My last gaming keyboard died after five valiant years of service. As I mourned the loss, our Editor-in-Chief looked around his office to ship me something he knew I would like: A new keyboard! Sure enough the Cherry MX 6.0 mechanical gaming keyboard arrived in the mail in a black and red box with the words Cherry on the side. I went to pick it up, almost fumbled with the unsuspecting heavy weight in my hand and pulled the keyboard out while simultaneously shoving a temporary, no-name keyboard that was keeping my desk warm off to the side to give the Cherry MX 6.0 a place to land.
My first impression of the Cherry MX 6.0 keyboard is that it is hefty! It actually weighs 4.8 pounds (the average mechanical keyboard on the market is closer to 3.3) and feels really solid on your desktop. The top of the Cherry MX 6.0 keyboard is one large piece of sanded aluminum, with punches for the keys and metal stamped around the directional keys. The back isn’t snapped on but instead a thick plastic with multiple screws attaching it to the top section. This all shows the commitment to quality and design that the name “Cherry” is known for in the keyboard field (they started in 1973, believed to be one of the first keyboard companies). The legs on the underside to tilt up the keyboard are really strong feeling and snap into place with a satisfying click. However, the hefty keyboard weight and size means you probably won’t want to use this keyboard for travel or on your lap – this is meant for your desktop.
The next thing that Cherry is known for is their mechanical key switches and they are, of course, found in the Cherry MX 6.0 keyboard. These Cherry MX Red keys are built for speedy actuation and clicky response. The Cherry MX 6.0 keyboard features a Windows key lockout, which I love, that disables the Windows key in case you are prone to hit it by mistake while gaming. That can mess you up so bad and is one of the most understated, yet important features of many modern day gaming keyboards. Cherry also added a visual cue on the keyboard if the Windows button is disabled or not. If it is active it lights up blue, but if it is disabled the button becomes the same color red as all the other keys.
Which brings us to the the Cherry MX 6.0 back lighting. The no-name, cheap keyboard I was using didn’t have an actual name but it did change back lighting colors. These days, most gaming keyboards go the extra mile and have full RGB lighting, which enables the keyboard lighting to be especially eye-catching and vibrant. Save for a couple of status keys which turn blue, you are looking at only having red back lighting on your keys. While the lighting is decent and does the job of allowing keys to be seen in dark conditions, it just isn’t very stylish.
The Cherry MX 6.0 mechanical keyboard also comes with large wrist rest made from a rubberized material. Being made from this rubberized material, it is fairly easy to clean and fairly comfortably. The best part about the wrist rest is that it attaches and detaches from the Cherry MX 6.0 keyboard by way of magnets! This means that you won’t have to deal with cheap plastic clips like on some less expensive gaming keyboards.
At around $200 dollars depending on your reseller, the price might be a little higher than most mechanical keyboards. Those who know keyboards well will respect the Cherry brand and its assured 50 million key stroke durability and quality. However, this cost may be too high for some gamers – especially when the Cherry MX 6.0 does not feature the flashy RGB lighting that other keyboards do in this price range. The Cherry MX 6.0 keyboard is available now.
