MSI Strike 600 Review

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MSI Strike 600 Review

I’ve been looking for a decent keyboard for a while now that is silent, mechanical, has built-in RGB profiles that save settings without the need for software and more importantly, a PCB that does not have layers of plastic sheets connected through padded sections with traces that you find on almost all membrane keyboards now that use them to reduce cost.

For years, I have been using the old Alienware KG900 keyboard, which is a membrane keyboard but a really reliable one.   The problem with it, though, is that the software to control the lights is getting very old, and it relies on that software to keep updating the keyboard to your RGB and Macro settings.  Without it, the keyboard defaults back to blue.

Now that I have finally found the keyboard I wanted, I’ll share my thoughts, including some pros and cons.

 

If you install the MSI Center with Mystic Lighting, you can change individual key colours to anything you want and select any of the 3 RGB profiles there.
Since I have an MSI motherboard and NZXT fans, I chose their colours and white for the numbers and letters, which I loved to use on my KG900.

MSI Strike 600 MSI Strike 600

 

My Settings:

  • MSI Red: R-255 G-0 B-0
  • NZXT Purple: R-85 G-0 B-255 (official color)
  • NZXT Purple: R-123 G-0 B-123 (in my video)
  • White: R-255 G-255 B-255

 

Pros

  • Machanical
    Nice key travel. No membrane keyboard.
  • Aluminum Top Case
    This makes the keyboard much stronger to reduce flexing.
  • Sound Dampening Key Presses
    If you find mechanical keyboards to be noisy, this one is much quieter than my old Alienware KG900 membrane keyboard.
  • Custom Lighting Profile
    If you set your keyboard lighting profile, it will stay like that without the need for the MSI Center.

Cons

  • Lighting Brightness
    On PC startup, most of the time, the keyboard switches to maximum brightness and overrides any settings you have set for dimming.  It’s a minor issue.
  • Custom Lighting Profiles
    In the MSI center, you can choose 3 lighting profiles.  Only one can be set to the keyboard’s onboard memory, which claims can do 3 profiles.  From my testing, only one can be added.
  • Cannot swap key switches
    Some users might find this to be a mistep.  These switches are soldered directly to the PCB, making it difficult for non-tech-savvy users to swap them out without a soldering iron.
  • White is not White
    The white on camera looks like it’s a bright pinkish purple.  With my eyes looks like a bright redish pink.
  • Wired not Wireless
    I only added this part because I am sure some people would rather wireless. This does not support WIFI or Bluetooth.  Adding Bluetooth to it would have been a neat feature.  Then I would have been able to control my laptop beside the main PC.

 

MSI Center Mystic Light Con

This con is a little longer than what I would wanna put in the bulleted list above.
This is the place to set individual keys to the fixed colours you want.  There are some annoyances with the software that can be fixed.

  1. When the LED style is set to “customize,” you cannot just drag the mouse cursor over the keys on the keyboard preview.  You need to manually select every key, which can take a while.
    For example, if you want half the keyboard to be white, you cannot drag over the keys to quickly change them.
  2. There are no settings for music.
    The only music setting is under “ALL SYNC.” This means if you have other mystic lighting settings, they all work the same.
    It would be nice if you could change the music for the keyboard only and have options to make it look like the keyboard is using a waveform and not just dimming and swapping colours.

 

Useful Links

 

How much does it weigh?

I was seeing anywhere around 935 to 943 Grams = 2 LB / 2 pounds

MSI Strike 600

 

What’s in the box?

Comes with the keyboard and European  Union Regulatory Notices paper.  No instructions of any sort.  That’s it.

MSI Strike 600

 

Do you need MSI Center to change the onboard RGB lights?

The simple answer is No! You can easily change RGB settings by pressing the MSI button near the arrow keys and selecting the LED list on the INS button above the DEL key.
You can even choose any of the other LED keys to change brightness, animation speed or style.

 

Aditional Info

For a budget-friendly keyboard, this is one to consider.   Will see if it lasts just as long as my old Alienware KG900.  I hope so.  If you think the RGB is annoying, the joys of this keyboard are that you can turn the lighting off.

MSI Strike 600

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