G.Skill KM250 keyboard: Gold standard for the bargain bin

Who knew you could fit so many features in a keyboard for just a little more than 50 bucks?

- MICHAEL CRIDER

If you've been following my keyboard reviews lately, you know I've been lamenting the ever-increasing price of mainstream "gaming" boards that don't seem to be in any way related to their actual function. I was looking around for good budget alternatives (fave.co/3MBJpB3) when all of a sudden G.Skill released a new mechanical keyboard, priced at just $55 on Amazon. How incredibly fortuitous!

Of course, with a budget keyboard you give up certain luxuries like a rotary dial-oh, wait, the KM250 has one. Well, you can't expect to pay so little and also get decent keycaps...huh, actually, the KM250 has PBT "pudding" keycaps that complement the RGB lighting rather nicely. But of course, with a budget board you get budget mechanical switches from (checks spec list) Kailh? What? Well, there's no way that the board includes hot-swap switch sockets so you can swap them out for better ones…oh, wait, it does that too.

In fact, the G.Skill KM250 has a laundry list of features that are shocking to see on a board at this price range, omitting only a few that are fairly reasonable. As such, it gets an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a high-quality, entry-level board, especially if you think you might want to invest in some upgraded switches or keycaps.

SPECS

The KM250 is a fairly standard wired mechanical keyboard in the increasingly popular, and somewhat nebulous, “65%” form factor. That means all of your primary typing keys and an arrow cluster, the absence of a function row, and a few more keys rounding it out: in this case, Delete, Page Up, and Page Down, plus a rotary dial.