Qpad MK-90 review

At the time of writing the software suite was still in beta, with awkward fonts that made it difficult to read, but we were told an improved version is due shortly. All the features were present though, letting us experiment with the different lightning modes and the comprehensive macro editor. It’s very easy to set up complex combinations of keys, which should be great news for MMO gamers. You can set the keyboard to switch to a specific profile when launching a particular game or application too, so you don’t have to remember to enable your custom keys.

Beyond static lighting in any colour, you can set each key to illuminate as you type, trigger an explosion of lights emanating from each keypress, have the entire keyboard tray ‘breathe’ with fading light, illuminate in a random pattern or have a constant rainbow effect. You can also customise each key individually, if you have the time and patience. The key LEDs are easily bright enough to be seen in a brightly lit room, and the laser-etched key caps are all evenly lit, with no obvious gaps. You can dim them or disable them completely using the arrow keys in combination with the Fn key, and even with no light at all each key is perfectly legible.

It might not be overflowing with dedicated macro keys, and the lighting customisation might not be as comprehensive as Corsair’s K70 RGB, but the MK-90 is still a perfectly capable gaming keyboard. When the software suite gets an update we’ll revisit it to see if it’s any easier to customise the lighting effects, but right now it’s a tad clunky and there aren’t many user-created profiles doing the rounds online for anyone that can’t get the desired effect themselves. However, the price is right: at around £110, it’s cheaper than its RGB-backlit rivals and still has all the features we would expect from a top-end keyboard.