Metadot Das Keyboard Professional 4 long term use review

The Das Keyboard Pro 4 is one my first mechanical keyboards that I have purchased.  Thus, I have somewhat of a favorable bias toward it.  Therefore, that’s why I waited for a while till I have experienced other devices before starting my long term review.  Hopefully now that I have a longer sample size, I can comment about the keyboard with a more objective view.

In reality, the Das Keyboard Pro 4 is a great keyboard for typist and coders.  Although some may not like its aesthetic design, I find that it has that Darth Vader vibe that is somewhat appealing with almost a retro grade feel.  I am always a sucker for knobs and shuttle jogs, so having one like that on a keyboard is almost like moth drawn to a flame.  Functionality aside, this keyboard is a purely mechanical keyboard and almost nothing else.  It has no lighting, no fancy macro functions and other blings.  It’s just a keyboard with some multimedia keys and knobs.  So, if someone is looking for full featured, macro functions with 200 infused keys tapped out in 100 milliseconds, RGB lighting galore, this is not the keyboard.  On the other hand, if it’s a typing keyboard with a strong aesthetic design sense, this keyboard is worth another look.

The ABS key caps are well made with UV printed legend.  It has a bit of a hollow, crisp sound that is different from a thick PBT thump.  Using either the Cherry MX blue or the MX brown, the keyboard accelerates and dances to the typist’s whim.  It’s one of those keyboards that invites the user to come back and type some more.  The Das Keyboard comes across as stern and disciplined.  So, yes, the coder, professional design philosophy does come through.

I have written enough about the switches, so I won’t repeat them in case I start to bore people.  However, the Cherry MX switches do perform well on the Das 4 pro platform.  So, the switch type is really by personal preference and use scenario.  The extra USB hub comes in handy once in a while, but I have no use of the ruler/keyboard height booster.  The rule is an interesting idea, but I just happen to have no reasonable scenario where I would be flipping my keyboard over to get it out.  Also, because of its design, material used and where it is stowed, the ruler actually bows a little, further diminishing its utility.  The multimedia buttons are not mechanical based.  I don’t use them often, but it’s nice that it is there.  The volume knob is fun to play with and is fine grained enough to be useful.  However, it sometimes gets in the way because of its footprint.  Overall, I still rather have it than not because it’s more intuitive for me than two switches.

In conclusion, the Das Keyboard Professional 4 is an excellent keyboard and it’s a great show case for a pure mechanical keyboard design concept with design flairs and restrained multimedia functionality.  Metadot recently announced the spiritual successor to the Pro 4; the 5Q incorporating some very interesting ideas, but it no longer stays in the confine of a strict mechanical keyboard boundary.  Version 4 has acquitted itself very well and I think will stand the test of time.

Grade: A-