Cooler Master Masterset MS121

A surprisingly decent starter kit for the PC gamer on a budget.

For fresh-faced PC gamers chasing a highly coveted mechanical-switch keyboard — but who’re also, perhaps, a little strapped for cash — this keyboardand-mouse pack offers a worthy compromise.

Both components of the Cooler Master Masterset have an unassuming aesthetic, although the clearly visible white plastic layer beneath the keys does taint this effect somewhat. The same layer is also responsible for extending the otherwise-dazzling RGB lighting a little too far from the keys. The mouse and keyboard are both built from plastic and are about as ergonomically vanilla as possible. While the keys feel fairly sturdy, the mouse is a little light and plasticky.

Cooler Master is calling the switches on this ‘ board ‘mem-chanical’, but they don’t feel as awkward as that title sounds. This tech utilises a membrane layer with rubber domes to register the key’s actuation, but the switch itself has a faux-mechanical operation, so the user feels tactile feedback on each press. The intention of this technology is to offer up the mechanical feel at a membrane price and, at $99 for the set, it’s certainly affordable. The switches feel convincingly mechanical for the most part, but the acoustic feedback is annoyingly high-pitched and loud. You can replace the keycaps with any other Cherrycompatible offering, which is certainly a nice touch, and while 26-key anti-ghosting and a 125Hz polling rate aren’t top-of-the-line gaming specs, they make for a keyboard more than capable enough for the vast majority of gamers.

As is the case with some of Cooler Master’s more premium keyboards, there’s no software support here. While this makes for plugand-play simplicity, the loss of fine control over key assignment and RGB customisation is a tad crippling. Instead, you need to rely on a rather complex system of keyboard shortcuts to muck around with, and if you’re a fan of assigning keyboard shortcuts and macros, you’ll have to look to third party software solutions.

The mouse suffers similarly from its lack of software. You can set the two lighting ‘zones’ to one of eight colours (not independently) and cycle through a small number of effects with some button combos; but the real sacrifice is the inability to assign the six buttons to anything but their original function.

Despite the shortcomings, there’s little to complain about with the included mouse, and considering it comes with durable Omron switches and a dedicated button to switch between four DPI settings; you can certainly end up with worse clickers for the price.

The value of this set relies heavily on whether or not you’re after an included mouse, in which case the compromises are well worth it, or if per-key RGB (albeit, without fine control) is more important than true-mechanical switches. If you’re not in need of either, there are some similarly priced and fully mechanical alternatives.