The CM Storm Quick Fire XTi is the first mechanical gaming keyboard from Cooler Master that comes with multi-color backlighting. It’s not a full RGB lighting, but it has tons of customizing options and its own advantages.
Gaming Keyboard with Extras
The Quick Fire XTi is obviously a gaming keyboard. Not only the multi-color backlighting, but also the full NKRO (no blocking or ghosting) over USB and the windows key lock are features gamers will enjoy. While the keyboard doesn’t offer any dedicated macro keys, it allows you to program macros to any arbitrary key and doesn’t require any software to do so. The backlighting and the macros are saved to one of four profiles. The profile can easily be switched at any time by pressing the correspondent profile key. This comes in very handy when customizing different macros for various games.
As the function keys F1 to F12 are used to control the lighting and program macros, the media controls had to be moved to somewhere else. They can be found at the block with the insert and delete key. The Quick Fire XTi features Cherry MX Blue, Cherry MX Brown or Cherry MX Red. The availability may vary by region.
Backlight Illumination of the Quick Fire XTi
The keyboard comes with blue and red LEDs, whose lighting can be mixed and customized for every single key. There are 35 different colors possible. One of the main advantages of the CM Storm Quick Fire XTi vs other RGB boards is that there is no complex software required to customize the backlighting. Everything can be done via the functions keys directly on the keyboard.
The Quick Fire XTi offers many different lighting modes and effects. E.g. it can light up the keys you press, it can smoothly change the colors over time or light up the whole row and column of the key you pressed. The following video gives a first impression of the capabilities of the keyboard.
Tech Specs for CM Storm Quick Fire XTi
Further Information on Amazon.com
(Read customer reviews)
Buy from Amazon.com
Mechanical Keyboard Score
The mechanical keyboard score is our overall score for a keyboard. The score is based on the available ratings and critics and makes an easy comparison between different mechanical keyboards possible. It is also used for our mechanical keyboard ranking.
Reviews
PC Gameware
February 26, 2016
"... you would think that the CM Storm Quick Fire XTi would look at other RGB mechanical keyboard and be Green with Envy, but no. Somehow the lack of full RGB support seems to make this keyboard special ..."
(Review not available online)
January 24, 2016
"The Quick Fire XTi gets you in the game instantly without fuss, powered by the reliability of Cherry MX switches and full NKRO."
December 10, 2015
"Cooler Master and their QuickFire XTi reminds us, why we gravitate to them."
September 21, 2015
"Overall the keyboard is a decent performer and is packed full of features – some useful, others not so."
September 14, 2015
"The Quick Fire XTi delivers oodles of quality at every corner."
