I remember reading comments on my review of the ASUS ROG Azoth Extreme and thinking "if only they knew." My configured GMMK 3, which again I maintain I did not know what the prices of the various options were, came out to be a whopping $567 value, before shipping and taxes. It could go even higher if I went with the UK ISO layout or chose the limited edition colors, but either way you get the point. Making things hurt more is the part where the pricing in GBP is the exact same number—£568.99—with those in Europe now looking at an eye-watering €670.99. Somehow we've gone past the 1:1 USD:Euro conversions and are in the 1:1 USD:GBP numbers? Needless to say, those outside the US are getting an even worse deal on what is already looking tough to justify.

To be clear, the GMMK 3 is not going to cost $500+ for everyone. In fact, I just configured a cool looking (to me anyway), highly functional 75% mechanical keyboard for $160, don't ask me why only the 65% size gets the south-facing PCB at this moment. So at least now we are back in the realm of sensibility, especially when you consider the cost of someone putting the keyboard together and the subsequent quality assurance checks—even if this is still not really the best value for money. You can get full CNC-machined aluminium alloy case keyboards for less than $160 now, let alone HE + wireless keyboards too. The pre-built GMMK 3 keyboards, and the barebones versions, have a lower entry barrier—even if you lose the main USP here which is Boardsmith—so those may yet have scope. But Glorious aimed to fly high with the GMMK 3, and I fear it was too close to the sun.

I would be a lot more positive here had the keyboard even came close to justifying its asking price. But there are simply too many issues to ignore—especially at launch time when most eyes are on the product. Even things as simple as software bugs that should have been ironed out long ago, or both inconsistent and mediocre stabilizers which make the keyboard sound and feel worse than many $100-150 keyboards on the market to me. A lot of this are thankfully being resolved as we speak, with Glorious having addressed some of my issues via keyboard firmware and software updates during the course of my testing. But the issue remains that some base factors with the keyboard user experience should be better, especially when some can get this keyboard to cross the $600 mark based on how it is configured—The bar is significantly higher now compared to the $100-150 mark. I am also not a fan of the occasional Bluetooth issues, even if Glorious is correct about most people using 2.4 GHz wireless mode here anyway. But then there are sacrifices made on the battery life front, especially if you go with the HE versions where the sensors are always active. A 3000 mAh battery is not great in the best of times, and having it be the same across all three sizes was never going to be good for a 100% keyboard. Overall I'd say the user experience with a keyboard that you are paying multiple hundreds of dollars for has been less than ideal. It's a shame because there are truly multiple novel and highly user-friendly things to appreciate here—the ability to simultaneously have HE and MX switches is very cool, and we have multiple non-linear HE switch options too—yet the Glorious GMMK 3 feels like it will be remembered for its shortcomings during the first couple of months since the keyboard was launched. Glorious tells me the software team is hard at work ironing out some of these issues, and they also take feedback/feature requests seriously. I have seen this first-hand, and I will give them props for taking feedback positively. I will certainly consider doing a review of a pre-built version a few months down the line to see how things are looking then, but for now the GMMK 3 is a tough recommendation.