The first thing that pops up in your mind when you see the name "MSI" might be gaming laptops and PC components, not mechanical keyboards. But that might change after spending some time with the Taiwanese firm's newest piece of gaming gear, the $109.99 Vigor GK71 Sonic Mechanical Keyboard. Equipped with just about everything you’d want for both casual and hardcore gaming, the Vigor GK71 Sonic has clicky, comfortable keys, tons of functionality, and of course, that sweet, sweet RGB lighting. It’s a bespoke package that makes it a fine alternative to gaming-keyboard stalwarts like Corsair, Razer, and SteelSeries.

The Keycaps to the Kingdom

The MSI Vigor GK71 Sonic might seem unassuming at first glance, but that’s part of its charm. At just 1.8 pounds and measuring 1.6 by 17.4 by 5.4 inches (HWD), the full-size board looks and feels great. The clean gray finish of the aluminum alloy body is a welcome break from some of the more in-your-face design aspects typical of gaming keyboards. It doesn’t scream "gamer" like, for example, the Corsair K100 RGB Gaming Keyboard does. Even better, the compact design makes the keyboard feel smaller than it actually is, without any of its keys being uncomfortably close together.

Speaking of keys, it won’t take long for you to notice just how light-press sensitive the mechanical keys are. At just 35 grams of actuation force, the MSI Sonic Red keycaps are designed to provide seamless and instantaneous response times while minimizing finger fatigue. They are far less clicky-sounding than the common 50-gram-rated key switches found in most mechanical gaming keyboards, resulting in a much softer sound compared to the Kailh Blue and Box White keys found in some other mechanical keyboards. They're even lighter than Cherry MX Reds.

You can change out keycaps if you want, too, for appearance. Thanks to the included keycap puller, it’s easy to pluck out any offending keys.

In use, the keys are light as air, and I never had any issue with accidental button presses, though admittedly, it did take a moment to adjust as I had become accustomed to my SteelSeries Apex Pro keyboard. Not very long, mind you, as it only took a couple of rounds of Halo Infinite and some dungeon crawling in Final Fantasy XIV for my hands to settle in. I never registered an inaccurate button press, and every key worked as advertised.

In addition to its light frame, the board makes use of MSI ClearCaps, a transparent cap that allows light to shine through. This ensures that the RGB illumination pops across the board, and makes for an impressive light show when in use. You control the show using the MSI Center app, along with various RGB effects and macro-key assignments (more on that later).

There are no dedicated macro buttons on the board, but plenty of hotkeys to quickly switch among light settings and profiles with ease. You’ll find dedicated media buttons at the top, and a volume dial that protrudes slightly out of the top right corner of the keyboard, for easy access. Seriously, if your keyboard is missing a volume roller, you are missing out—it’s a necessity for lightning-quick adjustments during gameplay. Whether you will prefer this dial to a Corsair-style cylinder-roller is a matter of taste, though.

All of the Lights on Some of the Games

Another important feature included is support for N-key rollover. Each key is scanned completely independently by the keyboard's microprocessor so that each keypress is correctly detected regardless of how many other keys are being mashed. It's common in high-end keyboards, but the Vigor GK71 Sonic sets itself apart by including a hybrid 6+N-key rollover mode, which automatically detects the current pressed number and switches to six-key or N-key rollover, depending on your need.

The underside of the keyboard is notable too, because of its X-shaped cable routing. Coupled with the included wrist rest, you can tuck away the extra length of your keyboard cable, or any other corded accessory crowding your desk. Unfortunately, the wrist rest isn’t magnetic, which would’ve been the icing on an already delicious cake.

Customization options are easily accessed through MSI Center, a free download that acts as a hub for all your MSI gaming gear. Select from three available profiles to program your macros and choose among nine LED styles, editing them to your preference. You can also make use of Ambient Link and have your RGB lighting react to the game you’re playing. Unfortunately, it's limited to only seven games, and the lion’s share is made up of recent Ubisoft titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6.

The MSI Center works great as a hub, and accessing settings and profiles was simple. You can even download other MSI drivers, edit the lighting of other MSI hardware, and enable voice commands to change LED illumination on the fly. It’s nothing unique from an app like this, but it’s good to have, especially if you're making use of other MSI parts.

A Top-of-the-Line Keyboard

It’s hard to hate on the MSI Vigor GK71 Sonic, but there are a few downsides to the package. There’s no USB passthrough or wireless capability like on the Asus ROG Claymore II, and it’s nowhere near as ergonomic as something like the Kinesis Freestyle Edge, but those are minor nitpicks for an otherwise excellent keyboard. MSI’s flagship keyboard is hard to beat and easy to recommend.