Cooler Master ControlPad Is Perfect For Macro Addicts

20 Extra Keys, The Anti-TKL Keypad
For those who are looking at an Elgato Streamdeck but aren’t quite sold on that solution, Cooler Master is hoping you might consider their mechanical alternative, the ControlPad. It sports 20 programmable keys, with either Cherry Red or Gateron Red switches and Master Plus software to let you assign any function you desire to them, including macros.
Along with the pad comes a magnetic wrist rest to make things a little more comfortable during extended sessions, or so you can detach it if you don’t want to use it for the time being. The ControlPad would work for someone who spends a lot of time in Adobe programs, or for gamers looking for more macro keys than a MMORPG mouse offers.
Rest assured you will be able to find it in the dark, for this $89.99 keypad is indeed fully RGB’d and so should satisfy your visual desires as well as your aural ones. Check out Overclockers Club’s full review if you are curious how well implemented the software is.
This peripheral is in the market for gamers and folks that seriously love macros. Cooler Master is also taking a shot at the creative market. If you use Adobe products like Photoshop, Illustrator, or After Effects, you can use this to change your pointers or change clips or anything else you can think of. If you're a gamer who loves macro keys, you might also be interested. Let's see this the ControlPad stacks up.
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Extremely pricey, especially compared to older tech such as the Logitech. For example, the Logitech G13 from 2013 offered 29 macro keys, as well as an LCD display (with 5 of the actions coming from a joystick, as well as a few buttons around the joystick). It launched at $80, but the price quickly dropped.
The tech should have gotten cheaper for products like this.
It’s niche. If the niche is not widening, prices won’t drop. Prices could even rise if the niche is contracting, even if the products in the niche don’t improve. Just kidding… The true reason for the price is peeps are gonna pay that price for the RGBs alone — the fool’s gold of gamers and enthusiasts. ;-P
I got one of these on the Kickstarter a while back. It is a neat bit of kit.
Both Overclockers and PCPer seemed to have missed that the keys can be set to analog (pressure sensitive). So the keypad acts like the analog sticks on your xbox gamepad. A handy feature for gaming.
You can also set different functions for how far down you push the keys. So up to half way down could launch one program, fully depress the key and launch another program.
Like I say, I have the keypad, I like it but I feel I have only scratched the surface of its potential. The software is good but could do with some ease of use features, like copying functions from profile to profile etc.
Hardware-wise I would love to have seen another column (maybe even two) of keys. If you game using WASD, you are in effect missing the TGV column with the current layout.
Nifty, I did totally miss that!