INTRODUCTION

   Back in the day the only thing a keyboard manufacturer really had to do in order to have a best-selling model in its hands was to offer one with high durability and in some cases an ergonomic design as its two main selling points (take for example the very successful Natural Keyboard by Microsoft released back in the mid 90's). Today however things have changed a lot and so mainly because of the large increase in competition manufacturers have to offer much more than just good quality with their keyboards in order to attract buyers. The result we all know since the market is currently filled with keyboards featuring strange designs, slim designs, mechanical switches, new generation membrane switches, RGB key lightning, several macro keys, aluminum frames, detachable frames, LCD screens and in some cases even attached fans. Today on our test bench we have the latest flagship mechanical gaming keyboard by our friends over at COUGAR, the 700K.

   COUGAR products are designed by COUGAR GERMANY, a professional R&D engineering team and COUGAR is part of the “HEC/COMPUCASE” Group. The unique combination of the world-famous German skills of designing the best products worldwide and HEC/s power and long-time experience to produce the best high quality products created innovative masterpieces in PSU history. The PC upgrading and DIY market is changing rapidly and is growing more and more. Professional user are asking for more than only stable and silent PSU/s, they want efficient and energy saving products without compromises in quality. COUGAR GERMANY created such products! COUGAR GERMANY combines the features of innovation and evolution to create efficient, powerful and unique products like “COUGAR POWER”. The purpose of COUGAR GERMANY is the satisfaction of the customer, reaching it by creating most valuable, advanced products. COUGAR – YOUR POWER!

   Just like with the very good 700M gaming mouse which we had with us a while back the 700K mechanical gaming keyboard by COUGAR aims towards serious and even professional gamers who want nothing less than the best gaming peripherals available in the market. To that end COUGAR has given the 700K numerous impressive features such as Cherry MX mechanical switches, built-in 32bit ARM Cortex-M0 processor, aluminum frame, repeat rate adjustment, 6 programmable G-keys, removable FPS palm rest, individual key backlight, 3 different profiles, n-key rollover, audio jacks and a powered USB port. Strangely enough COUGAR didn't opt for the new RGB illuminated mechanical switches we see with some of the latest keyboards to hit the market (Corsair, Tesoro and Razer for example have released RGB mechanical keyboards) but at least for me and everyone else here that's not a really important feature (for us at least). So time to see whether or not the 700K mechanical gaming keyboard by COUGAR is just as good as their 700M gaming mouse.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The 700K mechanical gaming keyboard arrived inside a large box with a product image at the top, the company logo and a list of its main features.

The specifications list is placed at the front of the box while at the rear we see the mechanical switches used (the 700K is available with black, red, brown and blue Cherry MX mechanical switches).

Moving at the rear we see the features list in 9 languages and 11 pictures used to showcase them.

As you can see the 700K is placed inside a thick formed piece of black foam (offers excellent protection).

Inside the box COUGAR has placed the 700K mechanical gaming keyboard (and its detachable palm-rest), 4 stickers with the company name and logo and the user manual.

THE 700K

The 700K mechanical gaming keyboard measures 487mm in width, 170mm in length and 40mm in height (without the detachable palm-rest).

COUGAR has placed their logo at the top center of the keyboard instead of the usual top right corner.

The 700K has 5 programmable G-keys on the far left end which feature a nice silver paint.

You can scroll between all 3 available profiles from the extra buttons placed right above the F keys and can control the backlight level from the buttons placed over the print screen key (the one right next to it can lock out the windows keys).

Four media navigation buttons are placed on the top right corner.

F1 through F4 can be used to adjust the repeat rate of the keys and you can see the current rate from the above LEDs (can come in quite handy in some games).

6 key and N-Key rollover can be selected from the screen lock and pause break keys (via the function key of course).

The 700K also has 3 volume control buttons right beneath the media navigation keys.

The space bar is cut in half so one acts like the space bar while the other is another programmable G-key.

Here we see the Cherry MX Red mechanical illuminated switches features in our version of the 700K.

At the front left of the keyboard we see the headphones and microphone jacks and the powered USB port.

Two small rubber feet and two flip-out legs are present at the base of the 700K.

Unfortunately the legs roughly raise the keyboard just 10-11mm from the desk (dual legs would be a better option).

The detachable palm-rest features a rubber piece (COUGAR calls it the FPS palm-rest) which attaches onto it with the help of two small magnets.

With the palm-rest attached the 700K measures 230mm in length.

At the end of the 1.8mm long braided cable we find two USB plugs (one is used to power the USB port on the keyboard) and the headphones and microphone mini jacks (all are gold plated).

Once you plug the keyboard into your system the backlight system starts pulsating randomly.

COUGAR UIX SYSTEM

Since COUGAR doesn't ship the 700K with a software CD you will need to download the latest drivers from their support page as seen above.

The driver package will automatically perform a firmware update which will take less than a minute to complete.

Through the initial tab of the UIX system you can switch between 6-KEY and N-KEY rollover, adjust the polling rate, choose the backlight mode, set the repeat delay, configure the sleep mode, set the repeat rate acceleration and switch between the available profiles.

The second page of the UIX system allows the end user to program pretty much any key on the keyboard (either by swapping keys or assigning commands) and create new macros.

Finally you can also adjust the backlight system from the last page as you can see from the above snapshot.

Here you can see how the backlight looks at 33, 66 and 100% (there’s also an off mode and the pulsating mode we showcased earlier).

CONCLUSION

   Although this is pretty much the first attempt by COUGAR to enter the highly competitive gaming peripherals market we are really impressed since we feel they've done a terrific job first with the 700M gaming mouse and now with the 700K mechanical gaming keyboard. Quality in both cases is excellent and in terms of design and features well you can easily tell that they don't have much competition in that area. So is the 700K on par with the 700M? Overall just like the 700M the 700K is a very good product not only because of the high quality Cherry MX mechanical switches used, the advanced backlight illumination system which also allows you to illuminate individual keys, the powered USB port and its durable aluminum frame but also thanks to the repeat rate feature (we actually found it very useful a couple of times) and the UIX software which gives you control over pretty much every single feature and even allows you to program any button on the keyboard. Of course our sample arrived with my favorite Cherry MX Red mechanical switches which i consider ideal for gamers (although i would like them to be slightly less audible) since they provide the ideal feedback. My only slight concern is the short pull out feet of the keyboard which may not provide sufficient angle for your hands (we had no problems with that during testing but some people might).

   Just like with most mechanical gaming keyboards the price of the 700K by COUGAR largely depends on the Cherry MX switches used (the difference in price between models is not much however) so currently the Cherry MX Red version retails for USD149.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 149Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Of course we're well aware that COUGAR asks quite a bit for the 700K especially since you can find much cheaper mechanical keyboards in the market but taking into account all its features we don't really think it's expensive. Certainly at the end of the day it all comes down to what you want/need from a keyboard and just how much you're willing to pay but we do think that the 700K is priced more or less right and that's also why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Design
- 5-Step Backlight Illumination (Individual Key Illumination Supported)
- Cherry MX Red Mechanical Switches
- 6-Key/N-Key Rollover
- Aluminum Frame
- Repeat Rate Adjustment
- UIX Software
- Powered USB Port
- Headphones And Microphone Mini Jacks
- Braided Cable / Gold Plated Plugs
 

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Short Pull-Out Feet (For Some)