INTRODUCTION

   No matter how many times we've thought about it over the years how rapidly the PC market can change is quite impressive even for us. Take keyboards for example, up until roughly 4-5 years ago every single person i know had been using membrane keys based ones for decades (like myself since the very early 90's) but in such a short time this has changed and so mechanical keyboards are now selling more than twice in number compared to regular membrane ones to professionals, gamers and enthusiasts alike. That's not all however and so although Cherry started it all with their excellent MX switches several years back (around three decades to be exact so it did take a while for the main consumer base to actually see them used in keyboards) the overwhelming demand allowed many manufacturers to make their very own models like Kailh (red/blue/black/brown), SteelSeries (QS1), Razer (green/orange), Matias (Quiet Click) and Logitech (Romer-G). Mionix has only released one mechanical gaming keyboard to date called the Zibal 60 and although it took quite a while for us to get our hands on it we finally did.

   Mionix was founded in Sweden 2007 by Peter Nygren with the mission to create the world’s best performing and most ergonomic gaming mouse. We proved that a small dedicated Swedish clan could do this. And it was just the beginning... Today, our complete gaming range is crafted with the same level of innovation and attention to detail.

   The Mionix Zibal 60 uses Cherry MX Black 18k gold plated backlit mechanical switches (60g actuation force and a lifespan of up to 50 million keystrokes) and unlike most similar models in the market it's not available with red, blue and brown ones. This is somewhat strange and will certainly disappoint some serious gamers since Cherry MX red switches offer a much better tactile feedback compared to their black brothers (always at the cost of extra noise however) but I’m certain that Mionix chose that path for a good reason (if i had to guess this decision was most likely taken to in order to reduce costs). Also since the Zibal 60 is not one of the latest mechanical gaming keyboards to hit the market instead of full N-Key rollover it features a 6-key rollover but since to date the maximum number of keys any of us here has ever used simultaneously is 5 i think that 6 although certainly not as good (at least not in terms of marketing) should be more than enough. The Zibal 60 also features three different lighting modes for its keys (On/Off/WASD) with three different lighting levels, two powered USB 2.0 ports, 3.5mm audio ports and a thick steel braided cord.