Tt eSPORTS Meka Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Introduction

Thermaltake’s gaming branch, Tt eSPORTS , has been making a name for itself recently by providing high quality, entry-level gaming peripherals at a low price. Today we are reviewing the Tt eSPORTS Meka mechanical gaming keyboard. Recently, mechanical keyboards have been making a comeback, especially in the gaming industry because of their advantages over traditional rubber dome keyboards. With new mechanical boards coming out from all of the major companies, we will see if the Meka has was it takes to stand up to them.

Features

• 1000 HZ polling rate
• Cherry Black key switches
• USB hub
• Anti-ghosting
• Gold-plated USB connector
• Braided cable
• Smart cable management

 

Specifications

Interface	USB
Operating System	Windows 7/Vista/XP
USB Ports	2 x USB 2.0
Switch Life Cycle	50 million keystrokes
Switch Brand	Cherry Black
Cable Length	1.8m braided
Body Dimensions (LxWxH):	370mm x 150mm x 35mm

Packaging

The box for the Meka is very similar to other Tt eSPORTS products in that it sticks with its signature red and black color scheme and lists a few key features on the front and back. Inside the box are more features on a cover over the keyboard.

Included with the keyboard is a quick installation guide and some warranty information in a small sleeve.

 

Closer Look

Here we see the keyboard in its entirety. The first thing you notice about this board is its layout. It is a mini-board, therefore it has a much tighter layout than a standard keyboard and has certain keys missing or moved. However, the keys themselves are spaced the same as a standard keyboard. We will discuss the layout in more detail on the next page.

The USB connector is large and very sturdy as well as being gold-plated. The braided cord is sufficiently long and feels heavy-duty but not stiff like some other braided cords.

Build Construction

The first thing you notice about the Meka when you pick it up is its weight. It is heavy, as are most mechanical keyboards. The body is stiff and does not want to bend and all of the plastics feel very solid as well.

On the left we have the angle adjusters which are coated in rubber to help prevent slipping. They are extremely sturdy and feel as though they would be able to take a lot of use and would not break like many other keyboards. On the right we have the anti-skid feet which are also rubber. Because of the weight and the large amount of rubber on the bottom on the keyboard, when placed on a table, this board will not move. This is especially nice in a gaming situation which this board is designed for because you will not have to readjust you board after an intense battle.

Key Layout

The main difference between the Meka and most other mechanical boards is its key layout. As mentioned earlier, the Meka is a mini-board. The physical size of the keyboard is significantly smaller than a standard board. Because of this size difference, keys had to be removed or relocated.

Here we see the arrow keys which have been integrated into the alphanumeric key area. The move on its own is not a big deal except that in order to move the arrows to that location, the shift and forward slash keys had to be moved. The move of the shift key is strange when you are actually using the keyboard and takes some time to get used to. After you are accustomed to its new location it is not as bad, but still annoying. The placement of the forward slash key though causes it to become a problem because, when typing, it forces you to break stride and go out of your way in order to type a question mark. Of course, this is a gaming keyboard and the forward slash key is not very useful for gaming so its move makes some sense.

 

Along with the movement of the shift and arrow keys came the complete removal of the Windows keys. The usefulness of the Windows key in games is virtually non-existant and so its removal from this gaming keyboard makes some sense. Outside of games its usefulness depends on whether you choose to use it or not. I personally did not miss it that much.

 

Another change that affects general use but not gaming is the shrinking of the backspace key. The backspace key was reduced from two keys long to just one key in order to fit the backslash key. To me this was a very strange decision. Tt eSPORTS decided to reduce the size of the backspace key in order to increase the size of the enter key. I would assume that the idea was that the enter key is used abundantly in gaming and therefore should be more prominent. However, the new enter key is unnecessarily large and in real use makes no difference.

 

Another major change from a standard keyboard is the removal of the Home, End, Pg. Up, etc keys. This is standard for mini keyboards since are the some of the least used keys on the keyboard and, in the case of this keyboard, virtually useless for gaming. Tt eSPORTS did decide to keep the number pad though which makes sense in the gaming aspect but does cause this board to be larger than many other mini keyboards.

 

Gaming

In order to test the Meka in a gaming situation I played a few games of different genres, namely rpg and fps, and noted any pros or cons compared to a standard size non-mechanical keyboard. The Cherry Black key switches are considered the best gaming switch because of their linear movement (similar to a rubber dome keyboard with no bump in the key press) and heavy actuation force compared to other switches. Because of this switch, gaming on the Meka felt very smooth. The key presses down evenly, requiring more force the closer the key gets to the bottom. Furthermore, because the key is registered before it bottoms out, I was able to rapidly double click a key by hovering around the actuation point.

Aside from the benefits gained from the switches themselves (which are in most other mechanical gaming boards) the Meka felt very similar to a standard size keyboard, which is good considering its small form factor. However, the keyboard itself offers nothing notable to aid in gaming such as macro keys or even software to reprogram keys.

General Use

In just every day use (outside of gaming) the Meka is less than ideal. Because of the key movement and removal, overall productivity is decreased. It took about a week to fully adjust to the new shift placement and backspace downsize and I can’t imagine ever getting fully used to the new position of the question mark key simply because it is so far out of the way. As far as pure typing goes, the Cherry Black switches have always been known to be the worst for typing (though still much better than rubber dome) because of their heavy actuation force which causes fatigue and the fact that they are non-clicky.

Final Thoughts

Pros:

• Well constructed
• Mechanical switches
• Small size

Cons:

• Poor layout
• No macro keys

At $100 the Tt eSPORTS Meka is not a bad little keyboard. The build construction feels high quality, it has mechanical switches, and it is very compact. Unfortunately that compact design has its drawbacks, namely moved keys, that resulted in a poor overall layout. However, because this board is marketed as a gaming keyboard, and the fact that the adjusted layout does not affect games, that can not be held too much against it. If you are looking for a compact mechanical keyboard and do not care too much about typing performance, the Meka would be a good choice.