[section_title title=”Introduction”]Introduction

Brand: CM Storm

Model: NovaTouch

RRP: £149.99

Recently we have seen a spate of new keyboards with a wide range of features and performance enhancing characteristics. Most notorious is the Corsair K70 RGB, which I took a look at last week, however since then Logitech have announced their new keyboard, which not only features RGB backlighting, but also their unique mechanical switches, that have never been seen before. Many of these brands are releasing keyboards with more and more features, with many of them forgetting about what really matters – how they perform and feel.

CM Storm is a well-known contender in the mechanical keyboard world, having released many different models, catering for a wide range of customers. However they have also been known for their lower quality products when it comes to build quality and materials used. Because of this, CM Storm have taken a very feedback orientated approach to their new products, which is just how we happened to get our hands on their latest keyboard – the NovaTouch TKL. This keyboard, whilst not unique, is the first to combine two well-known switch types: Topre and Cherry MX, to create a keyboard that not only feels great, but allows you to use whatever Cherry key caps you like. They have done this by integrating the Cherry MX cross stem with the Topre capacitive switches and have focused on collecting a huge deal of feedback to making sure that the NovaTouch provides the best typing experience possible.

For those of you who have not heard of Topre, they are a capacitive switch, similar to rubber-dome, but feature a moving slider making it an almost hybrid switch: both mechanical and rubber-dome. They are commonly used in Realforce and Happy Hacking keyboards, which are either very expensive (talking $300+ for a 60% keyboard) or difficult to find. CM Storm is the first company to implement these switches and attempt to make them more mainstream, which no doubt, many will be pleased with.

CM Storm have opted to keep the NovaTouch simple and to let the new switches to the talking. It still comes with features that are well suited to gamers, albeit no backlighting or macro software. Let’s now take a look at the keyboard and its hybrid switches.