GMMK 2 tested: Glorious treats its modular keyboards to super switches
9.5.2022
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Glorious updates its GMMK – and itself. The Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard 2 is available in two form factors and it’s pretty decent.
Glorious has ditched the long-winded «Glorious PC Gaming Race» and is now simply called Glorious. The first product released under this new yet old name is the GMMK2 It’s available in a 96 or 65 per cent form factor. Either fully assembled or as a barebone without keys and keycaps. I tested the 65 per cent complete version. The high-quality keyboard impresses most with its features and solid switches.
Sound und typing experience
The GMMK2 is a so-called integrated plate keyboard. This means that the keyboard’s top housing acts as a cover plate to which the switches are mounted. It’s screwed to the base unit – switches, printed circuit board and all. This type of keyboard has little to no resistance when you’re typing. The typing experience is on the firm side. Usually on the loud side, too.
If you’ve only ever used big-name mechanical keyboards, you won’t notice this. Why? Because their keyboards have a similar design. Personally, I prefer a softer typing experience, which is why I’m not entirely happy with the GMMK 2.
The keyboard weighs in at 900 grams. What makes it relatively heavy is the large aluminium plate and metal parts inside. But more mass also usually provides better insulation. By adding this, Glorious is aiming to counteract the reverb this type of keyboard tends to produce when you’re typing. In addition to the metal parts, there’s also an insulating mat in the bottom part of the case. Another one is located between the top part of the housing and the circuit board.
The GMMK 2 produces a sound that’s quite muffled. Overall, its sound is quite good for a prefab keyboard.
Stabilisers and switches
The stabilisers rattle less than they do on other keyboards. However, they’re far from perfect. Glorious uses so-called plate mount stabilisers. They’re attached to the cover plate, which is the top part of the housing in this case. The advantage? You can remove them quite easily. This makes them better to mod than PCB mount stabilisers, which are mounted directly to the board. But plate mount stabilisers tend to rattle.
The stabilisers are lightly lubricated ex-works, which should reduce rattling. However, this doesn’t quite do the trick as the sound test above proves.
If you want, you can also replace GMMK 2’s stabilisers with PCB mounts. To do so, however, you need to dismantle the entire keyboard. In aficionado circles, this is the preferred method of attachment. Cool of Glorious to offer this possibility.
Glorious relies on their in-house Fox switches. For the time being, these are reserved for the GMMK 2 and the fully assembled GMMK Pro. They’re lubricated ex-works. Unlike pre-lubed Lynx or Panda Switches by Glorious, the lubrication is applied more evenly.
Fox switches are linear. In other words, they give no feedback when triggered at 2.2 millimetres of key travel. This requires a force of 45 grams. Pressing the switch all the way down requires 60 grams of force. The switches are comparable to Cherry’s MX Red – minus the scratchy feeling when pressing down and the pinging noise when pressing. Overall, the switches are very good. I would even go as far as to say they’re the best buttons I’ve pressed on a prefab keyboard so far.
Geeks will be pleased to hear that the board supports 5-pin switches. The circuit boards of most major manufacturers only support 3-pin switches. If you want to use 5-pin switches, you have to cut off the superfluous pins. But not with the GMMK 2.
Keycaps
Glorious uses ABS plastic for its keycaps. The transparent inscriptions are manufactured using the double-casting method. This means that the fonts are cast first before the rest of the keycap. That way, the inscriptions never fade.
The lettering is clean and looks uniform. For a gamer keyboard, the character set is on the tame side. The shine-through effect of the RGB LEDs is uniform with most keys. But there are exceptions. The light doesn’t shine through quite as strongly on the ASCEND lettering on the enter key. This is because of its thin letters. Show-through is also uneven on keys with multi-line imprints.
The secondary functions of the keys are laser-etched on the front of the keycaps – the inscription is created by melting the material surface. Thanks to them, even newcomers will easily manage to navigate the keyboard and find the right keys without having to look at a manual. As these «imprints» are relatively small, the keycaps don’t look overloaded with information.
I’m not usually a fan of ABS keycaps on prefab keyboards, because the majority of manufacturers use the cheapest type. These are prone to attract fingerprints and are very thin-walled. At 1.3 to 1.49 millimetres, the walls of the GMMK 2 caps are surprisingly thick. This makes them quite hard, which creates a pleasant sound. They also don’t attract fingerprints as easily as other ABS keycaps do. Are there better ABS keycaps out there? Yes, but when it comes to ready-made keyboards, the GMMK 2 is good.
Design und ergonomics
The switches are visible from the side with the GMMK 2. This makes the lighting come into its own even more. The top aluminium housing section with the switches attached to it extends over the edge down to the sides. It features an RGB LED bar on both the left and right. The lower part is made of plastic.
Except for the small space between the right Alt and left arrow key, all keys are compressed.
On the back, four rubber feet ensure that the GMMK 2 doesn’t slip. The rubberised fold-up feet allow you to change the typing angle. Thanks to it, I can adjust my 65 per cent test sample from 7 to 14 degrees. At the front, the keyboard is only 16 millimetres high. In spite of this, I use a palm rest for longer typing or gaming sessions.
The USB-C port is located in the middle at the back. It’s slightly offset into the case. A coiled, two-metre cable is included. But as it’s removable, you’re free to use another one.
Both the 65 per cent and 96 per cent versions of the GMMK 2 are available in black and white. A pink version is expected soon.
Lighting and software
The lighting is a big selling point of the GMMK 2. Thanks to the see-through switch cases, the keyboard shines very brightly.
Some lighting profiles are pre-programmed on the keyboard. You can modify brightness and mode via the secondary key. The lighting can also be adjusted with the «Glorious Core» software. It also offers the possibility to reassign keys and programme macros.
In addition, the GMMK 2 Quantum Mechanical Keyboard (QMK) is compatible. The open-source keyboard configurator can be used to run a personalised firmware on the keyboard.
Clean finish with great switches
The original GMMK came out with a feature a few years ago that not many others had before: hot swap sockets that allow switches to be swapped quickly and easily. Nowadays, many keyboards have this. Glorious is relying on the lesser-known 65 and 96 per cent form factors – probably to stand out. The result is a very well-made keyboard, with a sound and typing experience in need of some optimising. It’s available in different colours in addition to the two form factors.
At 130 francs for the complete version, the GMMK 2 is a fair deal. Particularly because this will buy you fox switches – arguably the best keys of a prefab keyboard. If you’re thinking about getting one, I recommend you get the complete version. The additional 40 francs compared to the barebone version is a good price for the switches alone. Provided you like medium-heavy linear switches, that is. If you’re not happy with the keycaps you can still change them later on.
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
