Cooler Master SK621 Wireless Keyboard Review

Conclusion

Back in January we reviewed the SK621s bigger brother, the wired full size SK650, and found it to be an excellent addition to the Cooler Master range, combining a glorious typing feel with a great design and quality features. The SK621 has the majority of elements from the SK650, but in a much more compact design and with the addition of Bluetooth connectivity.

The first thing that strikes you is how small it is. Not only is the SK621 a tenkeyless design – lacking everything to the right of the return key on a full size keyboard – but it’s also shorn of F-Keys too with them being moved to the number row. This makes for a seriously portable package weighing in at a mere 293mm in length and 103mm wide. If you’re short on space or have a small bag then it’s the perfect size. Of course any time you compress a keyboard into a footprint this small there will be some retraining of your muscle memory involved before it feels comfortable, but if you’ve spent any serious time using a laptop you’ll be up to speed quickly.

Whilst a compact size can be useful, we don’t want it to come at the expense of the typing experience or usability. There is no point in having something so small that it’s a pain in the bum to use, and fortunately the SK621 is so cleverly designed that you’ll be up to speed quickly. We do have to say that if you’re the type of person who often makes use of the F-Keys or home cluster when using your setup then you probably need to keep the guide on hand until you’ve got used to combining the Fn key with the other keys to get the desired effect. However, the main feel of the keys is unquestionably excellent. We’ve gone on and on about the quality of Cherry MX switches until you all must be tired about hearing of them, but the reality is that they are the market leader for a reason, and the low profile switches supplied with the SK621 don’t lessen the smooth typing feel you would expect in any way. The low profile variant might have been reduced in size, but not in stature. Coupling this to the equally low profile key caps and the SK621 ends up as a strange brew that looks like it will be like a lot of small footprint keyboards you’ve used but ends up feeling – compact nature aside – like all of the best full size mechanical keyboards.

Cooler Master have also managed to squeeze a lot of functionality onto the SK621. Lighting options are fully featured, with everything from the single colour most people use all the way through to reactive per key lighting that will take a while to setup but truly make the keyboard your own unique style. There are macro options and all the other elements you would hope to find on a modern mechanical keyboard, just in a greatly reduced package. Lastly the Bluetooth connectivity is quick and easy to use, and allows you to pair the SK621 with pretty much anything that can utilise a Bluetooth keyboard as part of its arsenal.

If you want the joys of using a regular Cherry MX keyboard but need it to have a much smaller footprint than normal then the Cooler Master SK621 ticks all the boxes, with a glorious typing feel, great lighting options and high build quality and wins our OC3D Gamers Choice Award.

  

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