Análise do teclado para jogos Cooler Master SK620: Little Hits

A Cooler Master está pensando pequeno com o SK620, um teclado com fator de forma de 60% compatível com Windows e macOS que oferece vários recursos de qualidade de vida em seu minúsculo case. O teclado de 89 dólares tem forte concorrência, no entanto, incluindo o sem fio SK622 que o precedeu. Vamos ver como o Cooler Master SK620 se compara aos os melhores teclados para jogos de 2021

Especificações do Cooler Master SK620

Projeto do Cooler Master SK620

O Cooler Master SK620 está disponível em dois esquemas de cores: um modelo “cinza espacial” com uma base preta, placa superior em alumínio escovado e teclas em cinza escuro, bem como um modelo “branco prateado” que apresenta uma base branca, placa superior em alumínio escovado e teclas brancas. (Observação: alguns varejistas chamam o modelo cinza espacial de “cinza gunmetal.”) Recebemos o modelo cinza espacial para análise, mas as especificações parecem ser as mesmas em ambos os esquemas de cores disponíveis.

• Cooler Master SK620 (vermelho) na Amazon por US $ 89,99

Além do esquema de cores, o aspecto mais imediatamente óbvio do SK620 é o seu layout. A Cooler Master optou pelo fator de forma de 60% para o qual empresas tradicionais, como Razer , Corsair e HyperX têm prestado atenção cada vez maior ao longo do ano passado. (Com vários, incluindo Razer e Ducky , também dedicando mais recursos à variante de 65% nos últimos meses.) Discutiremos como isso afeta a digitação e os jogos com o teclado com mais detalhes posteriormente.

Por enquanto, vamos nos concentrar no tamanho do Cooler Master SK620. O teclado mede 11,54 polegadas de comprimento, 4,05 polegadas de largura e 1,19 polegadas de altura por padrão; pés extensíveis podem elevar essa altura a 1,69 polegadas em seu pico. Teria sido bom ver pés ajustáveis, mas isso é melhor do que não ter pés. Combine essas medidas com o baixo peso do teclado-ele pesa 0,83 libras sem o cabo-e você obtém uma placa muito portátil.

Para isso, o Cooler Master SK620 possui um USB-C trançado para USB tipo-Um cabo, que também deve contribuir para a portabilidade do teclado. Apenas tome cuidado quando estiver em trânsito: nossa unidade de análise tem danos perceptíveis na borda inferior da placa superior de alumínio, embora seja enviada com fita protetora. Isso não inspira exatamente confiança na durabilidade da placa, embora não saibamos se o problema é generalizado ou se estamos apenas com azar.

O Cooler Master SK620 também possui teclas ergonômicas adornadas com mais legendas do que um vaso grego. Isso é parcialmente uma consequência do fator de forma de 60%, que quase exige que os fabricantes imprimam as funções secundárias pré-programadas executadas por cada tecla, mas também o resultado do suporte ao Windows e ao macOS. Grite para o Cooler Master por lidar com toda essa complexidade sem tornar os keycaps do SK620 uma bagunça desordenada.

Esses keycaps imponentes são iluminados por iluminação RGB por tecla que suporta 16,8 milhões de cores. A iluminação é forte o suficiente e parece boa refletida na placa superior de alumínio, pelo menos no modelo cinza espacial. Infelizmente, é aqui que as teclas acabam afetando negativamente a experiência. Eles não deixam a luz passar uniformemente, e a decisão de iluminar a função secundária de cada tecla significa que a metade inferior da maioria dos caracteres é melhor iluminada do que a metade superior.

Esse problema poderia ser resolvido com um conjunto diferente de keycaps, no entanto, a troca do conjunto padrão é facilitada pelo extrator de keycap da Cooler Master. Os interruptores apresentam um design semelhante à linha de baixo perfil do Cherry MX, então os keycaps projetados para essas hastes devem caber. Esteja avisado que comprar novos keycaps pode se tornar um hábito caro tão rapidamente que nem vamos mencionar o fato de que existem keycaps artesanais.

Não faz sentido considerar os méritos de terceiros keycaps que provavelmente custarão mais do que o próprio teclado sem considerar o apelo desse teclado, então, antes de começarmos a procurar por keycaps com nosso Pokémon favorito, vamos considerar a experiência do dia-a-dia de digitar e jogar no Cooler Master SK620. (E deixe esses keycaps em outra guia.)

Experiência de digitação no Cooler Master SK620

O Cooler Master SK620 está disponível com interruptores lineares vermelho, azul clicável e marrom tátil ; nossa unidade de análise apresenta os interruptores Blue. O Cooler Master não especifica o fabricante dos interruptores, mas sua marca indica que eles foram feitos pela TTC. Infelizmente, isso significa que não temos detalhes exatos sobre sua força de atuação, deslocamento ou outras especificações. É provavelmente seguro presumir que eles são muito semelhantes às especificações de suas contrapartes Cherry MX.

Independentemente de suas especificações, os interruptores pareciam sólidos na prática e seu clique está em algum lugar entre “isso mal se qualifica como teclado clicável ”e“ Gostaria de ensurdecer qualquer pessoa que entra em meu escritório enquanto estou escrevendo ”. Keypresses feel smooth, and there’s just enough travel to prevent too many accidental keystrokes without impeding gameplay. These feel like quintessential clicky switches that should appeal to many of the category’s fans.

It’s harder to get used to the Cooler Master SK620’s layout — cramming as much of the functionality of a full keyboard into a much smaller case is naturally going to require some adjustment. That’s easier in some ways than others. Re-learning to touch type is fairly quick; remembering which key doubles as a “mute” key takes longer. Folks who use 60% keyboards don’t even have an advantage here, either, because each manufacturer’s layout is different.

Suffice it to say the Cooler Master SK620’s layout didn’t click with me by either metric. When it came to touch-typing my results in the TypingTest.com Standard Test with Medium Text averaged out to 109.66 words per minute (WPM) with 95.33% accuracy. I scored 117.33 WPM with 98% accuracy and 116.66 WPM with 99.66% accuracy using the Aukey KM-G17 and Logitech MX Keys, respectively, so my results with this keyboard are clearly worse.

I simply couldn’t remember what each key’s secondary function was, either, so I constantly had to look at the keyboard whenever I wanted to mute a video or take a screenshot. At least Cooler Master makes it easy to find those functions at a glance. That problem could probably be solved with time, of course, and other people might be able to remember what each key does after studying the keyboard for a few moments. To them I say… I’m jealous.

The quality of life improvement that most affected my ability to use the Cooler Master SK620 throughout the day was its support for macOS. Switching the keyboard between devices was as easy as moving the cable and pressing Fn+Del. That was all it took to get the expected behavior from the bottom and top rows. It wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker if this feature was missing, but I appreciate that it’s here.

Gaming Experience on Cooler Master SK620

This is where the Cooler Master SK620 shines. I’ll continue to mention with each review of a 60% keyboard that my appreciation for the form factor mostly stems from its ergonomic benefits. A smaller keyboard isn’t necessarily easier to type on—the results I shared above demonstrate that pretty well—but it’s certainly easier to situate next to a large mouse pad. That results in less strain on my neck, shoulders, and back compared to a larger keyboard.

Being smaller (and therefore shifting the position of many keys) also matters less when most people’s main concern is the WASD cluster. Although I’ve spent a lot of time hunting for keys on the Cooler Master SK620 during everyday use, the only keys I couldn’t locate 100% of the time while gaming were the number keys, and even those are easier to find now. This form factor certainly isn’t exclusive to gaming keyboards, but I’m happiest using them while I game.

The other aspects of the Cooler Master SK620 add up to a fairly standard experience. Its switches are reliable and the 1,000 Hz response rate is exactly as performant as you’d expect. I haven’t quite gotten used to either of the keyboard’s available angles — although I’ve come to prefer having the feet extended — and have noticed slight cramping after longer sessions. But those are personal issues; everyone’s tolerance for a particular setup is going to vary.

Otherwise the Cooler Master SK620 hasn’t disappointed. Stumbling my way through Halo: Reach, attempting to run-and-gun in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and flopping around like a fish on a dock in Apex Legends have all been just as easy with this keyboard as they are with others. And of course the parts of in-game movement that I’m actually good at, like counter-strafing and bunny hopping in Valorant, feel as good as they normally do as well.

Much of this comes down to preference, which is why it’s a good thing Cooler Master has covered the primary switch types with the SK620. The HyperX Alloy Origins 60 and Corsair K65 RGB Mini, for example, are only available with linear switches. The Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed offers linear and clicky switches. The Cooler Master SK620 doesn’t offer as many options as the Ducky Mecha SF Radiant, but at least it has the big three.

Software and Features of Cooler Master SK620

The Cooler Master SK620’s settings can be controlled both on-keyboard and within the MasterPlus+ software on Windows. (Mac users are limited to the hardware-based customizations.) Both of these settings types can be saved to the keyboard’s onboard storage, which means one could theoretically forgo Cooler Master’s configuration software entirely, assuming they’re willing to be limited to the firmware that shipped with the device.

On-the-fly controls are managed using the Fn key with varying modifiers. Cooler Master ships the SK620 with a “quick start” guide that outlines these combinations, but they’re also easy to spot on-device thanks to the clearly-labeled keycaps that also glow with different colors when the Fn key is held down. Some combinations are easy to remember: Fn+V, B, N, or M cycles between profiles, for example. But others (such as resetting to default settings) are harder.

The on-the-fly controls allow you to control the Cooler Master SK620’s lighting, record macros, use those macros, and switch between Windows and macOS-specific inputs, among other things. The Fn key also pulls double-duty by enabling the use of common functions such as “Home” and “PGDN” as well as multimedia controls. As I’ve mentioned, these combos can be hard to remember, but at least they make these functions available in this form factor.

More granular control is afforded by the Cooler Master MasterPlus+ software whose name amuses and annoys me in roughly equal measure. The common features are present: You can use the app to choose from and customize preset lighting effects; assign different functions, secondary functions, multimedia controls, and macros to different keys, record macros and switch among different profiles that contain the previously mentioned settings.

MasterPlus+ isn’t particularly good, but with the exception of macro recording it isn’t particularly bad, either. (The macros are limited in scope and recording them is surprisingly frustrating.) You should be able to spend as little time as possible in it because of A) the ability to control many settings on-the-fly, B) the ability to switch between profiles with a key press, and C) the fact that it’s only available on Windows despite the keyboard’s macOS support.

Bottom Line

The Cooler Master SK620 feels like a very safe keyboard. That isn’t a bad thing; sometimes experimentation for its own sake can lead to surprisingly disappointing results. But it’s undeniable that Cooler Master mostly just set out to fix what people didn’t like about the SK621, which is exactly what it did with the SK622, except this solution costs roughly $27 less than its sibling because it lacks wireless connectivity. That’s a significant price reduction.

That low price is one of the primary advantages the Cooler Master SK620 has over its mainstream competition. It costs between $20 and $30 less than the K65 RGB Mini, Alloy Origins 60, and Huntsman Mini; it’s half the price of the BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed. A few custom spacebars, optical switches, or additional keys might not be worth that significant cost increase for people looking to buy a 60% keyboard now that they’re readily available.

The Cooler Master SK620 is just as performant as those offerings, too, less the purported advantage of optical switches included with the Huntsman Mini. My primary concern with the keyboard is the fact that my unit arrived with slight damage, but even that was minimal, and the keyboard could likely be replaced. Otherwise it’s a solid performer that should be able to appeal to many people thanks to its various color schemes and switch options even if things didn’t quite click (or would it be clack?) with me when it came to everyday usage.