The Cherry MX Board 6.0 Mechanical Keyboard Review

Conclusion

I always try to use every keyboard that we review as my personal keyboard for at least a week. My typical weekly usage includes a lot of typing (about 100-150 pages), a few hours of gaming and some casual usage, such as internet browsing and messaging. Cherry's use of MX Red switches on the MX Board 6.0 is odd, as it is being marketed as a professional keyboard and the MX Blue and MX Brown switches are generally the preferred switches for typing. Despite the use of MX Red switches, which are not my personal favorite for typing either, the MX Board 6.0 was remarkably responsive and comfortable for long typing sessions. The large wrist rest helped as well, maintaining the palms of my hands at a comfortable position over the length of the typing session.

For gaming, the MX Board 6.0 leaves us with mixed feelings. The Realkey technology is supposed to minimize the latency of the keyboard and provides true N-Key rollover, which is nice for gamers, and the keyboard itself is very comfortable for prolonged use. However, it also lacks any form of programmability, macro keys or even just the capability to run macros (without the use of third-party remapping software). For me, since my gaming style frequently relies on macros, the MX Board 6.0 was impractical during my gaming sessions. Nonetheless, those who do not use macros and/or remap their keyboard for gaming will not have any issue using the MX Board 6.0.

The Cherry MX Board 6.0 is undoubtedly a very high quality keyboard, designed to be virtually indestructible and very comfortable for advanced professional users. However, we found Cherry's design confounding. MX Blue/Brown switches are far more popular with typists than MX Red switches, so it is strange that the company decided to offer such a keyboard only with MX Red switches. It is also strange that Cherry included the Realkey technology into this model, as it would be a feature appreciated by gamers, but professionals are unlikely to be swayed by it. Furthermore, the MX Board 6.0 lacks any programmability, a feature that is almost a necessity for gamers nowadays, but also very helpful for many professionals as well.

In conclusion, we feel that the Cherry MX Board 6.0 is aimed towards a very small, specific target group - those who want a top quality keyboard and do not care about advanced features, such as a programmable layout or macro capabilities. It would be an excellent choice for anyone who wants to buy one (and only one) keyboard for years to come, even for gamers if they are certain that they will not need any advanced features.

However with that said, the MX Board 6.0 solid quality comes with one significant drawback, and that's price. The MX Board 6.0 currently retails at the very steep price of $198 plus shipping, which greatly limits its market potential. Professionals can find very good mechanical keyboard retailing for nearly half the price. The very best gaming keyboards using Cherry's own MX switches, such as the Corsair Vengeance K95 RGB and the Cougar 700K, retail for less than Cherry's own implementation, and those keyboards feature programmability, RGB lighting, and macro key functionality that the Cherry does not. As a result, while the Cherry MX Board 6.0 is a product of excellent quality and design, it's misplaced in the market due to a lack of competitive pricing - and that's a significant problem when that competition is based around Cherry's own switches as well.