The Cherry MX Board 6.0 Mechanical Keyboard Review
by E. Fylladitakis on January 27, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Keyboard
- Cherry MX
- Mechanical Keyboards
We frequently review mechanical keyboards here in AnandTech. Over half of them come with mechanical switches from Cherry, and for good reason. If you are keeping track of our recent reviews, you should have noticed that Cherry's switches generally are more consistent than any other type we have tested to this date. Cherry is virtually the inventor of the modern mechanical keyboard switch (not to be confused with the classic buckling spring), manufacturing and marketing them since nearly three decades ago. It is only because their patent expired that other manufacturers were able to copy their switch designs.
With all of that said, Cherry is not only supplying their switches to other keyboard manufacturers. As a matter of fact, the company has a significant line-up of their own keyboard and mouse products. On the other hand, Cherry's products are almost exclusively aimed towards professionals and for specific applications, such as keyboards with biometric or magnetic card readers for security. Considering the target market of their products, naturally their keyboards were using just plastic black or beige parts and never looked like anything special. However, Cherry is taking a huge leap of faith and releasing a new keyboard, the MX Board 6.0, which a mere glance upon it is enough to reveal that it is nothing like their previous products.
Cherry MX Board 6.0 Keyboard - Key Features and Specifications
- The world's fastest keyboard – with Cherry MX and Cherry RK
- CHERRY MX RED – Gold Crosspoint precision keyswitch for all keys »Made in Germany«
- Aluminium housing with sanded finish and grease resistant coating
- CHERRY RealKey technology – fully analog signal processing
- All keyswitches are read simultaneously
- 100% anti-ghosting - No inputting errors
Packaging & Bundle
The packaging of the MX Board 6.0 is the perfect example of the company's market philosophy; very sturdy, completely plain and painfully serious. It could be run over by a car and there would not be any damage to the keyboard or the rest of the contents, but there is almost nothing eye-catching about it. As a matter of fact, those who do not know of Cherry might not even realize that there is a keyboard inside the box without closely inspecting it.
Inside the box, we found the keyboard inside a very nice and soft pouch-cover, a large wrist rest and a basic manual. The manual is small and simple, but it is clearly written and more than enough for the few extra functions of the MX Board 6.0.
Finally, retail prices for the MX Board 6.0 are hovering around $200, with a price of $198 at the time this article was written.
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Murloc - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
I can do it but I need to look and aim to do that.Tab + P is a stretch.
erple2 - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
I never understood wasd at all. Why not the more natural esdf?Beaver M. - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
With rdfg you have even more keys available to the left.I went from arrow keys to wasd to esdf and have been using rdfg for 15 years now. Everything other than it is inferior. Except maybe if you have giant hands, then maybe tfgh would be even better.
CrazyElf - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
You can get a very similar keyboard for less - the Ducky Legend has a solid aluminum construction, and is available in Brown, Blue, or Red switches.I personally bought one and replaced the keycaps with black Vortex PBT Doubleshot Backlit keycaps, which gives it a very nice feel. The thicker keycaps make the MX Blue a bit more lower pitched in noise, although still as loud.
It makes typing great.
Dream keyboard:
- Thick aluminum housing (like Ducky Legend only completely aluminum - including on the bottom)
- Topre 55g switches
- Double shot PBT-POM dye subbed key caps
- I would prefer LEDs (RGB not needed but I do sometimes type in the dark)
Sigh ... one can only dream I'm afraid, although this MX Blue is as close as I've gotten.
Murloc - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
what's the point of typing in the total dark?Also anybody who's been typing for years does not even need to look at the keyboard.
Nfarce - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
I've had several mechanical keyboards dating all the way back to a 1990s IBM Model M which I still have. As someone who appreciates them and can type upwards of 80WPM, here is no way in I'd pay $200 for this keyboard. I love the small footprint and quality, but there's just no way I'd ever justify paying a good chunk of my PC upgrade budget set aside every few years for a $200 keyboard.erple2 - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
Yeah, but you don't have to upgrade a quality keyboard. My unicomp USB keyboard has lasted for over 10 years. As has my monitor. In that context, spending an extra hundred or so dollars means little when I'm replacing the gura,of my computer every two years or so. Keyboard, monitor and mouse are the three things that you always use every day in all situations, and are this not worth skimping on. CPU? I don't always run at full tilt. GPU? While reading or watching YouTube, I'm not appreciably using the capabilities of a 200w GPU. 16 gigs high speed ram? Chrome doesn't care, and doesn't consume THAT much memory. Same is true for SSD and motherboards. There are times when I don't need the capabilities of high performance parts. But I ALWAYS need a good quality screen, a good, quality keyboard, and to a lesser extent a quality mouse. So a few more dollars spent on monitor, keyboard and mouse are always money well spent.SteelRing - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
Just before they close out this comment:Worst ever keyboard: The new apple MacBook butterfly switch thing.
Best rubberdome keys: any older model Thinkpad T-series laptop (T{2-digit}), Logitech diNovo for Notebooks (discontinued) is surprisingly pleasant for me too.
Best mechanical keys: Das Keyboard, but I returned mine, twice, because somehow they keep having this rattling "loose" key noise and feel when hitting the big keys.
Best bang for the buck mechanical keys: Rosewill/Cooler Master, for less than half the price of Das, Code, or whatever else in that super elite ($100+) league (including this one I guess) but definitely upwards much higher than half the experience.
as for the {color} flavor of the switch I guess to each his own. you got to find what's best for your use and style and feel. Brown is my flavor, Clear I despise, but Red might be intriguing, we'll see.
Synomenon - Thursday, January 28, 2016 - link
No PS/2 version? I need to be able to turn my PC on by pressing Ctrl+Esc.bigboxes - Sunday, January 31, 2016 - link
I always leave my PC on full time. Now, if there's a power outage and my UPS runs low on the juice then yes I have to use that ol' nasty big silver button on the front of my PC case.