I am glad I ended up combining coverage for the G.SKILL LM360 and the G.SKILL Crystal Crown keycaps because this would have been a short set of two articles otherwise. The KM360 especially is an interesting item, having launched nearly two years ago at $50 and still costing the same today. Fortunately for it, there are not too many other options in this price range that offer Cherry switches and backlighting, even if it is all of one switch and static-only lighting in a single color. So the value proposition still remains even compared to other brands that may well offer nearly the same thing at nearly the same price. G.SKILL may not be a major player in the PC peripheral market yet, but they still have a larger presence than the smaller OEM/customer brands using a similar keyboard platform to where I would feel more comfortable recommending this keyboard compared to others anyway.

The crown of the show, and my bad puns stop here, I promise, are the Crystal Crown keycaps. Available in two colors similar to the keyboard itself, these are a newer, bolder take on the pudding-style keycaps by foregoing any sort of diffusion and instead adopting a clear acrylic side bonded to an ABS plastic top surface. These take what were otherwise bog-standard ABS laser-etched keycaps and give them something to talk about, and shine through in more ways than one. Functionally, they are actually worse than the stock keycaps on the KM360 and even most aftermarket keycap sets today, but it is obvious that these keycaps are all about the bling with form taking precedence over function. The clear sides allow for backlit keyboards to have a much higher output brightness all around while giving a neat look at the switches, stabilizers, and even the top plate/frame on the keyboard. With the KM360, I was easily able to see more of the MX Red sliders and aluminium top plate than with the stock keycaps, though that will interest those with a fully custom keyboard more. The trouble is that at this point, the end user will have a chosen (or many, as is usually is the case) keycap set already, and the G.SKILL Crystal Crown keycaps won't make the top of the list.

The combination, however, is pretty ideal in that these keycaps are best-suited for budget-friendly keyboards with backlighting, and make them look like much more expensive units. Costing a total of $70, this combination in either color option will stand out amid a sea of nondescript keyboards, as well as many that are much more expensive. It is only when you start using them regularly that you see all the shortcuts, be it with the imperfect cutout in the aluminium plate for the USB port, basic keycap puller with the keycap sets, ABS plastic throughout that has already started developing a shine on my sample, or the weird difference of the white Crystal Crown keycaps not having the ring cutout the black ones do. There are more listed throughout the review, but the price point makes it easier to accept these because at the end of the day you do still get a pretty good keyboard with the most sold mechanical switch today, white backlighting, and a cool look in a small footprint and lightweight package.