CM Releases Compact QuickFire TK Keyboard, Features a Hybrid Numpad

When Cooler Master released its first mechanical keyboard last fall, the QuickFire Rapid, it seemed to be well-received by everyone that touched it – especially us. But for me personally, the lack of a numpad meant that it wasn’t for me, as I use one for both gaming and regular chores on the desktop. Fortunately, that problem was later remedied with follow-up models, the QuickFire Pro and Trigger, but yet another caveat was introduced: they were full-sized.

That’s where Cooler Master’s new QuickFire TK comes in. It offers the same compact size as the Rapid, but does offer a numpad. In fact, it still offers every button of a full-size model, thanks to the use of the Fn key. Need an arrow or the “Insert” key? Just hit Fn and then the respective key on the numpad. It’s an intriguing idea, to be sure. I am not sure it’s for me, per se, but I’d definitely quicker choose this over the Rapid. This boils down to personal taste; many may prefer the Rapid even still.

Like the Trigger, the QuickFire TK features complete backlighting (five levels of brightness), media keys built into the F5-F11 keys using the Fn key, N-Key rollover and so forth. Unlike most of CM’s mechanical offerings, which have focused more on one particular switch than another, it looks like the TK will become readily available with Blue, Red and Brown switches. This may seem unimportant, but it’s really not. If you invest in a mechanical model, you really do want to find the switch that best suits you.

The QuickFire TK should be hitting the market any day now, at a retail price of $99.99.