Cooler Master está pensando en pequeño con el SK620, un teclado con factor de forma del 60% compatible con Windows y macOS que ofrece numerosas características de calidad de vida en su pequeña carcasa. Sin embargo, el teclado de $ 89 tiene una dura competencia, incluido el SK622 inalámbrico que lo precedió. Veamos cómo se compara el Cooler Master SK620 con los mejores teclados para juegos de 2021 .
Especificaciones de Cooler Master SK620
Diseño de Cooler Master SK620
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El Cooler Master SK620 está disponible en dos esquemas de color: un modelo”gris espacial”con una base negra, placa superior de aluminio cepillado y teclas de color gris oscuro, así como un modelo”blanco plateado”que presenta una base blanca, placa superior de aluminio cepillado y teclas blancas. (Nota: algunos minoristas llaman al modelo de gris espacial”gris metalizado”). Recibimos el modelo de gris espacial para su revisión, pero las especificaciones parecen ser las mismas en los dos esquemas de color disponibles.
Aparte de la combinación de colores, el aspecto más obvio del SK620 es su diseño. Cooler Master optó por el factor de forma del 60% al que las empresas convencionales como Razer , Corsair y HyperX han prestado cada vez más atención durante el último año. (Con varios, incluidos Razer y Ducky , también dedicando más recursos a la variante del 65% en los últimos meses.) Discutiremos cómo esto afecta la escritura y los juegos con el teclado con más detalle más adelante.
Por ahora, centrémonos en el tamaño del Cooler Master SK620. El teclado mide 11,54 pulgadas de largo, 4,05 pulgadas de ancho y 1,19 pulgadas de alto de forma predeterminada; Los pies extensibles pueden elevar esa altura a 1,69 pulgadas en su punto máximo. Hubiera sido bueno ver pies ajustables, pero esto es mejor que no tener pies en absoluto. Combine esas medidas con el bajo peso del teclado (pesa 0,83 libras sin el cable) y obtendrá una placa muy portátil.
Con ese fin, el Cooler Master SK620 cuenta con un USB-C trenzado desmontable a tipo USB-Un cable, que también debería contribuir a la portabilidad del teclado. Solo tenga cuidado cuando esté en tránsito: nuestra unidad de revisión tiene daños notables en el borde inferior de la placa superior de aluminio a pesar de que se envió con cinta protectora. Eso no inspira exactamente confianza en la durabilidad de la placa, aunque no sabemos si el problema es generalizado o si simplemente tenemos mala suerte.
El Cooler Master SK620 también cuenta con teclas ergonómicas adornadas con más leyendas. que un jarrón griego. Esto es en parte una consecuencia del factor de forma del 60%, que casi requiere que los fabricantes impriman las funciones secundarias preprogramadas realizadas por cada tecla, pero también el resultado de la compatibilidad con Windows y macOS. Dígale a Cooler Master por manejar toda esa complejidad sin hacer que las teclas del SK620 sean un desastre.
Esas majestuosas teclas están iluminadas por iluminación RGB por tecla que admite 16.8 millones de colores. La iluminación es lo suficientemente brillante y se ve bien reflejada en la placa superior de aluminio, al menos en el modelo gris espacial. Desafortunadamente, aquí es donde las teclas terminan afectando negativamente la experiencia. No dejan pasar la luz de manera uniforme, y la decisión de iluminar la función secundaria de cada tecla significa que la mitad inferior de la mayoría de los caracteres está mejor iluminada que la mitad superior.
Sin embargo, ese problema podría resolverse con un conjunto diferente de teclas, y el extractor de teclas incluido de Cooler Master facilita el cambio del conjunto predeterminado. Los interruptores tienen un diseño similar a la línea de perfil bajo de Cherry MX, por lo que las teclas diseñadas para esos vástagos deberían encajar. Solo tenga en cuenta que comprar nuevas teclas puede convertirse en un hábito costoso tan rápido que ni siquiera vamos a mencionar el hecho de que existen teclas artesanales.
No tiene sentido considerar los méritos de terceros teclas que probablemente costarán más que el teclado en sí sin considerar el atractivo de ese teclado, así que antes de comenzar a buscar teclas con nuestros Pokémon favoritos, consideremos la experiencia diaria de escribir y jugar en el Cooler Master SK620. (Y deje esas teclas en otra pestaña).
Typing Experience en Cooler Master SK620
El Cooler Master SK620 está disponible con interruptores rojo lineal, azul clicky y marrón táctil ; nuestra unidad de revisión cuenta con los interruptores azules. Cooler Master no especifica el fabricante de los interruptores, pero su marca indica que fueron hechos por TTC. Desafortunadamente, eso significa que no tenemos detalles exactos sobre su fuerza de actuación, recorrido u otras especificaciones. Probablemente sea seguro asumir que son muy similares a las especificaciones de sus contrapartes Cherry MX.
Independientemente de sus especificaciones, los interruptores se sintieron sólidos en la práctica, y su clic está en algún lugar entre”esto apenas califica como un clic en el teclado”y”Me gustaría dejar sordo a cualquiera que entre en mi oficina mientras escribo”. 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.