[section_title title=Performance]
Performance
When it comes to reviewing mechanical keyboards one thing that cannot be commented on is the switches, as it is purely subjective to the user. I can however comment on the availability of the switches, which CM Storm have stated to be Cherry MX Blue, Red and Brown, with the brown being available at launch in the EU with the rest to follow. It’s of no surprise however, that black is missing from the list, as these are falling out of popularity due to the high actuation force required. Personally, MX browns are my favourite flavour of the Cherry range (Topre overall), so I think I should get on well with the switches.
Gaming
First up for the performance tests is gaming, where I put the keyboard through numerous different genre games to see how well the keyboard performs. I started with FPS, one of the more common genres, choosing Battlefield 4 and CS:GO. For both of the games, the keyboard was actually very comfortable to use and the slight tactile bump meant I knew when the keys had actuated, allowing me to improve my overall response time. The NKRO comes in handy when flying jets, as I am often depressing at least six key caps at times and I often find with most other keyboards, that any other key presses don’t register unless I release some keys.
For MMO games, the keyboard performed flawlessly, however I normally use the numpad for assigning a lot of commands to and since this is just a TKL, I missed that part – although it’s not really a negative aspect to the keyboard so otherwise I couldn’t fault the keyboard.
RTS, again, I thoroughly enjoyed using the QFRi. I tested out the last build of Planetary Annihilation (promising game by the way), which is very hot-key orientated, making it ideal for the QFRi. Each key press felt great and it meant I could quickly have my factories pumping out units.
General
General testing consists of putting the keyboard through the activities that we would get up to on a day-to-day basis, such as word processing, image editing, browsing the web and listening to music. For the former activity, I’ve been using the keyboard to write this review, which I’m actually loving. As I said before, I get on really well with MX brown switches, so I could not possibly fault the use of them for typing. They say browns are a good compromise between MX blue, which are associated with typists and MX reds, which are more suitable for gamers. This makes the keyboard best for both worlds, of which it has been a bliss to type on. The embedded media controls are for once located in a reasonable location, meaning I can use one hand to change the volume levels, skip tracks, stop and play the music – ideal. Normally the media keys are assigned to the function keys along the top row, meaning you have to use one hand to press the Fn key and the other to press the key you want – a royal pain!
Comfort-wise, I experienced no issues when using the keyboard for prolonged sessions. The QFRi is already very slim so the adjustable feet brought the keyboard to the best angle for myself, although it can be reduced if you have a more “top-down” typing style. CM Storm have opted to use only low actuation force switches, so fatigue should be at a minimum.
