Cooler Master CK720 keyboard review - A small but satisfying piece of hardware

Over the years, I’ve reviewed and used many keyboards, and the latest is the Cooler Master CK720. A 65% scaled, it’s on the small, compact side, which may not be for everyone. On a personal level, I prefer full-sized variants since I get a lot of use out of my Numpad.

That said, I love this one because I, too, am fascinated by the concept of customizing my keyboard. While I’m very new to that world, this is very accessible for people who want to swap not only their keycaps but their switches as well.

The latest Cooler Master CK720 is aimed at fans of customization

If you’re looking to get into keyboard modding, the Cooler Master CK720 is going to be the absolute best keyboard for you, primarily thanks to the ability to hot-swap your switches. Instead of doing a bunch of ridiculous, possibly dangerous work by soldering in new switches, you won’t have to stress there at all!

Simply take off some switches on the right side, push a button and start pulling off the plate! It’s very easy to do, and though you don’t have to do that with this keyboard, that’s one of the big focal points. You can change everything about this peripheral. You can put on a new faceplate, easily swap out your switches, and put in new keycaps.

In fact, this keyboard comes with eight Cherry MX switches. They were packed separately, but in the retail version of the keyboard, they will be in the box. You can easily put them wherever you need them the most. As a gamer, this can vary wildly. You may want them on your WASD, perhaps on your numbers, or whatever works best for you.

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That’s one of the biggest upsides to the Cooler Master CK720. No matter what you want it to be, it can be - except a full-sized variant, of course. It is the first customizable keyboard from the company, and it delivers on its promise for sure.

Cooler Master CK720 also possesses several useful features

One of my previous keyboards was a full-sized Cooler Master, and I was glad to see the features that I enjoyed in it were present in this model as well. By pressing the Function (FN) key, you can activate keys that you normally wouldn’t have access to on a 65% keyboard, like Scroll Lock, Pause, Print Screen, and others.

You can easily control the RGB lighting, media controls, keyboard brightness, and so much more this way. I honestly didn’t see this until I lifted the keyboard up on its stand. If the keyboard is flat on your desk, it’s very hard to see this.

You can also set up to four profile settings so that whatever you’re doing, you can swap to the profile that you need for gaming, work, or more. Users of the Cooler Master CK720 can easily change the lighting on a per-key basis.

However, one major difference between this model and the wireless CK721 is that this keyboard does not come with the soft wrist rest that the wireless version does. This was a major letdown for me. I spend much of my day writing, and having to pick up a new rest would be vexing, when, as a user, I could simply buy the wireless version and get a rest with it.

The design of the Cooler Master CK720 is simple but elegant

Since this is a wired keyboard, you can use it anywhere you want. It worked fine on my PlayStation consoles and my PC. It is small, but has a very solid, sleek look. The metal siding looks terrific, and the smoky gray faceplate and black keys look incredibly smart — visually, it’s a very sleek keyboard.

You can, of course, remove that plate and replace it with another of your choice From what I understand, they will offer other colors at a later date. I also got to use one of their new coiled cables, and on October 22, 2022, for $24.99 on Amazon, it offered something I desperately needed: Better cable management.

As a coiled cable, it didn’t stretch out more than necessary, so it didn’t go dangling down the back of my desk. For actual typing, the default PBT Doubleshot keycaps feel good, and have a very satisfying clicking sound to them. It comes default with Kailh Box V2 switches, along with a set of eight Cherry MX Green switches.

In conclusion

While I’m not really a huge fan of 65% scale keyboards, I do very much like this one. I can see myself using it on my PS5 for Final Fantasy XIV or something like that. I don’t see it replacing my full-sized model, but as someone still very new to the idea of keyboard customization, I do love it.

Cooler Master's CK721 with the coiled cable (Image via Cooler Master)

It could be an excellent start for the hobby since it’s incredibly simple to open this keyboard up and start swapping switches. Not having to solder pieces into place is such a godsend. It’s quite customizable, and it’s not at all expensive for what it offers.

If you want a wireless version, go with the CK721, but I think beginner keyboard-customizers will find a lot of joy in the Cooler Master CK720.