The Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro is something of a whale. Although not without its charms, it’s a big mechanical keyboard that emphasizes quality and a relatively low-noise mechanical typing experience. True to its business-centric focus, there are keys specifically for video conferencing.
Even if you’re a mediocre typist, it’s impossible to deny that a mechanical keyboard can make a huge difference in feel. If you get into a good rhythm, it can feel like working a precision tool versus cheaper membrane keyboards that can feel more like a blunt instrument. Of course, one of the downsides of mechanical keyboards is that they produce a lot of noise, which can make them annoyances when you’re around other people, such as in an office.
Switch type makes a difference with mechanical keyboards. Linear provides a smooth keypress throughout, tactile provides a bump in the middle of the keypress, and clicky is the same as tactile, but with audible feedback at the bottom of the actuation point. Kensington went with tactile for the QuietType Pro, but with sound-dampening pads for a unique experience.
The Kensington QuietType Pro MK7500F offers a premium mechanical keyboard typing experience with office-friendly sound. However, its equally premium price may be a bit tough to swallow for more budget-conscious office-goers
Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro Silent Mechanical Keyboard
Just because you work in an office doesn’t mean you have to give up your mechanical keyboard. The Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro Silent Mechanical Keyboard feels great to type on and won’t disturb your coworkers.
- Switch options
- Kailh Midnight Pro Silent Tactile switches with sound-dampening pads
- Colorways
- Space gray, black
- Backlight
- White
- Supported operating systems
- Windows, macOS
- Connectivity
- 2.4GHz USB receiver, Bluetooth, USB-C cable
- Water resistance
- IPX4 spill-proof
- Battery life
- Up to 90 hours with 100% backlight
Form and Function: Heavy and Quiet
Hannah Stryker /How-To Geek””>
In the box, you get the keyboard, gel-infused wrist wrest, 6 ft (1.8 M) USB-C to USB-A cable, 2.4GHz wireless receiver, washable silicone dust cover, gel-infused wrist wrest, and paperwork. The keyboard is charged or used wired via a USB-C port covered by a rubber gasket on the back rear just behind the video conferencing keys.
Unlike today’s preference for lightweight and thin devices that sometimes favor form over function, the Kensington QuietType Pro is heavy and thick. However, this extra weight and stability are important for a good typing experience because it keeps the keyboard solidly in place as you type, providing an excellent foundation for the dampened mechanical keypresses. This solid build reminds me of the typing experience on the Astrohaus Freewrite, which has lighter and faster keypresses, but the same type of weighted base. This is also in contrast to my daily driver Logitech Lightspeed keyboards (G915 and G915 TKL) that have some weight to them, but are nowhere near as dense, making for faster but shallower key presses.
The keycaps are a standard half-inch wide but are closely spaced together. This close spacing makes the keycaps feel a bit smaller than they are and may require a bit longer of an adjustment period, but it shouldn’t prove an issue for most users. On the plus side, if you’d like to replace any or all of the keycaps, they’re compatible with standard cross-shaped mechanical keycaps for easy customization. On the other hand, the Kailh Midnight Pro Silent Tactile switches are soldered, so they can’t be replaced, which makes sense given they need to work in conjunction with the sound-dampening pads to help deliver the auditory effect promised.
The key presses can feel a little mushy because of the dampening and the type of mechanical switches, but it’s something you can adjust to. It’s definitely quiet when typing, barely making more noise than your average laptop keyboard. The space bar is slightly louder than the other keys, but that’s typical for its size. Overall, it’s a comfortable, responsive, and pleasant typing experience that, along with the dampened sound, makes a great choice for a shared office environment.
The white backlight, even when set to 100%, is weak. It’s a bit disappointing, as is the use of general illumination rather than per-key lighting, but it does contribute to the excellent battery life. Of course, the backlight does fare better in, and seems optimized for, a very dark room, though that’s more likely to be an in-home scenario than one in an office.
The Kensington QuietType Pro has been subjected to MIL-STD 810H Method 504.3 Contamination by Fluids testing and is IPX4 rated for wipe-down protection. What this ultimately means is that the keyboard should be well protected against accident spills as long as you quickly drain the liquid from the hole in the bottom.
Even with relatively aggressive usage, you shouldn’t have to charge too often. Kensington promises up to 90 hours of usage between charges, even with the backlight set to 100%. For me, with daily usage and the backlight set to 100%, I only had to charge a few times a month.
The included wrist wrest is well-padded and can feel cool to the touch at times. It provides excellent support and alignment when the keyboard’s feet are fully extended. The fact that the wrist wrest is completely independent means you can easily move it to exactly where you need or replace or remove it entirely. The rubberized bottom keeps the wrist wrest in place no matter how active you are while using the keyboard.
Connectivity and Compatibility: Versatility is Key
Hannah Stryker /How-To Geek””>
Unlike some wireless keyboards, the Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro is quick to wake up and revive your computer with just a tap of a key using either the included RF adapter or Bluetooth. A three-position switch on the upper left side of the keyboard switches between Bluetooth (BT), Off/Wired, and 2.4GHz USB receiver, with three indicator lights just above the shortcut keys indicating the respective mode.
You can switch between up to five connected devices, which include one wired, one with the 2.4GHz USB receiver, and three over Bluetooth. With the three-position switch in Bluetooth mode, you can switch between the three Bluetooth devices, BT1, BT2, and BT3, by pressing the Pause/Bluetooth keyboard key and the function (FN) key.
Hannah Stryker /How-To Geek””>
Pressing FN plus the P/Win key switches to the Windows keyboard layout, while FN plus the O/Mac key switches to the macOS layout. Most keys are universal, but the keys with specific functions in Windows or macOS environments have stacked labels.
Unfortunately, there are no dedicated media keys or dials, so these functions need to be activated in conjunction with the FN key. The FN plus F6 is Back, F7 is Play/Pause, F8 is Forward, F9 is Mute Speaker, F10 is Decrease Volume, and F11 is Increase Volume. FN plus F12 cycles through the backlight to 0 (off), 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent brightness.
There are four shortcut keys just above the number pad. There’s Calculator, Search, Show Desktop, and Screen Shot. The video conferencing keys on the upper left of the keyboard, which are optimized for Microsoft Teams, are for Mute On/Off, Camera On/Off, Answer Call, and End Call. The shortcut and video conferencing keys may not work the same with every program or operating system, but they can all be customized using Kensington Konnect for Keyboards, available for Windows 10 or above and macOS 11.6 or above.
Kensington Konnect for Keyboards lets you customize meeting controls for video conferencing, program keys, create macros, adjust key mappings, and manage profiles. The software is intuitive, with an Easy Mode that lets you modify just the shortcut keys and video conferencing keys, as well as an Advanced Mode that lets you customize every key.
Should You Buy the Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro?
Hannah Stryker /How-To Geek””>
The Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro is unusual in the world of office keyboards, where the typical practice is to create something just good enough to be usable. Kensington has instead gone all-in on build quality and overall typing experience, without forgetting that you may also have to be sensitive to the needs of those around you.
The fact that the keyboard can relatively easily move between Windows and macOS layouts, and connect wirelessly to devices with USB dongle or Bluetooth, or even wired over USB, is all a big plus. While I would have preferred dedicated media keys even if it meant making the already substantial frame slightly larger, being able to program keys with the Kensington Konnect for Keyboards software is a reasonable consolation. And while it’s not a gaming keyboard, it does feature N-Key Rollover (NKRO), and I had no trouble using it competitively for games like Fortnite.
If noisier or more gaming-centric mechanical keyboards are not a good fit for your office, then the Kensington QuietType Pro can similarly, appropriately, and securely elevate your business typing experience. Just make sure you or your purchasing department are OK with the high price for this more focused offering versus some of those other options.
Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro Silent Mechanical Keyboard
Just because you work in an office doesn’t mean you have to give up your mechanical keyboard. The Kensington MK7500F QuietType Pro Silent Mechanical Keyboard feels great to type on and won’t disturb your coworkers.