 Within my first six months here at LTT, I worked on a roundup of the cheapest mechanical keyboards on Amazon, where we actually identified a couple of really good value boards. However, there was one thing that all those cheap keyboards had in common. None of them had Cherry MX key switches, arguably the industry's gold standard when it comes to reliability, feel, and sound. But hold on to your key caps because G.Skill has announced that what they say is the most affordable Cherry MX keyboard on the market at just $49.99. So today, we're going to do an actual real test to see if this is the last keyboard that you ever need to buy, or if no one can even tell the difference between true Cherries and their cheaper Chinese clones anyway. Right after this message from our sponsor, Seasonic, the Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium power supplies are ultra-efficient with an 80 plus titanium rating backed with a 12 year warranty. Check them out at the link below. Okay, so here under this cloth, I have three different keyboards. We have our new G.Skill KM360 with Cherry MX red switches. Then there's a Corsair K65 also with Cherry MX reds. And then there's a Viper 770 with red equivalent Kailh switches. Now admittedly, this isn't the most scientific test because we're not controlling variables pretty well, because we're not using the same keyboard all the time, but with different switches. They are different keyboards, so they will feel a little bit different. But we are going to do a future video where we pit all the different Kailh and Cherry and Xelio switches all against each other in a more scientific, comprehensive and controlled manner. So subscribe if you're looking forward to that video. For now, we're just going to get all the weird tech enthusiasts and gamers we have in the office to come here, try these keyboards and see if they can spot the knot. Okay, let's do it. At home, I use Roamer G's and so I don't think I have the best indicator. I'd say three and one feel the most similar to me. I'm going to guess that one and three are the actual reds and two is the fake red. They all seem pretty linear to me. There's actually a little bit of variance, I think, in terms of the weights. I feel like some are going down easier than others. This actually feels a little better, I think. This one feels a little bit stiffer. I would say that the smoother action of number three would probably be Cherry. I'm not sure if this is Cherry or not, but it's also pretty smooth. This one is a little rough, actually, which is strange because people would usually want a red switch for its smooth linear action. Cherry. Kale. Now, dude, my gut instinct. That's always the worst. Wait, definitely not that one. This one feels the best. These two, I think, are the Cherry switches. I think this one's the Kale switch. I don't know. This feels like Cherry Reds, number one. Although these also might be the Kales. I could be totally wrong there. I feel like number three feels a bit different. So I'm guessing that the middle one is Kale and the two on the outside are the Cherries, although I don't really like the feel of any of them and wouldn't use them. Reds are not great, in my opinion. So much of the sound actually comes from the keycaps smacking the switch. It's not even from the actual switch itself, which makes it really hard to... Oh, man. I don't know. I think the middle one is Kale and the other two are Cherry. Hello, my name's Riley. That's different. Wait. I think I know. I think number three is Kale. This one, that one's Cherry. That one's Kale. Number three, that's Kale. Number one and two, that's Cherry MX. And I know that because I played piano. I'm very familiar with keys. You are wrong. See you later. Okay. So literally zero of our participants were able to correctly identify which were Cherries and which one was Kale, but... I mean, they feel the same. Regardless, the KM360 is still a good deal at $50. It's a minimalistic 10 keyless with narrow bezels, a detachable braided USB type-C cable, and every marketer's favorite anodized aircraft grade aluminum top plate, which permits only modest deck flex. Both black and white varieties come with a white LED backlight and looks so good that it's really tough to choose a favorite, but I think I'm leaning towards the black one. I'm also leaning towards wearing LTT merch the rest of my life and wearing the underwear right now. So head on over to lttstore.com and get these garments on your body. Anyway, the double shot injected ABS plastic key caps are marked with a very clear and professional legend. And of course, underneath, cherry MX key switches. Note though, that unlike many mechanical keyboards, which give you the choice of which switch type you want, the KM360 is only available with cherry MX reds. Well, except for under the space bar, which uses the slightly harder to press cherry MX black key switch. So why just reds? Our guess is that limiting the KM360 to a single skew helped G-SKILL achieve that low $49.99 price point. And they chose red specifically because they're targeting gamers, many of whom seem to opt for the linear low activation for switches. So what other corners did they cut in order to sell this thing for just 50 bucks? Well, the easiest way to assess that is to compare the new KM360 to G-SKILL's existing RipDraws KM560, which they sell for $30 more. The biggest difference typing wise is weight. This thing's just 685 grams while the KM560 is 960 grams. While it is true that the lower weight makes the board more portable, many typists prefer keyboards with thick metal back plates because they like the solid feel that this gives it. This is actually one of the reasons that people love the original model M keyboards, which I highly recommend learning more about here. Next, there's the lack of media keys. Now the RipDraws KM560 also lacks dedicated media keys like the kind you'd find on say a Corsair K65, but it does have media playback control on a secondary layer. The new KM360 doesn't even give you that. And finally, neither and finally, neither have dedicated macro keys. The KM560 does support on the fly macro recording, whereas the new KM360 is not programmable in any way. Sorry, Taron. But even compared to the cheapo keyboards from our roundup that we did, at least all those ones had multiple backlight effects, but this one only gives you the ability to dim the backlight through various levels and off. Though it does indicate key activation by adding extra brightness to the key, which is kind of cool, I guess. So should you buy this keyboard? Let's set aside the Cherry MX switches for a moment because even without them, this is quite a nice port. It definitely has better plastics and build quality than your typical Amazon QWERTY. Plus it's coming from a reputable company with an actual warranty. It might be worth a 50 bucks just for that. When it comes to the actual key switches though, it's a bit harder to say whether they're definitely worth an extra 15 or $20. Because as we saw, most people won't even be able to feel the difference. Others can, and they'll tell you that the mainstream consensus is that Cherry makes the best key switches in the world, period. Especially when it comes to reliability and lifespan. But then there's the enthusiast community where more than a few people claim that these Chinese clones, like the Kales, now equal or even surpass Cherry. Regardless of all that though, in my humble opinion, this is a great value, no frills keyboard that most people will feel great purchasing. 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