Mad Catz' STRIKE M gaming keyboard fits in your pocket, cramps your fingers
Diminutive Bluetooth keyboards? Yeah, we've seen those before, but we've never really been able to fault them for their size. These tiny peripherals are meant for light work at best, but the Mad Catz STRIKE M wears a facade that outpaces its utility. From its skewed angles, to its collection of quick keys, under its backlit keycaps and behind the highlighted WASD keys -- the STRIKE M wears the colors of a serious gaming keyboard. It isn't one.
Excusing its appearance, the STRIKE M is actually a decent little HTPC keyboard. It has a suite of media keys, an embedded scrollwheel and even an thumb mousepad -- but the actual keyboard layout is just too small to match its design language. Laying hands on the keyboard's home row required us to mash our fingertips tightly together, offering a cramped, uncomfortable typing experience. These tiny keys leave no room for error, and require precision to a degree that makes the red-accented WASD seem ridiculous. Showing off the keyboard at Expand NY, Mad Catz' representative actually agreed, saying it's more of a media keyboard than a gaming one. Still, he showed us the one advantage its size offers: the device fits comfortably in a jacket pocket. It's something, at least.
