effectively blocked off when the wrist rest is used. Also alongside is a look at the replacement keycaps in action, which look good, although deciphering the legends without backlighting remains difficult. These replacement keycaps will help users quickly identify keys used in gaming, especially since most also cater to the Aimpad technology implementation on the keyboard.