I have reviewed several Blue and Red MX Switch mechanical gaming keyboards and those with Cherry and OUTEMU MX switches, but this is the first time I have reviewed a Black Switch mechanical keyboard and one with a Gateron switch as well. The keyboard here I am talking about is the Rantopad MT Mechanical Gaming keyboard, and this keyboard boasts the following features.

Gateron Black Switch which they boast has Linear Action with 50 cN (gram) actuation pressure and a 50 million click lifetime.

Replaceable acrylic top panel

Adjustable White LED Backlighting – 104-key Keyboard – N-Key Rollover

Gold-plated USB Braided Cable

FN keys for F1 – F12 to support one-click media, sound and color functions on the keyboard without separate keys.

Now in going into more detail, I have a few videos that showcase different features of the keyboard before I give my final thoughts at the end.

The first video is the unboxing the Rantopad MT Mechanical Gaming Keyboard and showing what you get in the box and initial look.

Now at first I found the keyboard to have such a different feel and layout I had trouble with the keys originally and still think they could do a better job with the way the wrist rest area is below the space bar. The key tops are smaller and a little rounded, this is slight but if you are a touch typists makes it a little more likely you are going to hit the wrong key because the keys are slightly closer together as a result. There is also a smaller spacebar and there is a large gap between the spacebar and bottom of the keyboard which you would think is the wrist rest area, but the plastic isn’t very well rounded and juts at the end to be uncomfortable on the wrist. If they were making such a large gap at the bottom of the keyboard they needed to taper it more dramatically, round it or rubberize it to make it more of a wrist rest as I actually had some pain on my wrist originally until I forced myself to adapt a different placement style with this keyboard where my wrists don’t rest on the keyboard but the desk instead.

Honestly it sounds like a complaint and is for me, but the keyboard performs fantastically in every other way, the keys are wonderfully tactile and responsive and spring back instantly with each click and I am able to achieve 106 Words per minute with ease after a few days, which is on the higher end of my best and I can never get this high without mechanical keyboards, usually I am in the 90-95WPM range on membrane keyboards.

Check out Typing Test on the Rantopad MT Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Now, in the full review I talk about the acrylic backplate which snaps on and off magnetically and is a great idea for keeping the keyboard clean. I think it would be an awesome feature if Rantopad partnered with game companies to make plates that had game brands on them, or had a 3D printing shop where you can customize and make your own magnetic plates to snap on your keyboard and personalize your keyboard. This to me would be awesome, as if are going to spend over a $100 on a keyboard, you know you will be using it a long time and being able to personalize and brand it how you want to me is the next big thing that companies should be looking at. V-Moda does this with their custom shields for their headphones and I think more brands should look into it.

The LED light portion of the keyboard is certainly functional, with its white LED backlit behind each key, but it is also very bland. Though you can make the LED backlighting breath and adjust color of the lights the fact that you can’t set custom colors or have any color choices make this certainly not flashy. Most mechanical keyboards now are offering the ability to color code your WASD and ARROW keys separate colors, and or at least have a bunch of pre-set LED color patterns you can cycle through. I think they should add more color options and configurations into the next version of the keyboard. But again this is a cosmetic thing and not a functional one, the keyboard functions beautifully and I really enjoy typing on it.

Here is my full video review of the Rantopad MT Mechanical Black Switch Gaming Keyboard.

The only other thing I will point out specifically here is the F9 FN or (G) Key which is Game Mode, when you use FN + F9 this will put your keyboard in game mode which disables the Windows key and Alt+Tab so that you can’t accidentally exit out of a game. It has a light symbol for G for showing you when Game Mode is enabled too.

So my overall assessment is that Rantopad has an excellent mechanical keyboard here that functions very well, the keys are fantastically responsive and the black gateron switches are noticeably at a lower click volume than red or blue switches and yet still have that tactile response and feedback you want and expect from mechanical keyboards. The easy to clean and removable plate is a nice touch and the LED backlighting more than works for keeping your keys lit at night. I found that the gap between space and end of keyboard near the wrist could have been made more comfortable and was the only real functional detractor from the keyboard, it causes some wrist/palm fatigue due to it being hard edges rather than softer and more rounded.

Check out Rantopad USA Website for more products: http://rantopadusa.com/

Disclaimer: Rantopad sent us the MT Mechanical Keyboard so we could do a thorough and accurate review. All opinions are 100% mine and mine alone.