Cherry MX-Board 3.0 Review

If you're even a little bit familiarized with mechanical keyboards then you probably already know the name Cherry, they are one of the most important companies in the "switches" business and their branding is everywhere, from gaming to office keyboards you can't really go wrong with their Cherry MX switches.

From what I've read, Cherry has been developing input systems for computers since 1967(!), hopefully that shows how well this company has been adapting and evolving throughout the years.

Today we will be taking a look at one of their products, the MX-Board 3.0 with red switches, a very affordable mechanical keyboard that stands out from the competition thanks to its thin design and very slim keycaps.

The MX-Board 3.0 packaging is relatively simple, most of the cardboard box obeys to a black and blue color scheme with a few details such as the Cherry logo coming in other colors. It does its job well and because of that, the keyboard arrived in perfect conditions. I can also see the amount of information displayed on the box being really helpful if you're planning on buying this keyboard directly from a physical retailer, it shows which MX switches are present on the keyboard inside the box and also explains the differences between the four main types of switches (black, brown, blue and red).

Bundled with the keyboard you will only find a couple of accessories, a PS2 adapter and a manual that comes in a few different languages. Nothing fancy here, but when we take the lower price point under consideration this is more than understandable and acceptable even.

At first glance the MX-Board 3.0 doesn't even look mechanical, it's only when you start typing that you realize how comfortable and responsive these slim keycaps really are. Mix this responsiveness with the extremely "light" red switches and you got a winning combination. While I haven't tried the other versions of the 3.0, I can safely assume that this version with the red switches would probably be my favorite as it seems to adapt perfectly to the idea and concept of slim keycaps.

The aforementioned features are not the only differences you will encounter when you buy the MX-Board 3.0, besides being a lot thinner than most mechanical keyboards, it is also a lot lighter, this combined with the removable USB cable gives the 3.0 a very portable "feel" to it. This also means that it has a lot more flexibility in its structure, still and as long as you don't drop it constantly, this extra flexibility shouldn't affect the durability of the product at all. As a side-note, Cherry predicts the operating life of individual keys to be up to 50 million presses, so it's pretty much in line with all the other mechanical keyboards with MX switches.

If you're concerned about the 3.0 sliding away because it is lighter than its competitors, don't be. Cherry included two extremely large strips of rubber to attach to the bottom of the keyboard so that it doesn't go anywhere you don't want. If you are like me and enjoy having the keyboard tilted just a little bit, then the 3.0 also got you covered with 2 foldable feet. Unfortunately these feet are probably my biggest issue with this keyboard, while they feel sturdy enough and the rubber caps do their job well, they are very vertical, if that's even a thing, what this means is that when you adjust the keyboard sideways, these feet tend to fold back into place, leaving you with an unstable keyboard, this can quickly become annoying and I would like to see it fixed in future revisions of this product.

If you're planning on using the Cherry MX-Board 3.0 for gaming then keep in mind that it has no macros or any sort of back-lighting except for the part at the top with the Cherry logo. 

What it does have is the ability to turn on and off the windows key and the always welcomed anti-ghosting feature. This means that even though it doesn't look like a gaming keyboard at all, it can easily be used as one, giving it a versatility rarely found in regular gaming keyboards.

Final Thoughts

With mechanical keyboards growing in popularity, it is good to see one so simple yet effective and affordable at the same time.

The MX-Board 3.0 is one of the thinnest mechanical keyboards out there, the slim keycaps are super responsive and will probably improve your ability to type faster and more consistently. 

Aside from the obvious problem with the foldable feet, there's really nothing wrong with the 3.0, Cherry has certainly delivered us a great product here.

The Good
+Lightweight
+Slim keycaps
+Thin
+Well-built
+Affordable

The Bad
-Foldable feet

Thanks to Cherry for providing the review sample