The Be Quiet! Light Mount brings an impressive RGB light show that lives up to the product's name. Both its extra RGB light bars and the clear shine-through lighting on the keycaps give you far more dazzle than most. The addition of a media knob and extra gaming keys is useful too, and the quiet operation welcome as well. It lacks a certain wow factor in of overall design, though, and it has none of the analog key gaming functions of some competing boards.
Pros
Amount of RGB lives up to Light Mount name
Impressively quiet
Clean, simple design
Useful extra keys and media knob
Quality padded wrist rest
Cons
Middling build quality
Not as quiet as Be Quiet! Dark Mount
Extra gaming keys can get in the way
The Be Quiet! Light Mount keyboard focuses on two key areas: lots of RGB lighting and quiet operation. It throws in a handful of extra gaming keys and a multimedia knob, but effectively that's it for overall features. So if you want a keyboard that will dazzle with its lightshow without distracting with its typing noise, it's potentially the one for you.
This keyboard is one of two that Be Quiet! Dark Mount review. The Light Mount is worthy of a place too, based on its light show alone, but is there more to it than just a load of lights? I've been testing it as my daily driver for writing, gaming, and more for the last few weeks to find out.
Why you can trust our advice ✔ At PCGamesN, our experts spend hours testing hardware and reviewing games and VPNs. We share honest, unbiased opinions to help you buy the best. Find out how we test.
Specs
Be Quiet! Light Mount specs
Dimensions (mm)
461 x 132 x 44 (W x D x H), 461 x 212 x 44 (with palm rest)
Weight
Varied, 0.96kg (1.19kg with palm rest)
Format
Full-size
Connection
USB-C
Switch type
Be Quiet! linear or tactile (Cherry MX-style, swappable)
Switch life
Not stated
Backlighting
Per-key RGB and three light strips
Extras
Keycap/switch puller, USB-A to USB-C cable, padded wrist rest, volume knob, five gaming keys
Features
The Be Quiet! Light Mount is, in many ways, a quite simple keyboard. It's only available in a full-size layout – no TKL or 65% options yet – and comes with just two types of hot-swappable mechanical switches: Be Quiet!'s own linear or tactile Cherry MX-style switches. It's also only available as a wired board, with no wireless connections included, and lacks any of the extra modular features or programmable OLED buttons of the Dark Mount.
What's more, and perhaps most crucially for some gamers, it doesn't use optical or magnetic keyswitches to provide an analog response, and the extra gaming functions that can come with those switches. Boards such as the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini offer the ability to adjust the actuation distance of each key and enable features such as rapid trigger and snap tap. If you're not familiar with those technologies, don't game competitively, or are looking for a keyboard primarily for typing, you're not going to be too concerned, but if you're looking for cutting-edge gaming features, those boards technically have that advantage.
What this board does include, though, are three key features. Firstly, there's the RGB lighting that ties into the Light part of this keyboard's name. This comes in the form of full per-key RGB backlighting, plus there's a light strip at the top/back and two further strips on the underside of the left and right sides. The top strip has 46 individual lighting zones, while each side strip has five.
The board's second main feature is its quiet operation. Inside the board are three layers of sound-deadening foam to help dull the din from your typing. These comprise a layer between the switches and the PCB, another under the PCB, and a third layer fills the bottom housing.
The final main addition is that, down the left side of the board, are five extra programmable gaming keys – all the keys are programmable but these are dedicated to being used for non-standard key functions – and a above these keys is a volume knob and mute button control.
The gaming keys, labeled M1-M5, are cleverly topped with keycaps that are shorter than those on the rest of the board, reducing the likelihood of you hitting these keys accidentally instead of the normal keys.
Speaking of keycaps, the ones here are made from tough PBT plastic (rather than ABS) so should resist quickly wearing to a shine, plus they're doubleshot, so the legends (numbers and letters) are formed by two layers of plastic rather than just being painted onto the keycaps. This effectively means the legends can never wear away.
The board uses a USB-C connection housed on the back edge of the board to connect to your PC, and it includes a quality, reasonably thick, braided 2m cable in the box. Also included is a keycap/switch puller and a nicely-padded, magnetically-attached wrist rest. Meanwhile, on the underside of the board are a pair of two-stage feet that can be flipped down to raise the back edge of the board.
Design and RGB
The Light Mount's design has an interesting mix of quite plain and utilitarian touches, but then with the addition of all its RGB lighting. The board is only available in black, and its shape is quite straight with few curves, bevels, or other adornments. It's built from a plastic base with a fairly thin aluminum top plate, which has been given a black coating that appears thicker than a typical anodized finish – it's more of a painted finish.
Even with the RGB in full flow, then, this keyboard just doesn't make that much of a design statement. It's neither quite as sleek as the Razer Blackwidow V4 or SteelSeries Apex Pro, nor as -looking and feeling as the Glorious GMMK 3 or Monsgeek M1W SP.
That's reflected in the weight and rigidity of the board too – it doesn't have the heft of a board. The media knob, for instance, feels a touch wobbly and doesn't have a satisfying feel. Of course, that is to be expected given it's not a -priced board, but it's notable given it's far from a budget board either.
As to the RGB features, the top light bar in particular really does look good in of its brightness and the smooth transition from one color to another. Be Quiet! provides just five default lighting patterns in its IO Center software, though: Color Wave, Tornado, Breathing, Reactive, and Matrix. These are such standard patterns, and such a modest selection, that it's a little disappointing given the emphasis on RGB with this keyboard.
You can, though, program the lighting yourself, down to each individual zone, plus the board s Windows Dynamic Lighting. You can read more about what else is available in Be Quiet!'s IO Center in our Dark Mount review.
The clarity of the lighting through the keycaps is notably good as well. Many doubleshot PBT keycaps can have rather dull, unclear shine-through lighting, but that isn't the case here.
Performance
Like its Dark Mount sibling, when it comes to performance, the Light Mount isn't making any grand claims. It's just a standard mechanical keyboard, and that's all many s need or want.
I tested the linear switch version of the board, and it delivers a very nice typing experience with the switches' 45gf actuation offering a balance of lightness with a still-notable amount of spring-back. In fact, they feel almost like tactile switches in a way. They seem to have a slightly higher initial resistance, then a point where the spring buckles more freely, rather than having a totally smooth action, which I found I particularly liked.
What's more, even in competitive gaming sessions, I didn't find the lack of analog response, adjustable actuation, snap tap, rapid trigger, or a fast polling rate held me back in any way. Certain games benefit from snap tap and rapid trigger (snap tap is even banned in CS2), so if you're really serious about getting every possible advantage, this simply won't be the board for you. That said, the advantage of these technologies is tiny compared to the gains from a faster frame rate or by equipping yourself with one of the best gaming monitor options.
As for the quietness of those keys, this board is notably nowhere near as quiet as the Dark Mount board. That board hovers around 42-44dB, whereas the Light Mount I measured at around 45-50dB, with the spacebar in particular occasionally triggering as high as a 52dB response.
This is noticeable in person as well as using a decibel meter. The Light Mount has a distinctly more prominent, higher-pitched clicking quality to its typing noise. This might be to do with the Light Mount only using foam for its final layer of sound deadening, whereas the Dark Mount uses a dense silicone rubber.
This is still a decently quiet keyboard in the grand scheme of things, though. The Glorious GMKK3 that uses similar sound-deadening layers measures 48dB, the Corsair K70 Max measures 61dB, and the Monsgeek M1W SP hits a very loud 62dB.
When it comes to the extra gaming keys down the left edge, I've often found these extra keys on boards such as the Corsair K100 to just get in the way, at least when typing rather than gaming. I constantly go to position my hand by feel alone over the WASD keys or in the standard typing position, and find I'm hitting one key over to the left – it's particularly bad for hitting the Ctrl and Shift keys.
Be Quiet! has attempted to limit this likelihood by reducing the height of the M1-M5 keys, but I didn't find it to be overly effective. I still regularly hit M5+X when I went to hit Ctrl+C, or M3+R when I meant to hit Shift+T. Your mileage may vary, but I ultimately disabled all these keys to at least stop accidental hits from causing any actual actions, and even went as far as removing the M5 key altogether.
Price
The Be Quiet! Light Mount price is $169.90 / €169.90 / £169.90, making it a mid-priced keyboard. More options, such as the GMMK 3 or the Dark Mount, push well above $200, while plenty of compact gaming-focused options, such as the Razer Blackwidow V4 75%, and SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini, have a similar price to the Light Mount. As such, the appeal of this board really does come down to how much you value its extra RGB lighting and quiet operation.
Alternatives
Razer Huntsman V3 Pro
If pure gaming performance is your priority, the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro is a better choice than the Light Mount, as its analog keyswitches open a world of gaming opportunities. It's more expensive at $219, though, and lacks the extra RGB lighting and quiet typing of the Be Quiet! Read our Razer Huntsman V3 Pro review for more information.
Corsair K55 RGB Pro
For a quiet typing and gaming life with lots of RGB, the Corsair K55 RGB Pro offers all this for a price that's a third of that of the Be Quiet! Light Mount. However, it is a budget board that isn't as good by every other measure. It's not as quiet, its RGB lighting isn't as programmable, and its keys use cheaper membrane switches that wear out quicker. For just $45, though, those might all be compromises you're happy to make.
Verdict
The Be Quiet! Light Mount slightly struggles to find its place in the keyboard world. Its appeal is very specific, being aimed at s who care about quiet typing and lots of RGB lighting, but who don't care for the game-tweakability of cutting-edge analog keyswitches. It also doesn't reach the heights of the look and feel of some other boards of a similar price.
In some ways, it's the addition of a load of RGB lighting that really makes this an odd keyboard. If Be Quiet! had kept the same level of quiet operation as the Dark Mount, ditched all its modular features, and charged $30 less than the Light Mount is currently asking, it would be an easy recommendation for buyers that just want a very quiet keyboard.
However, the addition of all the lighting, a reduction in sound deadening compared to the Dark Mount, and a price that is competing with boards that offer a lot more in the way of gaming features puts a strain on its appeal. That said, it's still one of the quieter keyboards on the market, and the RGB lighting does look good – plus you can always tone down the colors and brightness if you prefer a more chill vibe. As such, if you do want an RGB-filled keyboard that's decently quiet, it's a solid buy.
For more ways to expand your gaming setup, why not check out our best gaming monitor guides.
