Cherry is a legend in the keyboard industry thanks to its creation of the most popular standard of mechanical keyswitch, the venerable Cherry MX. However, even such brilliance can be improved upon, which is what Cherry has aimed to do with its new MX2A switches. First announced a few months ago, the company has now debuted its new switches in a new own-brand keyboard, the Cherry KC 200 MX.
Cherry announced its new Cherry MX2A switches at Gamescom 2023, where it talked up several key features that it aimed to improve from its original Cherry MX design. These include the switches being shipped pre-lubed, to reduce friction and reduce wear. Many competing Cherry MX copies have taken to adding lubrication so Cherry has had to move with the times.
The new MX2A key switches also now benefit from having a more barrel-shaped spring, which helps reduce noise and friction. Certain surfaces of the switches will also be diamond-polished to ensure as slippy a surface as possible.
While the brand-new MX2A switches are definitely the big feature here, they aren’t the only thing the KC 200 MX keyboard has going for it. The full-sized mechanical keyboard has a minimal design, forgoing the use of RGB lighting effects that you may expect from some of the best gaming keyboards. Instead, the KC 200 MX has only white LEDs for its caps, scroll, and num lock keys, and instead of a series of dials or knobs, just has a selection of customizable function keys that can be personalized through its accompanying software.
It’s easily one of the more gimmick-free keyboards around, as the bells and whistles that would be commonplace with keyboards intended for gaming are nowhere to be found. That’s classic Cherry, with it often opting for a more plain-looking approach, leaving its switch customers (such as Corsair, Ducky, Cooler Master, Logitech, …) to come up with more outlandish designs.
The Cherry KC 200 MX mechanical keyboard is available for only $89.99 from Amazon, where you have the option to choose between two colorways. The keyboard is available in a black/bronze version, or a more traditional-looking white/silver, and you can pick between the inclusion of either the MX2A Silent Red and MX2A brown key switches.
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