iBUYPOWER MEK 2 Pro RGB Mechanical Keyboard Review

iBUYPOWER is known to build some pretty nice gaming systems, laptops and desktops alike but did you know they also have some gear?  As part of that gear, aside from the mice, mouse pads and other things today we will be reviewing the iBUYPOWER MEK 2 Pro RGB Mechanical Keyboard.  This review almost took a horrible turn for the worse, but I was able to recover it.  Read on to find out how this almost bombed, what I did to fix it and how the iBUYPOWER MEK 2 Pro RGB Mechanical Keyboard came up ahead.

The keyboard has some nice features that are very familiar along with a few other familiar aspects of which we will go through in this review.  Let’s take a look at the features and specifications first.

Features and Specifications

• Aluminum Back plating
• 104 Keys
• Multi-Function Multimedia Keys
• Kailh Blue Mechanical Switches
• 50 million Click Key lifespan
• 21 Key Rollover Anti-Ghost
• 1000Hz Polling Rate
• 2 Programmable Keys
• Customizable Lighting Effects
• On-the-Fly Macro Recording
• 256KB Built-In Memory
• 7 color backlit options
• Windows Key Disable button
• All-Keys lock button
• Includes Key Puller
• Quick-Attach Wrist Rest
• 5.91 Foot Nylon Braided and Gold-Plated USB Cable

You can also check it out on iBUYPOWER’s website: http://bit.ly/2ry4hhW

With that out of the way, let’s check out the unboxing to see what is inside the box.

There are more things in the box than I thought there would be, so let’s go over each.

First up is the Quick installation guide, which is actually pretty handy.  The Guide goes over many of the configuration changes you can make on the software right on the keyboard.  Record Macro’s, LED lighting configurations and many other features.  We should be able to go over that later.

 

This is the Quick-Attach Wrist Rest.  Towards the center of the wrist rest, there is a design hidden there.

A closer look shows that it is actually the iBUYPOWER logo, a Lion head looking logo that internally is referred to as a Chimera.

The keyboard comes with this key puller, that to me is very handy.  It obviously lets you remove each and every key on the keyboard but it allows you to do this so that after you have used it for a while, you can remove the keys and clean out the keyboard or maybe change the switches, add O-Rings or so many other things.  It even has a handy home on the keyboard so that you won’t lose it.  We will go over using it and where it lives a bit later in the review.  Very useful tool.

Inching closer to the keyboard itself, we get to the gold-plated USB Connection. The USB connection has a very familiar logo on it.

Moving up, we see that the 5.91 Foot USB cable is braided with very fine black and red nylon material.

At the very end of that cable, we find the keyboard itself and come into the second chapter of this review where we get Up Close and Personal with the keyboard.

Continue: Up Close and Personal

 

[nextpage title=”Up Close and Personal”]

A very nice-looking keyboard with its Aluminum backing, the aluminum not only adds sturdiness to the keyboard but it also gives it that very cold calming feel.  The keyboard only comes in Red, as Red is iBUYPOWER’s theme, I am more of a fan of the color blue but being that it is an RGB keyboard, you should be able to change the LED lighting.

A closer look at the deep lines in the brushed aluminum.

Top right-hand corner of the keyboard, we find the iBUYPOWER logo silk screened on as well as the LED’s for Num Lock, Caps Lock and Gaming.  Num Lock and Caps Lock are pretty standard, but what is Gaming?  Gaming allows you to lock your Windows Key so that you don’t accidentally press it kicking you out of your game, a handy feature.  This feature is enabled by a physical key combination.

Did you notice that silver line at the top of the keyboard?

That’s an indentation into the Aluminum back plate that stretches from one of extreme of the keyboard to the other that is silver, rather than red to elegantly stand out.  Since we made our way to the left side of the keyboard, let’s discover all of the function buttons from the bottom left going around the keyboard.

Starting off on the bottom left, we can see the FN key or Function key.  Press and hold this key along with another to activate a function.  We will go over the function through the review as we discover the keys.

Coming up a little, we find WASD but if you look closely, you can see there are arrows on them too.  This is so that you can interchange keys that I will show you a little later.

Coming up a bit more to the top left-hand corner, we find a host of other keys.

PF 1~6, here you can customize along with the Function keys up to 6 different gaming profiles.  I would like to describe these to you in a little more detail on exactly what they do,… but there is a little problem that stops me from doing that and don’t worry, I will go over this problem a little more in the review.  (Remember what I said in the 3rd sentence though)

F2 Rewind or skip backwards on media.

F3 Skip or fast forward on media.

F4 is pretty original.  This allows you to swap the functions of the Up, Down, Left and Right arrow keys with the WASD keys, akin to swapping the physical keys, an odd function but a function just the same.

The Keys are designed themselves to be interchangeable and they are designed to be interchanged with the WASD keys if you wanted to.

F5 Play or Pause Media.

F6 Mute/UnMute Audio.

F7 allows you to lower the volume.

F8 allows you to raise the volume.

F9 allows you to record macros then later play them back, I had issues with this one as well.

F11 allows you to completely lock all of your keys and then when you like unlock them too.  This is actually a great key, while this key will not completely rule out foul play if you step away from you desk it will allow you to product your PC from mistakes happening while you are away, pets walking along your keyboard or kids just being kids, it comes in handy.

These are great keys that others have, but on other keyboards are not as legible, iBUYPOWER’s markings 100% make sense.

INS allows you to have your RGB lights display a wave effect.

DEL creates a rotating color display (single color it seems).

HOME allows your RGB lights to scroll left to right and right to left in a ping pong effect.

END keeps the lights a solid on or off color.

PGUP allows you to speed up the animation of the light.

PGDN to slow down the animation of lights.

8 key on the 10 Key side of the keyboard lets you raise the brightness of the RGB lighting

2 key allows you to dim the brightness of the RGB lighting.

Chimera / Windows Key Just under the right shift key,  the Windows logo has been replaced by the Chimera, iBUYPOWER logo and the Properties key right next to it.  If you hit the Function key and this Chimera, this would lock the Windows key from popping up if pressed during a game, press the combination again to re-enable the function.   This is also known as Game Mode.

Properties key acts light a right click, for example if you clicked on the desktop and click this Properties key, the right click menu will appear.

Clicking it on my desktop, this pops up.

As I mentioned originally, all of these keys must be used alongside with the Function key in order to function properly, let’s move on over to the rear of the keyboard for some more features.

Here is the rear of the keyboard, there is one more aspect on the top I will address, but I will come back to it later since it will be the introduction to the next section.

On the back of the keyboard, we can see the iBUYPOWER Logo, many of the certifications it has achieved, the serial number, model, input rating and where it was made.

On each edge of the keyboard are these rubber pads, one on the bottom center as well.  These pads not only allow the keyboard not to slip and move around when typing but they also help to absorb some of the shock while you’re typing.  Very effective if you are a rough typer such as myself.  I learned how to type on a real type writer where you had to push down hard on the keys to have the letter head slap against the paper to make an imprint.

Here we can see the feet for the keyboard folded out along with the pads.

Up even closer, here is a picture of the feet folded, then unfolded.  The feet also have pads so that when the feet are extended help keep down the noise.  The feet extended add about a quarter of an inch of height.

Moving more to the right of the rear of the keyboard, towards the top, we can see a grove that allows you to tuck away some of the extra cable you might have if you find it too long.

A nice idea, where you can tuck away some of the extra cable, but there are a few more options here.

As shown previously, you can of course use the entire indentation or if that’s too short, you can use only half of the indentation and also allows you to chose a right or left preference of where to have the cable to extend from.

Then we also have the key puller I mentioned previously.

To pull it out, fit a finger under the groove and lift up and it easily unlocks.

Now let’s go pull out some key caps.

To pull them out, just push the key puller over a key and you will hear the groves click into place then you can pull them out.

Here I pulled the interchange WASD/Arrow keys out, just as an example.  Just remember, if you wanted to pull out other keys or all the keys you can as well.

A closer look at the keys we have already removed, we can see they are blue switches, Kaihl blue to be specific.

Most might think there is a huge difference between Kaihl Blue and Cherry MX Blue but in reality, there is little difference.  The main difference might be that there is a higher licensing fee on the Cherry MX keys, so you pay a little more than you would for Khail.  Out of all of the different switch types, I prefer the blues, they are louder than the others and while some might say obnoxiously louder, I like the sound.  We will go over the speed and sound a little later in the review.

Here’s a closer look at the keys.

Before I move on to the lighting aspect of this keyboard in the next section, I want to show you the 2 Programmable buttons and why the issue I mentioned before is relevant.

G1 and G2, along with the function key and the record key I’ve shown you previously (F9) allow you to program macro’s or key combinations.  Prior to installing iBUYPOWER’s keyboard software HERA, I was able to program macro keys and sadly I do not have a video showing me doing this because I figured it was going to continue working.

After installing HERA, I was going through all of the features inside of HERA.  The ability to change colors, lighting intensity, individual keys and many more but the minute I attempted to commit to programming a macro everything went crazy.  HERA would just error out.  I had a similar issue with the GAMDIAS Hermes E1 I attempted to review previously.  Nothing I could do would restore HERA to work correctly but I will go into this issue later in the review.

I attempted to use alternate computers around my home, another Windows 10 and even a Windows 7 machine but the problem followed the keyboard and was now etched into the keyboard due to its onboard memory.

For this review I went back to some emails I had previously exchanged with GAMDIAS’ engineers to resolve my issues, which back then did not solve anything but it looks like things have change, I was able to recover.  The magic key sequence was pressing and holding the Function Key + the Pause Break Key.  You need to press and hold these keys for about 10 seconds then the lights on your keyboard will blink and the lights will turn green, at least they did for me.

I fixed this as I was writing the review, so I will leave everything I have written previously and start on the correct track from this point on.  I am excited for this.  So, let’s continue with this review on a more cheerful note.

Now on the keys, with the key cap removed, you will notice that there is no external bulb like you might be used to.

I circled in blue where the bulb is hidden, on the rear side of the key, facing away from you.  This might actually not be a bad idea being that some keys can have obnoxiously bright lights.

Here is the same switch with the light on low, so that we would not get too much light on the lens.  So the recessed lighting keeps it from being too bright, but just bright enough I would say.

So, let’s go check out some of the lighting, effects, keys and Hera.

Continue: Lighting, effects, keys and Hera

[nextpage title=”Lighting, effects, keys and Hera”]

While the keyboard work as will the lighting and the effects without having to use Hera, you will not get all the features and functions possible without using Hera.  In this section we will check out Hera and how it interacts with the keyboard.  The keyboard does not include Hera, but you can download it off of iBUYPOWER’s website, https://www.ibuypower.com.

Once you download, install and open Hera, you are greeted with this screen displaying Greek Gods and Goddesses for a few seconds based off of Greek Mythology.

A few seconds later, Hera detects the keyboard you are using and the screen changes again.

Booting Hera up and detecting the keyboard will bring you into the “Key Assignment” Section.

In this section you can set what the G1 and G2 keys do, the 2 Macro keys.  Even though there are 2 macro keys, you can create a macro set on Profile 1 located on the right-hand side of this screen then program 2 other macros on Profile 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, so essentially 12 macros.  You can easily change profiles by pressing Function and 1 key which is PF1 ~ button 6, which is PF6.

To create the macros used under “Key Assignment”, we need to move over to the “Macro Management” section.

Under the “Macro Management” section, you can create macros, macro folders, rename macros, duplicate macros, delete macros and open file explorer but you can edit those macros you create as well.  Once you create a macro, there will be delays in between key touches, key releases and all, you can edit all of these to extend or shorten the delays or maybe add or remove keystrokes.

You will notice that there are on the left-hand side 3 macros already made, G1, G2 and P1K120,20180406_183631, I created those during the video later in this section.  So, let’s check out “Keyboard Luminance”

On the left-hand side of this screen, you will see 3 different boxes with the keyboard and some effects, here is what each to:

The top one, Static allows you to change all of the key colors to one solid color.

Custom Pattern, the second one allows you to individually select keys and change each color and even load JEF files to display a pattern.

Llighting Effects, even though spelled incorrectly allows you to change the lighting effects of the predefined light patterns.  For example, here under the “Wave” pattern we can change the brightness, the speed and in which direction that wave flows.

If you noticed previously on Wave, there is a drop-down menu so you have a host of options here to chose from.  Since Wave goes through the myriad of colors you cannot change the colors but you can on the other options as well as the speed and brightness.  If you have had enough of the lights, there a unique feature (at least I have never seen) that might be a bit fun, “Assign Sound&Timer”

“Assign Sound&Timer” is a new one to me, I have never seen it before but to me seems a bit gimmicky or maybe for a prank, guys please correct me if I am wrong and give me your use.

“Assign Sound&Timer” allows you to set sounds to individual keys.  For example, if you record a sound under “Sound File Edit” you can click on the X key (or any other key you like) and assign that sound so that whenever you are typing and you hit X, that sound plays.  You would select the “Sound” check box then click on the “Select a recorded Sound” and select the sound you have recorded.  You can also click the play button to listen to that sound before you make your final selection and click Save.

Under the Sound, there is the Timer check box.  Timer allows you select a Timer configuration previously configured under the “Timer Setting” section to play a sound, an OSD message and/or a macro at the selected time.  Where do you get all these sounds you may ask, we are going to cover that under “Sound File Edit”.

Here, with the use of your microphone you can record sounds in .WAV format.

These sounds would be used under the “Assign Sound&Timer” so that when you strike a key that sound plays.  Please note, that this sound only plays for you through your headphones, speakers or what ever you may have configured for your sound output.

You can also use them under “Timer Setting”, so let’s go check that section out.

This is also to me a unique section.

Here you can create timers that you can utilize under “Assign Sound&Timer”.

For example, with the settings I had set on the previous screen and tied here to “ESC”, it will play Alarm2.wav and display on the screen “hi this is Iggy” for 10 seconds with a countdown timer on the center of the screen whenever I hit escape.  This might be handy as a prank or maybe to remind you of something every time you hit that key, maybe a spouse trying to remind their significant other about an appointment, meeting or anniversary…. Yeah I have a bad memory.

The OSD message can be made to normal size, large and huge while it can be displayed any of the six spots on the screen.

Sometimes, this software can have issues, like when under “Keyboard Luminance” the 3^rd section of the effects spelled “Llighting effects”.  I have reported that to iBUYPOWER by the way and they will get that fixed.  You can have that update if you use the “Update/Support” section once it has been corrected.

Like the section states, here is where you go for updates and support.

On this screen, it shows you the product number, the “MEK 2 RGB”.  Below that we see “FW Version” which is the firmware version showing version 1.08.  Below that you can click “Check for Update” but it seems that firmware updates are not supported for this keyboard.  “HERA Version” shows the version of HERA installed, when I received the keyboard, it came with 2.7.2 and I used the “Check for Update” under here to 2.8.2.  “Online Support” takes you to Gamdias’ main website from there, it looks like you are on your own to find support.

After every change you make, make sure you click “Save” highlighted in pink above on the top right hand corner.

I go over mostly all of this in this video as well.

Last section is the HERA cog/gear on the bottom right hand corner

Under this section, you can change the explanation language, Keyboard mapping and the Rapid Archiving on exit, might be a good option to toggle on.

You can also the configuration change notice voice.  For example, if I were to press Function+2 to change to profile #2 since I have Female selected, a female reads aloud “Profile 2” or you can select to display on the screen toggling on OSD.  You can also chose a Male voice if you prefer.

Background settings, allows you to change the background color (See above for the same picture with a different background color).

Then you can select where and what color you would like the OSD text to be.

At this point, we are pretty much done with Hera so do you want to hear how the Kaihl Blue switches sound and if this is a good keyboard for typing?  Well this next section of the review is for you.

Continue: Typing and Noise

[nextpage title=”Typing and Noise”]I mentioned a few times how these were Kaihl blue switches and that I like the feel of the keys but maybe you are used to Cherry MX or some other type of switch.   This next video shows you how everything sounds.

The keys feel very solid, the keyboard has a very nice build and I seem to prefer the Kaihl blue switches, I think they feel great.  Typing on this, feels better to me than the last keyboard I reviewed that had Kaihl Brown switches.

I tested my speed on typing using www.10fastfinger.com and while it was not my fastest, I have had worse.  While I do hear the clickies, these keys bottom out while typing but don’t sound cheap.

This was a short section but I could think of a good way to fit it into another section.  Last but not least, let’s head on over to the Final Thoughts and Conclusion so you can see what I think about this keyboard, let me know if you agree and what you think about it.

Continue: Final Thoughts and Conclusion

[nextpage title=”Final Thoughts and Conclusion”]

This keyboard seems to be a cross between the Gamdias Hermes P1 RGB and the Gamdias Hermes M1 mechanical keyboards.  For me, this keyboard was a bit of a drama, filled with lows and highs and I will go into detail below the pros and cons as it is long but maybe you want to check it out too.  So on to the Pros and Cons.

Pros

• Braided cable
• 7 Color RGB LED Backlit
• Tons of lighting options
  • Great software suite HERA
• All keys are programmable
• 2 Programmable Macro Keys
  • With 6 profiles, so up to 12 programmable Macro keys
• Multi-Media Keys
• Kailh Blue Switches
• Optional Software Install: Does not require software to utilize most of the features
• Does not include software, must be downloaded
• Aluminum body: Sturdy strong feel

Cons

• No USB Hub
• Priced a bit higher than comparable keyboards
• No 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone Jack
• No Apple Support
• HERA
• Flimsy Quick Attach Wrist rest
• Does not include software, must be downloaded

When I first received the opportunity to review this keyboard, I was excited and looking at it I felt like I had seen it before but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  I later received the keyboard and it felt even more familiar once it was in my hands but I had not made the connection just yet, the wrist rest design got me closer to an idea… but still nothing.  Once I logged onto iBUYPOWER’s website to download the drive and saw it said HERA.  It clicked and I wanted to throw the keyboard out of the window.

Months ago, I was going to review the Gamdias Hermes E1.  It felt almost like this keyboard and when I installed Hera, it worked fine but the minute I recorded a macro my machine would blue screen.  Being that the keyboard had memory, the issue followed and every machine I plugged this keyboard into would blue screen as well.  I asked Gamdias to send me a replacement, and they did (they are very nice and patient) but the replacement had the same issue, I was beyond infuriated and I could not even use it to review it so I just ignored it hoping it would go away.

Fast forward 9 months and I get this… man, not again.  So this time there was a new install of windows, since I had done a few SSD reviews in between so there was no trace of that version of HERA anymore, no issues right?  Wrong, I plug it in, everything works and then I go to record macro’s and it happens again, this time no blue screens but HERA kept crashing.

I asked iBUYPOWER for help multiple times, and they were seeing what they could do but I can be annoying and I kept asking.  A week or so passed and I thought, I tried to fix this with Gamdias and they gave me a key combination to reset the keyboard but it didn’t work then, I wonder if it would work now.  I began to dig through my emails and after a few minutes I found it.  Gamdias support mention holding Function Key + Pause Break Key for about 10 seconds and the keyboard lights would flash and this time it worked.

After the keys stopped flashing, I tried again to set the macro, I could and everything worked perfectly, it just worked.  I finally got it working and was able to bring you this review and be able to talk you through all of HERA with no issues.  I am not sure what version of HERA that was way back when, but between that version and 2.8.2 they got something right.  I may look to see if I can find that keyboard again and give it another try.

Sorry back to this keyboard and the conclusion.

Even though the keyboard has only 7 lights, it looks like I can hit any combination of lights smoothly, they make it work.  I do like the strong aluminum body and the kaihl blue switches, they feel right.

On the con side, while it does not have a USB hub, 3.5mm headphone jack or Apple support, most keyboard don’t have it, it is a con but it is a common one.  HERA, while I wanted to blow up entire universes out of frustration, there was a fix and all was calm in the galaxy again.  The biggest issue I had was with the wrist rest, the quick attach feature wears down what allows it to attach and then just becomes a rickety mess, so I don’t use it, I have to ding them on that.  The cost though, still a bit too high but not horribly high.  The reason behind the cost is that Gamdias charges (All OEM’s do it, not Gamdias directly) a very high tooling cost to make changes, even a simple one like the logo and maybe the color then also depending on the minimum order quantity (MOQ) the cost of the keyboard is higher for iBUYPOWER which means the cost of the keyboard is higher for you.

Everything to me about the keyboard, its form, features, functions, comfort, quality and the likes are there, and if it wasn’t for the wrist rest and the price.

I award the iBUYPOWER MEK 2 Pro RGB Mechanical Keyboard an 8.8 and give it a Recommended Buy award.  Good job iBUYPOWER, just need to work a little on that wrist rest and the price and you would be set.  A great choice though for iBUYPOWER fans and lovers of the Chimera.

• Check it out on iBUYPOWER’s website

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