Ever wanted to build your own keyboard? The GMMK Pro of Glorious gives you the chance to do so, with lots of different keys and plates to make it your own. Think about combining cherry keys for your WASD keys and simple linear switches for your other keys. You can experiment with plenty of combinations and find out what works and feels the best for you. There’s a lot of room for trying it out and testing.
In this article, we’ll both cover the GMMK Pro and the GMMK regular keyboard. You will know which one is the right keyboard for you, some important technical stuff and if it offers value for money. That's something I always focus on with every product.
Btw, this keyboard is also a great gift for a friend or anyone who likes experimenting with great gear. Wouldn’t it be cool to get them to build it themselves? It’s a very creative gift (or recommendation) in my opinion as it is beginner-friendly too. More about that later!
What Is The GMMK Pro?
How come you can decide to build what you like? The GMMK Pro keyboard is a 75% barebones board, meaning that it has nothing but the essential, basic elements. It comes out of the box WITHOUT any keycaps and switches. You need to purchase your favorite keys (83 in total) and switches yourself, and assemble them on your GMMK Pro (don’t worry, there’s no soldering required. This means that you can easily switch between different keyboard experiences!
Think about it. Maybe you're done using your Cherry MX keys, and you want to try out something new. Just swap the keys and you will have a completely new experience! Glorious also sells their own sets of colored PBT keycaps, called GPBT (FYI: PBT stands for Polybutylene Terephthalate, sounds a bit scientistic doesn’t it?). They have 7 different colored sets: from Arctic White to Rain Forest and Ocean.
The frame of this keyboard is high-profile, so the switches are seated in the frame. You can also change between different plates. The GMMK Pro comes with an aluminum plate, but if you’d like to change that you can order a brass plate or a polycarbonate plate too.
And do you know what’s cool? The GMMK Pro has a rotary knob on the right-top side which can be used for zooming in and out, volume control, scrubbing a timeline, and more. The regular GMMK keyboard doesn't have this rotary knob, but this board can be purchased full-size too. It's cheaper, comes with pre-installed ''Gateron Brown'' keys which you can also swap out.
GMMK Pro Software
You can set up how your rotary knob functions when you download the software for the GMMK Pro called Glorious Core. The software has a very clean and user-friendly-looking interface. There you will also find a nice selection of RGB effects which you want to check out if you decide to get this keyboard (there are 16.8 million color options for RGB).
Difference Between Plates
What’s the difference between the plates for the GMMK Pro? You should think about what kind of feel and sound you like. Brass will feel the stiffest, whereas polycarbonate feels the most flexible. Therefore, aluminum sits kind of in the middle and maybe that’s why this is the default plate that comes with this board. Glorious says that the default aluminum plate which comes in the box is also made of high quality.
Difference Between Switches
There are three types of switches for mechanical keyboards: linear, tactical, and clicky. And you can decide between these three types for your GMMK Pro keyboard. Which one should you get? In general, linear switches are recommended for fast-paced gaming, tactical switches for general purpose use, and clicky switches for the best typing experience.
My Opinion On Switches
In my opinion, it's not so black and white. For example, I am an extremely fast typer and I found the clicky keys a bit too distracting. They make more sound and make me feel like I'm typing with a machine gun. Maybe it would be better with a headset that blocks out all the noise, haven't tried that yet. Linear switches are my favorite. I am a huge gamer myself and I love gaming on it since it feels accurate, and I use it for typing and working too.
Linear vs Tactile Switches
The difference between linear and tactile switches is that a tactical switch registers the letter when you press the key halfway down. A linear key has to be pressed down to register (I prefer that to be more precise for both gaming and typing). With a clicky switch, you will feel a tactile bump and a loud audible click with each keystroke. They give you feedback when you type.
Keys From Glorious
Want to know how the different keys from Glorious feel and sound like? When you click the button below you will find a Sample Pack so you can try them all. I highly recommend it! Because when you pair your GMMK purchase with this sample pack you can find the perfect switch for you.
And if you're looking for keycaps that are all the same, I recommend the Glorious Aura Pudding Keycaps. These are specially designed (transparent on the sides) to let more light through, which drastically improves your RGB lighting.
Also, these keys are made of high-quality PBT plastic to give you a premium experience – and it lasts much longer than standard ABS keycaps. This means they will handle your long, intense and sweaty gaming sessions too! The standard ABS keycaps are a cheaper alternative but tend to wear down faster after some time so I don't recommend these.
These keys have the standard OEM profile which is made to give you fatigue-free and accurate keystrokes, thanks to its sculpted and contoured profile. Leaders of mechanical keyboards like Logitech, Corsair, and Razer use this profile as well.
What Comes In The Box?
So as you know you have to get your own switches and keycaps. No stabilizers though! You will get the so-called ''Goat stabilizers'' from Glorious. Inside the box of the GMMK Pro, you will find:
- A USB-C cable
- Plastic keycap puller
- Small metal switch puller
Besides, you get the default plate which is the aluminum plate. As you’ve read before, you can also decide to get a brass or polycarbonate plate, but then you need to order it yourself. What’s surprising is that there’s no manual found in the box. Maybe Glorious has done this on purpose, as the goal of this keyboard is to let you experience building it on your own.
Btw, when you start working on the keyboard, you will encounter a foam layer under the PCB (printed circuit board) which you can remove if you’d like to. Without the foam, the keyboard seems to feel less stiff and a little more flexible. Maybe it’s something interesting to experience. The foam was meant to keep vibrations to a minimum.
The GMMK Pro Is Not Only For Gaming!
Maybe you think that this keyboard is typical for gamers. I can tell you it's not. In fact, GMMK Pro is not specifically for gaming (although it’s excellent for it too). You can perfectly use this for programming and typing as well. Glorious made this keyboard with the typing experience in mind to give you the best aesthetics, feel, and sound.
Decide yourself if you need the number pad on the right side. If not, the 75% layout of the GMMK Pro wouldn’t be a problem for you. So if you're passionate about keyboards and you want to give yourself this experience of building, testing, and feeling any kind of key that you like: go for it!
GMMK Pro Price: Value For Money?
The big question is: does it offer you value for money? For its price, which is currently $169.99 it's not a bad deal compared to other customizable keyboards like the Satisfaction 75.
That keyboard looks quite like the GMMK Pro, but the price was around 450 dollars. The features found on the GMMK Pro typically for custom keyboards are normally about twice the price.
Premium Feature
Glorious claims that the gasket-mounted plate is one of the best features, saying ‘’It naturally dampens keystrokes for a unique haptic and acoustic experience.’’
A gasket mount uses a rubber gasket to isolate the PCB and the plate from direct contact with the case. This makes the keyboard sound better, feel better, and it also helps to make it quieter and softer. It's one of the features that's typical for a premium board so it couldn't be missing.
Where Does It Lack On?
It's quite hard to see where this keyboard lacks. It’s not the upper best quality of custom keyboards which means you could encounter small problematic things. For example, goat stabilizers are not the greatest of all time. They are factory lubed, but this generous amount might cause your keys not to fully pop up or to stick once you actuate them.
But hey, the kit at least comes with stabilizers. With many custom keyboard builds you also have to get your stabilizers.
Budget-Friendly (And For Beginners Too)
The GMMK Pro has a budget-friendly price for a custom keyboard (not for a regular keyboard). The 75% layout of this keyboard makes it compact, but they haven’t clammed all the keys together. There’s a different cluster for your arrow keys, keys on the side, function row, and the rotary knob on the right top.
The keyboard looks good, sounds good, it’s much fun assembling it and it takes a little bit of time to get it how you want it to. It is also beginner-friendly since it has a hot-swap PCB to easily swap between switches. It supports both three-pin and five-pin switches as well. And they have paid attention to the RGB.
The PCB has per-key RGB lighting, with south-facing LEDs so it will have maximum compatibility with keycaps of varying profiles. And do you like to use other stabilizers than the pre-installed screw-in ''GOAT stabilizers''? The GMMK Pro supports both screw-in and clip-in stabilizers so you can do that too.
GMMK Keyboard: Alternative!
An alternative for the GMMK Pro which is a 75% barebones board, is the GMMK keyboard. This is the regular version that’s a full-size prebuilt board. When you get the GMMK keyboard, you will directly have ‘’Gateron Brown’’ tactical switches but if you’d like to swap them out for a different experience, you can do that as well – very quickly and easily! Think about using cherry, kailih, or any other kind of switch. And you don’t have to use soldering here too.
What are the main differentiators of the GMMK keyboard?
- The GMMK is immediately ready to use out of the box (and to swap out keys if you want to)
- You can choose to have a full-size GMMK keyboard (with Numpad)
- The GMMK doesn’t have a programmable rotary knob
- The GMMK cable is not detachable
Why would it be interesting for you to get GMMK Keyboard instead of a GMMK Pro? I’d say when you want to have a full-size keyboard. But you can also those a ‘compact’ or ‘tenkeyless’ version on the GMMK. And the board offers you room for customization as well as you can easily experience lots of different keys.
It also comes with a tool for removing the keys and switches, a specific glorious ESC cap, ‘’gloriosa stickers’’, nonslip pads, and an instruction manual. You can use this keyboard for very fast typing and intensive gaming too as it has anti-ghosting technology (with Key Rollover function).
And not to forget the price difference: it currently costs $109.99 on Amazon (instead of $169.99 for the GMMK Pro)! The button below is an affiliate link, which means at no extra cost to you I will earn a small commission. Thank you so much if you do (for supporting my gaming website meant to give value to the lives of others).
The GMMK Pro is currently not available on Amazon, it only has a renewed version there so pay attention to that. When you want the GMMK Pro you should get it from the official Glorious website (non-affiliate link). I prefer Amazon as it has great service and generally a fast delivery.
Did You Know That Glorious Also Made The Lightest Gaming Mouse In The World?
I got to know about the brand Glorious in the first place because of its incredibly lightweight gaming mouse, called the Glorious Model O (and O-). By using a honeycomb design, Glorious wanted to shave off as much weight as possible... The result? A minimization of cramps, and an improved ability to do fasts movement, better pinpoint accuracy, and more. And it comes at an affordable price as well. I highly recommend you looking into this.
For more gaming gear advice, check out the buying station to find budget, recommended, and premium gear so it helps you find what suits your budget best – with a high value for money in mind. Because that's what I always strive for!
P.s. I also think you might find the 100 gaming names that I've created funny and interesting to see. Feel free to use them!
Stay blessed,
Musicella
