If you're not into gaming, or if you don't excel at heavy-duty spreadsheet work or number crunching, do you even need a ten-key number pad? Probably not, and for those who fit that profile, Metadot has released the Das Keyboard 4C Ultimate ($143). This latest of the company's mechanical keyboards promises the superior typing experience of previous acclaimed members of the line (such as the Das Keyboard 4) and usage of less overall space. At this the 4C succeeds, but most shoppers are likely to find its $143 price too high considering what they'll have to give up.

Design and Features

As it measures 6.05 by 15.49 by 1.14 inches (HWD), the 4C Ultimate looks like exactly what it is: a typical keyboard with the number pad removed. It has an anodized aluminum top panel and weighs a hefty-feeling 2 pounds, is jet black, and is particularly striking if it's the label-free Ultimate (as is our review unit). Other physical amenities are few: Included with your purchase is a detachable red footbar for raising the keyboard up at an angle (a solution that's still less convenient and elegant than the old-fashioned adjustable feet), and the 4C Ultimate is equipped with a 6.5-foot cable for easy connecting to your computer and a simple two-port USB 2.0 hub on the left edge (on the original model, the hub is located on the top-right edge and supported USB 3.0).

You'll find no additional hardware controls, which is noteworthy because the Das Keyboard 4 introduced to the series a handful of physical keys positioned just above the—you guessed it—number pad. These included Sleep, Mute, Last Track, Play/Pause, and Next Track, as well as a large Volume dial. You'll find none of these on the 4C Ultimate, though this keyboard returns to a solution used on the Das Keyboard Model S Ultimate: the F1-F12 function keys doubling as media controls. To activate these, you press the Fn key on the lower-right row and the corresponding F key. You can also now disable the Windows key, which is handy to keep you from automatically dropping out of games. That function key combo only disables the left Windows key, however—the right one has been removed altogether to make way for Fn. (Note that on the 4C Ultimate, there are black labels describing the secondary functions on the bottom edges of the keys. You may have to strain to see them, but they're there should you get lost.)

Metadot offers two different styles of Greetech key switches on the 4C Ultimate, depending on your typing style and personal preference. Our review unit uses the tactile, non-clicky, and more expensive Brown switches; you can also choose the tactile and highly clicky Blue switches at a slightly lower price ($139). In either case, the keys' gold contacts are rated for up to 50 million keystrokes; and you get full n-key rollover, so you're able to hit as many keys as you want to simultaneously.

Performance and Conclusions

In the nearly eight years I've been using Das Keyboards, they've never faltered in performance, and the 4C Ultimate is no exception. It's no lightweight keyboard, literally or figuratively, and you feel its serious, sturdy construction beneath your fingers at all times. Though my personal preference is for the bouncier Greetech Blue switches, the Brown switches did deliver fine (and unquestionably quieter) typing that was all but indistinguishable from what you'd get from Metadot's earlier Cherry MX–loaded keyboards, and suggests you'll do well if you decide to shell out for the 4C Ultimate.

And you do have to shell out. Regardless of which 4C model you're buying, you'll pay only $30 less than you would for the full-size and full-featured Das Keyboard 4—and, number pad aside, either of those models gives you much better media controls, a second Windows key, and, as far as I'm concerned, more convenient placement of the USB hub. Unless you just really want 87 keys instead of 104, the larger version is a better deal across the board.

Because many companies are offering improved keyboards with more sparkly and useful extras than was the case a decade or so ago, Metadot is in the difficult position of needing to evolve products that have little or nothing wrong with them. The biggest problem with the Das Keyboard 4 was its price ($169 to $173), as products from cheaper competitors sported nearly identical features for quite a bit less. In recent years, the landscape has grown almost too competitive for iterative moves like this one—especially when some of the details paint the picture of a step backward.

For that reason, the Das Keyboard 4 remains our Editors' Choice for non-gaming mechanical keyboards. If you want a mechanical keyboard especially suited to gaming, you may want to consider the Editors' Choice Corsair K95 RGB, which is loaded with bells and whistles—lots of backlighting options, far more media and macro keys—and a number pad, and will run you $46 more. Yes, these alternatives may be larger, but for almost everyone, the added functionality will be easily worth those extra few inches on your desk.

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