Over the past few months we have reviewed a number of Cooler Master’s gaming division CM Storm’s gaming peripherals, and so far we have been pretty please with the time we spent with them. Today we get the chance to try out another CM Storm product, I guess Cooler Master likes us….they really like us : ), the Quick Fire Rapid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. This keyboard, as with almost all of the CM Storm products, is centered on gaming and is using mechanical Cherry Blue switches to give users that quick response, and close to zero lag which comes with using mechanical switch vs. membrane switch based keyboards. The Quick Fire is also said to have anti ghosting, and 1000mhz/1ms response time along with more cosmetic extras like rubber coated keyboard surface, and laser mark keyscapes. So lets get into our review, and see if CM Storm still likes us after we say what we have to say about the Quick Fire.
Aesthetics & Packaging
The Quick Fire comes in a black, and red box as shown below with an image of the keyboard itself on the front indicating that it is a mechanical keyboard, and is a CM Storm Product.
As you can see the Quick Fire is protected by a thin protective clear bag (we could never get the proper name of these things), and includes a users manual, braided USB cord which measures about 67 in’ (170.2 cm), a USB to PS/2 adapter for those people who just will not let the good old PS/2 go, and extra key caps with a key puller. We decided to show you the key caps, and key puller separately as we have some thoughts on those items, and thought it was best to show them off in their own little section.
Taking a look at the underbelly of the keyboard you can see the cable management options in the form of groves within the Quick Fire. Notice that the design of the groves allow you to have the cable go left, right, or straight out of the back of the Quick Fire. The choice is totally user preference, but we like the cord going straight out the back. For us it reduces the chances of maybe having the cable slip out of the back of the keyboard. One thing you don’t want is for the cable of your keyboard to get unplugged during a game making you a sitting duck.
As you can see the Quick Fire name is shown on the space bar. The CM Storm logo can be found just above the arrow keys, and on the back of the keyboard. The keyboard is small in size compared to other gaming keyboards on the market, and is a bit thicker (get measurements). The dominate color of the board is a metallic grey with the keys being black, and lettering white. To be honest this is not the sexiest keyboard in regards to looks we have seen, but it does give you that sense it can take a beating.
Ok since we peaked your interest a bit with that little tease on the key caps, why make you wait? Here they are. As you can see the caps are red in color which makes them almost impossible to miss with the other keys on the keyboard being black. The non movement related keys marked with the Cooler Master logo can be used to replace the keys which show the CM Storm logo located on the left of the Left ALT key, and to the right of the Right ALT keys.
The interesting thing about the red key caps is that instead of having the usual W, S, A, D letters shown on top, CM Storm opted to put them towards the bottom, and mark the top of the caps with arrows. Of course this also makes it possible to use the same red cap keys to replace the default arrow keys on the board.
Having the red caps show an arrow as the dominate character instead of W, S, A, or D is a pretty useful thing to have for users who are new to using keyboards as their main peripherals while gaming. However some veteran keyboard, and mouse gamers may get offended with CM Storm marking the caps they way they did. In all honesty if you are a vet KB&M user you don’t even look down to see where the W, S,A,D keys are cause they are locked into memory so why be offended at something you’ll probably never even look at while playing?
Now since we are on the topic of key caps lets take a look at whats under the key caps, and one of the main features of the Quick Fire, the switches.
As mentioned before the switches being used are Cherry MX Blue Mechanical switches. Now if you aren’t too well versed on the subject of mechanical keyboard switches, click the below link. Its a handy guide that shows you all the different mechanical switches in existence today, and gives you a little break down of each switch.
1 Comment
“We whole hardily agree” -> should be either “We whole-heartedly agree” (what you were trying to say), or a good alternative, “We heartily agree”. To hardily agree is to agree no matter the extreme weather conditions.