Cherry MV 3.0 Viola Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. RGB Backlight with Cross Linear Viola Switches. from The Makers of The MX Switch. (White)

Lowest price KB that has both full rgb per key light and full NKRO.
For being right around 20 dollars, this keyboard is very impressive. I personally purchased it for having full N-key rollover (100% anti ghosting) which is necessary for gaming using a keyboard – fighting games like tekken 8 and SF6 in particular. Without it, certain combinations of keys simply will not work and you’ll find yourself unable to do a move from the left that you could on the right or just not able to do it at all.The second reason why this KB has such incredible value at the price point is the full 16 million color RGB, settable on a per key basis. Most keyboards at and even above this price point (up to about 60 dollars) if they have lighting, the patterns are preset, colors are not chooseable and your options are limited to about a dozen. With this one though, it has like 12 or so built in patterns and the ability to create your own, plus customizable colors in all aspects on any part of the board.My only complaint is I wish the lighting in general was just a little brighter.Has the look and feel of an affordable low-end mechanical keyboard, but keep in mind that its switches are not really hot swappable, they use a different standard than classic cherry mx ones. This new, cheaper to produce mechanical switch type was apparently invented by cherry in order to sell to other brands with low-price offerings as the only viable mechanical switch for such a price point.That’s all, for the money (I paid 23) it’s easily a 10/10.

Cherry Viola Switches are highly under-rated!
I used to have the Corsair K60 w/ PBT KeyCaps, but that KB literally started sending double characters within 3 weeks of using it. I was like WTF. Corsair quality -_-.Then I discovered that Cherry themselves made a KB for similar price. I figured that German Quality could only be good in the long term, so “Knock On Wood”!! Anyways.I ran a typing test and the only difference between the MS Natural Ergonomic KB 4000 that I was using and this Cherry MV 3.0 Viola was -1 wpm after no prep, no stretch, just immediate typing test after validating that all the keys work. That’s not bad. That’s literally margin of error at 80-81 wpm.So far so good. The feel of the Cherry Viola switches are what I really liked. For a budget KB switch, it really feels nice. Similar to the squishy nature of membranes in all the right ways. But with the stability of a good Mechanical Switch.Hopefully this baby lasts me as long as a traditional Cherry MX switch. We’ll see.This is just the initial test. We’ll see how long this holds out in the long run. I’ll try to report back once I’ve used it for longer.UPDATE #1:So far, I’m loving the feel of the Cherry Viola switches. Nothing wrong with the switches so far after a few days of usage.My issues are more with the design / spacing of some of the Key Cluster gaps & KeyCap size.Cherry, if you’re listening, take down some of my complaints for feedback to improve your KB.You have a very solid budget Mechanical KB, but you REALLY need to make some changes.1) Your KeyCap Face size is too small!The KeyCaps that I used to use on my old “Bloody B740A” were normal size (14.0 mm x 13.0 mm)Your Cherry MV 3.0 KeyCaps are a bit too narrow at (14.0 mm x 11.5 mm)Yes, that extra 1.5 mm more narrow KeyCap face makes a difference, next time, go with the wider face.2) The Primary Key Cluster & Arrow Key Cluster & NumPad Clusters are TOO squished together.I like a little bit of spacing between them because my fingers naturally feel for the gap between to position themselves when I’m about to type.Not having a significantly distinct gap between the Arrow Key Cluster, & NumPad Cluster is bad for automatic positioning of the hand.I keep having to double check visually which is distracting and wastes time.The Primary Key Cluster should be shifted left by 3.0 mm and have only 10.0 mm spacing between the outter base of the KeySwitch housing and the edge of the KeyDeck.The NumPad Key Cluster should be shifted right by 1.0 mm and have only 10.0 mm spacing between the outter base of the KeySwitch housing and the edge of the KeyDeckThe F-Key row & Primary Key Cluster needs more spacing in between, shift the Primary Key Cluster down 5.5 mm to leave 13.5mm Vertical Spacing between the bottom outter edge of the KeyDeck and the bottom edge of the Outter base of the KeySwitch housing.The spacing between the Primary Key Cluster and Tertiary Cluster to the right of it should be increased to 8.25 mmThe spacing between the Tertiary Key Cluster and the NumPad Cluster to the right of it should be increased to 8.25 mm.This will help with natural typing and positioning of the hands IMO.3) The Rounded edge on bottom is perfectly fine, why on earth did you have a shallow bezel on top and faux cavity on top, just match the smooth finish on top & bottom for a symmetrical edge.4) The # Row Legend and it’s alternative characters position needs to be reversed with the #’s on the bottom and the alternative characters on top.5) The Cherry Button is pointless, get rid of it and put in a vertical Roller Wheel with push-in button click.Tie that directly to Vol +/- and Mute.6) move the Function button to the left side of the unit between the Windows Key & L-Alt.Add in: FN + Arrow Key Up/Dn = Pg Up/DnFN + Arrow Key L/R = Home/EndThis was one of the best short cuts that Apple invented from the Notebook side, it’d be wise for you to copy it.7) Add in a “Compose” button to the old position of the Fn button. If you don’t know what “Compose” button does, look it up on Wikipedia. It’s pretty useful to alot of folks for easily typing out special characters that aren’t that common. (e.g. compose (a+e) = æ)8) I’d recommend bringing back F13-F24 input support by offering “Shift” and “CapsLock” support for the F-keys to send out keyboard codes for F13-F24. Those keys are part of the USB HID standard and we need more programs and people to realize that they exist and should be programmed for.9) Add in a Plastic KB Splash Guard that wraps around the Key Switches and protects the PCB from Particulate & Liquid ingress. See Bloody B740A for that feature, it’s a cheap/simple solution, but it will help you with RMA and help protect the device in the long term.Update #2:One Month into using the Cherry MV 3.0 Viola Switches as my primary KB.So far so good, nothing wrong with the KB or the Key Switches.The spacing of the keys is still a issue, but that’s a design choice that I don’t agree with Cherry on.Maybe it’s a German design philosophy that I don’t get, who knows.But if somebody from Cherry could kindly contact me and read my reviews / talk to me about it, I’d be more than happy to guide them through on what I think they need to do for a next iteration of the KB to be “German Perfection”. Because right now, they’re getting damn close, but they’re off by a bit.It sucks too because they have a very solid KB, and they only need to make minor tweaks IMO to be truly “Excellant”.Update #3:500 Day Update! Everything still works w/o any issue. The KB’s responsiveness is the same as the day as I bought it. The lack of any hard actuation points makes you notice the way you type that your fingers might unconciously moved up & down twice causing double key strokes. At first I thought it was the switches, but it wasn’t. When I paid attention to the typing and my finger travel, I noticed my fingers bouncing to some degree, causing double actuation. After paying attention and putting some concious thought into my typing, I avoid triggering that double key-stroke activation.These quality Cherry Switches have genuinely has made me a better & more accurate typer.No more loosey-goosey finger movements. Far more precision & deliberance with typing.