MonsGeek M1W-SP HE Review — An Extremely Well Balanced Magnetic Keyboard

Magnetic keyboards with Hall Effect and Rapid Trigger technology are slowly making waves in the market, and with every new rendition, we see something that is better than the other. There is no shortage of some excellent gaming keyboards available in the market like the Polar 65 by Arbiter Studio, Akko MOD007B HE, and the legendary Wooting 60HE+. So, what exactly do you have to offer to make the overall user experience even better? Well, the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE takes everything from the best and sprinkles its own character on the top and easily becomes one of the best magnetic keyboards in the market.

Now, I am going to get this out of the way--there is very little that differentiates the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE from the Akko board that I have used. Wherein, both keyboards shared similar switches with the one that I have using Akko Cream Yellow switches instead of the Pink Sakura switches. However, the board layout is eerily similar, so much so that even the power on and mode switch is where it was on the Akko board. Please don't think I am saying that it is a bad thing. The board from MonsGeek has a lot of character of its own, allowing it to be one of the best in the business.

The MonsGeek M1W-SP HE comes in a pretty big box. This is one of the biggest boxes I have seen, and honestly, it gave me the impression there is going to be a lot in the box in terms of accessories, but aside from the standard stuff, you don't really get anything else. That did let me down a bit, but then I realized how MonsGeek is not really selling a custom keyboard here--even though there are customizations available on this board, this is prebuilt in every sense of the word, so you should go in expecting nothing else.

Speaking of the box, the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE is pretty heavy, which is always a good sign. I am not sure about others but I do prefer my keyboards to have a heft and that is a good thing because this keyboard is all aluminum from every side, making it one of the most premium keyboards I have seen or laid my hands on. This can even be used as a weapon in a zombie apocalypse. The keyboard weighs almost 2KG, making it one of the heaviest keyboards I have used. It is significantly heavier than my NuPhy Gem80.

Unboxing the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE reveals a rather simple package of accessories. You do get  tape in case you want to go ahead and mod the keyboard. The tape is not shown in the picture above. You get the 2.4GHz receiver, a switch puller, a keycap puller, extra Teflon feet, and a nice coiled USB cable that matches the color of the keyboard. I honestly cannot really ask for more in this keyboard.

The one thing that is immediately noticeable about the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE is the construction, and it is one of the best-looking keyboards on the market. Sure, you are getting a giant piece of aluminum but it is the way this keyboard is constructed that makes it so good. For starters, the legends are printed on the side, which is always a great thing for keyboards with south-facing LEDs, but the keycaps have this gradient where they start with grey and slowly turn black. It is a very subtle shift, and you can always miss it if you are not looking closely, but this execution is done to perfection.

Then, there is a gold accent on both the left and right sides of the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE, which, honestly, is a very bold decision, but the way it complements the keyboard's black aluminum is stunning.

One of the reasons why the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE feels as substantial as it does is mainly due to the way it is constructed. MonsGeek has made sure that they are not creating a keyboard that is just your run off the mill affair and instead paid some really nice attention to the overall fit and finish of this board. As a result, you get a pretty premium out-of-the-box experience, and even though you are dealing with a prebuilt here, there is enough attention to detail that makes one feel like they are using a custom keyboard.

Now, with the construction, you would expect the keyboard to deliver a thocky sound, but that, sadly, is not the case. The MonsGeek M1W-SP HE sounds great, but if you are looking for that deep sound signature, then you might have to go for something else. There is no way to compare this keyboard with other boards that I have used because I have never used a board that sounds like this one. Still, for the sake of comparison, I have left a sound test below. The audio was recorded with the help of a Galaxy S24 Ultra, so you are not getting studio-level sound, but it is enough to give you a decent idea of what the keyboard sounds like.

You can listen to the typing test above, and the only way I can explain this is that something is missing from the keyboard. I am still not saying that this is a bad-sounding keyboard; it is just not the same signature that I prefer, and we all know that sound is highly, highly subjective.

The one thing that I do love about the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE is how the lighting is handled. Now, one of the biggest issues with south-facing LED is that there is a severe shortage of keycaps that make lighting look good. However, MonsGeek has decided to go with side-printed legends on the keycaps, which means that the top is completely blank, with the legends lighting up from the side. It looks really great and allows your keyboard to be really clean and stealthy. However, if you are not a fast typist or you have not memorized the layout entirely, then you might have some issues because you will have to find the legends on each key.

Moving on, we are going to talk a little about the software. The MonsGeek driver can be used on the web, or you can use it as an installed application. The choice is yours, and if you are familiar with the Akko cloud driver, then you are not going to have any issues with it. The driver is easy to use and install, and the best part is that it allows you to customize all the aspects of the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE. Which is something that happens to be the most important aspect for a lot of people. It is not as powerful as something like QMK/VIA, but it is more than enough to get the job done. Remember, at the end of the day, this is a gaming keyboard and has all the features right where you are going to need them.

The software is not at all different than the Akko cloud driver and honestly, that really should not be an issue,. Everything that you need about this software is already available so you can just go ahead and start customizing your keyboard to your heart's content. The Rapid Trigger and the the dynamic keystrokes work as intended and it is one of the best features of this keyboard. Setting up the features is super easy so you can just go ahead and start doing that the moment you are looking into customization. Now, you do have to keep in mind that if you are new to the world of more advanced keyboards, then the companaion app can be a bit more overwhelming but after a while, you get used to it.

My expeirence with the MonsGeek M1W-SP HE has been excellent to say the least. There are some issues with the keyboard that I faced in the Akko MOD007B HE but other than that I cannot really think of anything major that is wrong with the keyboard. The power-on switch is for some reason, still under the capslock, and the keyboard also does not have height adjustment feet. These things might not matter to a lot of people but I believe when you are spendingo money on a high-end keyboard, you are going to nitpick the details, and these details matter.

The MonsGeek M1W-SP HE is a great keyboard with a great typing experience, state of the art switches, one of the best fit and finishes in the market, and ton of customization options. It is only held back by little annoyances that could have easily been avoided like the odd power switch placement.

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