INTRODUCTION

   Whenever i have some free time in my hands i like to visit Reddit and several other forums to check the "hottest" topics and as many of you know these usually have to do with NVIDIA and AMD or Intel and AMD (the usual "flame" topics). Lately however a new "flame" topic has emerged and has to do with Cherry MX and other mechanical switches by less "popular" brands. Due to the number of manufacturers using them in their keyboards Kailh sits at the top of those brands and although i do realize that the company to pioneer a specific technology is bound to receive more respect and acknowledgment from consumers at the same time i don't believe that it's impossible for another manufacturer to release an equally good product (although in all likelihood just like other manufacturers QPAD turned to Kailh because Cherry MX couldn't deliver due to extreme demand). QPAD seems to believe so as well since a while ago they released their top-of-the-line MK-90 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard using Kailh switches and today we're going to check and see if this was the right choice.

   QPAD built its success on a grassroots commitment to the gaming community. Like you, we thrive in the madness of competition and embrace the free spirit of gaming. Our sponsorship of the Q Tour, King of Nordic, events, communities, cups, tournaments, teams and LAN parties reflects this commitment. The knowledge we've gained has fed into our development of high quality products that deliver great performance and given many a winning edge.

   The MK-90 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard by QPAD is aimed towards serious gamers and even professionals who are not in need of extra bells and whistles like dedicated macro and media navigation keys. Still it comes fully loaded and features a nice matte black rubber coating, Kailh red mechanical gaming switches (linear with 40g actuation force and rated for up to 60 million keystrokes), individual RGB backlighting for the keys (5 brightness levels with 7 effects), 6-Key and N-Key rollover (NKRO), white metal plate beneath the keys (improves illumination), two port USB hub, microphone and headphone passthrough, 5 different profiles and on-the-fly macro recording. So the time has finally come for us to see if our friends over at QPAD are as good with keyboards as they are with mice.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The MK-90 arrived inside a box the front of which has a picture of the keyboard (actually a segment of the keyboard) alongside its main features, layout and type of switches used.

You can also check the main product features from the top of the box.

Listed at the rear of the box are the product specifications in 6 languages.

Packaging is excellent with the MK-90 wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two thick black foam spacers and two pieces of cardboard.

The box contains the MK-90 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard, wrist rest, keycap puller and a note advising consumers to download the latest firmware and software updates from the official QPAD website.

THE MK-90

The rubber coated enclosure of the MK-90 measures 448mm in length, 149mm in width and 35mm in height with a weight of 1.27Kg.

All three activity LEDs are placed on the upper right corner much like with most keyboards in the market what makes them stand out however is their design.

You can switch between the 5 available profiles and PC mode via F1 through F6 and of course the FN (function) key. F7 through F12 also act as multimedia navigation keys.

On the fly macro recording can be enabled from the right Alt key.

You can adjust the brightness of the keys and rotate between the available effects from the arrow keys (and the FN key).

You can switch between 6-key and N-key rollover from the insert and delete keys.

The replay/playback speed of the macros can be adjusted from the num,/,*- keys on the numeric keypad.

Two USB ports and the microphone and headphone ports are all placed on the front left of the keyboard.

Here we see the Kailh red RGB illuminated mechanical switches and the white metal plate surrounding them.

Four rubber feet and two height adjusters is what we see at the base of the MK-90.

The height adjusters raise the keyboard roughly 20mm from the desk.

The 2 meter long braided cable has two USB ports (one is to power the dual USB hub) and two 3.5" plugs at the end (all are gold plated).

With the wrist rest attached the MK-90 gests 213mm in width.

The wrist rest is also rubber coated so it's quite soft to the touch.

QPAD KEYBOARD SOFTWARE

Head over to the official QPAD website to download the latest firmware update and software version.

Updating the keyboard firmware takes just a couple of minutes.

The software is very plain (and easy to use) and allows you to switch between the 5 profiles and PC mode, remap the keys, adjust RGB illumination (either for all the keys or per-key) and create/record macros which you can then tie with any of the keys.

 
Here you can see the lowest and highest brightness level for the keys of the MK-90.

Some of the available colors and effects of the MK-90 are also showcased above (including a custom one).

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

   Through the years I’ve used quite a few gaming mice by QPAD but never one of their gaming keyboards so although I’ve always known that they focus a lot in build quality I was not 100% certain of what to expect from the MK-90. Luckily the MK-90 is not an exception to the rule and so it’s a very solid keyboard with build quality on par to that of the K70 by Corsair and the Pro Model S by Das Keyboard. Moving to the Kailh red linear mechanical switches as always feel somewhat harder to press (stiffer) compared to Cherry MX red switches (that’s a good thing if you also type a lot) and provide good audible feedback (overall since I do type a lot I prefer them over Cherry MX reds). The dual USB hub at the front is a great addition since it makes things easier if you have portable and/or desktop drives but I have to admit that dedicated media control keys would also be nice to have. QPAD claims that the white metal plate improves the brightness levels of the keys but even while I type these lines on the MK-90 I don’t think it’s that different compared to all the RGB keyboards we’ve tested to date (there might be a slight increase in brightness but hardly noticeable). Finally I need to point out that since I happened to come across some reports online stating that the MK-90 is incompatible with certain systems we used it on all 3 of our test rigs (one even has Windows 10 Pro installed) without any issues (probably was resolved via firmware updates).

   To my surprise although the MK-90 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard is currently available inside the EU for a price of 144Euros (Amazon.co.uk) I wasn’t able to find it for sale inside the USA. With that out of the way the MK-90 may not be the best mechanical keyboard in the market today (I think QPAD has the ability to create something even better if they put their minds to it) but it features excellent build quality, mechanical keys with RGB illumination and endurance up to 60 million actuations, N-key rollover, dual USB hub with microphone and headphone ports and a very convenient wrist rest and all that for a lesser price compared to many other similar keyboards so it goes without saying that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Kailh Red Mechanical Switches (60 Million Actuations)
- Full RGB Key Illumination (Custom Effects/Individual Key Color)
- Detachable Wrist Rest
- Braided Cable With Gold Plated Plugs
- Up To 104 Macro Keys
- QPAD Keyboard Software (Easy To Use)
- Dual USB Ports
- Microphone & Headphone Passthrough
- On-The-Fly Macro Recording

CONS

- No Dedicated Macro Keys
- No Dedicated Media Keys
- Software Design (Too Simple)
- USA Availability