- The Everest Max keyboard from MOUNTAIN, the sponsor of this video, aims to be the ultimate solution for your typing and macro needs. It features an all aluminum
design, full programmability, hot-swappable switches, and
built-in keys with displays, kind of like an Elgato Stream Deck or that famous Optimus
concept keyboard from 2005. Really for gamers though,
the more apt comparison is the classic Microsoft SideWinder X6, and given that those are still going for anywhere from 80 to 90
Canadian dollars on eBay, and that's with worn out membrane keys, there is clearly still demand for this type of modular board. So why don't we take a closer look at it? (upbeat music) The Everest Max comes
into compartmentalized box that MOUNTAIN intends for you to reuse as a useful storage container
to help reduce waste. Inside it, you will find the Everest Core, and this is the base tenkeyless keyboard without any of the accessories. It's built from CNC-milled aluminum in either gunmetal gray or midnight black, and has this kind of two-level edge that combined with the diffused
RGB strip down the center gives it a very distinctive look. It's got a total of five
female USB-C ports on it, each of which serves a different purpose. The one embedded in the
underside of the board handles data and power for both the board and its accessories with these handy channels that allow you to cable manage your
desk however you see fit. And the other four are for
the modular accessories. Now, a recurring theme in the
reviews on MOUNTAIN's web shop is that they found an excellent balance between build quality and heft. And honestly speaking, I agree. The magnetic PU leather wrist rest is lightweight and comfortable, and there's almost no flex
to the board deck itself. Yet it's not so heavy that
it could double as a weapon. I mean, I think you could
conceivably carry the Everest core around in your backpack at school without ruining your spine. The branding is subtle, so
just a small logo top center, and then another logo on the Escape key. And while the key switches
is included with our board are not my personal favorite,
Cherry MX Silent Reds, you can order it configured with a variety of other Cherry switches or opt for the core bare bones and install whatever you want. MOUNTAIN includes this handy
key cap and key switch puller. Let's take a look at how it works. If you wanna pull off a key cap, you just kind of pop
this on and whoop, hello. There you go. Pull it off a
little something like that. And if you decide, you
know what, hey, MX speed, not really my thing. You pop this on here. Oi,
there's your key switch. Hot-swappable. We don't even have to power
down, ladies and gentlemen. Hmm, just make sure I'm
putting this on the right way. Rah and rah. Cherry MX Browns might be a
controversial choice these days, but whatever, take this, haters. (crew laughing) Look, I like what I'm used to, all right? And since we're up this close,
this is a perfect chance to get a close look at finishing touches like the individually
RGB backlit ABS key caps and the machining marks on the plate. Now, many manufacturers
would remove these marks before painting or anodizing, but personally I absolutely love the look. It's also a good opportunity
to show the care and attention that goes into each board. The stabilizers, which
are found on larger keys like Shift and Enter, are hand lubed, and they have additional foam
padding for noise dampening and the spacebar stabilizer is clipped to all but eliminate reverb or chatter. If you've ever performed
this modification yourself, you'll know that it can be time-consuming and a bit of a pain in the butt. The board either lies flat on the desk, or it can be elevated with the
included magnetic riser feet, which brings us perfectly
into the juicy stuff. The detachable numpad
clips onto either side with a type C USB port and magnetic guides
that make it super easy to both pull off and to install. One really nice touch is
this slider on the underside, which not only moves the
connector from left to right, but also locks in the center, if you wanna just chuck it in your bag and protect the plug while
you're transporting it, or if you wanna use an extension cable to position the number pad
somewhere else on your desk. On that note, MOUNTAIN warns against using
standard USB-C extension cables for this kind of functionality and does not support
plugging the number pad into your computer stand alone. The good news is that they
only charge eight US dollars for their own compatible USB extension, so they're not holding you hostage with an extremely high priced accessory. And I guess it kind of makes sense that the interface here
would be proprietary because the hardware to
drive the built-in displays is probably in the core keyboard rather than in the numpad itself. So let's take a closer look at those. MOUNTAIN has developed their
own in-house Base Camp software that handles configuring macros, RGB lighting, the control dial, and, of course, built the functionality and the icons on the display keys. Every key on the board is reprogrammable. So if you wanna add specific
profiles for different setups, like maybe a streaming
profile that you use with OBS, including the ability to change
scenes, insert transitions, start or stop streaming, et cetera, a gaming setup that
might have a few macros, or an office set up that lets you execute common
programs or functions. That is totally up to you. Macros are easy to create. You simply record the key
presses involved and that's it. Or if you need any custom delays, then you just add them like this. Now, I'm just going to change
the icon on this display key. One moment. Change our image to this. Done. And it should type it,
right? Oh, now it does. Oh, I didn't put enter
in. Okay, bad macro. But the point is, look how
quickly I can check out our new and improved spout
lids on our water bottles. These are just $5 if you've ever bought a
water bottle on lttstore.com. Now, in terms of RGB, you've got four options
for speed and brightness of the various effects, as well as changing
direction when applicable. A nice little touch is that when you physically
type on the keyboard, a key press animation plays
on the software as well. And it supports Razer Chroma RGB. Up next is the dock. The media buttons function
about like you'd expect, though, of course, like
the rest of the keyboard, they are fully reprogrammable if you want them to do something else. And the dial clicks, can hear
that, for each setting change. and the screen can be used to
configure keyboard parameters like macro profiles and RGB lighting to show the time or display
system information like CPU, memory, and network usage. And you can even get it to show APM if you're a MOBA or osu! nerd. And yes, you can change
the color of the menus and the screensaver image. Compared to the display keys, the display on the dial
is noticeably more vibrant and retains color fidelity much
better when viewed off axis. I would strongly recommend
high contrast icons and backgrounds for the display keys because they're quite a bit easier to see from a normal typing position. Also included on the dock are
LED indicators for Caps Lock, Num Lock, et cetera. And this is notable because
in its Everest Core form, the keyboard doesn't actually have this functionality at all. So as configured with
the numpad and the dock, ours is an Everest Max. And for you keyboard nerds by the way, it sounds a little something like this. (keyboard clicking) Thank you again, MOUNTAIN,
for sponsoring this video and sending over some of these
boards to show to you guys. They also carry peripherals and accessories for the Everest series, like O-rings, lube, cables, additional riser feet
that you can stack up if you prefer a steeper
incline, and stuff like that. If you guys enjoyed this video, maybe check out our keyboard
key switch comparison, where we took a whole bunch
of different key switches for a test drive and decided which ones in a blind test we actually liked best.
