This new Cherry gaming keyboard is a speed demon, but costs an eye-watering $299

Keyboard keyswitch stalwart, Cherry, is back with a new premium gaming keyboard, the Xtrfy MX 8.3 TKL Wireless. It includes an LCD display and has a lot of the features we've come to expect in a high-end board, including an 8,000Hz polling rate, tri-mode connectivity, and hot-swappable switches, but it's also curiously missing other popular features like adjustable actuation and rapid trigger, which brings its $299 price point into the spotlight.

On specs alone, the Cherry Xtrfy MX 8.3 has every chance of earning a slot on our buying guide to the best gaming keyboard. However, value is of course a determining factor in our decision-making process, and $299 is a lot to spend on a keyboard, especially when it's arguably missing a few features and appears to not use premium build materials such as aluminum.

The reveal of this new Cherry gaming keyboard focuses primarily on speed and typing feel. A big focus is placed on its Cherry MX2A switches, which are the company's big upgrade over its original and long-industry-standard MX switches (used in over 60 million keyboards according to Cherry). We first got hands-on with the MX2A switches in our Cherry KC200 MX review, with the new switches proving to be smooth and responsive. The switches are also rated for a massive 100 million keystroke lifespan.

An 8,000Hz polling rate is also present, for peak gaming response. We're not entirely convinced of the benefits of such a fast polling rate - not least as it can have an impact on CPU performance - but the option's there and, although it's not explicitly stated, we'd expect you to be able to run the keyboard at a lower rate if needs be.

Another key addition is a small display, which can be used to report typing speed and battery status while a rotary knob lets you adjust RGB lighting, switch connections, access media controls, and toggle between paired devices.

The keyboard also uses a "premium gasket construction" and multiple layers of internal padding to "experience smoother typing." This is rather vague language, with Cherry not making it clear if this is a particularly quiet keyboard or, for instance, providing an exploded diagram to show the gasket construction and the padding layers. In general, though, gasket keyboards offer a little bit of give to the keyswitch board, which slightly cushions the feel of the board when the keys bottom out. It's the sort of construction you find on other premium keyboards, such as the Glorious GMMK 3 and Monsgeek M1W.

Also vague is that Cherry doesn't mention which type of MX2A switches the board comes with. You can choose a layout when pre-ordering but there's no choice for linear, tactile, or clicky switches. Given that the latter two options are one of the key reasons many users would want to still use a traditional metal-contact mechanical keyswitch, rather than use an optical or Hall Effect switch, it's strange that Cherry either doesn't offer these or make it clear that it does.

With the option for Bluetooth, USB, or 2.4GHz wireless connections, the inclusion of quality PBT keycaps, and the ability to hot swap the keyswitches, this board ticks plenty more boxes for a premium keyboard.

However, one factor that isn't so obviously premium is the design. Cherry doesn't state directly whether the case is plastic or metal, but it looks like plastic and appears to have a peculiar-looking rotating rear foot mechanism for raising the back edge of the keyboard. It's certainly different.

The other definitely missing feature is the use of switches that support analog input (optical, Hall Effect, or TMR). Being able to control an analog input such as a car throttle via a single key, adjust the actuation distance of certain keys, or setup functions such as snap tap and rapid trigger can really elevate the gaming potential for boards with support for these switches. They're far from essential for most games but are now a common option. You can even find such boards for well below $100, such as is the case with the Monsgeek Fun 60 Ultra and Akko MOD007B.

All told, we're left a little confused by the pricing of the Cherry Xtrfy MX 8.3. Perhaps it's just Cherry's description that is missing some crucial details about why a relatively simple looking board like this is priced at such a high level but, until we learn more, a $299 MSRP is a hard pill to swallow.

If your gaming setup is in need of upgrades outside of your keyboard, check out our best gaming mouse and best gaming headset guides to see which ones we recommend covering a range of needs and budgets.

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