[section_title title=”Closer Look”]Closer Look
Unlike the majority of CM Storm products the NovaTouch comes in a sleek black box, void of any fancy graphics or images of the features you often find on gaming related products. In the middle of the box, there is a UV spot (glossy) Cooler Master logo that stands out on the matte black box.
The reverse of the box is similar to the front, plain, featureless, except for a small graphic of the NovaTouch with the name of the keyboard.
Inside the plain, yet premium looking box, you have the NovaTouch, quick start guide, sticker, micro USB cable, key cap puller and some O rings – more on these later. You may notice a black bag underneath the keyboard; however this is for the advanced samples only and may not make its way into the final retail version.
The NovaTouch comes in TKL size for now, meaning it lacks the traditional numpad that you get on full sized keyboards. It is black in colour, with white legends, which look to be pad printed. This is the 87 key, ANSI layout version, although it will be available in ISO layouts.
For the CM Storm fans out there, you may think the NovaTouch looks very familiar: It does actually look very similar to the QuickFire Rapid-i (bottom keyboard); it has the same rubberised coating, same layout and an almost identical body, although it is slightly taller than the NovaTouch. The NovaTouch does not feature any backlighting, so it has thicker key caps and a different, more neutral font – a relief to all.
After much feedback CM Storm have really upped their game and reduced the amount of branding quite significantly – limiting it to the underside and the back edge of the keyboard.
The base features four rubber pads and two extendible feet allowing you to raise the back of the keyboard.
What is also good to see is a standard bottom row – the modifier and window keys are 1.25x sized, meaning much better compatibility with aftermarket key caps – something a lot of us indulge in.
Now we come to the main feature of the NovaTouch and what makes it so different to other keyboards – the Topre switches, with Cherry MX sliders. These hybrid switches are unique to the NovaTouch as CM Storm has worked with the company behind the Realforce keyboards, exclusively. They allow you to use the much more common and widely available Cherry MX key caps, giving you endless customisation possibilities.
So that pretty much covers the keyboard, now let’s see how well it performs.
