CM Storm Quickfire Rapid (red cherry mx switches)

[bchampion96]

I thought I'd post my review of this keyboard here as I do have a bit to say about it and praise to give the guys over at CM Storm. Hopefully this will help anyone looking to buy a mechanical keyboard. 

 

First things first. I'll start with a picture and talk about appearances. So it's a tenkeyless keyboard (I've never once in my life used a number pad, so it wasn't a loss for me :P). The main body of the keyboard is coated in a nice, soft-touch plastic that really makes this keyboard feel premium. Also on the premium side of things, this keyboard is built like a tank. Really thick and chunky and kinda heavy (which I like, might not be so good for some). Feels like this keyboard will take a beating (good for taking to LAN parties and such). I like the font of the keys and they feel fine. Nothing special here. You can slightly feel the raised section from where the paint is, but it isn't annoying in any way. The back plate of the keyboard is metal and painted red. This makes the keyboard completely rigid and adds a little glow from behind (there are no LEDs) to make it look slightly more awesome. As you can see from the picture, i added some coloured keycaps that i got from the WASD keyboard sampler kit, just because I can. There are media keys along the top, but I didn't ever use them, so I covered them up and made them look more awesome :P The cable is braided and gold plated on the usb and mini usb end. This is my first gripe. The cable is sleeved in a really nasty plastic kind of weave. This means it's really scratchy and inflexible unlike some softer sleeves cables I've seen. This has led to the scratching off of the soft touch finish on the keyboard when i wrapped the cable round it. No matter, this scuff is on the back where I can't see it. Speaking of the back, there are cable management options (which I don't use) and four grippy rubber pads which stop the keyboard moving on the desk (these do the job nicely). I feel the incline feet things on the back make the keyboard too steep to type on, but that's just my opinion.

 

 

Sorry about the terrible photos (i only have my phone)

 

On to the typing (this is more a reflection of the keyswitches than anything else). The reds are amazing to game on. I've never had any issues with double tapping (if anything it's increased the number of times the double tap has actually been registered) and wasdering around in my favourite games is a joy on this keyboard. Typing however has has mixed results. Because the red switches need such a small actuation force, I found myself making typos very often, although I am getting better (writing this has gone quite well, without too many typos at all). My WPM has deifinitely increased after switching over to this keyboard. 

 

Overall, I'm really happy with this keyboard from CM Storm and I think they should be proud of having made a high quality (and really nice and cheap) product. I give this 4.5 stars out of 5 (the loss was with the braided cable). I hope this review has helped you or you've found it interesting. Feel free to ask questions if you want! :)

[bradscoolio]

I have the same keyboard and my backspace squeaks really badly. My only gripe, this is because they don't have cherry MX stabilizers. Occasionally the spacebar squeaks also but the backspace is more frequent due to force not being applied directly down most of the time.

Agree with you on the rest.

3.5/5

[bchampion96]

I have the same keyboard and my backspace squeaks really badly. My only gripe, this is because they don't have cherry MX stabilizers. Occasionally the spacebar squeaks also but the backspace is more frequent due to force not being applied directly down most of the time.

Agree with you on the rest.

3.5/5

So what happened? Did it not come with stabilizers or something? You can buy them separately if you need them. i can imagine squeaky keys would be really irritating D:

[bradscoolio]

So what happened? Did it not come with stabilizers or something? You can buy them separately if you need them. i can imagine squeaky keys would be really irritating D:

Pull up one of your long keys and have a look. It's plastic on plastic with no lubrication :/

Cherry stabilizers are just like cherry switches but used on either side of the main switch for stabilisation.

[Hyydrah]

Nice review, personally I could do without the thirteen keys to the right of my Blackwidow Tournament Edition, it could make the keyboard much more accessible to people while improving portability.

[bchampion96]

Nice review, personally I could do without the thirteen keys to the right of my Blackwidow Tournament Edition, it could make the keyboard much more accessible to people while improving portability.

Thanks! :D I'm loving the tenkeyless form factor. Opens up the desk and gives more room for mousemats and, as you say, increases portabiltiy :D

[Toby]

Pull up one of your long keys and have a look. It's plastic on plastic with no lubrication :/

Cherry stabilizers are just like cherry switches but used on either side of the main switch for stabilisation.

 

You can just lubricate it I think, then all should be silent.

[bradscoolio]

You can just lubricate it I think, then all should be silent.

I know, just difficult to know which lube will work properly. Gotta be plastic safe, non running, and non organic.

White lithium grease seems to be the go.

[ANIMAL_ORIGIN]

Great review! I have the one with Black switches and I love how solid it feels overall. You could actually kill a person with it! :D

[bchampion96]

Yeah, I agree :P I'm really happy with mine :D