Xiaomi Yuemi MK01 Mechanical Keyboard Review: Great for Typing, Bad for Gaming

Jun. 28, 2018

Beebom Score

The keyboard is pretty basic, itdoesn’t have any media keys or any programmability, but it does have a decent white backlight which has five levels of brightness that can be adjusted by tapping the Fn key and the up/down arrow keys. The only variation I could find in the backlight was with the caps lock, scroll lock and Windows keys, which light up orange when toggled. While the caps lock and scroll lock functionality is pretty obvious, the Windows key has a locked mode which can be toggled on/off by pressing the Fn and Windows key together. This is a handy addition for gamers who don’t want their gaming experience to be disrupted by an accidental tap on the Windows key.

While the keyboard might appear to be wireless, it isn’t and it makes use of adetachable USB Type-A to micro USB cablefor connections. I really like the fact that the cable is detachable and can be easily replaced in case it is damaged, which is a possibility as the cable provided with the keyboard isn’t braided and has a pretty flimsy construction.

While all of the keys make use of the TTC Red switches,the spacebar makes use of a TTC Black switchwhich feels slightly heavier than the other keys. All the larger sized keys also make use ofCherry style stabilizersto prevent them from wobbling around in place. Due to the stabilizers, the larger keys feel a bit spongy and aren’t as tactile as the smaller keys on the keyboard, but the stabilizers perform their job well and you’ll not be able to feel any rattling on the stabilized keys.

Since the legends are molded into the keycaps, you wouldn’t have to worry about them wearing off with time, which is another plus point. Thefont used on the keycaps is rather pleasingunlike other cheap Chinese keyboards, however, the non-standard shorthand used for the print screen, scroll lock, page up, page down, home, and the pause/break key might be a bit annoying for some.

However, if you’re thinking of getting this keyboard for your gaming setup then I’d like to strongly advise you against it. There are a couple of reasons behind that, with the most important one being that the keyboarddoesn’t feature N-key rollover as advertised by Xiaomi. The keyboard’s product page claims that the keyboard supports 11-key rollover, but in my testing I found thatit only has 2-key rollover, with the keyboard failing to register a few three key combinations, such as (S,O, L) and (Q,H, U). The keyboardalso has issues registering quick double taps, which will hinder gaming performance and might also be bad for people who type very fast.

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