CM Storm Trigger review

November 27, 2012

Cooler Master’s CM Storm trigger is a mechanical gaming keyboard; meaning the keys on the board are each connected to physical switches that send a signal back to the keyboard hardware when actuated.

This is in contrast to the plastic-membrane and rubber-dome keyboards that are more common and cheaper than their mechanical counterparts.

The advantages of mechanical keyboards include more tactile feedback on key-presses; an audibly satisfying “click” on each key-press; and a far longer button life-span than membrane keyboards.

With a recommended retail price of R1,399, the CM Storm Trigger doesn’t come cheap, so Cooler Master has tried to flesh out the peripheral with some additional features.

CM Storm Trigger features

The Trigger boasts gold-plated Cherry MX switches, rated for over 50 million key strokes. It has anti-ghosting technology, which means you can press up to 6-key combinations without confusing the keyboard hardware.

For comfort, a spacious wrist wrest is provided.

The keyboard hardware also boasts 1,000Hz driverless polling, for 1ms response time on key presses.

The keyboard connects to a PC using a detachable USB 2.0 cable; a 1.8m-long braided cable is provided. The cable connects to the rear at the top-right.

This is also a 2-port USB 2.0 hub built into the board. The USB 2.0 hub can be further powered by a standard 5V DC power supply to provide enough juice for power-hungry devices, such as external hard drives. Considering the asking price, its a disappointment that no such power supply is provided in the package.

The powered hub doubles up to provide additional power to the red back-lighting on the Trigger, stepping the brightness levels up a further 2 notches from the 3 powered via USB.

Along the left side is a vertical row of five programmable macro keys. They can be used as standard function keys, and modified using a “CM” key in place of the traditional Windows keys, the media keys and Trigger back-lighting controls.

Finally, there is 64KB of memory in the board for storing key profiles.

CM Storm Trigger in use

When first hefting the 1.26kg keyboard, the sturdiness and durability becomes apparent. Thick rubber feet combine with the weight to keep the keyboard firmly in place, while feet on the rear flip up to provide a slightly angled surface.

The solid plastic frame doesn’t feel tacky or shoddy, and with its soft-touch rubber coating, it is pleasant to lay hands on.

However, there was a concern with our review unit; a new keyboard which was already showing signs of the thin coating being scuffed away from only a couple of journeys stuffed into a laptop bag.

The wrist-rest also has a soft-touch coating to it, which proved comfortable during my review period, but leaves me wondering how long the coating will stand up to constant friction and sweat. The plastic arms that clip the rest into the keyboard seem rather flimsy, and it was especially nerve-racking when trying to remove the wrist-rest.

The keys themselves also have a soft-touch coating to them, and this seemed of a more durable type than the coating used on the plastic frame. The coating also gives the keys a pleasant feel while in use.

The mechanical keys are certainly satisfying to use, and the claims of more tactile feedback ring true, along with the satisfying noise made by the switches.

The Trigger did prove far too noisy for office use however, as a short session nearly had me lynched in the MyGaming break room.

A minor gripe is the exclusion of a stepped “Caps Lock” key, which I invariably manage to clip while going for the “A” key. The Windows key is absent by default, with the aforementioned “CM” key in its place. The Windows key function can be restored by using the CM Storm Trigger software.

The red back-lighting can be switched through 3 modes: full back-lighting; WASD, arrow and macro keys only; and full back-lighting that pulsates through the available brightness levels.

By choosing WASD for a specific back-light mode, Cooler Master has rather snubbed gamers who prefer a ESDF setup. As a matter of personal preference, I found the brighter settings to be too intense; however, there will certainly be no excuses for fumbling your keys in the dark.

Finally, the CM Storm Trigger software is user-friendly enough, and coupled with some clear documentation on the CM Storm website, setting up macro keys and creating profiles is an easy task.

Conclusion

The CM Storm Trigger provides a high-quality input for gamers who really like to pound away at their keyboards without worry that things will start to break down.

The mechanical keys live up to their promise of providing a comfortable, tactile, if slightly noisy, typing experience.

However, with a steep asking price, the exclusion of a power supply for the USB 2.0 hub, and a bare minimum of additional features, one will have to be dead set on a mechincal keyboard before making the purchase.

Only so much can be conveyed about mechanical keyboards through a review, so it is highly recommended that you lay hands on one for a while before parting with hard-earned cash.