Cooler Master SK622 – The best keyboard for Mac?

So do you have a lot of Apple and/or Windows devices that you use on a daily basis? well Cooler Master has you covered with their new SK622 keyboard. Its low profile, mechanical and easily switches between up to 4 devices. but how good is it really?

Price

The MSRP for the SK622 is between $89 and $99 but we haven’t really been able to find any final retail prices, there’s honestly not much info about this keyboard anywhere at the moment.

Design

Cooler master designed the SK622 with professionals in mind, Focused more towards people who use both windows and apple products on a daily basis. It has a very minimalistic design with the model we have featuring a black plastic lower body, brushed aluminum top plate and white low profile keycaps giving it a sleek minimalistic look. Cooler Master also decided to add a small light defusal strip around the side of the keyboard to add a little bit of extra flair to your setup which sadly doesn’t work too well.

Features

The SK622 can connect with up to 4 separate devices through Bluetooth 4.0 and switch through them at the push of two buttons. It has full apple, windows and android support so it should work with most of your devices as long as it has Bluetooth or an available USB Port because it can also run in wired mode. We did have some small issues switching between wired and wireless mode but that can probably be fixed with a firmware update.

Flipping it over

Looking underneath the keyboard, The SK622 features two of the standard rubber pads in the lower corners and this time Cooler Master have decided to add two flip out feet, a feature the previous SK600 series keyboards didn’t have. I’m the kind of person who does like to use the keyboard feet so I do appreciate the change but if you prefer to have your keyboard flat there are two large rubber pads on the back of the feet so you don’t have to worry about the keyboard sliding around.

The included cable

The SK622 comes with a relatively thick 1.8m braided cable which is color matched to the keyboard. The included cable is USB type-C to USB A but this can be switched out relatively easily in case it gets damaged.

Low profile switches

Instead of Cherry low profile switches Cooler Master decided to go with TTC low profile mechanical switches which are available in blue, red, or brown options each having a 1.2mm actuation point and 3.2mm of total travel. The Blue switches that we have here have a 60g actuation force which in my opinion do feel pretty good to type on. They have a rated lifespan of around 50 million satisfying clicks.

Redesigned Keycaps 

The new ergonomic design of the included Keycaps is one of the main features of this keyboard that was a massive improvement over the SK621. They are still low profile but now have rounded edges. The keycaps do have a very busy look with almost every key having at least one secondary function printed on it. The Keycaps feel like they are made out of ABS plastic but definitely don’t feel bad to type on at all.

The SK622 definitely has an interesting layout for a 60% keyboard, keeping the arrow keys on the right and going with a single key right shift which definitely takes some getting used to, I can’t say how many typos were made because I thought I was pushing shift and accidentally pushed the up arrow instead.

Software

The SK622 doesn’t need any additional software to work, instead having secondary functions to control almost everything in real time. You do have the option to use the Cooler Master Master+ software if you want to make it a bit easier to control things but this only works in wired mode and is a bit buggy at the moment. You can adjust the wireless settings, customize lighting effects, remap keys and record macros using the secondary functions or in the software.

Lighting

So before we get into the RGB options, I just want to say that the flickering in the video isn’t visible in person and is just how the camera picks up the frequency of the LEDs. The SK622 has per-key lighting and 18 pre programmed effects including a playable snake mini-game which is probably the coolest thing about the keyboard. The speed, brightness and color of each effect can be adjusted through the keyboards built in functions or tweaked in the software, you can even adjust the red green and blue values individually on the keyboard itself. The RGB definitely looks great especially with the white and silver keyboard body.

Final thoughts

In conclusion the Cooler Master SK622 is a decent keyboard overall. It’s well built, comfortable to type on and has the added benefit of being compatible with both apple and windows. Personally I don’t use any apple devices on a daily basis but I can see how useful it could be to people who do. The 60% layout and low profile switches make the keyboard pretty small, And Cooler Master even included a small bag to help protect the keyboard slightly. I think if you work with multiple devices at once and need to be able to switch between them quickly or if you just need a wireless, compact mechanical keyboard to compliment your iMac setup, then the Cooler Master SK622 is definitely an option worth considering.