INTRODUCTION

   I never was much into notebooks/laptops and one of the reasons has always been the very short and soft keys used in their keyboards (the other has always been the rather small screens) so when many people i know got swept of their feet by the unveiling of the Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard a while back i really paid almost no attention to it. However i do realize that such keyboards can come in handy since they require less space on your desks and in some cases can improve typing speed without the extra noise of most keyboards but in the end i guess i never felt these were ment for me. Still it seems that many PC users out there are looking for a similar alternative to the Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard and although not many quality solutions come to mind we did notice that Cherry (yes that Cherry) has been manufacturing a corded keyboard with low profile keys called the Strait so we thought it would be nice to take it for a spin.

   CHERRY, a registered brand of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, provides high-performance sensors, standard and custom electrical switches, and computer input devices for the worldwide automotive, computer and consumer/commercial OEM markets. Our enthusiasm for innovative products and processes and our uncompromising pursuit of zero defect quality assurance have made us a global leader in Computer Input Devices. We will strive to continue the 60+ year old CHERRY tradition for quality and reliability as we design, develop and manufacture mobile devices, keyboards, and other products, utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and the global resources of our parent company, ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

   Cherry may have made a name for themselves in the consumer market over the last decade largely thanks to their high quality MX mechanical switch line but the Strait keyboard has actually nothing to do with that since due to its low profile keys and very thin design it's based on the all-time classic membrane switches. That basically means that you're not getting the same tactile and audible feedback you get with mechanical switches nor are you getting the same durability since the switches used in the Strait have a lifetime of up to 10 million keystrokes (as opposed to the 50/60 million keystrokes of the Cherry MX switches). Needless to say that some consumers will most likely enjoy the "lack" of audible feedback (just the ones using the Apple wireless keyboard do) so for a specific target audience this isn't a drawback.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Strait keyboard arrived inside a small cardboard box the front of which is taken by a product picture.

Printed at the rear of the box are the main features, package contents and system requirements lists in 3 languages.

You can open the front of the box to actually see the keyboard inside through a clear plastic window.

Unfortunately the box contains just the keyboard and the quick start guide.

THE STRAIT

The Strait is a very thin yet almost full-sized keyboard (unfortunately unlike the Apple wireless keyboard which has a housing made out of aluminum this is made out of hard plastic) and so it measures 441mm in length, 161mm in width and 14.5mm in height with a weight of 724g.

To showcase its size and most importantly its thickness we placed it next to the Tesoro Excalibur Spectrum.

Cherry has placed their logo at the lower center of the keyboard.

The clean desktop note on the lower left corner probably points to the low-profile of this keyboard.

The 5 media navigation keys are placed next to the F12 key and right above the numpad.

The Caps/Scroll/Num lock LEDs are placed at the upper center of the keyboard.

Since I’m certain that some of you wonder just how low-profile the keys of the strait are here's a good picture of them (didn't remove them cause placing them back on could be tricky).

Once you turn the keyboard over you will notice that it has 4 small rubber feet at the front but no height adjusters at the rear.

Height adjusters on a low-profile keyboard may not be needed but you need some angle in order to type correctly and these small hard plastic feet keep the highest end of the keyboard 12mm above the desk.

The 1.8 meter long cable has a regular USB connector at the end.

AUDIBLE FEEDBACK

Many people ask my opinion on what keyboard they should get for their needs. Some want a “silent” model for use in their living room or even in their bedroom while others ask for a model with good audible feedback for use in the office or for gaming. Because of this I decided to test keyboards by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically over each keyboard (5cm distance) and typing NikKTech a total of 6 times with each (after that the max recorded number - max hold - is placed in the graph). I have to admit that this may not be 100% accurate but it does give a good idea on what you can expect from each model since aside the type of switches used keycaps and keyboard material also matter.

CONCLUSION

   Up until roughly two years ago i thought that Cherry was only responsible for their excellent MX mechanical switches and that they had no presence in the market (at least not the PC consumer one) but boy was i wrong. It didn't really come as a surprise since when you have the largest production of mechanical switches in the world (and even that's not enough to provide every keyboard manufacturer in the market with them - thus many use Kailh or even their very own ones) it makes sense for you to also manufacture your very own keyboards. Unfortunately because of its thin size and target audience the Strait was never going to get mechanical switches but even so with 10 million keystrokes lifetime for its membrane switches and a 3 year warranty i doubt many will really have a problem with that. Besides as mentioned numerous times in this review the target audience of the Strait prefers a less audible and a much smaller solution compared to mechanical and even regular membrane keyboards (not to mention a keyboard with which they can type faster). Finally at first i thought that I’d obviously like it a lot more had Cherry used a all-aluminum body for the Strait but it doesn't take long to realize that had they done so not only would its weight increase substantially but so would its end price.

   Unlike many other EU based manufacturers Cherry products are widely available all around the globe so currently you can find their Strait keyboard for USD95.09 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 52Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Overall i don't think that Cherry asks a lot for their Strait keyboard in the EU but the same doesn't apply for the USA since there things are the other way around. I can't comment on whether or not Cherry will take steps to change that (my guess is that they will eventually) so until that happens i really can't recommend the Strait keyboard for anyone living there. For EU based consumers however pricing is very good and since we feel that the Strait offers just what its target audience wants (low-profile silent keys) it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality (10 Million Keystrokes Lifetime)
- Size / Weight
- Low Profile & Silent Keys
- Faster Typing
- Available In Several Versions (Black / White / Silver / Wood)
- Price (EU)

CONS

- Price (USA)
- Hard Plastic Housing (For Some)