be quiet! Dark Mount Keyboard Review

The Dark Mount is a first for be quiet! as they dip their toes into the mechanical keyboard space. Like many of their other component offerings, the Dark Mount is built with the enthusiast in mind. It features an entirely modular design with hot-swappable switches, addressable RGB lighting, and an interchangeable layout, offering optimal customisability for gamers and keyboard fanatics alike.

With the market for hot-swappable and customisable keyboards significantly growing over the past few years, the Dark Mount joins a highly competitive space. It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to offer a level of modularity, but the be quiet! Dark Mount is a standout option based on its premium quality and incredibly ergonomic design. It’s rare to see keyboards with fully hot-swappable layouts, so we’ve put the be quiet! Dark Mount through the wringer, testing its principal features and build quality.

In this review, we’ve thoroughly examined the be quiet! Dark Mount keyboard, fully assessing its specs, design, build quality, typing experience, and features to determine whether it’s a worthwhile purchase compared to the huge number of customisable keyboards available in the market.

Specification

Because of the Dark Mount’s modular design, gamers can choose between two sizes instead of being stuck to one particular layout straight out of the gate. In its base form, without the Numpad module or screen, the Dark Mount is a TKL keyboard with a complete set of navigation and ‘F’ keys. TKL keyboards are typically designed with portability in mind, but they’re also a better option if you’re limited by desk space, so the base model caters to a significant range of prospective buyers.

If you’ve decided to plug in the Numpad module, the Dark Mount extends to a full-size keyboard with a massive set of keys to choose from. Full-size keyboards are not built for the faint of heart and are ideal for those with plenty of space. However, the addition of a Numpad (and stream deck buttons) complements the overall versatility of this keyboard, providing more navigation and customisation for those who need it.

To provide some dimensions and weights, the Dark Mount measures 256mm long, which is relatively long even for a full-size keyboard. It’s 456mm wide and 52mm tall. Despite being primarily made out of plastic, it weighs 1.59kg, so it’s not the kind of keyboard you want to take on the go.

As a premium keyboard, it’s no surprise that the keycaps are Double Shot PBT. Double-Shot PBT is a type of injection moulding that increases stability, but it also significantly reduces key shine and legend wearing, so as long as the keyboard is clean, the keycaps will look the same over time. Additionally, if you’re not a fan of the keycaps, you can easily swap these out for others as long as they have a Cherry-style stem.

Regarding the switches, the Dark Mount comes with either Linear or Tactile switches that be quiet! themselves have made. We’ll delve into the specifics of the switches later on, but it’s nice that gamers have the choice between a couple of options. The Dark Mount is also fully hot-swappable, so the switches can be easily changed if you have access to 5-pin Cherry-style switches.

This keyboard offers full N-Key rollover with 100% anti-ghosting, so every key press will respond according to the order in which you pressed them, and there won’t be any issues with simultaneous presses. All keys are fully programmable and can be customised within the be quiet! IO Center webpage or downloadable software, the same goes for the addressable RGB lighting.

On the connectivity front, the Dark Mount is only wired and has a report rate of 1000Hz. It’s a shame that be quiet! hasn’t included support for 2.4GHz or Bluetooth, but we can understand that wired is likely a requirement to power the screen and the Numpad module.

Last but not least is pricing. Be quiet! has set the MSRP of both versions at $254.90 in the US, or £239.90 here in the UK. I think the price for this keyboard is incredibly reasonable. Based on the specs alone, the Dark Mount is a premium option, akin to a keyboard like the NuPhy Field 75. This keyboard’s modular design and unique features significantly add to the overall value. And when we consider this price against other modular keyboards like the Mountain Everest Max or the Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E 7 from back in the day, I’d say we’re well within the expected price range for a keyboard of this calibre.

be quiet! Dark Mount Design

Despite being a primarily black keyboard, the Dark Mount has an incredibly rich and unique design. Pulling the Dark Mount out of its packaging, you’re greeted with a TKL-sized keyboard with a brushed aluminium top plate. The top plate provides a sophisticated look while offering plenty of stability and robustness.

At the top of the main keyboard unit, you’ll spot a black plastic underside, which be quiet! notes is made out of ABS plastic. The rest of the plastic chassis does takeaway from the overall design, as it provides a cheap feel and look. However, it’s understandable that be quiet! has opted for plastic for two reasons: weight and cost. This is already a fairly weighty keyboard, so more metal would add to that. The Dark Mount is also affordable, so a metal chassis would drive the price significantly. I don’t hate the plastic design, especially as it’s mostly out of view, but I can understand it won’t be for everyone.

At the rear, the Dark Mount features a relatively unique set of kickstands. Instead of using angular stands built into the keyboard, be quiet! instead, provide a series of metal magnetic blocks. There are eight in total, allowing you to easily change the angle of the Dark Mount to suit your preferences. The fact that these feet are magnetic worried me a bit, but it’s clear that they aren’t likely to budge or move from using the keyboard over time.

At the top of the Dark Mount are three USB-C ports. The port in the centre is for the main cable, which has been provided along with the extra accessories. Two points are for the modular screen unit, which allows you to easily change some of the Dark Mount’s settings.

Because there’s a port on both the left and right sides, plugging in the screen on your right or left for better viewing angles is effortless. The screen module snaps into place and will fire up once the Dark Mount has power.

However, installing the Numpad is a bit more complex. On the back of the Numpad is a button attached to a rail mounting system, which is how it connects to the central portion of the Dark Mount. To install the Numpad correctly, remove the protective plastic on the side and push the connectors towards the appropriate side to which you’d like to attach it. Then it’s simply a case of lining up the connectors, and it should slip right in. You’ll know it’s working because the stream deck buttons will instantly power up.

The Numpad also features an aluminium top plate with eight tactile buttons that light up with RGB and display an image that can be customised within the IO Centre software.

The connectors on the Numpad make me a little bit weary. They don’t look incredibly strong and offer a fair amount of flex if you pick up the keyboard. However, after plugging in the Numpad quite a few times on either side, the connection seems to be reasonably decent, and the hot-swappability doesn’t require you to wait or power down the keyboard; it just works straight away.

The buttons on the Numpad module feel responsive and robust. It’s a nice touch that RGB lighting shines through the plastic covers at the top. These buttons can be programmed to do various things, such as opening an application or changing a preset mode on the keyboard. It offers a vast amount of customisation for those who love shortcuts and macros.

The media controls module is essentially divided into three parts. The centre features your basic media controls and the controls for the screen. On the left, there’s a volume wheel to increase or decrease noise levels.

Once woken up, the screen displays an image of your choice and offers six menu items, allowing you to change a range of settings on the fly. I’m a big fan of the illumination and media menus, as these change the RGB lighting or can showcase whatever song is playing, which is a cool visual quality. Each media control button is also lit with a white LED, making it easy to see in low-light situations.

Around the rim of the Dark Mount keyboard, you’ll easily be able to spot the RGB lighting strip. This syncs up with the rest of the lighting you’ve assigned. In terms of ergonomics, be quiet! includes two wrist rests to ensure you’re comfortable when gaming or typing.

Both wrist rests magnetise to the bottom of the keyboard, so you won’t have to worry that they’ll shift while you move your hands around. They’ve also been split, so you won’t have to use the smaller one if the Numpad module isn’t plugged in.

As mentioned earlier, the Dark Mount also doesn’t have a traditional set of kickstands. Instead of using flimsy plastic, be quiet! provides a set of eight magnetic blocks that can be used to raise and lower the angle of the keyboard, tailored towards your preferences. This is another unique quality I’m a big fan of, and it provides an element of sturdiness that you won’t get with all traditional plastic kickstands.

Keycaps and Switches

The be quiet! Dark Mount features a fairly traditional set of keycaps. The keycaps are Double-Shot PBT plastic, so they’re much sturdier than ABS and less prone to general wear and tear, including keycap shine or legend wearing. This does mean that the keycaps are slightly dull when it comes to colour options, but RGB lighting shines through the legend, so there’s an element of colour instead of this keyboard being entirely dark and dim.

In terms of feel, because these are Double-Shot PBT, each keycap has a gritty feel on the tip of your fingers, which can help with grip over a prolonged session of play. These keycaps use a Cherry keycap profile, standard for most prebuilt keyboards. There’s a slight curvature towards the middle of each key, but not as aggressive as profiles like DSA or XDA. These keycaps are also interchangeable, so if you’d prefer a different colour scheme or theme, they can be easily swapped out for other keycaps as long as they have a Cherry-style stem. A keycap and switch remover are included in the box to make this easier, too.

Switches

The switches in the Dark Mount are of Be Quiet’s design. The linear switches are a silent orange that use a POM stem for incredibly smooth actuation. They have an actuation force of 45g, which is pretty common for linear switches. One of the qualities of these switches is that they are more or less silent in operation. Be Quiet is living up to its name, and for its first keyboard, I have to say I’m impressed.

The Dark Mount has three sound-absorbing layers: two foam layers and one silicone padding layer. These layers significantly reduce echo and dampen switch reverberations, making typing virtually inaudible.

Those who have read my other keyboard reviews will know I’m a big advocate of the LoFree Flow due to its smooth actuation and tranquil typing experience. However, the Dark Mount takes the cake when it comes to noise levels. I’ve been using the Dark Mount for a few days now, and it’s genuinely impressive how quiet this keyboard is.

Typing and gaming also feel great on the Dark Mount. The smooth POM stem allows for effectively no resistance against the switch housing, so there’s essentially no friction through to the bottom. I could easily hit 115WPM (words per minute) in a quick typing test, which is often more difficult on keyboards that don’t have a great typing feel.

Features We Like

Incredibly Modular

One of the big takeaways from modular keyboards I’ve used is that most manufacturers struggle to get them right. You might face connection issues, not be able to enjoy a fully hot-swappable experience, or have the modular design detract from the basic fundamentals like typing, connectivity, etc. The Dark Mount doesn’t have these problems.

The additional modules are a massive benefit for enthusiasts who need extra keys. Using them has minimal drawbacks, bar the fact that they’re a bit flimsy. However, they blend in well with the keyboard’s look, offer considerable customisability, and add value to what is already a solid keyboard.

Software Experience

Software is another area where the vast majority of manufacturers need to improve. I cannot stress how many issues are often caused by poorly designed software, which can take a keyboard from scoring a solid 4.5 to a 3 or lower. However, Be Quiet’s IO Center was seamless from the get-go. When I fired up the software, it performed a firmware update to give me access to all of the Dark Mount’s principal features.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, there was a tutorial, and then I was allowed to venture off into all of the tinkering settings and options that IO Center provides. This is hands-down one of the best software experiences I’ve had. You can easily customise everything; one of the other bonuses is that you can do all of this through a web interface. There’s no requirement to download anything unless you want a bit of extra configuration for the Numpad module, which minimises the risk of software conflicts.

Features We Don’t Like

Media Screen Desync Issue

One of the issues I encountered while using the be quiet! Dark Mount is that media playback on the screen isn’t always correct. I first noticed this when I was listening to a Spotify playlist on shuffle, and a song came up that I recognised, but the screen displayed that a different song was playing.

In an attempt to fix it, I unplugged the module, unplugged the keyboard, plugged it back in, and restarted IO Center, but nothing seemed to work. After restarting the PC, the desync fixed itself. I’ve encountered this bug a couple of times, and while it’s not detrimental to the functionality of this keyboard, it is slightly annoying.

No Wireless Connectivity

My only other issue with the Dark Mount is that there’s no wireless connectivity. This keyboard is wired only, which will be an issue for those with a cable-free setup. I understand that this is likely due to power constraints, but it would be great to see a future version of this keyboard that comes with 2.4GHz or Bluetooth functionality.

Conclusion

be quiet! Dark Mount

Product Name: Dark Mount

Brand: be quiet!

• Features
• Design
• Versatility
• Value For Money

4.6

Summary

The be quiet! Dark Mount is single-handedly one of the best keyboards that I’ve reviewed, and what’s even more impressive is that this is Be Quiet’s first foray into the mechanical keyboard space. The Dark Mount is an enthusiast’s dream. The modular design offers many keys to utilise and ample customisation across both additional modules, programmable keys, and RGB lighting. Needless to say, if you like to tinker, there’s no shortage of fun here. Additionally, this is one of the quietest and smoothest keyboards you can buy. The silent linear switches are effectively inaudible and incredibly smooth.

In terms of the cons, there are very few. The main ones to consider are that this is a wired-only keyboard, so the Dark Mount won’t be for you if you prefer a wireless design. Furthermore, I encountered a strange bug with the media player, which only seems to be fixed after a restart. However, I imagine this is something be quiet! will rectify in future updates. Overall, if you’re looking for a mechanical keyboard and love tinkering, the Dark Mount is a keyboard that we highly recommend considering. This mechanical keyboard is incredibly innovative and offers vast amounts of functionality beyond the scope of just providing a smooth typing and gaming experience.

Pros

✅ Highly modular

✅ Huge amounts of customisation

✅ Smooth and quiet typing

Cons

❌ Odd audio playback bug

❌ No wireless functionality

❌ Slightly flimsy module connectors