I’ve never picked up a 60% keyboard before and didn’t think it would surprise me. But the Cougar Puri Mini did. almost succeeded. It has a wild bunch of outright wonderful features, some of which I’ve never seen on a Cougar at all. Some are basically a novelty. And some I didn’t see, even though I expected to. So here are 10 of the most interesting facts…. about the Puri Mini.
In addition to the manual, which I highly recommend studying, the kit also comes with a matte cover on very strong magnets. Which I didn’t expect to see at all, but on the other hand – the size of Cougar Puri Mini really makes it mobile. It lacks, of course, wireless functions, but what can you do. But the lid really does protect the caps, it’s downright cool.
Thanks to the keyboard’s smaller size, less materials are used for its production, which means that the price is not too high. The price of Cougar Puri Mini is still not even close to budget, even flagship, but the number of features of this model is at the level of boutique keyboards for three times more money. There is something missing, but we’ll talk about it further.
60% for the keyboard as a whole means that the manufacturer got rid of almost all additional buttons, leaving only three rows for typing, a row at the top and a row at the bottom. There are no arrows, no NumPad, no F buttons from 1 to 12. And this may be unfamiliar to many people, but only critical to some people. Well, if you’re a gamer, of course.
Because very, very many functions here are duplicated via Fn. Arrows, NumPad, row F, as well as media, device and backlight control. I recommend reading the manual, because there are so many functions… There’s even macro recording on the go. On a 60% keyboard, yes.
Fully controllable RGB backlighting is no surprise to anyone, but in Cougar Puri Mini, thanks to the tiny size of the keyboard itself, the backlighting seems to fill the entire surface. That’s at the top, but at the bottom it really fills it, as we have a gap of white plastic diffuser and a bunch of LEDs underneath. It looks really cool, especially for the price.
Not only are they honest-to-goodness mechanical Gateron, or linear Red, or Blue with a crisp click, they are also pre-lubricated. On the box, however, it says that the caps are lubricated. Why they were greased is unknown, maybe it was extra grease. In fact, it is the switches that are lubricated, and you can hear the sound in the video review.
Although the switches are not hot-swappable and the caps are not greased, the plastic here is PBT, as I understand – double moulded. That means you won’t get unpleasant gloss from grease from your fingers. Plus, the backlighting is quite good through the legend.
Cougar Puri Mini supports the COUGAR PIX programme. This is a novelty for Cougar, as I understand it – universal for new mechanical keyboards and not only. It looks ultra-modern, works relatively stable – I had no glitches, for example – and all the functions are in place. Backlight is customisable, key functions are customisable, macros are available.
In general, the keyboard still takes some getting used to due to its compactness. Especially if you type chaotically, as I do, and are not good at blind typing. Then your hands will feel a bit heavy. On the other hand, the adaptation is helped by the switch buzz, and the tilt can be changed. There’s only one adjustment, but it’s 9 degrees. Plus – thanks to the inbuilt memory there is room for THREE backlight profiles and key presets.
The keyboard lacks any wireless functionality. There is neither Bluetooth nor operation via 2.4 GHz adapter. However, this set of features would already classify the keyboard as a truly boutique model. Which already cost about $130 and more. And do not have such a cool backlight.
But it is the cable that I consider the only serious drawback of the keyboard. On the one hand – it’s detachable, it’s Type-C, and it’s absolutely long enough. But it’s not braided, and it has a very irregularly shaped protective sleeve on the front. Which means what? That only a similarly shaped cable will be able to connect to the Type-C socket on your keyboard.
And if in the case of, say, premium Takstar headphones where you need a branded 2.5mm audio cable – I understand the situation. Forcing you to buy only branded cables that way is a nasty idea, but I get it. But Cougar doesn’t sell Type-C cables separately. And especially, it doesn’t sell cables of this shape.
At the same time – Cougar representative assured me that the cable is almost immortal, and it doesn’t need a braid, as it’s not a mouse. So if you don’t lose it, you’re more likely to have a broken keyboard than a cable. And, the warranty on it, by the way, is 12 months. And it weighs 600g. I forgot to mention that, so I’m saying it now.
If the price of this flagship baby suits you, you’ll get an extreme amount of benefits. And quality greased switches, PBT caps, gorgeous backlighting, and the latest software. Even cable trouble isn’t critical in the slightest. So if you don’t need wireless capabilities – I Cougar Puri Mini I recommend it to you with peace of mind.
You can see the beauty in dynamics here:
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