titleA little over a year ago at GeforceLAN I got my hands on my first Cooler Master Storm Quickfire Rapid with cherry black key switches and loved it. I later got an official review sample with cherry blue key switches as well as the cherry black version wasn’t available in the US at the time. For the past year we have been using both of these Quickfire Rapids on our test benches because they are amazing keyboards that take up little space. The two issues I had with them was their lack of backlighting and the adjustment time needed to get used to not having a number pad. Cooler Master recently introduced a new keyboard in the Quickfire product line, their Quickfire TK. The TK addresses both of the issues I had with the rapid. Let’s see how this unique design performs.

 

Product Name: Cooler Master Storm Quickfire TK

Review Sample Provided by: Cooler Master

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes



Specifications

Model

SGK-4020-GKCR1 (Red switch)

SGK-4020-GKCM1 (Brown switch)

SGK-4020-GKCL1 (Blue switch)

Key Switch

Cherry MX Blue/ Brown/ Red

Keycaps

ABS, grip coated, removable

Keycap Puller

Yes, ring-puller

Backlighting

All keys, Red, 5 Levels, 3 Modes

Key Rollover

NKRO (windows only)

Polling Rate

1000 Hz /1 ms

Interface

USB 2.0 full speed

USB Cable

1.8m, braided, gold plated, removable

Dimension

377.5(L)*138(W)*33(H)mm

14.9(L)*5.4(W)*1.3(H)inch

Weight

544 g/1.2 lbs

Warranty

2 years



Packaging

Much like all Cooler Master Storm products the Quickfire TK comes in a box with their standard red and while “claw” marks across the top right corner. The background of the cover art makes the Quickfire TK on the cover look like it swiped nto a brick wall, busting it. Around back we have the same theme but with four different pictures showing off the keyboards features. Inside the box the keyboard is wrapped up in padding. Up under the keyboard you have a small manual and a key puller, unlike the Quickfire Rapid there aren’t any extra replacements keys included with the Quickfire TK.

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Features/Pictures

As I mentioned in our opening, the layout of the Quickfire TK is an interesting one. Cooler Master took a full keyboard layout and attempted to pack it into nearly the same space that the Quickfire Rapid took without a number pad. Starting from the left side, the entire keyboard all the way to the enter key is of a standard layout. We do have a single function key on the right side between the windows key and the control button, this is used to control the media and keyboard lighting keys that double as the F keys up top. Beyond the enter key everything actually looks like your standard number pad, with the exception that this number pad doesn’t have the standard double wide zero key that you would normally expect. In its place there is a 0 and a 00 key, this was done because Cooler Master blended the number pad in with all of the keys we lost in between including the direction pad, print screen, delete, ect.

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In the top right corner we still have the normal Number lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll lock lights. They did put a small Storm logo here that is out of your way and hardly noticeable also, this is the only logo you will see on the keyboard from your standard position.

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Here is the layout of the number pad, you will notice that almost every key has a second function. Down at the bottom you can see the reason for going with the single zero key over a double wide key, without doing this the direction pad wouldn’t fit. I’m curious if having the 0 and 00 will cause me to miss type in the future when inputting numbers. Not saying that its wrong at all, because we have seen this same layout on registers, but they could have gone with two zero keys that did the same function as well. Only time will tell if it’s an issue for me personally though.

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Although I would have preferred the model with brown switches just for my wife’s sanity, as you can see the model tested is sporting cherry blue key switches with the LED’s built into them. The keyboard also has a matching blue baseplate as well. Officially the Quickfire TK is available with blue, red, and brown keyswitches. The baseplate for the reds are red and for the browns it is white. This also matches with the backlighting that each comes with. Once again, if I had my pick, simply for the white along I would go with the Cherry Browns. I should point out also, even though it’s not in this photo, that Cooler Master went with Cherry stabilizers on the TK.

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Because this is a backlit keyboard, the keys are actually a semitransparent white with a black topcoat. From there they etched out the letters. This makes it look white on black without backlighting and of course with the lighting turned on it glows the color of the lighting, in our case blue.

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Its impressive how close they managed to get this to the length of the Quickfire Rapid. It’s a shame that it won’t fit in carrying cases designed for Filco’s though because it is just slightly too long. Having said that, it should still be more than small enough for LAN party use where you have a very limited amount of desktop space.

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For those of you who like to customize your key caps, the Quickfire TK uses standard keys on everything but the bottom row. Any replacement key will work, but remember to take advantage of the backlighting you will need to get keys that support that. 

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I mentioned earlier that there was only the one discreet logo visible when using the keyboard. Here is the second one that faces out away from you. Cooler Master used a nice grey color that make both logos visible, but not in your face. I like it!

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Under the keyboard you can see the three cord conduit options that let you run it left, right, or directly out the back of the keyboard. For grip we have rubber feet on each corner about an inch wide. For those of you who like to angle your keyboard, there are flip out feet as well, they also have a nice rubber finish to keep the keyboard firmly planted when using it.

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Like the Quickfire Rapid, Cooler Master kept the replaceable braded cord design. Personally I have no need for the cord to be replaceable unless I damage it in the future, but it’s good to know that I can replace it if it comes to that. You do want to make sure this is plugged in well and you have the cord locked into place in one of the cord management conduits, I have had these pull out if you don’t do that.

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Performance

Having seen the interesting layout for the number pad I’m sure that some of you are wondering how that worked out for us. Before we get into that, I would like to talk about the keyboards lighting and function keys. We have both photos and a quick video that show how it all works.

First thing first, the function key in combination with the F keys is how you adjust the lighting options as well as how you use the media keys up top. Cooler Master did slip in a feature that I found extremely handy, if you hold the function key down you can lock it on. Whenever the function key is locked on the backlighting for the key turns on, this means that even with all of the lighting turned on, this key is not lit up unless it is locked on.

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F1-F4 control the lighting for the TK, with F1 turning the lighting on and off, F2 and F3 adjusting brightness up and down, and F4 changing the lighting modes. There are only three modes on the TK, you have WASD only, all of the keys on, and all of the keys with the lighting “breathing” on and off slowly. I have shown these off in our video that you will see lower down on this page.

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The lighting over on the number pad is a little more interesting though. Even with the lighting turned off, turning the number pad OFF will light up 0, 00, period, and 2. These double as a direction pad if you didn’t notice before. This is a cool feature that helps you see when you are in that mode. The downside to this is that when the numpad is on, those four keys are not lit up, EVER. That means that even with your backlighting on, those keys aren’t lit up for easier use in the dark. I would have preferred that they put two LED’s on each of those keys and just had them glow a different color when the mode was on, but I fully understand that doing so would add to the keyboard's cost.

I didn’t mention it before, but the F12 key also has a special function. When you use the function key with it, you will lock out the windows key. Gamers will love this function. Much like the function key, this key is only lit up when in this mode as well. This isn’t a big deal at all though because how often do you use your F12 key anyhow. The one exception is screenshots in Steam and if you are in game you should have the Windows keys locked out anyhow. This is the only key that isn’t effected by changes in the keyboard backlighting though, so if you run your lighting on a low setting, this key will stay at full brightness. I considered this to be a major flaw until I remember that this is the screenshot button in steam, it actually made it easier to track it down and find it while in game. The F12 key isn’t a key I use much, I would normally have to look away from my game to find it.

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Beyond the backlighting, what were my thoughts on the Quickfire TK? I wasn’t sure what to expect with the weird key layout. I did end up finding that the keyboard took a little while to adjust to. Much like the Quickfire Rapid, you don’t realize how much you use something until its gone. It was great to have the number pad as I really missed it when using the Rapid, but It only took me to start writing this review when I realized how much I use the delete button and more importantly the direction pad. It took some adjusting to remember to turn the number lock on and off as needed. On the bright side of things, unlike the Quickfire Rapid, it only required adjusting to get used to that change, functionally all of the keys that I need and use are there, I just have to take an extra set every once in a while. Considering the TK’s smaller size and footprint, I was happy with the compromise.

 


Overall and FV

I was excited to get the Quickfire Rapid in, Cooler Master has impressed me over and over again as they have grown in the keyboard market. Having a chance to have a keyboard with backlighting in a similar form factor to the Quickfire Rapid that I love for LAN use was great. On top of that, they managed to find a creative way to keep the small size while also keeping the number pad that the Rapid lost. Because of that you have a fully functional keyboard in a small footprint that doesn’t compromise on typing space like a small laptop keyboard would for example.

I was also impressed with the backlighting on the Quickfire TK, with an LED for each key switch and a backplate in the same color, the keyboard really glows when you turn it up, so much so that most will take advantage of the adjustability here and run it on a lower setting. Even with the lighting off, during the day, the colored backplate gives the keyboard a little style. Really the only downsides to the Quickfire TK are the issue of the direction pad keys only having backlighting when you turn off the number pad, this leaves a few keys in the dark when you need your number pad. I also feel that the unique layout, although useful, will take most people a little time to get used to.

With the Quickfire TK coming in three different switch/backlighting options and at a price just under $100. I don’t think you are going to find a lot of keyboards with full backlighting to compete. I know I have said it before, but Cooler Master is here to stay in the keyboard market and they aren’t holding any punches when it comes to competing. I’m excited to see what they will do next.

fv2recomended

 

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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garfi3ld replied the topic: #28649 17 Dec 2012 23:50
A look today at Cooler Master's latest mechanical keyboard

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