Cherry Launches a Ridiculously Thin Mechanical Keyboard

If you’re a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with Cherry’s MX Ultra Low Profile (ULP) switches. These keyswitches appear in several ultra-thin keyboards, including the popular Corsair A100 AIR. But now, Cherry is selling an ultra-thin keyboard of its own.

Available today, the Cherry KW X ULP is just 3.5mm (0.13 inches) thick and sports a productivity-oriented, full-sized design. It uses Cherry’s MX ULP switches, which are about 70% smaller (and much quieter) than traditional mechanical switches. Still, these low-profile switches retain a tactile feel with 1.8mm of total travel (0.8mm of pre-travel) and a 65 cN operating force.

The keyboard chassis is anodized and milled aluminum, while the keycaps are polycarbonate and have a white LED backlight. All of the latching keys (caps lock, num lock, scroll lock, etc) contain a color LED to indicate whether they’re active or not, and an exclusive CHERRY button at the corner of the keyboard changes color in accordance with its battery life.

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As for connectivity, the Cherry KW X ULP can connect to your PC over Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C, or 2.4GHz RF (via an included USB receiver). You can also use these connectivity options to simultaneously pair (and switch between) four devices—two over Bluetooth, one over a USB-C cable, and another over the wireless USB receiver.

You can also use the Cherry Keys software to customize the KW X ULP. Cherry notes that you can reassign function and “special” keys, create shortcuts to websites and files, program complex macros, and bind multimedia functions to individual keys.

Cherry promises a battery life that lasts for “several weeks,” but does not provide any specifics. In any case, I assume that this keyboard offers a decent battery life, as it doesn’t have a ton of crazy bells and whistles (like RGB lighting and all that). It’s truly just a slim, high-quality mechanical keyboard.

Unfortunately, the Cherry KW X ULP ain’t cheap. It launches today for $250. If you’re looking for a productivity-oriented slim mechanical keyboard, this is certainly a notable option, though I do suggest comparing it to Corsair’s K100 AIR.

Source: Cherry