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  • Cherry G80-3000 MX Board Silent Keyboard Review
  • Cherry G80-3000 MX Board Silent Keyboard Review

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    Testing and Conclusion

    I tested the Cherry G80-3000 MX Board Silent Keyboard back to back with the Ryos MK Glow featuring traditional Cherry MX Black switches and a Sound BlasterX Vanguard K08 featuring the latest OMRON switches.  First off I noticed very little difference in the traditional Cherry MX Blacks against the new Silent Black switches.  The touch is close enough I can’t honestly describe a difference and that is a triumph!  The only difference was the sound signature (and of course the RGB).

    Against the latest Creative OMRON switches the Cherry MX Silent Blacks showed the expected actuation difference requiring more force to register but again the difference in sound signatures is hard to ignore when typing at any speed.  The OMRON switches may not be the best comparison as they match up more evenly with the Cherry MX Brown switches but the sound signature is definitely louder. 

    I put about two weeks into the use of the Cherry G80-3000 MX Board Silent Keyboard as both my daily driver and on my gaming rig.  Once I got used to the difference in force, the G80 just becomes a bit more civil.  Gone is the Clacking sound I have learned to ignore and the smooth actuation of the Cherry MX Blacks is dependable and precise.

    Conclusion

    Cherry’s engineers have finally done what enthusiasts have been doing for years with o-rings and other tricks.  They have silenced the Cherry MX switches without sacrificing performance.  The more I used the Cherry G80-3000 MX Board Silent Keyboard, the more comfortable it became.  It seems silenced Cherry MX switches are addictive.  It is simply hard to go back to a traditional mechanical keyboard regardless of the switch type.

    As an enthusiast keyboard solution the Cherry G80-3000 MX Board Silent Keyboard is targeted at users craving performance without any of the showy options found in most high end mechanical offerings.  In this market the G80 stands pretty alone in offering only the solid performance of those Silent Cherry MX switches to win you over to its basic design.  I can’t help but feel the G80 is really just a pure office tool when compared to the Corsair offerings in the same price point.  But oh, those Silent Switches are good!

    Good Things

    Silent Cherry MX Switches are here
    Basic design
    Solid construction

    Bad Things

    No extras at all
    Large footprint
    Priced similar full featured keyboards