A CoolerMaster QuickFire TK with MX Blues First and foremost, I want to thank Missalaire for letting me borrow this board. I’ve been a horrible friend and kept the board for way way longer than I should have; to the tune of three months. And worse, it’s taken me two months just to write it when I promised her she’d have it back inside three weeks. Regardless, she’s awesome and I got to try out this board.
What drew me to this board is that I really need a number-pad at work but I wanted a smaller form factor keyboard. I wast testing this keyboard to see if it would be a good office board and I think it would be.
AestheticsI like the size of the board. It’s not exactly a full size so it’s not too big. And the bezel isn’t ridiculous. It’s only slightly larger length-wise (from left-to-right in the top picture) than my KMAC. In the top right, the Num/Caps/Scroll Locks are placed very oddly though. And the font is horrific. However, I do like their little flame logo and the CM Storm logo on the front edge.
Only two logos on the board besides the sticker on the bottom One of the best surprises about this board: THEY GOT RID OF THE RUBBERIZED COATING. That was by far my least favorite thing about the QFR. My mice/boards can get REALLY dirty and I’ve had rubberized mice in the past that just trapped the dirt. Don’t want the board to get dirty. I understand that there are QFR tops that aren’t rubberized though. Regardless, the TK doesn’t have it and I’m happy.
My primary complaint is WHY IS THIS THING SO BRIGHT?? My eyes are still recovering from the brightest mode. That’s one of my biggest complaints about this board; most of the LED modes are far too bright and silly.
This was bright enough to help guide ships at sea. Why??
I seriously couldn’t handle the board at anything but the two lowest settings. Also pulse mode? Dumbest thing ever, it doesn’t look cool and is just annoying. It’s like the keyboard is needy and wants my attention. At the lower settings, the LEDs looked nice when they show through the caps.
The plate is blue and the caps have a bit of spacing around them; it’s a nice touch.
Oh, and the caps have the horrible QFR/CM font. It hurts my eyes just to look at it.
Caps removed so you can see the platePretty sure this board has a nice thick plate in it like the QFR does. It’s got some decent weight to it. And the board is very stable when I type on it. The keyboard suffers from the same cable placement as the QFR, it’s underneath and cut into the body instead of on the edge like the KMAC or Pure. The cutout on this board was fortunate to be deep enough so that it wasn’t awkward to plug the USB cord in but I still am wary of cutouts. Also, the cable that came with this board was a very nice black paracord material.
There are pretty standard flip out feet which are very crisp and sturdy. And the front rubber feet anchor the board pretty well. I would venture the weight is around a pound. It’s not as hefty as say the Leopold FC700R but it’s not too light like my stock Pure was.
Cutout and FeetSince I am borrowing this keyboard, I cannot take it apart. However, if the QFR is anything to go by, I suspect that the TK has a very nice thick plate and a lesser quality PCB. Not that It detracts from the usage or the board, but if you’re into modding, that might be an issue.
Typing on this keyboardI really love how the Blues feel on this board. In fact, this is probably my second favorite Blues board that I’ve tried in terms of switch feel. In other words, Blues (and other switches) feel different on each keyboard you try. I still think that my Filco has the best feeling Blues. Regardless, the Blues feel medium-light to the touch with a nice actuation force and bottom out. In comparison my Leopold’s blues feel like they have a very long travel and the bottom out is a bit hard. Even with the dampening, it’s still a bit harsh but definitely not terrible now.
The stock keycaps on this are coated with what CM Storm calls “anti-slip coating”. I don’t have a clue as to what it is but I think it’s rubber and it feels horrible to me. It makes the caps a little sticky and grippy; it just feels bad and I hate it.
The shifted navigation cluster (page up, page down, delete, etc) are placed into a function layer in the tenkeypad. If you toggle the number lock off, the nav cluster works. Toggle it on, the number pad works. It’s very intuitive and I like it. The media keys are also very nice. I think I’m actually going to program my KMAC to have some. I really like them.
Number pad/Nav padTyping on the mod row actually felt less awkward that I thought it would. But the issue is that I really like replacing keycaps and the bottom row is:
1.25x – 1x – 1.25x – 6.5x – 1.2x – 1x – 1x – 1.25x.
Short of buying another TK that is white, you don’t have very many options for swapping since the spacebar is off; which I’m not a fan of.
Edit: kmiller8 verified the modifier row dimensions
here.
I also did not understand the 6KRO and NKRO swap. I think I read that Apple products can’t handle NKRO so you need to switch to 6KRO to get the board to work.
Final ThoughtsI really really enjoy this keyboard. It has one of the most unique and functional layouts I’ve ever tried. And it was very natural for me to get used to it. I like the blue LEDs, switches, and plate. It looks great in terms of the change in the branding.
I wasn’t really into the keycaps or the font OR HOW BRIGHT THE LEDs WERE, but I think I might be able to overlook that. I would say this is a fine board to use in an office environment. It still has a number pad but has a slightly smaller form factor which brings my hands closer together, which feel nice.
