The selection of recommendable flat mechanical keyboards with and without cables is growing. There are two reasons for this: Cherry’s low-profile buttons are finally good enough in the second version, and Cooler Master ensures an appropriate environment for the buttons – but only in the premium segment. Today we are comparing Cooler Master SK621 vs Cooler Master SK620.
Pros and Cons
| Flat and compact design | Detachable USB-C to USB Type-A cable |
| Cherry MX low profile switches | Many functions with compact design |
| Sophisticated software | Detachable and sheathed USB cable |
| Short distances between the keys | No palm rest |
| Without palm rest | Layout can be hard to learn |
Specification
| Cooler Master SK621 | Cooler Master SK620 | |
| $ | CHECK PRICE | CHECK PRICE |
| Brand | Cooler Master | Cooler Master |
| Type | Gaming Keyboard | Gaming Keyboard |
| Released | 28 May 2019 | 23 March 2021 |
| Dimensions | 293 x 103 x 29.2 mm | 293 x 103 x 30.28 mm |
| Size | 65 % Size | 60 % size Compact |
| Weight | 424 g | 377 g |
| Colour | Black | Black |
| Connectivity | Wireless | Wired |
| Mechanical | Yes | Yes |
| Keycap Material | Doubleshot | Doubleshot |
| Latency Wired | 10 feet | 1.8 m |
| Backlighting | Yes | Yes |
| Multimedia Keys | No | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes | No |
| Num-key | No | No |
| Battery | Yes | No |
| Compatibility | Mac, Windows | Mac, Windows |
| Software | Masterplus + | Masterplus + |
Design & Features
The Cooler Master SK621 is aimed at gamers who want to enjoy the benefits of a mechanical keyboard while maintaining a sense of aesthetics. Thanks to the particularly flat Cherry Red switches, the gaming keyboard looks much flatter and, due to the lack of a number block, much more compact than mechanical keyboards with conventional keys.
Compared to the SK630, the SK621 is narrower since arrow keys, insert, and the adjacent keys do not exist or are inserted directly into the layout and do not appear as an independent block. Nice: The software allows extensive keyboard configuration, including the lighting. You can use the Cooler Master via a USB-C cable or wirelessly via Bluetooth; the runtime is absolutely solid. About 14 hours with activated backlight and at least 4 months with pure typing.
The SK620 Cooler Master is a simple mechanical keyboard in its portfolio that is limited to the essentials of a keyboard. It comes without a number pad and special keys, making it compact and taking up little space on your desk. However, thanks to an extensively configurable RGB individual key illumination, the compact Cooler Master looks no less impressive than the larger competitors. A dedicated hotkey allows you to perform numerous key combinations to change the backlight, record, manage and play macros, or even control your music. Almost every key has a second special function. Practical: You can use the keyboard on both a PC and a Mac via the USB connection – the key layout has Windows and Mac special keys simultaneously.
The USB cable is textile-coated and easy to unplug – it couldn’t be more robust and durable. Cable breaks aren’t an issue, and if they do, you don’t have to dispose of the entire keyboard, which differs from each other in terms of their switching characteristics: tactile (blue), linear (red), or tactile without an audible click and, therefore, particularly quiet (brown). So you are guaranteed to find the right variant depending on your preferred playing style. The USB cable is textile-coated and easy to unplug – it couldn’t be more robust and durable. Cable breaks aren’t an issue, and if they do, you don’t have to dispose of the entire keyboard.
Conclusion!
The SK620 and the SK621 provide a breath of fresh air in the low-profile and compact segment and finally create an alternative to the only real recommendation so far. With the most compact model in the series, Cooler Master even fills a gap: exclusively wired keyboards of this format cost almost as much as normal MX keys. This makes the SK621 a solid product at a good price.
However, a large purse is required to use the Cooler Master offer instead of the Sharkoon PureWriter RGB. Better illumination, configuration, software, and discreet servility, evidence of a well-thought-out product, cost a surcharge of 100 percent, and slightly higher keys.
