The Cherry MX Board 6.0 Mechanical Keyboard Review
by E. Fylladitakis on January 27, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Keyboard
- Cherry MX
- Mechanical Keyboards
We frequently review mechanical keyboards here in AnandTech. Over half of them come with mechanical switches from Cherry, and for good reason. If you are keeping track of our recent reviews, you should have noticed that Cherry's switches generally are more consistent than any other type we have tested to this date. Cherry is virtually the inventor of the modern mechanical keyboard switch (not to be confused with the classic buckling spring), manufacturing and marketing them since nearly three decades ago. It is only because their patent expired that other manufacturers were able to copy their switch designs.
With all of that said, Cherry is not only supplying their switches to other keyboard manufacturers. As a matter of fact, the company has a significant line-up of their own keyboard and mouse products. On the other hand, Cherry's products are almost exclusively aimed towards professionals and for specific applications, such as keyboards with biometric or magnetic card readers for security. Considering the target market of their products, naturally their keyboards were using just plastic black or beige parts and never looked like anything special. However, Cherry is taking a huge leap of faith and releasing a new keyboard, the MX Board 6.0, which a mere glance upon it is enough to reveal that it is nothing like their previous products.
Cherry MX Board 6.0 Keyboard - Key Features and Specifications
- The world's fastest keyboard – with Cherry MX and Cherry RK
- CHERRY MX RED – Gold Crosspoint precision keyswitch for all keys »Made in Germany«
- Aluminium housing with sanded finish and grease resistant coating
- CHERRY RealKey technology – fully analog signal processing
- All keyswitches are read simultaneously
- 100% anti-ghosting - No inputting errors
Packaging & Bundle
The packaging of the MX Board 6.0 is the perfect example of the company's market philosophy; very sturdy, completely plain and painfully serious. It could be run over by a car and there would not be any damage to the keyboard or the rest of the contents, but there is almost nothing eye-catching about it. As a matter of fact, those who do not know of Cherry might not even realize that there is a keyboard inside the box without closely inspecting it.
Inside the box, we found the keyboard inside a very nice and soft pouch-cover, a large wrist rest and a basic manual. The manual is small and simple, but it is clearly written and more than enough for the few extra functions of the MX Board 6.0.
Finally, retail prices for the MX Board 6.0 are hovering around $200, with a price of $198 at the time this article was written.
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azrael- - Friday, January 29, 2016 - link
I'm wondering why Cherry can't use their own RGB MX keys. I know they have a special arrangement with Corsair, but surely it wouldn't preclude them from using their own product.bissomarc - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
Long time lurker first time poster, but I've owned this keyboard for a few months now and feel I should set the record straight for you skinflints and doubters. After picking this up open box for 160$ on provantage on a whim I replaced the corsair k70 blue switch that I was using on my main game machine (as I established a separate typing station with the Das ultimate for writing) and it was truly revelatory. When paired with a 1ms gsync monitor and Hori edge 101 mouse (special switches for rapidly firing semiautos) this brought my k/d ratio in cs:go into the stratosphere. It was like I was moving through butter before but I now stutter step like a god, there is no longer any latency in my command chain and it is down to all the skill I can muster. So, if you're your an old school quake arena shooter kinda guy, where response speed trumps any of those silly macros, do not hesitate this keyboard will change your life. Not the best for typists and the low profile keys I swapped for pbt vortex backlit like others here, and they look a little goofy but feel so solid. Tried so some o rings but it was already so quiet and sturdy they seem unnecessary. So anyway, for shooters, this is the best keyboard out there, and I have tried many, many of them.