General Performance

The Cooler Master MK850 has a lot going for itself outside of Aimpad analog control, and this page will go over its general features in more detail. For example, it 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. All these actions, and everything below, are tested with the MK850 in M1 (normal keyboard) mode.


When first connected, the MK850 lights up with all keys set to a static purple as seen in the driver on the previous page. There are plenty of onboard controls to get you going with lighting effects, static or dynamic, as described in the manual. The first custom effect includes per-key lighting, which helps test for light bleed, and it was definitely present at the common edges because of the floating keycaps. I then set all the keys to white using the software driver to test for color fidelity since RGB LEDs have a hard time depicting white, and it was a really good white here, which I will give props to Cooler Master for. The side-lighting is subtle, but brighter than on the SK630 we saw before, although the bottom side lighting is blocked off if you use the magnetic wrist rest.
Here are some of the dynamic lighting effects demonstrated, including rainbow wave, color flash, and rainbow spiral. Transitions are smooth, and the effects are a good demo to also show off the capabilities of the keyboard.

For those who would rather not use the software driver a lot, the onboard functionality with four profiles to choose from comes in handy. Nearly everything from the software driver can be done without it, albeit to a lesser degree. For example, we can set lighting based on smooth steps for backlighting brightness via the left precision wheel (default action, can be configured), which allows for a lot of colors compared to most such keyboards that only allow ~256/512 colors to choose from onboard, as opposed to the 16.8 M colors from the driver. Similarly, we can choose between different dynamic and even reactive lighting effects as well as the direction and speed of said effect. Macro recording is possible as well, including selecting loop playback for the macros when executed, but we can't customize the delays between keystrokes or edit a macro if incorrectly recorded—you will have to do it all over again. There are also dedicated keys for media playback control, in addition to one more to toggle volume mute on/off, and yet another to toggle lighting on/off as well. We also discussed on the previous page the three other dedicated keys for Aimpad control, which go hand in hand with the M1-M5 keys as well.



The key-assignment options in Cooler Master's Portal software driver allow users to also go with layouts other than QWERTY, and here, I used the source code from an older keyboard review in a layout tester (courtesy of Patrick Gillespie). The results above indicate that QWERTY is not even close to the most efficient layout for me, and very likely you as well. If you are willing, try out Colemak or Dvorak as they will result in lower finger travel and fatigue overall. As such, the driver offers a significant functional tool if you are willing to devote some time to adopting either Colemak or Dvorak. Here is the link to the full results if you are interested, including a detailed analysis on key presses and distances moved.



The Cooler Master MK850 is advertised to come with Cherry MX switches, and the use of Aimpad analog control (even if it is only on eight keys) is best with linear switches. My sample came with Cherry MX Red RGB switches, and I dare say that will be the switch of choice in general across Cooler Master's keyboard portfolio with Aimpad support. We saw before how Aimpad does not need a special switch for analog control, which means the switches used here are no different from other Cherry MX Red RGB switches. We get the usual translucent housing to allow light through, with a linear switch rated at 2.0 mm actuation with 45 cN and a total travel of 4.00 mm. This has quickly become the most popular mechanical switch in use today, no doubt as a result of many keyboard marketed as "gaming keyboards" making use of linear mechanical switches over tactile or clicky switches.


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 Cooler Master MK850 sample at ~105 WPM as it comes out of the box. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches. The thin aluminium frame can add a metallic ping to the sound signature, especially if you bottom out, which is fairly easy with these relatively light switches, but training for analog control will help prevent this and allows for a quieter typing experience in general.