Cooler Master MasterKeys Pro L Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Cooler Master MaskerKeys Pro L launches today at £94.99 (inc VAT) and should already be available at many popular retailers. This is a good price for a feature packed LED mechanical keyboard, and given that it’s around £25 cheaper than the RGB model, but still retains all of the other features, this could be a good alternative for those who want something a little more professional looking.

Overview

There’s absolutely nothing I can fault about this keyboard, although admittedly Cooler Master has been making award-winning mechanical keyboards for years now, so I wouldn’t have expected anything less from them. All the basics are here, it’s a keyboard, it does what you would expect, but there’s plenty of added features to help sweeten the deal too.

Will N-Key rollover, you’re never going to miss a beat, no matter how much you mash at the keys while gaming and the same goes for the 1ms response rate, as the faster that is, the less likely you are to miss a beat in competitive games. The powerful macro engine is great for on-the-fly recording, which comes in handy for MMO/MOBA style gaming where repetitive commands are common place, and this can really give you the edge in battle or when grinding mobs.

The lighting engine may only have white LEDs to play around with, but the Pro L is not lacking in effects, with everything from being able to play Snake, to gaming zones that are easily set from directly on the keyboard its self. Add to that the fact you can play around with the lighting SDK or download other people’s efforts, and you’ve got a lot of LED fun ahead of you.

I love keyboards with dedicated multimedia controls, but in the sake of keeping the chassis nice and slim, I’m still happy with the Fn-Shift accessible controls on this keyboard as they’re great for listening to music while you’re gaming, and it saves tabbing out to change songs.

Build quality is rock solid, if you’ve owned a Cooler Master keyboard before, you know what to expect here. The design is a little plain, but not everyone wants an over-designed keyboard on their desk and this looks simple, neat, tidy and professional, and it wouldn’t look out of place next to a gaming rig, or in the office.

Pros

• Durable build quality
• Simple and professional aesthetics
• Bright white LEDs with lots of profiles
• On-the-fly macro/LED recording
• Multimedia controls
• Detachable cable
• Durable kickstands
• 20% cheaper than RGB model

Cons

• None

Neutral

• No USB or Audio pass-through

“It may look like a simple keyboard, but the MasterKeys Pro L is packed full of features that make it a versatile weapon for any work or gaming task. If you’re looking for a keyboard that can do it all, but still look professional, look no further.”