Mechanical keyboards are expensive and the RGB models costs even more, what option does one have if one desires a mechanical keyboard and RGB lighting? There are many alternatives out there, one of them being Cooler Master’s Masterkeys Lite L Combo.
Startign off with the keyboard, it is one with full sized keys and it has RGB lights.
Unlike the MasterKeys Pro series, the Lite series does not have individual LED on each keys but instead the lighting is zone based.
The MasterKeys Lite’s keyboard is not of a mechanical switch but it’s what Cooler Master calls a Mem-chanical switch. I has a bump but no clicks so it feels more like a CherryMX Brown switch but with a more distinct bump.
With the cross-type stem as what other mechanical keyboards use, you will be able to replace it with any CherryMX compatible keycaps.
On the under-side the keyboard comes with well placed rubber feet, I particularly like the design on the adjustable legs as Cooler Master had rubber placed on it for both extended and non-extended placement.
Here are the features found on this keyboard.
Let’s move on the mouse, well it’s a simple mouse with lighting.
As you can see the mouse is designed for the right-handed and it has 2 shortcut buttons on the left.
The mouse has well placed teflon feet, located towards the fore and the rear side of the body.
As for the LED lights, it’s located on the scroll wheel and the rear edge of the mouse.
Below are the features of the mouse.
Full specs as below, taken from the “>official product page.
User Experience
Unlike the MasterKeys Pro model, the Lite model does not require any software to operate. The LED functions are not customizable at all but what you get is immediate operation via the keyboard shortcuts, these shortcuts are listed on the user guide.
In terms of user experience, both keyboard and mouse are satisfactory and I have no complaints about them. Build-quality wise both of them seems to be of average quality, though I must say the keycap are quite comfortable to touch. The downside of the keyboard is that the text is almost not visible when the lights are off and it’s even harder to see when the surrounding is dim.
The Verdict
The Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L Combo retails at RM 299, a reasonable price for the combo of good quality mouse and keyboard with RGB lighting.
What you get is a membrane keyboard that feels like a mechanical keyboard and not only that, it comes with cross-type stems so it’s ready for keycap change if you decide to get creative.
