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Benchmark Results & Final Analysis
Audio Testing
There is nothing noteworthy about the typing sounds of the KM570, which is a good thing; we noticed next to no extraneous noises, and the switches felt solid, with no extra chattering or scraping.
Key Rollover Testing
Initially, we thought we found an issue with the NKRO. Depressing keys from left to right, the numpad and other nearby keys would not engage; going from right to left, only the numpad, arrow keys, Insert/Home/Del (etc.), and a few right-side modifier keys would engage. However, G.Skill informed us that this is due to a lack of code for Fn+Q,W,E,R,T,Y. A representative told us that when the Fn key is thusly engaged, "it will act as if no button is clicked." When we retested and avoided the Fn key, the NKRO otherwise worked as advertised.
Toggled into 6KRO mode, we were able to hit six keys plus three or four (depending on which) modifiers.
Final Analysis
The little brother, the KM570, has far fewer features, which in and of itself is not an issue, but it has an arguably less desirable (read: more boring) design, lacks software support, and has just red lighting instead of RGB. The keyboard does seem to have been carefully built (see our teardown note about the black plastic protector for the braided cable), though.
The KM570’s $100 price tag is not excessively high, especially for a keyboard with lighting (and onboard macro and lighting effect controls), but considering its plain Jane-ness, it probably won’t entice too many to crack open their wallets.
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