Page 1: Mountain Everest Max in the test: What can the modular premium keyboard do?

Industry newcomer Mountain wants to cause a stir with its first keyboard. Everest promises a new level of flexibility. Mountain relies on flexibly usable modules – and on freely exchangeable Cherry MX switches. And elements such as buttons and a rotary knob with integrated displays also make you sit up and take notice. But does Mountain actually succeed in reaching the summit with Everest?

The development of mechanical gaming keyboards seems to be largely stagnating and most models offer very similar features. Mountain surprised all the more with the announcement of Everest in March. And that’s also because this announcement came from a newcomer to the industry. What Mountain promised was an extremely modular keyboard. The core keyboard is actually a tenkeyless model – a compact keyboard without a number pad. A suitable num block can simply be docked to the keyboard. And either on the usual right or on the left side. An additional specialty of the numeric keypad are four display keys that can display very different symbols. Further modules are a media dock with a display control wheel and a palm rest.

When it comes to switches, Mountain relies on tried and tested Cherry MX switches – they are not soldered, but plugged in. Every single one of these switches is hot-swappable, meaning that they can be exchanged during operation. This means that very different switches, each with their own characteristics, can be used for individual buttons. Addressable RGB lighting should not be missing despite the modular switches.

Mountain also uses the modular design to offer the Everest in very different equipment variants. The pure Tenkeyless keyboard is intended as an Everest Core without palm rest, numeric keypad and media dock for 149, 99 Euro offered will. This Everest Core is also listed in a barebone version without switches – for 129,99 Euro. For the combination of Everest Core and dockable numeric keypad, 219, 98 Euro and for the combination of Everest Core and Media Dock 209, 98 Euro called. The Everest Max is fully equipped with a number pad, media dock and palm rest – for a price of 249,99 Euro. Cherry MX Red, MX Brown, MX Blue, MX Speed ​​Silver and MX Silent Red are available as switches. The last two variants cost 10 Euro surcharge. There is also a choice of color: between “Gunmetal Gray” and “Midnight Black”.

We have an Everest Max with Cherry MX Red and a complete set of Cherry MX Speed ​​Silver available for the test. Switch packs are available in the accessories area of ​​the Mountain Shop. A set with 90 Cherry MX switches costs for the cheaper variants 34,99 Euro.

Technical details – Mountain Everest Max:

• Switches: Cherry MX Red, hot-swappable
• Actuating force: 45 g
• Key travel to release: 2 mm
• Service life: over 100 million trips
• Key Rollover: N-Key Rollover
• Lighting: RGB
• Cable: 2 m, detachable with USB-C connection to the keyboard
• Highlights: modular keyboard with interchangeable switches and four display buttons
• Dimensions: 265 x 461 x 43 mm (L x W x H)
• Weight: 1, 37 kg
• Price: 249, 99 Euro (RRP)

In the unpacked & touched video we take a first look at the Mountain Everest Max: