Glorious GMMK 3 Pro HE review: could this be the last keyboard you ever buy?

The new Glorious GMMK 3 line of keyboards was described to me as 'the ship of Theseus' of keyboards, or as I prefer, the 'Trigger's broom'. The idea is a mechanical keyboard that can grow and change with you, with everything from switches and keycaps to sound dampening foam and chassis materials being infinitely interchangeable.

Customisable mechanical keyboards aren't a new thing, by any means, but the GMMK 3 takes the concept significantly further than you'd expect from the likes of Logitech, Razer or Corsair - though the higher-end GMMK 3 models come with a price tag to match. Thankfully, there are some interesting options here that could make that premium worth it.

In its most basic state, GMMK 3 is a $120 to $140 mechanical keyboard positioned against the Razer BlackWidow V4 and Corsair K70 RGB Pro, while offering more in the way of enthusiast-grade features. There are swappable plates, gasket mounting options, alternate cases, five-pin hot-swappable switches and double-shot PBT keycaps; a reasonable turn-out at this price point.

Go a bit further up the ladder, and you'll find the GMMK 3 HE (Hall Effect) variant, which adds in support for an 8000Hz wired polling rate, support for hot-swappable three-pin and five-pin MX switches, including rapid trigger and analogue inputs. Of course, there's the same degree of customisation as the standard GMMK 3 too. That's going to run you between $180 and $200, so in the same space as high-end gaming keyboards from mainstream manufacturers.

Then there's the GMMK 3 Pro model, which at $240 to $300 faces off against a keyboard I love: the Asus ROG Azoth. I reviewed the Azoth last year, and it bridges the gap between custom mechanical and mainstream gaming keyboards in much the same way - but Glorious has stuffed even more inside. That includes a fully aluminium frame, optional wireless connectivity and the same granular customisation.

At the top end of the GMMK 3 lineup is the $300 to $360 GMMK 3 Pro HE. This is the keyboard to get if you want every possible feature, as it combines Hall Effect switches, with rapid trigger and adjustable actuation points, with the design and features of the GMMK 3 Pro.

All of these boards are also available in barebones or pre-built form, so you can either get the board and accessories that make sense with you or get a simpler pre-built option. There's also the clever Boardsmith feature on the Glorious site, where you can pick out what you'd like in your GMMK 3 and task an expert member of Glorious' staff to build your keyboard for you.

That's the option I went for, so I ended up with all the bells and whistles: a bright pink aluminium case, GMMK Atomic purple double-shot PBT keycaps, the brand's soft-tactile Panda Silent HE switches, wireless connectivity and an equally garish pink coiled cable.

The Panda Silent HE switches inside my sample are perhaps the most interesting element, as they combine a soft yet tactile feel with the speed and versatility of a Hall Effect magnetic switch. It's hard to balance a great-feeling key press with a Hall Effect switch, but these marry speed and crispness in a way I haven't experienced before.

The Pro HE gets dual hot-swap switch sockets too, meaning you get the rare ability to opt for magnetic or traditional mechanical switches as you prefer, rather than being confined to one camp. This requires some clever design work, with an offset Hall Effect sensor on the PCB. I tried swapping in some standard Drop Holy Panda switches I've had lying around for a while, and sure enough, they worked without an issue - clever stuff.

Having the flexibility of tactile HE switches means the GMMK 3 Pro HE is equally adept for productivity and gaming workloads. For periods of gaming, you simply enable the rapid trigger function in the keyboard's software, as well rolling up the polling rate from 1000 to 8000Hz - if you're using the keyboard via a cable and have a high enough screen refresh rate to make use of it.

Where you're mostly going to feel the benefit of speedier inputs is in competitive MOBA or FPS titles such as Counter-Strike 2, which is where I mostly tested the GMMK 3 Pro HE's gaming chops. The fact you can assign a modifier key as a separate option in the Core software is handy for, say, crouching and moving at the same time if you want to be particularly stealthy, while the clever 4:1 Dynamic Keystroke function can enable four different functions on a single key at different points of the switch's travel. In addition, with the Mod Tap function, you can choose different functions based on whether a key is pressed or held down while setting a Toggle Key allows you to trigger a key to an 'On' state which enables a different function. Pressing it again turns it off.

The pale pink and purple colour combo of my sample is excellently garish, and you can choose from a range of colours for a custom board or black and white for pre-built ones. The aluminium frame is seriously sturdy, the double-shot PBT keycaps are lovely and there's a generous helping of RGB lighting everywhere you look: under the keys, under the Glorious emblem next to the rotary encoder, and on the sides of the keyboard like a miraculous RGB sandwich. If you like RGB lighting, you'll be sure to like the GMMK 3.

There's a reasonable interface around the back too, with switches for choosing between the three connectivity modes, a Windows or macOS selector switch and a USB-C port for charging or wired connectivity. A gripe here is that the selector switch for inputs doesn't indicate which position corresponds to which method of connection - and Bluetooth pairing isn't as clear-cut as it is on most other keyboards. There isn't much in the way of a manual to be found in the box to help here, either, which seems like a missed opportunity.

Of course, the level of customisation is key for the GMMK 3, and the fact you can take it apart with reasonable ease and swap things in and out in a jiffy such as switches or the plates and such is nice and easy. The number of internal screws has fallen from eight with the GMMK 2 to four with the GMMK 3, which helps makes any swaps a bit speedier.

There are different coloured top and bottom cases available, so you can go for a matching set or a two-tone look like the white/pink models in the centre of the photo above. There are also different switch plate materials and keycap options, which change the look and more critically feel of the keyboard when typing. This is the whole point of the GMMK 3 ecosystem, with the ability to so easily change the look of the entire board. from the switches to the outer case.

When pairing with a device, the LED in the top right corner either flashes blue or green and when you're running out of battery power, it goes red. However, that's the only warning about a low battery. Once it flashes red for an indeterminate period of time, the GMMK 3 will simply die, and you'll be left to plug it back in. There is a battery indicator in the keyboard's GMMK Core software, although this seemed to always show at 100 percent - that's a bug that should hopefully be ironed out in the full release. For some reason, pressing the Caps Lock key also causes a flash of LED from the sides of the keyboard. I'm not sure whether this is intentional or not, but it can act as a lock light of sorts, so you know you've accidentally pressed it.

On the point of battery life, Glorious rates the GMMK 3 to last for 24 hours for this Pro HE model, while my usage puts it at around 20 hours before needing to plug it in, which is reasonably solid overall. That's with the RGB lighting consistently on in a single colour; disabling the lighting boosts endurance significantly.

Where does all this leave us? Besides the software-related bugs, the GMMK 3 is an impressive product with a sensible price in the context of the level of features on offer and considering what's being offered elsewhere by mainstream manufacturers, if that's where Glorious is considering itself with this particular product. The ability to chop and change parts of the 'board virtually at will is clever, as is the blend of gaming and productivity features with the in-house switches on offer. It's also wonderfully well-built, with bright RGB lighting and decent connectivity, save for much in the way of instructions and guidance.

And to answer the claim posed at the top of the article. Is the GMMK 3 the last keyboard you'll ever buy? For some, it may well be, given the customisation and convenience on offer. For others, probably not, but that's only because mechanical keyboard obsessives will be looking at something else in a matter of moments.

Glorious provided flights and accommodation to Copenhagen.