Marvo Scorpion CM420 3-in-1 RGB Gaming Kit Review

A Closer Look & Performance

First up, we have this lovely mouse mat. It measures 750 x 280 x 3mm, so it’s big enough for the mouse and keyboard and will no doubt add some colour to any desktop. The quality is great too, I’ve actually got a few Marvo mouse mats in the office, and they’ve maintained their quality over the last 18 months I’ve had them.

The keyboard and the mouse are both hard-wired, and both are plug and play. Any features they have are all fully adjustable from the devices themselves. That’s great, as it means no fussy desktop software and drivers, meaning you can just get straight to the good stuff instead.

Powered up, you’re treated to some nice RGB effects. Now, I will say that one of the tricks Marvo use to keep their prices down are to repurpose older designs and hardware. There’s nothing wrong with that either, as they’re very clearly passing those savings onto the consumer. As such, the RGB is a bit basic, and those zones do not actually change colour. That being said, I think it looks pretty great regardless.

They give it some interesting effects that basically revolve around turning them on and off or using fades.

However, I’m fine with this for a keyboard that comes in at such a low price. If you want per-key RGB LED lighting though, expect to pay a lot more for it.

What does surprise me, however, is the quality of the keyboard. It looks and feels pretty amazing. Marvo has even given it a full metal top panel construction, making it incredibly durable and stylish. Plus, it provides a firmer mounting for the switches, making the typing action feel that little bit tighter and responsive.

The keyboard is remarkably thin too, which is something that actually surprised me a bit. You can see that top sheet of metal here too, as it rolls off at the front edge.

However, at the rear, you can see it rolls over to form a larger lip at the back too. However, beyond that, the plastic chassis is very low profile, at least for a mechanical keyboard.

Those LED lights do throw out some nice light, even if they are fixed, it’s rather pretty to look at. The keyboard houses a lot of features too, all built-in and accessed by holding the FN-Shift key. There are multimedia controls up here. Plus a range of profiles, lighting and gaming modes on the number keys.

A few basic Windows shortcuts.

More multimedia controls, allowing you to adjust the volume.

A bunch of lighting profiles, turning zones on/off, or turning all the lights off entirely.

On the underside, you’ll find some rubber grips to prevent the keyboard from sliding around, but otherwise, it’s neat and tidy here.

There are two feet to add a little angle if you require it, but that’s really up to you.

It’s a very comfortable and practical keyboard too. While it’s got a lot of functions, it sticks with the usual form factor and has a standard full-size layout, meaning it feels like a normal keyboard should really.

What does surprise me is how quiet it is to type on. It’s one of the rare keyboards to come with a set of Black switches. They’re a linear switch like reds, but they have stronger springs in them. This means they don’t bottom out anywhere near as hard as reds, making them significantly quieter. They also have a fast return rate due to the stronger springs.

Obviously, at this price, they’re not Cherry switches. Marvo is using Jixian Black switches, which have an operating force of around 60g. However, they are compatible with Cherry key caps, and they appear to be a straight-up clone too, so replacing the switch with Cherry or other rivals should not pose issues.

The smooth and quiet switches, as well as the full-width wrist rest, make the keyboard a real winner overall. Actually, I’m beyond impressed here!

The mouse looks great too, the design looks familiar, but I can’t quite pin down which one used a very similar mould in the past. I strongly suspect it was once an old Cooler Master design though. Either way, it looks pretty great for such a budget model and much to my own surprise, it feels a lot more expensive to hold too; it has a really nice weight to it and the panels feel plenty robust.

A couple of large switches on the side for easy navigation.

Plus there’s a sturdy grip on each side allowing for greater control and the use of a lift-off technique.

There are two more controls on the top, one for the DPI and the other for the RGB.

Now, unlike the keyboard, the RGB is changeable on each zone of the mouse, but you can only cycle through the available profiles. Honestly, though, that’s good enough for me. The colours do look pretty great too.

As for that sensor, well, it’s pretty decent, actually. You can cycle through the DPI levels, which are 800, 1600, 2400, 3200, 4800 and 6400. They all feel pretty responsive too, not quite as smooth are more modern and premium sensors, but it’s on par with your typical gaming mouse for 3-5 years ago. Again, given the price, that feels pretty fair and I’ll be damned if you’ll find better at this price range.

The shape is good, it fits my hand well.

And a palm rest or fingertip/claw grip works really well.

Especially with those side grips allowing you to easily lift the mouse.