Peripherals Show Article 116: Full of girly atmosphere, Fuling CMK98 marshmallow three-mode mechanical keyboard unboxing

FlashGet Internet Express, I don’t know if you still remember it, an Internet download software that used to keep pace with Xunlei. With the speed-up and fee reduction of home broadband and the advent of the 5G mobile network era, all kinds of computer download software in the past are slowly being forgotten. The predecessor of FL-ESPORTS Fuling is Internet Express, which used to be mainly engaged in the peripherals of Internet cafes. In 2020, the Fuling F12 equipped with Kaihua BOX was launched, which made everyone's eyes shine. The FL980 launched later also earned enough reputation. The CMK98 Marshmallow I shared with you today can be regarded as an upgraded version of FL980, which has been improved to a certain extent in terms of appearance, internal noise reduction structure and shaft selection.

CMK98 is packaged in pure black, with the outline of the keyboard, product LOGO and model printed on the front.

There are quite a lot of accessories, including dust cover, paracord data cable, multi-function key puller, 2.4G adapter, product manual, warranty card and 16 additional keycaps.

CMK98 adopts the conventional 98-key arrangement, which saves 20% space compared with 108 keys. The divided F area simplifies part of the Jiugongge keys and completely retains the number area, which is very suitable for users who often operate numbers in daily life.

CMK98 has 6 colors of avocado, graphite green, mechanical heart, quiet gray, marshmallow, sea salt lemon, and mine is marshmallow. Marshmallow is available in three colors: pink, sky blue, and white, which gives people a small and clear feeling. It can also be personalized with 16 supplementary keycaps in the attachment.

In the upper right corner, there are four buttons of DEL, INS, PGUP, and PGDN in Jiugongge. Below the buttons are the four indicator lights of the keyboard. The far right is the charging indicator light. The red light is on when charging, and the red light is off when the voltage reaches 4.2V. In addition, in wireless mode, you can check the current remaining power through the number keys above the letter area through FN + backspace key.

The outer frame of the keyboard adopts a "moat" shape, showing a natural small slope front and back. If it is equipped with a hand rest, it will be more comfortable when typing.

CMK98 adopts the sound-absorbing structure of the hull, and a sound-absorbing silicone sandwich layer is added between the positioning plate and the PCB board, and a full-fit sound-absorbing silicone is also added between the PCB and the lower cover, thereby reducing cavity sound.

The metal decorative panel is installed on the front frame of the keyboard, which also plays a role in increasing the weight. The left side is equipped with a mode switch and a Type-C interface. The left side of the switch is the 2.4G mode, the right side is the Bluetooth 5.0 mode, and the middle is the wired mode. The keyboard has a built-in 4000 mAh battery. Turn on the lights at the highest brightness. The battery life is about 30 hours without interruption. Based on 8 hours of gaming per day, the battery life is 3-4 days. Turn off the lights, and the battery life is about 60 hours of continuous use, based on 8 hours of gaming per day. , lasts for 7-8 days.

The bottom of the keyboard is also equipped with a large metal panel, which also plays a role in increasing the weight and increasing the stability of use. The keyboard bracket adopts a two-stage structure, and the four corners are affixed with silicone non-slip feet. The bottom edge is equipped with a system mode switch, which is Mac mode at the top and Windows mode at the bottom.

CMK98 adopts hot-swappable design, compatible with 3-pin and 5-pin axes, equipped with Kaihua BOX V2 brown switch, and advanced paragraph scheme. Insert a sentence here, the fixing screws of the positioning plate are a little abrupt.

The CMK98 long key is designed with a satellite shaft, which is lubricated before leaving the factory, so the noise is not too obvious, and the space bar is not too fleshy.

Kaihua BOX V2 brown shaft, transparent top cover, 5-pin design, square fence, advance paragraph, initial pressure 45gf, trigger pressure 75gf, total stroke 3.6mm, trigger stroke 1.8mm. The interior uses a 19mm single-section gold-plated spring, which rebounds and follows the hand.

The keycap is made of FSA height keycap, PBT material, two-color injection molding process, and has a matte feel, which is very suitable for players who often sweat. The thickness of the key wall is medium, there is no reinforcing rib inside, and the edge burrs are not obvious. The keycap adopts a closed font, the letter area and the number area on the right have larger fonts, and there is no multimedia logo.

FSA height on the left, OEM height in the middle, and XDA height on the right. It can be seen that FSA is highly close to OEM, but adopts the ball cap design, which takes into account the appearance of SA ball cap and the comfort of OEM, which is more practical.

The driver needs to be downloaded from Fuling’s official website, but you must check the wired and three-mode versions. The interface is quite simple, divided into main settings, lighting settings, macro editing, scheme sharing, personal center and other sections. The main settings can change the keys, set the multimedia functions, and also set the FN layer and key sensitivity.

Lighting settings, CMK98 adopts RGB lighting, built-in more than 20 kinds of lighting effects such as constant light, dynamic breathing, spectral cycle, blue waves, starry, etc., can change the brightness, movement speed and color of the light.

Solution sharing, this section is more interesting, Fuling users can share their own configuration files and macro files for other users to use. It should be noted that after downloading, click the inverted triangle in the lower right corner of the software to view all downloaded files. After double-clicking, wait a few seconds for the configuration to complete.

Since the keycaps are opaque, the backlight mainly acts as an ambient light. When typing at night, you still need to turn on a light, such as a screen light is good. In addition to setting the light through the driver software, it can also be adjusted through the combination of keys, FN + right CTRL to switch the light effect, FN + arrow keys to adjust the brightness and movement speed.

The FSA height keycap, the lower edge is basically the same as the upper cover, not as deep as the SA embedded one, so the overflow brightness is still acceptable, and the color transition is softer and more natural. Personally, I like drifting with the flow and rippling blue waves lighting effects. If you want to be more cool, you can choose colorful springs and rhythm lighting effects.

Let me show you the effect of the rhythm (classic mode). When the computer is playing music, it is quite cool to turn on the rhythm lighting effect, and the equalizer is visually appealing.

CMK98 adopts a full-key no-dash design, so you don’t have to worry about key conflicts when playing games with multiple buttons at the same time, such as Audition, two-player fighting, and so on. Let’s talk about the feel of FSA keycaps with Kaihua BOX V2 brown switches. I have always used linear switches for codewords and games. The height of FAS is not much different from the OEM keycaps I usually use, and the concave surface fits my fingers quite well. The early stage and re-trigger pressure of the Kaihua BOX V2 brown switch still make me a little uncomfortable. When typing, you need to use more force to trigger it. When you use it for the first time, you may think that there is a delay, but it is actually the reason why the button is not pressed properly.

In the game, this advance paragraph is also not very suitable. For example, the operation of jumping boxes needs to be adapted many times to become proficient. The rebound strength of this tea switch is not bad, but the big key is not so fleshy. In general, I still don't like the paragraph axis very much personally, and the linear axis is more suitable for me. In addition, when using the 2.4G wireless mode, I plugged the adapter into the front panel of the host, about 1 meter away from the keyboard, and there was a delay when typing, but the bluetooth mode did not have this phenomenon. I don’t know if it has something to do with the router in my study. But this is not the case with my other 2.4G wireless keyboards. It is recommended that the manufacturer equip a 2.4G extender, and try to make the 2.4G adapter closer to the keyboard to reduce interference. It is also hoped that the manufacturer will optimize the 2.4G wireless connection to improve the anti-interference ability. Therefore, it is recommended that you choose the wired mode when playing games and the Bluetooth mode when working.

Fuling CMK98 series avocado, graphite green, mechanical heart, quiet gray, cotton candy, sea salt lemon 6 colors are all good in appearance, and the cotton candy is more pink, which is more suitable for girls. Of course, there are also strong men who like this color. Kaihua BOX V2 shaft version is priced at 699 yuan, Kaihua customized deep sea, jellyfish, ice mint, avocado, ice cream and cotton candy shaft is 100 yuan more expensive, and the price is 799 yuan. At present, the 6 colors of products on sale do not fully cover 9 kinds of switches. I hope that manufacturers can make up various versions of switches for different players to choose from. Recently, I will summarize the characteristics of Fuling CMK98 Marshmallow, and put forward some suggestions of my own.

The link is for everyone to release the Kaihua BOX V2 red switch, the brown switch is too difficult to adapt

【Features】

-98 key arrangement, double silicone pad sound-absorbing structure

-Marshmallow FSA ball cap, PBT two-color injection molding

- Kaihua BOX V2 axis and Ice Mint axis are optional

- Wired, 2.4G, Bluetooth 5.0 three-mode connection

- Standard Type-C paracord and 16 additional keycaps

【suggestion】

- It is recommended that all 6 color matching keyboards be equipped with 9 kinds of switch body versions

- It is recommended to optimize the 2.4G mode or equip with a USB female port adapter