If there ever was a keyboard review that benefited from reading every single page in order, this is it. There are so many subsystems that go into the making of the Cooler Master MK850 that I have to commend them for surprising me pleasantly as many times as they did. Perhaps, it was expectations set with their own SK low profile series which took as a base what was around already and tweaked the hardware slightly. But no, the MK850 is in many ways a fresh start to Cooler Master's keyboard lineup—one that was arguably needed, too.

Take the revamped software driver, for example. Cooler Master Portal finally feels like it could hang in with directly competing software solutions even though it still needs some refining. We finally get a properly unified software without add-on modules, one that is fairly efficient on storage and system resources, too. Functionality has also improved with more key-mapping options, as well as profiles that can be shared and associated with programs easily. Cooler Master retains their valued onboard functionality as well, which the MK850 accentuates with its many dedicated keys and wheels, be it for the several different lighting effects or just quality-of-life improvements.

The biggest feature of the MK850 is, in my opinion, bringing Aimpad analog control technology to the mainstream enthusiast keyboard market. However, it is not a perfect implementation on either the hardware or software end. We only get eight keys with analog control, which is not even the limiting factor as there are only six Xbox controller actions to choose from. To be fair, there is a mode that enables high actuation points on all eight keys for Aimpad control, but apt comparisons made to the Wooting One (and Two) will show many things the latter offers that are not yet in the MK850. Both Aimpad and Cooler Master recognize this and want us to know that this is part of an ecosystem that will be supported for years, with features being continuously added as well. As it stands, I can judge the MK850 in its current form only. The Wooting One/Two make for a better analog control keyboard, but I do think the Cooler Master MK850 is the better keyboard overall.