There are so many different gaming peripheral companies out there, from the likes of Razer, Corsair, HyperX, and SteelSeries, but one company that you probably haven’t heard of is Monoprice. Monoprice is a company that produces many things from cables, adapters, and even 3D printer accessories. They also specialize in producing high-end, affordable gaming accessories, such as the brand new Dark Matter Collider TKL gaming keyboard and Hyper-K Ultralight mouse. This keyboard is a tenkey-less gaming keyboard, which just means that it doesn’t include a number pad (or a “tenkey”), so you should be able to save room to move your mouse around without accidentally bumping your keyboard if you don’t have room on your play space. I was sent a review unit of both the Dark Matter keyboard and the Hyper-K Ultralight Mouse to tell you my thoughts on each of these products! So, what do you need to know about the Dark Matter Collider gaming keyboard by Monoprice, and what do you need to know about the Hyper-K Ultralight mouse?
Dark Matter Features
RGB
There are a ton of RGB features on this keyboard, you’ve got backlight mode options like static, rainbow, breathing, rain, zig-zag, and bright, you’ve got backlight effects such as single key, runout, laser cannon, expand, and wave, and you can pretty much customize the RGB on this keyboard any way you’d like. There’s about 30 different key combinations that you can use to customize the RGB on this keyboard to your liking. While it may be a pain to remember each of these combinations, the keyboard does come with a nice and handy little slip of paper that has all of the combinations typed out onto it, so you don’t need to memorize it – just keep it safe and don’t lose it. You may be disappointed to learn that there doesn’t seem to be any software that comes with this keyboard, or you may be like me and are actually incredibly relieved that you don’t have to go through the hassle of downloading and learning a brand new piece of customization software that you’re probably going to open once, and then forget about for the rest of time. The actual quality of the RGB on this keyboard is very nice, you’ve got one LED placed right above the switch, under a transparent plastic housing, which allows it to shine through the entire key, except for the space bar, because it’s too long.
Other
- Compact Tenkeyless Design
- Programmable Macros
- Solid Build Quality
- Full N-Key Rollover
- Detachable USB-C Cable
I have to say, I’m a very big fan of the detachable USB-C cable. I have yet to actually use a keyboard that utilizes this until now, and I can say now that I definitely see why people like it. It’s easy to move, you can swap it out for your own shorter – or longer – cable if you want, it’s just solid all around.
How Does it Feel?
So, how does the keyboard actually feel? Well, it’s actually pretty heavy for a keyboard, much less for a TKL keyboard, but I guess that’s what you get when your switch mount plate is made out of steel, right? The Cherry MX Speed Silver switches on this keyboard feel absolutely incredible, it’s so easy to type on this keyboard. If you’re like me and you have massive hands, then you might be thinking that a compact keyboard like this probably won’t feel all that great for you, but I haven’t found that to be the case. I do, however, find myself missing the number pad when it comes to needing to enter numbers, and dedicated media keys. For $79.99 (it’s on sale from $99.99), this is definitely well worth the price, given the build quality and RGB features, I’m shocked that this gaming keyboard is so cheap.
Hyper-K Ultralight Mouse
Now, let’s talk about the Hyper-K Ultralight Mouse. I’ve used a few ultralight mice in the past, and they’ve taken a bit of getting used to. The Hyper-K Ultralight Gaming Mouse is no different. If you have big hands and tend to use your mouse in a palm grip, then it’s probably going to feel pretty uncomfortable at first, but if you give it just a little bit of time, you’ll find that it’s not all bad. I particularly like the RGB strip on the bottom of the mouse, which is definitely a nice touch that I wouldn’t have expected from a $40 mouse (yes, this mouse is $40). However, my issue with this mouse is how it moves. Typically, mice tend to glide across your mousepad, but for some reason, this one just doesn’t feel right. The specs on it are pretty decent, with options for 800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 8000, and 16000 DPI, and a six-foot braided cable (unfortunately, not detachable), and for $40, it’s a pretty good deal, but it’s just not exactly what I’d like to see in a gaming mouse.
What do you say? Are you going to check out the new gaming keyboard and mouse from Monoprice? Let me know what you think of them if you do!
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