The MONTECH MKEY TKL is a masterclass in showing how you can have a professionally designed keyboard that feels great to use, is quiet enough for a shared office space, and holds up well under the high-intensity gaming duress. MONTECH is clearly demonstrating how to build mechanical gaming keyboards that complement their lineup of PC parts.
MONTECH’s MKEY TKL mechanical keyboard is a professional looking keyboard that leans into being utilitarian instead of odds and ends. With its LED-circled knob, it is a smooth accoutrement that can and should be added to your desk. I’m surprised that MONTECH only has a handful of mechanical keyboards available – the MKEY TKL is a keyboard that is clearly designed for someone who values no-frills utility with a hint of color.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that MONTECH has so few keyboards on the market at this time – they’ve focused on modern PC parts for the past decade or so. They entered the US market in 2019, and since then they’ve released PC cases, PSU, coolers, and fans. Their Heritage PRO, for instance, is a case that incorporates an eco-leather in a small form factor. I’ve rarely seen folks in the mechanical keyboard forums mention MONTECH, but perhaps they should.
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The MKEY line of keyboards are gaming keyboards, prioritizing utility, function, and efficiency. The MKEY TKL has a traditional tenkeyless (TKL) layout, meaning that it has all of the function keys, arrow keys with some breathing room, and additional setting keys (e.g., PgUp, PgDown). It comes in two colors, Darkness (dark grey) and Freedom (navy blue). I was sent the Darkness color to review. The dark grey color scheme has a metallic shimmer to it, almost as though it’s made of metal.
The MKEY TKL’s case feels solidly built. I wasn’t able to ascertain the material from MONTECH’s website, but it looks and feels as though the keyboard’s top and bottom cases are made of a harder plastic. It doesn’t have any bend or give when pressing firmly down, so I wasn’t concerned about the keyboard’s durability when playing games on my PC. I usually prefer keyboards made of aluminum, but the plasticky material of the MKEY TKL does an excellent job of absorbing sound and feeling lightweight. It features some
The TKL’s dual-color color scheme is a nice touch, as it doesn’t look too flashy or loud on my desk. The Darkness color has several accent keys in red that add a small splash of color, but it looks as though it would fit right in on someone’s desk in a professional office space. MONTECH also includes a small set of artistic keycaps (enter, spacebar) that players can easily swap out, which is nice. I wish other manufacturers supplied additional keycaps like these – the ones that come with the MKEY are artsy and themed around East-Asian motifs.
The MKEY’s pre-installed keycaps are MDA Profile and made up of high-grade PBT. In my experience with keycaps, PBT is a durable and resistant to wear-and-tear that would often wear legends out. They also have a slight silky texture instead of the smooth ABS that some keyboards utilize. I loved the keycaps – they felt great to type on and had easily readable legends.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the MKEY keyboard is its knob-control scheme. When I’ve reviewed keyboards with knobs in the past, the knob would often control volume and that’s it. Not on the MKEY – the knob can be pressed to switch between three control schemes: Volume Control, RBG control, and a Zoom mode. When I pressed down on the knob, the LED that encircled the knob would change colors to signify its current mode.
Yes, the knob has an LED around the knob as opposed to underneath it. It’s a unique aesthetic that I wish other manufacturers would consider implementing on their keyboards instead of the typical shinethrough (assuming the knob has an LED at all). On the MKEY, the constant cycling of the knob’s LED made it easy-to-reach and a meaningful addition to the keyboard.
Controlling the keyboard with the knob is an interesting idea, but it can be hard to get used to. The second mode, which controls the keyboard’s LEDs, swaps between the lighting modes and is easier to control compared to the traditional FN+C key combination. However, if I wanted to adjust the hue of the lights, I had to use the FN keys anyway. I kept forgetting that I could adjust the color modes using the knob out of habit – usually, I control volume and volume alone using the knob. If there was a way to swap out the Zoom Mode with a different macro, that would have been greatly preferred to emphasize the MKEY’s utility.
The MKEY keyboards feature pre-lubed and preinstalled Gateron G-PRO 2.0 switches in Red, brown, or yellow. Gateron switches are all-around decent switches for office and gaming and are the gold standard for switch designs. The G-PRO 2.0 line of switches have been around since 2022, but the 3.0 variant (which utilize a frosted top-shell and are twice as durable) was introduced one year later. Seeing as the MKEY is meant to be a durable keyboard, they should have come pre-installed with the 3.0 variants as to remain up-to-date with Gateron’s offerings. My keyboard came with the G-PRO 2.0 Yellows.
The G-PRO 2.0 Yellow is a mighty fine switch, albeit one that is stronger than most switches. I prefer switches with an actuation force of over 45gf to prevent accidental inputs, so the Yellow’s 50gf actuation force was a decently strong switch that met my preferences. Their 2.0mm pre-travel is also a decent middle ground, as most switches (G-PRO 2.0 Yellows included) have a total travel of 4.0mm.
The G-PRO 2.0 switches differ in their tactility (Brown is tactile; Red and Yellow are linear), operating force (red requiring the least force at 45gf), and sound. The Yellows produce a low and slightly deep clackiness. When I would furiously mash the keyboard, it would get a little loud, but the Yellows (and Reds, too) feel and sound like a quietly smooth switch. Some of the acoustics can be attributed to the sound dampening silicone pads, but the Gateron G-PRO 2.0 switches are silky smooth and easy choices for office work and gaming.
If you’re on the fence about which switch to get with your MKEY, I would recommend you get the Yellow; if you need a tactile switch, the Brown will hold you over just fine. There’s something about the Yellow 2.0s that feel sturdier than the Reds. I have tried a handful of tactile switches, but none of them fit what I need out of a gaming switch. It’s up to personal preference, though.
The MKEY has a keyboard driver called “MCORE” to customize your keyboard. After some digging, I found it on MKEY’s website. This driver is simple to use once it was installed on my PC, but it wasn’t anything fancy. If downloading drivers aren’t your fancy, there are enough pre-set functions on the keyboard. Worst comes to worst, you can change the colors of the LEDs using the knob and function keys.
The MKEY is a wired-only keyboard, so don’t expect it to feature the wireless benefits of a 2.4GHz dongle or anything of the sort. The USB-C port is tucked away underneath the keyboard behind a narrow socket – I wasn’t able to use my favorite USB-cord with the keyboard because my cord was too thick to slide into the socket. Thankfully, the MKEY comes with a braided USB-C cable, but it would have been nice to use my own cord.
When I think of what I need for a gaming keyboard, I think of things like breathing room between keys, durability, and functionality. Everything else, like LEDS and knobs and screens, is icing on the proverbial keyboard cake. The MONTECH MKEY TKL features everything I needed for gaming along with a uniquely-lit knob and a subtle aesthetic. The G-PRO 2.0 Yellows were excellent switches for most games, too! In testing the keyboard across games of multiple intensity, I was able to play everything without too much of an issue. A slightly more sensitive switch may have helped my FPS attempts, sure, but the 50gf of actuation force was strong enough to ensure that I wasn’t making errant inputs.
The MONTECH MKEY TKL is a masterclass in showing how you can have a professionally designed keyboard that feels great to use, is quiet enough for a shared office space, and holds up well under the high-intensity gaming duress. MONTECH is clearly demonstrating how to build mechanical gaming keyboards that complement their lineup of PC parts.
