GMMK 3 Pro HE review: just too expensive

The Glorious brand made DIY keyboards socially acceptable in 2021 with its GMMK Pro. And now, the GMMK 3 Pro HE sees the company venturing into magnetic switches. This keyboard does a lot right, but it has two glaring weaknesses.

High quality design and finish

The GMMK 3 series comes in several versions: the standard and Pro, with mechanical or magnetic switches as well as three form factors (100, 75 or 65%). They’re also available as a set, complete with switches and keycaps, or barebones without anything. If you buy from Glorious directly, you can get even more configurations, which I won’t go into. The device I’ll be testing is the complete Pro 75% version with magnetic switches.

The keyboard is made of CNC-machined aluminium and is anodised. You’ll find a configurable rotary knob and swappable badge on the top right. Diffusers are integrated on the sides to distribute RGB lighting evenly. As with the original GMMK Pro, the latest edition is emblazoned with a huge machined logo on the underside. The back also has a USB-C port, located in the middle. As the keyboard boasts a wireless option, there’s a switch to toggle between Bluetooth, USB and wireless. Alongside this, you’ll find a switch to change from Windows to Mac. Overall, the quality and finish are good. Only the plastic switches don’t feel good.

Glorious’s design focuses on curves. The lower part of the housing takes some getting used to as it protrudes towards the back. I’m not a fan. The layout doesn’t impress me either. I do like 75% keyboards, but in this case, the manufacturer has opted for a squished key layout. And the navigation keys on the right are too close to Enter and the like.

Like most aluminium keyboards, this one from Glorious has a fixed typing angle. It’s about 19 mm high at the front. If you’re used to flat keyboards, I’d recommend a wrist rest.

The GMMK 3 Pro HE comes with a USB cable, a puller for keycaps and switches, as well as Mac keycaps.

The software has its quirks

The software is much more important for hall effect keyboards than mechanical ones due to switch configurations. That’s why I’ve given it plenty of space in this review.

Unlike the first GMMK Pro, the GMMK 3 series isn’t compatible with QMK. All that’s left is the Glorious Core software. At first glance, it looks well-organised and tidy. I select my peripherals from the left-hand column and can access the settings via tabs at the bottom right.

I can select profiles under the «My Keyboard» tab. Three are available in the internal memory. When I register, I can also create cloud profiles to access them quickly.

Meanwhile, «Performance» lets me set the polling rate, with 1,000, 4,000 and 8,000 Hz. In wireless mode, you’re limited to a maximum of 1,000 Hz. That doesn’t bother me, as a higher polling rate also requires more juice. With just 24 hours of battery without lighting, the runtime is poor anyway. You can also set the input latency, choosing 0, 2, 8 or 16 ms.

As you’d expect, the «Lighting» tab houses the options for adjusting the lights. There are 18 presets available along with individually configurable Pro buttons. «Keybinding» allows you to reassign keys and create macros.

«Actuation» lets you alter the typical settings for bright effect keyboards, such as setting the trigger point between 0.1 and 4 mm in 0.1 increments. You can also configure the Rapid Trigger feature and turn it on or off. This defines the point at which a key press is triggered again. You can have these settings apply to all keys or just individual ones.

Dynamic keystrokes are also included. This allows up to four actions to be set when a key is pressed – depending on how much you depress it. With Mod Tap, you can also define what happens when you press a button quickly or hold it down. You can do all this for each key.

What’s missing is a snap tap feature that lets you change course without releasing the button for the other direction. There are also no analogue input options that you’d get with a controller.

Despite all these settings, I don’t enjoy using Glorious Core. Several times, it didn’t accept my modifications and it locked me out of options. Only when I restarted the software was I able to make changes again. Core can’t keep up with capturing macros, so I have to rework them. But what I miss most is a button to undo settings. In terms of lighting, the software also simply «forgot» my adjustments and reset them.

When it comes to gaming features, I miss having the option to create profiles for specific games that are automatically activated when opening them. Although there are a few lighting options, other brands offer more.

Glorious has made progress in terms of typing feel

Like the original GMMK Pro, the latest Glorious edition opts for a gasket mount construction. Its circuit board, including the aluminium cover plate the keys are mounted on, is clamped between the upper and lower parts of the housing. Silicone foam seals at the top and bottom give that grip and flexible typing feel. On the plus side, this provides a softer feel in contrast to the original version.

Glorious has also improved its sound. I described the first version as lifeless. And although the GMMK 3 Pro sounds rather muffled, it still boasts much more character than its predecessor. The relatively good stabilisers also help here, they hardly rattle at all. They’re inherently better than the recently reviewed Akko MOD007 V3 HE and Keychron Q1 HE, where it’s more a matter of luck what you end up with. However, a lot of other reviewers have been anything but impressed by the stabilisers. The only thing that detracts from the good sound is the Fox HE switches, but these can fortunately be replaced.

Good keycaps, scratchy switches

My test device features the magnetic Glorious Fox HE switches, a linear design. It feels and sounds scratchy when you press it – like an unmodified red switch. Fortunately, the hot swap circuit board means they’re easy to replace. On the topic of the circuit board, Glorious has opted to go its own way, making it compatible with magnetic as well as mechanical switches. You can even mix the two technologies.

Glorious’s magnetic switch technology works in the same way as most other manufacturers, with a magnet placed under the stem. By pressing it down, it approaches the sensor on the circuit board. The shorter the distance between the two, the higher the voltage. This is measured, so the space between the magnet and sensor can be calculated precisely. In the case of the GMMK 3 series, you can set the key stroke between 0.1 and 4 mm in 0.1 mm increments.

When you’re gaming, these keys respond reliably and the features work well. Unfortunately, I can’t assess whether the set distances are exact, as I don’t have a tool for measuring them. But I can say that they feel correct.

Glorious also offers various other hall effect switches. As well as the linear Fox, you can get your hands on the linear Lynx HE, Lynx Silent HE, the tactile Panda HE and Panda Silent HE as well as the clicky Raptor HE. As a result, Glorious covers the whole range of switch types, although for me personally, tactile or clicky switches don’t make much sense with hall effect keyboards. They only provide either purely haptic or haptic and acoustic feedback when triggered. However, since you can change the trigger point in the software, the feedback no longer matches the trigger point. That’s why I prefer linear for magnetic switches.

My test device features black PBT plastic keys called shine through keycaps. They’re slightly roughened, which gives them a good grip. Their design means the lettering is transparent and illuminated by the RGB lighting. The effect is uniform for keys in the upper area, but some are poorly lit, such as those with the number 8. The square bracket on the same button is barely illuminated, which surprises me, especially as the lighting is north facing. In other words, the RGB LEDs above the switch shine through. As the lettering on most keycaps is at the top, this should make light up better.

As for the keycaps themselves, they’re good quality. In 2021 when the GMMK Pro was released, it showcased a considerable lead over other manufacturers in terms of keycap quality. In the meantime, however, the competition has caught up, particularly Razer and Corsair. The majority of them now also use high-quality PBT keycaps.