CES 2014, here we are in the incredible suite in Las Vegas that is playing host to a stunning range of new peripherals from Cooler Master and of course their gaming division CM Storm. First up we have the Trigger-Z, a mechanical keyboard that comes in a choice of Cherry MX Brown, Red and Blue, features a powerful internal engine that serves up 75 macros, 5 profiles, on the fly macro recording, and the ability to stay cool with up to 64 simultaneous key presses. The wrist wrest is fully detachable, and the sleek style is backed up by some gorgeous LED back lighting.
Then we have the Mizar gaming mouse which features the ever popular Avago 9800 laser sensor, on the fly DPI adjustments, 7 fully programmable buttons with macro features, dedicated customisation software, full multi colour LED lighting and tough rubber grips on the left and right sides.
The Novatouch TKL really stands out from the crowd, ditching the common choice of Cherry MX mechanical switches, the Novatouch uses “Electrostatic Capacitive Switches”, which are basically Japanese Torpe switches, the feel awesome to type on, but come with one downside, they’re expensive has hell! The keyboard will likely retail around $200, which is pretty high given that it’s not a full size keyboard (TKL stands for Ten Keys Less), it’s not packed with features either, but we don’t care because it really does feel like heaven under your finger tips.
Next up we have the Alcor, a mid budget gaming mouse that packs the Avago 3090 optical sensor, a four level DPI toggle (up to 4000 DPI), Omron switches, multi-colour LED back lighting and 128KB of internal memory. It’s nothing incredibly exciting, but it does look like a solid contender for the mid market and the build quality feels superb, which is always a nice bonus.
We weren’t overly excited by the CM Storm Pitch in ear headphones, but CM Storm have gone back to the drawing board to give their new in-ears a bigger low end thump. Each driver features a dial on the back that allows you to turn the bass level for each driver! Add to that a robust aluminium housing, flat cables and a splitter cable that allows for use on both mobile devices and PC and you’ve got a pretty sweet headset. We did get a chance to try them out at the show and they sounded fantastic, so keep an eye out for these later in the year.
Last but by no means least we have the Sirus S2 headset, which features an impressive 2.2 channel driver configuration, with one 44mm and one 40mm driver in each ear cup, which can handle 50 Ω and 32 Ω respectively. The drivers are backed up by a built-in hi-fi amplifier, in-line remote, interchangeable ear cups (mesh or leather) and robust build quality.
That’s everything from the CM Storm and Cooler Master suite for today, but we’ll have more great coverage from CES 2014 for you very shortly.
Someone escaped with the Novatouch Escape key