GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE Keyboard Review

You can buy the prebuilt GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE in two sizes. We bought and tested the Compact (75%) model, which has a dedicated arrow key cluster, function row, and several navigation keys but lacks a Numpad.

There's also a smaller compact (65%) model, which lacks a Numpad and function row but retains a dedicated arrow cluster as well as Pg Up and Pg Down keys.

For a complete list of variants and related models in the wider GMMK 3 lineup, see the Differences Between Variants section.

This keyboard has impressive build quality. The chassis and switch plate are made of aluminum. Altogether, the fit and finish are very good, and the pieces are well-aligned. The board also doesn't exhibit any deck flex whatsoever. However, due to its weight, the smooth finish of the aluminum, and the flared edges of the bottom case, it's somewhat difficult to pick up, which may be irritating if you frequently reposition your keyboard on your desk.

The gasket-mount design offers a slightly softer, springier typing experience compared to conventional top-mount keyboards. Ultimately, this is a matter of preference, but this gasket feels stiffer compared to other gasket-mounted boards we've tested.

GLORIOUS emphasizes the customizability and modularity of this keyboard. A screwdriver is included in the box, and the case is secured with four screws (hidden beneath the removable rubber feet on the underside), making it easy to disassemble. However, the rubber feet lack grip, tend to fall out easily, and are prone to getting lost if you frequently reposition the keyboard.

There are a set of O rings that come pre-installed around each screw within the case, which further helps cushion typing somewhat.

Unfortunately, there's some minor key wobble while typing, and while the stabilizers do a good job of keeping larger keys stable, the larger keys feel noticeably hollow.

There are also two layers of sound dampening material inside the case, but it's quite basic compared to similar high-end keyboards we've tested and has minimal impact on the typing feel and sound profile, overall.

The keycaps are made of doubleshot PBT, which GLORIOUS markets as 'GBPT' keycaps. Despite the branding, they feel and look similar to standard PBT keycaps.

This keyboard has standard ergonomics with a fairly tall profile. Using it with a supportive rest will provide the best ergonomic experience. There isn't one included, but GLORIOUS sells rests separately on their website.

The GLORIOUS GMMK 3 offers outstanding hardware customizability and is designed to be easy to disassemble and modify. There are four screws on the underside (under the feet) that hold the top and bottom cases together, and there's a screwdriver included in the box.

This keyboard has a dual hot-swappable PCB that's compatible with both 3- and 5-pin MX style mechanical switches as well as Glorious Hall-effect switches.

GLORIOUS also advertises this keyboard supports both plate-mounted and screw-in stabilizers.

This keyboard has full per-key RGB backlighting. You can customize brightness and effects directly on board using hotkey shortcuts or using the configuration software. Unfortunately, we experienced significant issues trying to customize the lighting using the software. Many other users online also experiencing issues. For details, see the Configuration Software.

The backlight clarity on the GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE is impressive. The shine-though legends are visible with only minimal obstructions, and the white-only backlight setting emits very pure white light without any blue tint. However, the backlighting isn't quite as bright as that on the base model GLORIOUS GMMK 3, possibly due to the colorway difference.

Additionally, some of the keycaps have small black pieces of plastic visible from underneath that are largely to blame for any obstructions. While the impact of these pieces is relatively minimal, it's also strange as some keys include them while others don't.

While these small pieces were also present on the less expensive GLORIOUS GMMK 3 that we tested, our unit has white-colored keycaps, which have white-colored pieces that are less obstructive. We expect the silver colorway of the GMMK 3 PRO HE keyboard may similarly have less problematic shine-through obstructions.

The GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE has a braided cable that includes a velcro strap to help with cable management. Unfortunately, the cable retains some kinks from its packaging.

GLORIOUS currently advertises the following battery life figures for the different size models for the GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE:

Compact 75% model: 24 hours with 2.4GHz receiver or 21 hours with Bluetooth.

Compact 65% model: 28 hours with 2.4GHz receiver or 26 hours with Bluetooth.

These figures are very unusual as Bluetooth is a lower-power wireless protocol that should provide more, not less, battery life than a 2.4GHz connection. Unfortunately, Glorious also fails to mention what the battery life expectation will be using various polling rate settings. We expect the provided estimate is using an 8000Hz polling rate, which consumes battery at the fastest rate.

The software's battery indicator doesn't work correctly. For more details, see the Configuration Software section.

You can't program macros directly on the GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE with keyboard shortcuts, but you can program macros using the configuration software.

• USB-A to USB-C cable
• USB-A receiver
• 4x extra screws
• Screwdriver
• Keycap puller
• Switch puller
• 4x alternate Mac-specific keycaps
• 2x extra gaskets
• 2x O rings
• 2x sample switches
• User documentation

Both the product box and GLORIOUS' product page identify that there should be four sample switches included (a Glorious Fox HE, Lynx HE, Panda HE, and Raptor HE). However, our box contained one Glorious Raptor HE and one extra Glorious Fox HE switch.

The GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE provides an adequate typing experience. The keycaps have a standard OEM profile and are made of doubleshot PBT plastic with a pleasant, slightly textured finish.

It has a gasket mount design that provides a slightly softer typing experience compared to more conventional tray-mount keyboards. Ultimately, this is a matter of preference, but this gasket feels stiffer than other gasket-mounted boards we've tested.

The stabilizers do a good job of keeping larger keys stable with very minimal rattle, although the larger keys do feel quite hollow. Unfortunately, there's also a small degree of key wobble overall that's somewhat noticeable while typing.

There are also basic layers of sound-dampening foam inside the case (one layer between the top plate and PCB and another underneath the PCB). Unfortunately, these layers are quite basic compared to the material included in other keyboards around this price point.

This keyboard is fairly quiet and unlikely to bother those around you unless you're in a particularly noise-sensitive environment.

The prebuilt versions of this keyboard come with linear Glorious Fox HE switches. It also has a hot-swappable PCB that's compatible with both MX-style mechanical switches and Glorious HE switches.

GLORIOUS does offer several other Glorious HE magnetic switch types at purchase if you choose to customize a GMMK 3 using their 'Boardsmith' utility. However, no other switch options are available for the prebuilt GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE configuration.

The Glorious Fox HE switches on this keyboard have an adjustable range between 0.1mm and 4.00mm.

The switch actuation setting out of the box is 2.0mm, and Rapid Trigger is disabled by default. The test above was conducted with the lowest actuation setting, 0.1mm, and with Rapid Trigger enabled at 0.1mm press and 0.1mm release.

We took measurements of various actuation point settings and confirmed actuation is generally accurate with measurements within 0.4mm of their intended range.

• Setting 0.1mm: actuation 0.47mm
• Setting 0.2mm: actuation 0.66mm
• Setting 0.5mm: actuation 0.82mm
• Setting 1.0mm: actuation 1.14mm
• Setting 1.5mm: actuation 1.71mm
• Setting 2.0mm: actuation 2.35mm
• Setting 2.5mm: actuation 2.78mm
• Setting 3.0mm: actuation 3.20mm
• Setting 3.5mm: actuation 3.73mm
• Setting 4.0mm: actuation 4.03mm

The GLORIOUS GMMK 3 PRO HE has very low and consistent single-key latency, delivering an extremely responsive-feeling in-game experience.

This test was performed at the maximum polling rate setting of 8000Hz, with an Input Latency setting of 0 ms, an actuation setting of 0.1 mm, and a Rapid Trigger set to 0.1 mm press and 0.1 mm release.

This keyboard has impressive multi-key latency performance. It's well-suited for gaming scenarios requiring additional keystrokes while multiple keys are pressed and maintained. However, we measured occasional outlier events. While you're unlikely to notice any difference in-game, this degree of inconsistency can affect performance at a highly competitive level.

This test was performed at the maximum polling rate setting of 8000Hz, with an Input Latency setting of 0 ms, an actuation setting of 0.1 mm, and a Rapid Trigger set to 0.1 mm press and 0.1 mm release.

This keyboard has software options for the following polling rates: 1000Hz, 4000Hz, 6000Hz, and 8000Hz. However, we found that changing this setting doesn't actually change the polling rate in wired mode, which may irritate some as it does draw unnecessary processing power from your computer while not in-game.

This keyboard offers excellent 4-chord and 8-chord split delay performance. It's very well-suited for playing rhythm games or other titles that require many simultaneous inputs.

We experienced a wide range of issues with the GLORIOUS Core 2.1 software, and many owners of this keyboard are reporting similar issues online. You can see examples of these threads on GLORIOUS' forums or on Reddit here or here.

We also experienced issues when using the software on macOS. Note that for Macs, the software is only compatible with newer Apple Silicon devices (M1 and later).

Overall, the software is reasonably well laid out. It provides expected options for adjusting RGB lighting, keymapping, custom profiles, macros, and performance settings.

There's a dedicated page in the software with options for all effect adjustments, including switch actuation and Rapid trigger press and release settings, as well as a utility for calibrating your Hall-effect switches.

Additional Hall-effect features include:

• Dynamic keystrokes: This setting lets you program two different actions with independent actuation and reset points on the same key.
• Mod tap: This setting lets you program two actions per key, one that activates when the key is tapped and one when the key is held down.

We didn't encounter issues using the software's Hall settings during our testing. Unfortunately, many of the other basic features don't work as expected, and we've documented some below:

Adjusting RGB lighting and effects is finicky and frequently fails to save changes. We were able to use different presets and save the changes successfully. However, when we tried to customize the per-key mode, making further changes failed.

The only reliable method we found to change RGB settings was to perform a factory reset and use shortcuts directly on the keyboard. Unfortunately, whenever you reopen the software, the backlighting reverts to a default rainbow setting.

We also encountered some difficulty remapping keys as changes frequently failed to save. Removing custom keymaps also takes multiple tries to revert changes. Trying to map multiple layers of keybinds is confusing as the software only visualizes the default layer while doing so.

Additionally, while you can create global profiles, there's no option to create app-specific profiles, which is common on many other gaming keyboards and particularly useful for Hall-effect keyboards.

Lastly, the battery level shown in the software is faulty and consistently shows incorrect levels. It also may display that the keyboard is charging even while connected wirelessly.

GLORIOUS has identified that they will continue to update the software, and they may address these issues in the future. If you have this keyboard and want to share your experience with the software, please reach out to us in the comments.

This keyboard is fully compatible with all major operating systems, and Media hotkeys work as expected. However, Mac users should note that the mapping of F-row keys is nonstandard, and the printed secondary legends on the keycaps don't correspond, which may be confusing.

Typical macOS media key layout:

• F7: Previous
• F8: Play/Pause
• F9: Forward
• F10: Mute
• F11: Vol -
• F12: Vol +

MacOS media keys on the GLORIOUS GMMK 3 RPO HE:

• F7: Play/Pause
• F8: Pause
• F9: Mute
• F10: Vol -
• F11: Vol +

This keyboard is fully compatible with Android, iOS, and iPadOS devices.

The media shortcuts require the keyboard to be set to macOS compatibility mode, and the F1, F2, F3, and F4 keys do nothing on all three operating systems.