Just recently I reviewed the Mantistek GK3-61 mechanical keyboard, and that was an example
of the growing range of budget 60% boards. But today we have the Motospeed CK61, which
is yet another budget 60%.
Thanks to Banggood.com for providing this keyboard for review and their continued support.
I’ll leave the links in the description.
Opening up the box we have the keyboard itself, packed with some soft foam. We have a nice
braided USB C cable with metal ends. A ring plastic keycap puller. And a user manual.
First of all, I’ll address the price. Because this is a a big part of why you may potentially
get this. This goes for just under 50USD. Which is nearly half many of its competitors,
so keep that in mind during this review.
But here it is, and it’s a very familiar look as you would expect with a 60% board.
A 60% features just a main area of the keyboard, with the other functions on secondary layers.
Now this is where it gets a bit confusing. Usually secondary layers are pretty simple,
by using the FN key in combination with another key. So normally, to say press up arrow. You
would look at the keyboard and think that FN plus W would be the up arrow key. However,
that does not work.
This uses a really weird system that doesn’t really make sense to me.To allow the WASD
keys to be arrow keys, we have to press FN plus 4, which then toggles that mode. So WASD
will now be directional arrows, until you press FN plus 4 again, to exit that mode.
Alternatively, you can change these keys here to arrow keys by pressing function and 3.
And at least that makes a bit more sense since it’s out of the way.
The usual function plus W for up arrow allows for a much more flowing experience. With this,
you constantly have to switch between the layouts which is absolutely terrible. And
this is the case for the function row, so F1 to F12, and then the nav cluster, which
includes print screen, insert, delete, home, and all that.
I don’t know how and why they decided to do this, and go against the grain. Literally
every other single compact board does it the normal way, where it’s a hold down combination.
To add to that, there isn’t any programmability on here, which is pretty important as you
get into smaller keyboards, as you rely on combinations to access other keys.
So yeh, I’m being quite negative, but I believe it to be a very disappointing trait.
And you may think differently, and perhaps I’m missing something, so definitely let
me know otherwise.
I think the best option would be to have these keys here kept as arrow keys, so that you
won’t mess with WASD. And if you’re a constant user of the nav cluster, then you’re
kinda stuffed with that.
Anyway, back to the keyboard, and we get this super compact form factor, which saves space
on our desk, allowing more space for our mouse, and just being a more ergonomic experience.
The keyboard only comes in black, with the black case, and black keycaps. So there’s
no colourful options like the Anne Pro. The case is a very simple and typical 60% enclosure
design. We have very minimal bezels, which are chamfered. It is a high profile design,
so the keyswitches are hidden away, creating a clean look. And it does have it’s natural
inclination to it, as there are no flip up feet.
On the bottom we have some rubber feet for non-slip, and just some branding that’s
fortunately hidden away here. So yeh, a very typical plastic case design.
And on the rear we have a USB type C port dead centre, and if you know 60% boards, that’s
not an encouraging sign, which we’ll see later.
In the hands it feels fine with a bit of flex. And it’s a very light keyboard, as it has
an aluminium plate, rather than the normal steel which would be heavier. So it weighs
at just about 440g.
The keycaps are also of the same nature. The typeface or font on them are clean enough,
but are broken up because of its doubleshot construction. These are made from ABS plastic
and are about 1.1mm thick, so pretty thin, but not the worst. And because of its doubleshot
construction, the legends will be very durable overtime, as they’re another piece of plastic.
Now underneath the keycaps is a very interesting feature. We have Kailh Box White keyswitches,
and this is the only switch it comes with. I’ve done builds with Box keyswitches in
the past, but the Box White’s are a light clicky keyswitch, kind of being the Cherry
MX Blue of the range. However there’s one major difference. Rather than using a click
jacket like the MX clicky switches do, these use a click bar, resulting in quite a clicky
switch.
The click is sharper, and more crisp than the typical clicky switch which tend to rattle.
And in turn has a higher pitched sound, that may be more infuriating. To add to that, since
it is a click bar, it has 2 clicks, rather than the usual 1.
This creates for quite an enjoyable typing experience. However it’s sometimes described
as a clicky linear, as the tactile bump is very weak. You’d of course have to like
clicky switches to consider this keyboard, and I would probably recommend keeping this
as a home only keyboard. But yeh, Kailh Box Clicky’s are a nice change to the quite
stagnant MX clicky range. It’s just unfortunate that this is the only switch available for
this keyboard though.
The stabilisers aren’t great, so they do rattle, which is the usual with nearly all
retail boards. But with clicky switches, it’s always a bit less noticeable in comparison
to say a tactile or linear keyboard.
Another headline feature is the RGB lighting. I’m happy to report that it does have a
legit RGB colour spectrum, unlike some other budget boards that only have like 7 colours,
so the transitions are smooth. However you can’t really take full advantage of the
colours as there isn’t proper customisation or software. There’s some set lighting profiles
on the 5 to 0 keys. And then a bunch of different patterns and effects as per usual.
Taking the keyboard apart is very simple, by unscrewing a couple of Phillip’s head
screws.
Here’s the bottom plastic shell, and it’s decently
made, with a good amount of ribbing on the bottom surface for reinforcement. The standoffs
look pretty good and stable. But the main problem is that the standoffs aren’t in
the standard places. Plus the USB C port is dead centre, so this keyboard is not compatible
with other aftermarket 60% enclosures which is unfortunate.
The plate as said is made from aluminium and is 1.5mm thick. The PCB is clean, and there’s
nothing really to talk about back here as far as I can tell. Again, this PCB won’t
be compatible with a standard 60% case.
So this is a proper budget 60% keyboard, and that’s something that I’m happy to see.
The build doesn’t really differ from the others, with the plastic case, and the doubleshot
keycaps, but is lighter because of it’s aluminium mounting plate.But it’s all very
similar. It even has legit RGB lighting, and it’s really impressive to see the Kailh
Box White keyswitches.
It’s such a delight to be able to see these keyswitches in prebuilt retail boards. You’d
normally have to build a custom to have them. But they provide a really nice alternative
to the usual clicky switches, and in my opinion, these are better.
However in the end, I feel that a lot of it comes down to the way the secondary functions
work, and whether the low price is enough to let that pass. In my opinion, it’s just
a poor implementation of accessing the secondary functions. And for me personally, it was just
too much. But also keep in mind, that I am already accustomed to the standard way. Again,
you may be okay with this.
Some other things. Because of its weird standoff locations, and the centred USB C port, this
won’t be compatible with aftermarket cases. But then again, that’s fine if you don’t
want to spend more money.
But yeh, it’s good to see another option, especially with these switches. But ultimately
I do not recommend it if you think that the way the secondary functions work won’t work
for you. If you think that it’s not an issue, then it’s packing some real value. Thanks
again to Banggood.com for providing this keyboard for review, and for their continued support.
I’ll put the links in the description.