Overall and Final Verdict
It feels like most of the time when a company really starts to get close to perfecting a product they seem to just drop everything and go a different direction, or just stop all together. But in this situation we have been able to see Cooler Master evolve. We saw the QuickFire Rapid that I loved, the Trigger that missed the mark, then a whole series of keyboards based on what made the Rapid awesome. This lead to the Rapid-I and then the XTI. With the XTI I was completely in love with everything except I really had no interest in only running colors based on red and blue. They looked great but I really just wanted white or orange with the option to run RGB lighting effects. Well they may have changed the name to MasterKeys Pro L, but they fixed most of what I didn’t like about the XTI and kept everything that was great.
We now have software, but there still is no need in most situations because everything can be programed on the fly. We have full RGB backlighting and it looks amazing. We don’t have to compromise with none Cherry switches and Cooler Master even made this the first RGB keyboard on the market with a standard bottom row for RGB fans who are also looking to customize with a new keyset in the future. All of this in a package that has extremely thin bezels, an efficient use of space, and a clean stylish design.
As always it’s not all perfect. Dimming the backlighting can be complicated unless you decide to use the software. The number row is also laid out in a way that the numbers are a little bit dim as well even when the rest of the keyboard can practically be seen from the sky. My other issue was that the stabilizers chattered a lot when I initially started using the MasterKeys Pro L but they did seem to settle down with use. I would still love to lube them if I ever got the chance.
So when I was at this point in the XTI review I had to talk about how much I loved it but how I just wasn’t going to use it. This time around that is not the case at all. I love the MasterKeys Pro L (though after typing the name so many times I could do without that) and I plan on replacing my main keyboard with it. I am going to have to get one with browns and even then I will surely be missing my clears, but I love everything else about it so much that I don’t care. It was going to take a special keyboard to get me to replace my code keyboard and this does fall into that category. Really now I just need the S for use with other PCs around the office and a 60% version to pack in my LAN bag and I would be all set. Sadly, the last option doesn’t look to be on the table, but hopefully we can check out the MasterKeys Pro S here soon.
Live Pricing: HERE