The latest gaming keyboard I will be reviewing is the Mollom DOOMHAMMER CHOC96 Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (with Cherry Red Switches) and what caught my attention is that this is a third-party keyboard from China which has cherry red switches for under $43.
Typically, we see gaming keyboards that have blue, red and brown switches. But the DOOMHAMMER CHOCK96 uses German-made CHERRY MX Red Switches, which I don’t usually see in a $35-$45 keyboard. So, that’s a plus!
The keyboard features 96 keys and allows for a smaller space to allow for more mouse movement which is a major plus.
The keycaps are ABS Doubleshot Backlit (shinethru) keycaps and the switches offer light tactile feedback with 100 million keystrokes guaranteed. 2.2mm distance to actuation force. With carefuly tuned satellite switches.
There are two styles featuring floating keys or a traditional style. You can easily remove the cover on the keyboard as its held down magnetically.
The Mollom DOOMHAMMER CHOC96 Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard features a nylon red woven cable and underneath are the standard adjustable feet, keypuller and an additional “Doomhammer” keycap.
LED lighting is easy to change to rainbow or solid colors via the function key (diagrams shown on Amazon), as well as keyboard shortcuts.
On the upper right corner is a Doomhammer key, when turned on, the side numeric keys work like they would for a standard keyboard. With it turned off, NUM becomes INS, * becomes page up, 7 becomes delete, 9 as page down , 2 is arrow key up and 0 is arrow key left, etc. This is similar to other keyboards that I have used with less than a 104 keys, so that’s fine.
But there are a few things that I do have problems with.
For one, when you receive the keyboard, not sure why but the keycaps must have gotten loosened during transport. I’m not talking about a few keycaps, but four were popped out and a few keys were near getting popped out and I had to press each keycap down to make sure they are fully pressed down.
Second, some keys are not easy to read. Some keyboard makers tend to use their own style to display letters and numbers and so keys such as “&” looks like a snake in the shape of a number 2. F6 looks like FG. F5 looks like FS. Other keys are’t that bad but some people may get confused as letters have breaks (spaces) on them. Granted, it’s not so much of a big deal if you are used to keying and not looking at the keyboard while typing.
For the most part, this is a solid keyboard. I love the CHERRY MX RED switches and it’s really easy to type, everything just feels just right with button presses. And price is quite appropriate. There are more positives that I can say about this keyboard and a few negative.
But I do feel that first impressions of buttons popped out may be jarring to those who purchase this keyboard, so perhaps this is a part that Mollom will need to look into for quality control.
But overall, this is a solid gaming keyboard for the price and one that utilizes CHERRY MX RED switches.
The DOOMHAMMER CHOC96 Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (with CHERRY MX Red Switches) is worth checking out!
