Cooler Master's newest mechanical keyboards ditch the numpad for a smaller footprint

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Finding the best gaming keyboard depends in part on how much number crunching you plan to do when not playing games. If the answer is 'very little' or 'none at all', you might find that a tenkeyless plank is up your alley. And if that's the case, Cooler Master has a couple of new options it hopes gamers will find intriguing.

Cooler Master's new MK730 and CK530 are both tenkeyless boards, meaning neither of them have a dedicated number pad. Tenkeyless planks trade the numpad for a shorter footprint—in this case, the CK530 measures 380mm (~15 inches) and MK730 measures 360mm (~14.2 inches). For comparison, Cooler Master's full-length CK550 measures 460mm (~18.1 inches).

The MK730 is the higher end of the two. It comes with a removable magnetic PU leather and memory foam wrist rest, and is equipped with a removable USB-C cable. The keyboard itself consists of Cherry MX key switches (Blue, Brown, and Red) mounted to a brushed aluminum top plate. RGB lighting is also part of the deal, and it has onboard memory to store lighting profiles and macros. It lacks amenities like dedicated gaming keys or standalone media controls, though.

Cooler Master's CK530 looks similar, but it trades Cherry MX key switches for Gateron ones, also available in Blue, Brown, and Red. You can read more about the characteristics Blues, Browns, Reds, and so forth in our guide on mechanical keyboard switches.

Like the MX730, the CK530 offers RGB lighting and built in memory, so you can save settings to the keyboard and take them with you.

Both keyboards will be available starting January 29, with the MK730 priced at $119.99 (€119.99) and the CK530 at $69.99 (€69.99).