At first we would like to thank Cooler Master for sending a sample of their Masterkeys Pro S RGB Mechanical Keyboard for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Cooler Master:

"Cooler Master was founded with the mission of providing the industry's best thermal solutions. Since its establishment two decades ago, the company has remained faithful to this mission, emerging as a world leader in products and services for companies dealing with devices where heat issues must be resolved.

 

In pursuing this mission, Cooler Master is absolutely committed to delivering solutions that precisely meet customer requirements for features, performance, and quality. Moreover, we strive to be a reliable long-term partner for our customers that they can truly depend on. It aims to be the first and foremost name that comes to mind for companies around the world seeking thermal solutions, and seeks to build such a reputation through outstanding technology, sophisticated design, and superior service.

 

Cooler Master's current business encompasses a comprehensive lineup of thermal solutions for a full range of applications. Its products range from heat sinks and fans to component housing, chassis, and ducting for computers, industrial machinery, telecommunications equipment, and many other devices.

 

A critical component of Cooler Master's ability to successfully pursue its mission is an unstinting commitment to quality, as demonstrated by the ISO 9001 certification granted to its main manufacturing plant in Taiwan. It has also enforced ISO guidelines and is in the process of applying for ISO 9002 certification at its second and third plants, located in China. Cooler Master has also implemented a number of analytical and testing protocols to ensure top quality, including at subcontractors, to further ensure thorough quality control. Moreover, Cooler Master's dedication to quality extends beyond manufacturing to every aspect of its operation, including service."

 

Product Features:

 

Hassle-Free Software

Most keyboard software sucks, but ours doesn’t. The Cooler Master software is simple, straightforward, and idiot-proof. You’ll be able to map one of 16.7 million colors to every key on the MasterKeys Pro, fine-tune the colors, and choose your animations with crystal-clarity. No gimmicks or pain-in-the-ass implementations required.

 

Change Your Settings On the Fly

When your lane is on the line, MasterKeys is there to fight with you, not against you. The exclusive On-the-Fly system gives you the edge when it matters the most. No need to fuss with proprietary software. Adjust all of your preferences right on your keyboard. Set up profiles, switch profiles, record macros, and more with just a few keystrokes.

 

No Gimmicks - Just Quality.

Underneath all the style, the flash, and LEDs, all other good gaming keyboards are largely the same. We know that. So that’s why we worked on everything under the hood. Get the most out of your skills and don’t get distracted by bright lights and flashing logos. The durable casing and sleek layout in this utilitarian board are for those who want to go pro - not for those who want to look pro.

 

LEDs That Don’t Suck

Let’s be real: LEDs as we know them are largely a novelty in a serious gaming keyboard. LEDs have great potential as useful gaming utilities, but if the lighting system isn't engineered to help you outplay your opponents, they're only good for impressing console players. The MasterKeys Pro takes the novelty of RGB LEDs and finds a use for them. Download lighting templates generated by the pros and get the most efficient layouts, maximize DPS, APM, and any other three-letter acronyms that help you kick ass.

 

Fast, S-Tier Performance

No lag. No loading. No rage quits due to crappy hardware. The MasterKeys Pro is outfitted with a 32-bit ARM Cortex processor for unrivaled performance and accuracy. Register keystrokes instantly. Save and execute commands and macros in a snap. Thanks to the MasterKeys On-the-fly system, you'll beat your opponent to the punch every time.

 

What Learning Curve?

Looking to get the edge up on your comrades in a new game? Illuminate all of your relevant keys and control schemes for an instant leg up on the competition. Plus, with four profile keys, you record macros and switch between numerous keybinds with a simple keypress. Thanks to our intuitive keyboard, programming multiple-key macros and switching key backlighting is almost too easy.

 

Accuracy. Redefined.

The MasterKeys White Series employs an exclusive combination of rollover technologies for the most efficient, accurate anti-ghosting technology yet. N-key rollover works in tandem with 6-key rollover to ensure that every single keypress is correctly detected, no matter how many are pressed. Rest easy knowing no matter how fast and furious it gets, your keyboard can handle it.

 

A Layout for Everyone

Whether you like gaming on a full setup, prefer a 90% gaming board, or need a mobile setup with a tenkeyless board, there’s a MasterKeys Pro keyboard for you.

 

Product Specifications:

 

Another Cooler Master keyboard has arrived in our labs from the Masterkeys series, but now we are talking about a tenkeyless design, being more compact versus the regular layouts. This type of keyboard is excellent for gamers, but also regular users that do not use numbers frequently and want to save desk space; this particular Masterkeys Pro S model does incorporate a 32bit ARM Cortex M3 MCU for eliminating lag, recording and playback of different macros, but also drives the nice RGB LED setup.

 

The product is shipped inside a slim cardboard enclosure, with a photo of the main product in operation on the top cover; here we will also learn of the 16.7 million color per-key backlighting, the fact that this model does incorporate CHERRY MX switches, but also comes with the information regarding the keyboard layout:

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, we will be instructed to check out the product website in order to learn more information on the keyboard:

 

 

 

The main product features along with short explanations are available on the bottom enclosure area; here, Cooler Master does also show an exploded view of the Masterkeys Pro S, in order to show the build complexity:

 

 

 

After unsealing the box and lifting the top cover, we will get to see that the keyboard is wrapped in a sleeve, which is excellent for avoiding dust accumulation when not used for long time periods, but also when travelling:

 

 

 

As extra bundle, we are receiving a documentation leaflet, one USB cable but also a key puller:

 

 

 

Inside the provided manual, we will learn how to perform a lot of actions (by using the Fn key), without the need of any extra software:

 

 

 

The supplied USB cable is not only braided, but also gold-plated in order to obtain an optimal electrical contact:

 

 

 

The supplied key puller is larger than the previous designs, but at the same time very easy to use:

 

 

 

The Masterkeys Pro S keyboard does not come with a fancy brushed aluminum top layer, but a more conservative plastic top cover, which does have a rubberized finishing:

 

 

 

As we have said before, this model comes with plenty of double-function keys in order to perform quite a bit of tasks, without the need of extra software. F1-F3 keys do allow adjusting the Red/Green/Blue color levels (0-9), while the F4 key helps us switching between different LED light setups:

 

 

 

Keystrokes can be repeated up to 8x times by working with the F5-F8 keys:

 

 

 

The F9 key helps with the Windows Lock, F10 does record a LED backlight setup, with F11 we can record Macros on-the-fly, while with F12 we can delete the previously recorded macros:

 

 

 

Macro-related keys are also available with Prt Scr/Scr Lk/Pause keys (Single Macro Loop, Repeat Macro, Infinite Macro loop):

 

 

 

The set of 6-keys do come with multimedia controls:

 

 

 

In the left and right sides of the Spacebar, we can find custom Cooler Master keys:

 

 

 

 

Numbers from 1 to 4 do actually have a third function which is profile switching:

 

 

 

Here are also some views of the keyboard laterals; no extra USB hubs or audio ports are to be found here:

 

 

 

 

In the frontal right corner, we will get to see the Micro USB port; the supplied cable has its connector with the cable angled to the left, so it is a bit messy to re-route the cable if we do have the computer installed on the right side of the desk. Given the fact that this type of cable is frequently used for other applications, we can easily swap the stock one with another one of our choice:

 

 

 

By using the supplied key-puller, we can easily remove the supplied keycaps for cleaning:

 

 

 

 

Its removal will unveil the original CHERRY MX Brown switches; this keyboard model can be also ordered with Blue switches or Red switches:

 

 

 

On the bottom area of the keyboard, we will find a simple design, with a large central sticker, sporting the product serial number:

 

 

 

In the corners, we can spot small rubber feet:

 

 

 

Even the kickstands do have rubber tips, which is great in our book!

 

 

 

Unlike the software we have seen from other manufacturers, the Cooler Master Masterkeys Pro S one does only allow working with the LED lighting setup (so no macros, key remapping and so on); the lower interface area does display the available profiles:

 

 

 

Depending on the selected LED lighting setup, we will get different configuration options:

 

Static

Color Wave

Cross Mode

Single Key

Customize

Star Effect

Rain Drop

 

Color Cycle

Breath

Ripple

Multilayer

Game Snake

System Status

Off

 

The Library area of the GUI does allow us to work with profiles saved on our computer:

 

 

 

As soon as we do plug in the Masterkeys Pro S RGB keyboard into a spare USB port, the LED light show will begin:

 

 

 

As we have mentioned before, we do have two ways of working with the RGB lighting:

On-the-Fly System

 

 

 

Via Software

 

Masterkeys Pro S RGB is an interesting TKL keyboard from Cooler Master that was thought with on-the-fly capabilities from the start (for both LED and Macro setups). Quality is ensured by using original CHERRY MX switches (Brown, Blue or Red), comes with a preset Polling Rate of 1000Hz, while the included 512KB of storage helps creating up to four separate profiles. Masterkeys Pro S also comes with the possibility to set up the RGB lighting system via software, so we do have a downloadable utility from the website; the said utility will also update the firmware on the peripheral, with just a mouse click.

 

This keyboard does come with a clean, professional design by using a matte black top cover and no other unnecessary flashy logo LEDs are present to distract our attention; in some situations, we may need to turn off the LED lighting completely so Cooler Master does offer us this possibility from both software and on-the-fly capabilities.

 

Thanks to the included key-puller, we can remove the included keycaps with ease for cleaning and, why not, replacement with custom ones! The included removable cable is handy when travelling to LAN parties, while the dust cover makes sure that our keyboard will remain protected.

 

Now, onto the negatives, we can remind of two aspects:

 

-the USB connector is angled to the left so the setup might less ergonomic in some cases

-Macro recording should be also enabled via software in order to have an easier way of seeing and correcting typing errors in the sequence.

 

The Masterkeys Pro S RGB keyboard is available online for about 143 Euros, a price that makes it compete with the high-end peripherals from other manufacturers.

Cooler Master Masterkeys Pro S RGB Mechanical Keyboard is Recommended for:

 

We would like to thank again to Cooler Master for making this review possible!