CONCLUSION

   Through the years I’ve used quite a few gaming mice by QPAD but never one of their gaming keyboards so although I’ve always known that they focus a lot in build quality I was not 100% certain of what to expect from the MK-90. Luckily the MK-90 is not an exception to the rule and so it’s a very solid keyboard with build quality on par to that of the K70 by Corsair and the Pro Model S by Das Keyboard. Moving to the Kailh red linear mechanical switches as always feel somewhat harder to press (stiffer) compared to Cherry MX red switches (that’s a good thing if you also type a lot) and provide good audible feedback (overall since I do type a lot I prefer them over Cherry MX reds). The dual USB hub at the front is a great addition since it makes things easier if you have portable and/or desktop drives but I have to admit that dedicated media control keys would also be nice to have. QPAD claims that the white metal plate improves the brightness levels of the keys but even while I type these lines on the MK-90 I don’t think it’s that different compared to all the RGB keyboards we’ve tested to date (there might be a slight increase in brightness but hardly noticeable). Finally I need to point out that since I happened to come across some reports online stating that the MK-90 is incompatible with certain systems we used it on all 3 of our test rigs (one even has Windows 10 Pro installed) without any issues (probably was resolved via firmware updates).

   To my surprise although the MK-90 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard is currently available inside the EU for a price of 144Euros (Amazon.co.uk) I wasn’t able to find it for sale inside the USA. With that out of the way the MK-90 may not be the best mechanical keyboard in the market today (I think QPAD has the ability to create something even better if they put their minds to it) but it features excellent build quality, mechanical keys with RGB illumination and endurance up to 60 million actuations, N-key rollover, dual USB hub with microphone and headphone ports and a very convenient wrist rest and all that for a lesser price compared to many other similar keyboards so it goes without saying that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Kailh Red Mechanical Switches (60 Million Actuations)
- Full RGB Key Illumination (Custom Effects/Individual Key Color)
- Detachable Wrist Rest
- Braided Cable With Gold Plated Plugs
- Up To 104 Macro Keys
- QPAD Keyboard Software (Easy To Use)
- Dual USB Ports
- Microphone & Headphone Passthrough
- On-The-Fly Macro Recording

CONS

- No Dedicated Macro Keys
- No Dedicated Media Keys
- Software Design (Too Simple)
- USA Availability