Motospeed CK69 Mechanical Keyboard Review: A “Hekka” A Deal!

POSITIVES

✓ Detachable USB-C

Can use your own coiled aviator cables

✓ Good Size

Larger than 60% but smaller than everything else

✓ Hot Swappable

Customization at a low priced entry point

Negatives

✓ Plastic Body

Makes a lot of creaking noise

✓ One Typing Angle

No adjustable positions

MSRP: $79.99

Disclaimer: Hekka sent us a unit of the CK69 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this video are our own and were not discussed with either companies prior to publishing.

How We Got This

A wired gaming mechanical keyboard with Gateron Red switches in a compact body with RGB back and side lighting for $80 sounds like a “Hekka” a deal. This is the CK69 keyboard from Motospeed and this review was made possible by Hekka. Just a quick disclaimer, Hekka.com sent us this keyboard free of charge to review, but neither they nor Motospeed had any input or will see this review before you guys do. As always, all of my thoughts and critiques will be straight from my mouth. 

I wanted to take a second though to talk about the company Hekka. Before they reached out to us, I honestly didn’t really know much about the company. Hekka.com is a relatively new e-commerce store based out of Singapore that is officially licensed to sell a lot of electronics from overseas brands like Xiaomi and Realme. We’ve worked together with other online retailers in the past to mixed results, but so far Hekka has been a seamless experience with open communication. Shipping was handled safely and quickly to our office which we don’t always see happen with international products. If you’d like to try out the Hekka mall for yourself, click on the link above. They have free shipping for all orders in March 2022 and if you enter the code Sypnotix10 that they provided for us to give you letting them know you saw the product from Sypnotix, you’ll get $10 off an order over $29.

65% Layout

Gateron key switches have long been considered an entry point into the mechanical keyboard space. They’re reliable, offer a solid mechanical typing and gaming experience while never fully emptying that wallet. The CK69 from Motospeed is a perfect example of a prototypical Gateron switch gaming keyboard. The few things that differentiate it from the other generic keyboards are its 67-key layout. This is what they call a 65% layout which is essentially a 60% keyboard that has arrow keys and a delete column. The difference here is that there is a bit of a gap between the column and the rest of the keyboard. This gives the keys a bit of room to breath more akin to that on which you would find on larger sized layouts. One personal thing about 60% boards I never liked was how tight together everything felt. I understand the point of it is to be as compact as humanly possible, but the cramped feeling would stress out my fingers on input as I’m constantly worried about hitting the wrong key. With this slightly longer layout, it actually does feel more relieving thanks to that extra space. The price you pay is only a little more real estate occupied on your desk. I think it’s worth the tradeoff. 

A reason I surmise Motospeed was willing to enlarge the layout could be attributed to the volume knob tucked directly above the delete key. I love the symmetry of the layout as the delete column is centered cleanly on the right hand side. It just feels natural. The volume knob does exactly what a volume knob does. It’s no thrills which is exactly what I want from it. Pressing down into the knob will play/pause while rotating the knob will adjust the computer’s master volume. Since this is a compact keyboard, there aren’t dedicated function keys. You’ll be relying on the FN key for combination shortcuts. If you’re used to full sized gaming keyboards, this might be an adjustment that requires a chunk of time to get used to. I don’t play games or specifically use the function keys as much as I used to when I was younger, as many modern games have deviated from reliance on a function row, so this sacrifice didn’t affect my personal user experience. All in all, it’s a clean and comfortable layout for just about any type of usage.

Now as for the Gateron Red switches, like every other switch out there, your enjoyability will depend on your preferences. Fortunately, this keyboard is hot swappable. My way of describing the input of a Gateron Red switch would be as if I were typing on a mechanical marshmallow. There’s low resistance against your finger’s input while emitting a bit of a mushy sound. I can even describe it as being slightly hollow sounding. It’s more subtle and easier on the ears than the extremely clicky nature of other switch types that occupy the higher end spaces of gaming keyboards. I personally tether between my interest in the two sounds as I own multiple mechanical keyboards on various setups that I use daily, but for working at home with a spouse, I do think the Gateron Red here on the Motospeed CK69 does provide more versatility. With a hot-swappable base design that supports 3 and 5 pin shafts, there’s opportunity here for customization as well. Still, the provided white PBT keycaps from Motorspeed seem durable and should hold up over time. White keycaps are always a hit or miss, especially when the backlight doesn’t pass through the keys to the letters. The white keycaps are offset by gray ones for the control and arrow keys. While I didn’t hate the keycaps that came with the keyboard, I do think other combinations of color and/or text would have fit this translucent body a bit better.    

Squeaks and Creaks

However, because the plastic body is made of that translucent design, the RGB spread all around the keyboard actually does help illuminate the signage of the keys. I didn’t have much of a problem viewing the keys in a dark environment while gaming. Speaking of RGB, there are a few points on this keyboard that you can directly adjust the specific color of. The most prominent one is the volume knob. The actual patterns of light on the keyboard itself is a pretty standard affair though. You have your flashes, your strobing as well as the breathing motion to name a few that are cycled through by the function key. I’m not a huge fan of rainbow colors on my keyboards, but I’m sure someone out in the internet realm will appreciate it. Unfortunately, the instructions had quite rough English written about how to adjust the colors. It took some time, but after some tinkering, I think I’ve found a suitable solid color scheme I like. Since the body is constructed from plastic, there are noticeable squeaks and creaks when you move it around. I wouldn’t say this is the highest quality of construction, but at least the presentation it comes in makes it feel reliable enough. Having a USB-C port for connection also adds value to me as I’m able to use my Tez coiled aviator cable with it. 

There are no adjustable feet on the rear of the CK69. Instead, Motospeed has chosen one designated angle for users to be locked into. The back quarter of the keyboard actually dips down at an angle to add more bulk support for the rear. This raises the num row and QWERTY row ever so slightly higher than the rest of the keyboard. Think of it as an in-between of a flat board and one with legs extended on another kind of mechanical keyboard. I found it comfortable enough to type on without a wrist rest for a decent amount of time. With a wrist rest however, I would have liked to be able to adjust the keyboard to angle a little bit higher. There definitely was a fatigue factor to account for with my wrist position in this one set angle. It’s not flat enough for a full overhead input position, yet it’s not tilted enough for an elevated experience. It’s caught in no-man’s land. Still, as I said earlier, the layout of the keys here saves the keyboard from being totally uncomfortable. As for gaming performance, as to be expected from a wired product, I didn’t experience any ghosting issues when gaming, nor was there any input lag. It worked perfectly as it should.

Who’s It For?

Motospeed sells an abundance of gaming keyboards that vary in range for pricing and quality. The CK69 seems to slot right into the upper affordable category.

This is in all honesty a good value keyboard. There’s a lot of flexibility in both function and form for users to really mold it into something they’ll love. All of this is available to consumers for less than $100. Motospeed sells an abundance of gaming keyboards that vary in range for pricing and quality. The CK69 seems to slot right into the upper affordable category. While it isn’t made out of the most premium materials, the performance and presentation at $80 does validate the price point. Whether you’re looking for your first mechanical gaming keyboard or you simply want to get an affordable board to play around with hot swapping, the CK69 is a fine option that I don’t foresee letting many people down.

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