Cooler Master CK550 Review: RGB Heaven

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    In the current market the only way for keyboards to stand out from the rest of the competition is their features and RGB performance. The CK550 seems to do well in both departments, so here’s our full review of Cooler Master’s mid-range RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard priced at INR 6600.

    Design and Build

    Finding a mechanical keyboard with a muted look is quite hard because of the market being saturated by flashy looking gaming keyboards with fancy chrome and bright red accents. Luckily the CK550 is here to save the day with its minimalist and elegant design. The presence of brushed aluminium is a pleasant surprise and the standard looking keycap text is an icing on the cake.

    It’s no slump in the build department either, having one of the sturdiest keyboard frames in its price range. Topping that off are the PBT keycaps in a price segment where ABS keycaps run rampant. Everything about this keyboard’s build is something you’d find at much higher price points.

    Lighting

    RGB lighting has become the norm lately, and the CK550 is no different, with an individual per-key backlighting. That means instead of flooding the entire board with LEDs, each individual key has been assigned one. Additionally the lighting effect it creates is an aesthetically pleasing one and much better than a lot of the competition.

    Despite having floating keycaps, the CK550 has essentially zero LED bleeding from each key. And that’s actually critical to its presentation, given the highly programmable nature of each LED. It comes with a variety of different lighting modes but most of it is coherent with what most others offer i.e. static colours, wave lighting, strobe, flash, fade etc.

    Switch performance

    The CK550 comes equipped with Gateron switches and the option to choose between blue and brown variants. Blues are clickier and better for gaming while browns have a more linear feel and can used for a mix of gaming and typing.

    Both alternatives have a keystroke rating of over 50-million which means they’re way more likely to die due to physical damage than the keys wearing out.

    Conclusion

    Pros:

    • Great Build Quality
    • PBT Keycaps
    • Pleasant Lighting
    • Muted and Elegant Design
    • Detachable cable

    Cons:

    • Doesn’t come with a palm rest
    • No Macros
    • Cable isn’t braded

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