Finding the perfect keyboard can often feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. There's no shortage of mechanical keyboards offering a whole range of features and hardware options. While the "perfect keyboard" likely doesn't exist, there are certainly some good ones to be found.
Finding a solid balance between hardware, features and price can be daunting. While Cherry's MX 8.2 TKL keyboard delivers fantastic hardware, there are compromises as well. I spent several weeks typing and gaming on it to see if it's worth it.
What I like about the Cherry MX 8.2 keyboard
CNET/Jason Cockerham
There's not much to make this TKL (or "tenkeyless" aka no number pad) keyboard stand out, but that's a good thing here. The design is understated but well-built. It's not a full-metal build, but the plastic doesn't feel cheap and the metal base board allows for a very solid typing surface. In order to keep it compact, Cherry put the power switch and connection indicators on the back, which might get a bit confusing if you change inputs frequently.
It's also pretty compact, even for a TKL keyboard. There's not much space around the sides or even between the keys and rows. I like it, but some might prefer things a bit more spread out, especially if you have larger hands.
The MX 8.2 comes in white or black with ABS keycaps, which are actually nicer than I thought they'd be. I normally prefer PBT keycaps, but these don't feel as thin as other ABS keycaps I've used so they didn't bother me as much. And, of course, the keycaps are swappable. So if you have a preference or want to try a different type, they're easy to change.
CNET/Jason Cockerham
No gaming keyboard would be complete without RGB lighting, and that's one place the MX 8.2 shines (pun intended). You can customize the backlight for every key and there are several different lighting effects to choose from. In the Cherry software you can create up to 10 profiles so you can have one for each game (or, you know, for work stuff).
Not every gaming keyboard supports wireless connectivity, but thankfully, the MX 8.2 offers both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz wireless dongle connectivity. If you're worried about latency, stick with the dongle, but in truth, Bluetooth was plenty fine for me during my usage.
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