The Mountain Everest Max Mechanical Keyboard Review: Reaching New Heights in Build Quality

Software: The BaseCamp App

A good software suite is always the heart behind a really advanced mechanical keyboard. Mountain named their software BaseCamp, a fitting name for a company that clearly likes naming things after, well, mountains. Unlike the single-page software packages we usually encounter, BaseCamp is a complex piece of software with a clean user interface and tons of customization options. It also supports the customization of and synergy with other Mountain products, or will support them in the future. The current version also supports syncing with Razer products.

Once the Everest keyboard is selected, the first customization page is the profile customization and management page. This page is relatively simple, allowing the users to create, duplicate, import, export, and delete custom profiles. We found one limit here, which is that there can only be up to five profiles, which may or may not be  enough for active gamers and multidisciplinary professionals.

The second page of the software allows for lighting programming. It is relatively simple to program the lighting effects per profile, with several pre-programmed visual effects already present. If a pre-programmed effect is selected, the user can adjust its direction and speed. Per-key manual programming is also possible. The software also offers synchronization between devices and other profiles.

Moving to the third page of the software, users here can reprogram any key to either change its function or disable it altogether. Aside from simple layout changes, users can also tether advanced functions, keystrokes, or even complete macros to every single key.

Naturally, the next page of the software is the Macro programming page. The Macro recorder is intuitive but not the most advanced we have seen to this date. It allows for the recording of keyboard and mouse keystrokes but cannot record or perform mouse movements. Users can also adjust or negate action delays, as well as to modify the playback mode of the macro. There also is an option to test the programmed macro.

The next page allows for the customization of the display dial on the media dock – assuming there is one attached. Users can select the options that appear on its rotating menu, how long it remains active, and some basic colors. There also is a custom mode that allows advanced users to achieve some personalization. The downside is that, if the display is not set to stay on constantly, it resets itself back to the main menu. This can be annoying for some users, especially those who want to use it purely for sound volume control, as they need to go in the menu, select volume, and then adjust the volume – every single time.

The final page of the software is simple, yet important. From here users can modify the “game mode” of the profile, disabling specific keys. They also can disable the indicator LEDs entirely, as well as change the entire keyboard’s layout. Finally, there is an option to automatically check for and update the keyboard’s firmware.