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I’m going to be honest with you for a moment. This is my first ever 60% keyboard that I’ve used. I’ve not avoided them, I’ve just never really had the chance to give them a proper trial. I work from home for my 9-5 which consists of a lot of typing. I work on the TechNuovo YouTube channel in as much of my spare time as possible, and again that requires a lot of typing, like this script for example. And because of this, 60% keyboards have never really interested me as I spend as much time working as I do gaming.
Unfortunately with this in mind, my fears with 60% were confirmed. The Mountain Everest 60 gaming keyboard is an absolutely lousy option if you’re going to be running it as your daily driver for work. You can see that the Everest 60 keyboard is a lot smaller than a traditional full-sized keyboard, it’s not exactly hard to see, after all they have 60% of the space to play with. And if you’re looking at the base Everest 60 product, it’s missing a number pad, though there’s an additional extra you can purchase, but more on that in a moment, and the arrow keys fall more akin to a laptop keyboard on the bottom right, with the likes of your delete and shift either side of the up arrow.
I must say their positioning is quite awkward, especially if you’re touch typing. It’s also missing insert, home, and page up and down keys, and they’re something I use quite a lot when working. It’s also missing a set of F keys which could be problematic if you’re someone who plays MMORPGs, some MOBAs rely on F keys too to fire off spells and talents. You can use the FN key and click a corresponding number, FN + 1 is your F1 key for example, but it’s not exactly ideal if you’re needing to fire off actions quickly.
Saying all of this though about how negative I found its work-life experience is, it’s actually one of the best typing experiences I’ve ever had with a gaming keyboard and absolutely shines when playing games where you’re likely stuck to WASD and surrounding keys. Think your typical FPS, battle-royale or RPG games. From the audible clicks the keys make, to the actuation of key presses through to the solid build quality of this keyboard, everything just feels amazing and absolutely premium. There’s no rattle either, that you so often see and feel with gaming keyboards, especially those from more well known and frontline manufacturers and their space bar keys. The Everest 60 has a chunky base layer of silicon, and there are also two layers of foam, all of which helps with the dampening of the key presses. Just take a listen to this.
Mountain offers a variety of switches to choose from too when you come to purchase your own Everest 60. I’ve gone for Linear 45 switches, which offer a very smooth experience, though if you’re more into your Tactile switches or shorter travel distances, then you can go for another set that Mountain offer, their Tactile-55 which offer a more clicky experience and Linear45 Speed switches which shortens the travel distance. Being fully modular, also means the switches are hot-swappable, as long as what you’re switching to are compatible with the three and five-pin Cherry MX connection. Also keycaps are swappable too, and there are a huge number of styles available on the Mountain website. Mine here is your standard black, but there are white, aqua, pink, orange, grey, blue or whatever colour combination you can think of really.
I mentioned earlier a number pad. This is also a fully modular piece of kit that you can choose as an add-on either when you purchase the keyboard, or at a later date. The great thing about the additional keypad is the fact it can sit on either side of the keyboard. There’s a switch on the underside of the keypad that you can flick left and right to extend the connection. If you’re a bit more of a traditionalist, you might opt for the keys to be on the right, like a traditional keyboard. But do remember, you’ve now effectively got the chance to have a set of hotkeys right next to where you’d usually place your hand for WASD. Again, placement is a personal preference for your playstyle, but it’s definitely a welcome feature. The Everest 60 uses a USB Type-C connection to connect to your PC, and there are three places this can go, being back left, middle or back right.
What I would like to speak about though is the Mountain software. It seemed reliable enough, though its interface isn’t the kindest. It felt to me like it was more of a way of initially setting up your keyboard. For the most part, I can’t see people diving back in once their macros and LED lighting is in place. It’s not the friendliest software to get your head around. But it didn’t cause me any issues, and the installation process was simple and it worked. That’s about as much I can say about it.
Mountain has done an absolutely superb job with their Everest 60, and if you’re a keyboard enthusiast and love a modular design to customise to your heart’s content, then the Everest 60 is well worth a look. As I said, it’s one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had with a peripheral in my time reviewing products. It’s a fantastic and premium piece of kit. With that though, comes a cost. And although it definitely fits in line with other modular and customisable keyboards on the market in terms of price, you’re still paying a somewhat hefty price tag. I’ve only got access to a European press release at the time of writing this script and I’ve had to roughly convert euros to pounds, and it states the base unit comes in at around £120, while the additional keypad will cost around £45. A custom keycap set is another £30 and switches are coming in at roughly £35-45 depending on how many switches you need. There are bundles though to give you some package prices, like for example they Everest 60 and number pad you’re looking at roughly £165-170. So, not cheap. But damn you’re getting a decent bit of kit. IF you’re looking to buy your own, head over to the Mountain website now.
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