Cougar’s award-winning 700K is one of the most impressive mechanical gaming keyboards around, no question about it. But it goes a little overboard with optimization and customization features, complicating even the simplest tasks.
Enter the 600K, a bare-bones 700K sibling. Following the same design language as the flagship model, this one is aimed at “purists” who, in Cougar’s own words, aren’t “interested in the plethora of functions offered by high end keyboards but at the same time don’t want to settle for a lower end one.”
So, don’t think of the 600K as a poor man’s 700K. It’s not a lowly take on the latter, it’s just different and has a separate target audience. Besides, a few “essential” features are preserved to boost your gaming skills and achievements in a “strictly non-intrusive way.”
For instance, the 600K, like the 700K, comes with a bunch of extra, non-standard keys that are neatly organized so as to not mess up your typing habits. As such, you’ll find multimedia buttons, LED lighting control for the WASD keys and easy Windows key activation and deactivation methods on top of your otherwise typically arranged keyboard.
The USB pass-through port of the 700K is also kept in place. And last but not least, you get a gold-plated USB connector for smooth, lag-free PC hookup. And bragging rights. The latter, mostly.
From an aesthetic standpoint I applaud the near-perfect mix of style and simplicity. The mechanical keys are as large and, presumably, deliciously noisy as you’d expect.
The Cougar 600K is almost ready to go on sale with a range of four Cherry MX Switch options, though the press release did not say which. No official word on pricing yet, but with the 700K going for $150 on Newegg, a price close to $100 seems likely.
