ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Product: ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Provided By: ROCCAT
Price: ~$159.99 at time of publication

Introduction:

For the last month, I’ve been using a new keyboard on my workstation and then dragging it over to my test machine to do a little gaming. They keyboard that has made countless trips back and forth is the ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro keyboard and I’m pounding this keyboard as much as I can in order to find a flaw with it and if I can wear it out in a month or so. A while back we took a look at the Ryos MK Glow and this would be the big brother to that keyboard as it has a couple more features and some software enhancements to make it stand out.

ROCCAT makes a few gaming keyboards that cover the entire spectrum of price and features. The ROCCAT Ryos series is currently their high-end series and even this series has a couple degrees of awesome. Things start with the very nice, yet basic Ryos MK Glow and then take a step up to the MK Pro that we are looking at today. The basic difference between the two models include different MX Switch options, custom lighting, audio ports and USB ports in the MK Pro. As far as performance and quality, both are created in almost exactly the same way – the MK Pro just has a few features that may or may not be needed for your gaming experience.

If you currently own a Ryos MK Glow keyboard, there is really little need to upgrade to the Ryos MK Pro, but if you are sitting with an old Saitek Eclipse II keyboard (like me), this keyboard offers a lot of features that are worth getting excited about. 

First Look:

The box that the Ryos MK Pro comes in is about 50% larger than the box my new ThinkPad T540p laptop shipped in and it weighs about the same. The ROCCAT Ryos MK Pro is a very heavy keyboard that won’t move around on your desk – even if you had Teflon mouse feet on it. This keyboard weighs about 1.6Kg (3.5lbs) and is a monster measuring in at 23.4 cm x 50.8 cm. If you have a small desk or a keyboard tray that you’ll be using your keyboard on, make sure it will support this mechanical beast.

The overall design of the keyboard is nice and straightforward. While it does have a few dedicated Macro keys (M1-M5 on the left side and T1-T3 below the spacebar), these are well laid out and are exactly where you need them. Other gaming keyboards I’ve used have a ton of extra buttons and while sometimes a dedicated button is nice, I really don’t need another 30 keys that are out of reach for quickly tapping in game to activate my macro.  The volume buttons and media player keys run double-duty with the Function keys. These can be activated by using the Easy-Shift [+] key. The said Easy-Shift [+] key actually replaces the Caps Lock key and the only way to get Caps Lock functionality is to install the software.

This keyboard is built like a tank, so before we get further into the review, let’s take a look at the specifications and features on the next page and find out what makes it the beast that it is.