havit Mechanical Keyboard Red Switch 90 Keys UK Layout Wired Keyboard with PBT Keycaps for PC Gamers Computer (Black)
havit Mechanical Gaming Red Switch Keyboard, KB487L
90 Keys Mechanical Keyboard with PBT Keycaps
Compact and Convenient, also ergonomics
Saves space on the premise of preserving commonly used number keys
PBT Mechanical Keyboard Red Switches
PBT material keycaps are stable, clear and not easy to fall off. Red switches keyboard is easier to click and well meet the needs of gaming and typing.
Ergonomic Keyboard With Multi-function Keys
Num Lock Key
The key’s backlight keeps being on when the number pad is working, and the backlight is off when the number pad is unworking.
1.Press FN+Num Lock to turn on the Num Lock (the key’s backlight is on), and the number pad lights on and is functional.
2.Press FN+Num Lock once again to turn off the Num Lock (the key’s backlight is off), and the number pad lights off and has no function, but the keys of HOEM, PGUP, PGDN, END and DEL are functional.
(It means number pad and functional keys can not be used at the same time, you should press Fn+Num Lock key to change them.)
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Features | Gaming keyboard + 7200DPI Gaming Mouse | 4 in 1 Gaming Bundle Set | Blue Switch Keyboard + 4800DPI Gaming Mouse | Ergonomics Wrist-Rest | 3 in 1 Mechanical Gaming Set | Red Switch Gaming Keyboard |
| Weight: | 1.14 kg |
| Dimensions: | 4.1 x 13.1 x 32.9 cm; 1.14 Kilograms |
| Brand: | Havit |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | havit |
| Colour: | Black |
Thi keyboard is the best value for the price. Is a decent weight and is very worth i
For its price it’s a well built keyboard, the switches all feel nice and smooth and they all function well
Great keyboard, great solid mechanical keys and responsive feel. Takes a while to get used to the ‘home’ and ‘end’ button settings and minus the second ‘enter/return’ key. Love it and nice and compact on the desk.
great keyboard for your first mechanical keyboard got this to get away from mushy rubber domes and im loving it. looks super cool aswell
I have and have had many mechanical keyboards, i’ve got 2 cherry blues and two logitech reds. I needed to replace my G413 Carbon because in less than a year it had started skipping some keys and repeating others, totally unacceptable for the money, and i thought i may as well get a cheap TKL as a stop-gap. Well this is a real interesting keyboard, i love the idea of having the number pad via toggle, the colours are funky and retro feeling and the keys are awesome. theres quite a bit of travel, but it’s smooth and consistent and feels very much like the old style IBM keyboards (sans-clack). the only negatives i can say are it’s taking a little bit of time to get used to due to the slightly non-standard layout, and i dont like the limited backlighting. niggles, for the money it’s well worth a punt.
A good keyboard.
Three issues:
1. low contrast legends on some keys not visible in bad light
2. Legends on most used black keys started to disappear after about a month of very heavy use (creamy-white keys are perfectly fine)
3. Not sure if this is keyboard’s fault but noticed 2 or 3 times when I was gaming that my PC did not register that I stopped pressing down a key.
Great piece of kit. The only downside is that it’s not backlit but I can live with that. Multi-coloured keys can be offputting to some people but I’m okay with it.
Very good quality solid key action and constructed very well would recommend to a friend
My experience is a good one, very responsive keys and I love the colour scheme.
My first keyboard did suffer from colour fade on a few of the darker keys, notably the right shift key and backspace. However, after mentioning this to the seller and expecting maybe some replacement keycaps, they sent me an entirely new keyboard in three days and let me keep the original one! I cannot fault the customer service and I now have 2 perfectly useable keyboards albeit one with a few faded keys, for the price of one. Very happy!
Edit: I’ve been using my replacement keyboard for a while now and the keycaps are fine and the print seems to be much better than the first one. If you are having problems, give them a shout and they might replace yours to the newer version.
Wasn’t sure if I made the right choice but happily I did. It’s my first mechanical keyboard and so far so good.
Greart keyboard, sounds like a typewriter which comes with the territory 🙂 My only disappointment with it is that Del key gets deactivated with the num-lock being off. I need both Del and num-pad at the same time for my work usage. Looks super cool!!
I purchased this expecting it to last me maybe a few months until I can afford something better. But I’m gonna let it stay. The keyboard after a few hours of use really begins to set in. At first the switches feel a little stiff and loud but after a short session on halo infinite and some practice typing, it became alot more comfortable. (I’m not sure if this will be the same for everyone but I felt it shook my desk a little bit so I placed in on an extended mouse pad) the keycaps feel like they will last a while but I have noticed my right shift key fade a bit. Thankfully this being mechanical, I can just change out the keycaps to something new if I feel it necessary or I just want to change things up. It uses a 10 keyless layout so replacement caps won’t be hard to find. The only thing you give up with this keyboard in my opinion is RGB lighting. The numpad glows white when NumLock is on as does the caps button when that is enabled. I wouldn’t say missing out on hotswapping is a big deal here because this board is so inexpensive
This is a great size keyboard and I got the number pad, but not the wider keyboard. So was really happy with a mechanical keyboard at this price and colours.
Feels solid and well made and came with a key puller.
Only small issue as a Mac user, the Number Lock does not work right, so I used a software app to trigger the keys and change the function keys.
Luckily, since I started using the keyboard I’ve found most negative points raised in reviews to be either inconsequential or totally incorrect.
– I personally very rarely use the num pad, so the keyboard layout suits me perfectly in that I can keep a permanent delete key with the option to use the num pad if I ever need to. People are right though that the backlight behind the num pad is pretty underwhelming unless you’re sat in a dark room
– As people say, the keys are very satisfying and tactile to use – every time I revert to my cheap wireless keyboard for work I am longing to get back on this one! I haven’t had problems with key printing wearing off yet, but the print doesn’t look very durable so I’m definitely expecting it to happen. To be honest, given the retro look of the keyboard I think this may actually add to the aesthetic as long as the keys remain somewhat legible
– The keyboard does have a caps lock light! Unfortunately it’s still the underwhelming backlight that the num pad uses, but I’ve seen a few reviews which says it doesn’t have one at all which simply isn’t true and to be honest it does the job.
– This is probably only relevant to a few people, but the size of the keyboard means it fits perfectly under my monitor stand, which is a massive bonus for me as I can move it out of the way for work. Wouldn’t be possible if the keyboard was 2cm wider so happy days
Overall I’m very happy. The functionality and aesthetic are perfect for me and hopefully I’ll hold on to this for a long time. There are a few small things such as the printing and backlight that prove this isn’t a ‘premium’ option, and perhaps the price could be slightly lower to reflect this. However if you particularly like the colour scheme or are just looking for an entry level ‘no-frills’ mechanical keyboard this is a great buy
So my tip – Change the keycaps and you will have yourself a great little mechanical keyboard for a fraction of the price of others.
This keyboard was a surprise for me, for 40 it’s probably the best keyboard I’ve used, very quite so it doesn’t annoy anybody while I’m gaming and is an all around good keyboard!
I would also recommend this keyboard to any twitch streamers!
I’ve been using this during my day job as a software engineer, and though it’s no comparison to my massively expensive other mechanical boards, it’s actually a VERY nice, functional and responsive keyboard.
Giving great feel and feedback in the typing experience, its very nice to switch to for a change from my MX brown and MX Blue keyboards, and I’ve been primarily employing it as the keyboard in use with my Mac Mini; though I’ve also used it with Windows 10 and GNU Linux without any issues.
The form factor is (see picture) perfect for a smaller working space and keeping things neat, and the colour scheme works on my desk too.
The key caps are a little cheap, but acceptible.
The switches are unique, clones of MX Red, they’re not bad, could perhaps benefit from O-rings adding below each key cap, but they’re a lot quieter than the Browns I have in my G1000. I don’t have a real MX Red to compare with, but these aren’t bad at all.
All in all a really nice board.
havit Mechanical Keyboard Red Switch 90 Keys UK Layout Wired Keyboard with PBT Keycaps for PC Gamers Computer (Black)
This is a good quality all round keyboard suitable for both gaming and normal computer uses, with90 keys and a slightly re-arranged layout than a standard keyboard.
I quite like having the numpad above the arrows, for my uses this comes in quite handy.
The PBT keycaps feel to be of good quality and should prove to be durable over an extended time.
I really like the colour scheme of this keyboard, it is a somewhat retro style colour scheme which appeals to me.
The red key switches perform well and a little puller tool is included for removal of keycaps if required.
A nice mechanical deck which looks wonderful, and is a joy to type on. Not bad Red MX style switches, great action.
Exactly what I wanted in a mechanical keyboard for work, and not expensive. No useless frills like RGB lighting (there is underkey lights to indicate when numlock is turned on. Feels comfortable to use, and no issues so far with it. Sturdy construction and has heft to it, doesn’t feel flimsy or cheap.
Keyboard is good and I really like the layout, the backlights behind the num keys are very dim
There MAY have been a redesign of this keyboard at some point (looking at Havit’s website today) but certainly the black keys on the one from Amazon showed signs of wear after the first day. The attached photo is after 7 days use. The alphanumeric/cream-coloured key caps appear to be unaffected, only wish the same printing method applied to the wkole set.
ight so this is a good keyboard that comes with a red switch looks great its a bit tall but it fits well the quality of the print could be better but for 40 its great I really do recommend it but to be
Really nice to use and I got a fantastic deal from Amazon.
A worthy 5 stars.
Decent mechanical keyboard for the price, as others have mentioned print on the Ctrl and left shift keys have worn away pretty quickly.
There are many things I want to say about this and I’m going to point it out one by one because it was quite frustrating when actually using this. first thing is I do like the colour the rainbow form colour is amazing it looks nice feels different but I will get into that a little bit later the design is nice it looks like a premium product it’s very well presented design is unique so authentic it feels authentic but there are a few pointers I would like to make 1 being the fact that the keys actually feel quite stiff they’re quite difficult to use their full a little bit hard around the edges and a bit sharp around the edges too it feels a bit too plasticky and I guess this is because this type of keyboard is Ergonomic maybe that’s why and I just really don’t like to feel that much but of course you can change the brightness higher or lower it’s only got 2 actual light forms which is one is basically lightly flashing and the other one is just still rainbow so it’s not that great but it gets the job done as a keyboard is just slightly stiff and you can easily mess up when you’re typing. the size is perfect the keys of course the way they highlighted is perfect is nice quite useful if you’re in desperate need of a keyboard. for the price I wouldn’t recommend it personally but that’s because of my experience with it people are used to using these types of keyboards then the price is perfect.
I bought this as an extra keyboard and I got a good solid keyboard for a decent price. I am considering using it as my day to day keyboard as I like it that much. The keys make a nice sound when pressed and do not need a lot of pressure to be pressed. I also received a tool for removing the key caps.
1. These aren’t the same as Cherry MX Reds – they’re a bit heavier. I have a key tester here and they feel a lot like Blacks. 60cN actuation force instead of the 45 that Cherry Reds use. A matter of preference but you can feel it. I prefer real Cherry Reds.
2. PBT keys. First time using them instead of ABS. Rough texture to them which I don’t mind at all, maybe even prefer it. Again, preference.
3. Shift key is already fading and I expect others to as well. Don’t really mind to be honest.
4. No backlight as others have said (apart from when num lock is on; the numpad lights up). Doesn’t bother me as I’d disable it anyway.
5. Form factor and layout is perfect for me. Full size takes up too much space, however I use the num-pad for some binds in Windows – so this was a perfect find.
6. Space bar had a slight vibration problem that lead to some bad feedback which was bothering my thumb. I only noticed it in a game where I was pressing space bar a LOT. Put on the space bar from my old keyboard; problem fixed.
Not much else to say. Everything else feels solid. Worth 40 for sure.
This is certainly a unique keyboard – I have never seen a TKL sized keyboard with numpad before! Firstly, the keyboard is mechanical – this means that the switches are not your typical cheap feeling generic keyboard. Secondly, the switches are ‘linear’ and that means that you will feel no feedback/tactility until the key reaches the bottom. This results in a very quiet keyboard but it may feel slower to type on compared to blue or brown switches. The numpad lights up when the num lock is active but it doesn’t make the numbers any clearer. Sadly, the page up/down and end/home keys are in an odd place for someone who is used to a standard TKL keyboard and this makes it very difficult to get used to. Otherwise the keyboard is a good size, good quality and looks great.
Feels really nice, a smooth but clicky sound/feedback. It’s gonna take me a little while to get used to the 90 key layout, but I think it’ll be fine (after using this for a little while). All in all, well worth the money!
Love it. Makes the most amazing sound when typing! It’s sturdy and very well built. Feels like it should be worth a lot more
This keyboard is good, it has a satisfying click to the key press. The full sized keyboard is very conformable when using for gaming or working on spreadsheet. The wired cable has Nylon coating. I recommend this keyboard
Pros
– Full functionality
– Funky colours
– Statifying click
– Wired for no latency
Cons
– None that i can see
I got this for my son, who is an avid gamer. It came in a pretty plain box with a small leaflet, but I was impressed by the chunkiness and build quality. The colour scheme is quite interesting and the keyboard looks good.
In use the mechanical keys are very responsible when gaming and typing. They’re also pretty noisy, which means a lot of annoying keyboard noise when in use. The keys feel good and register with minimal impact. It’s also pretty compact as well, making it good for use in constrained spaces.
There’s no backlighting, which I quite like as I sometimes use the computer without any lights on and find backlit keyboards are easier to use.
At 37 pounds (At the time of writing) this is pretty cheap and I’d say good value if you want a mechanical keyboard for gaming or fast typing.
Keyboard is boxed in slim black box with minimal printed text. Box felt heavy, so was impressed on opening that the keyboard itself weighed far heavier than most keyboards I’ve used previously. In the box you receive the keyboard a booklet and a key puller. Key puller is a welcome addition as my daily driver is a Asus TUF Gaming keyboard and this did not come with a key puller.
I have to say I love the styling on the Havit, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but the orange accents on the spacebar, number keys with alpha keys in white and rest in black is a great combination.
Keyboard is nor RGB but num keys have backlight to show that they are on.
I love the compact style and it’s clever how they have combined the num keys with the Ins, Home Pageup/down, End key etc…they ones that you don’t use very often…at least I don’t. It works well, saves space and looks great.
The actual feel of the key presses is good, they are comparable to most mechanical keyboards, so aren’t spongy like rubber domed keys but give a satisfying click when pressed.
Overall I’m very impressed with this board, only question now is how well it will hold up. So far so good though.
Absolutely love this keyboard, although the colours might not be to everyone’s taste the keyboard itself is fantastic.
The reduced size and that it retains a number pad is great, it means that I actually have room on my desk and things don’t feel too claustrophobic. The size of the keys themselves appear to be standard which is great as I’ve had Razer keyboards in the past that had keys fractionally smaller and it really throws off your typing! The keys themselves are a nice finish, they actuate really well and return to neutral as expected. The red switches make for a lovely audible tap when pressed so you know you’ve definitely made contact with the key (you can hear someone tying on them but it’s not obnoxiously loud).
Overall it’s a fantastic keyboard and great for general use and gaming, at this price point I think you’d be hard pushed to find anything even close to the quality. Great keyboard that I would definitely recommend!
This is a high quality product with a price to match. But value for money is very good as nothing about the board disappoints. The keys all have positive clicking action, as mechanical keys should. The colour variations on the keys serve a useful purpose in showing up in a darkened room for gaming, as well as separating the various functions on offer.
It’s narrower than a full-sized keyboard by about 10cm but most normal keys are in place. To fit them all in some keys have a double function but this doesn’t really get in the way.
The two rear feet fold out to give a good angle for less tiring operation. The F keys all serve a dual purpose with the inclusion of media playback controls, plus ScrLk, Pause and PrtSc.
The number pad lights up discreetly when turned on. The weight of the keyboard plus the rubber feet make sure that it doesn’t move around or shake when used.
A useful User Manual is supplied and a small key extraction tool. All in all I think it’s worth the money as it’ll last for ages and give very good service.
It’s compact and it has a satisfying action – and you get the old fashioned Foley Editor keyboard clack. That some of the functions are combined to save space for me is a plus, harder to get “num lock” when you were aiming for back space
The colour coding is useful for advanced hunt and peck which, alas, includes me.
I read another review claiming lack of keycap puller so here’s a photo of what I got.
This is great keyboard for anyone who loves gaming as it’s made in a way that allows you to reach the number keys easier, and they also illuminate so you can see them without having to look at them. It’s very comfortable and the keys are easy to press down, and very quiet too.
Sold as a “gaming” keyboard this would nevertheless have its uses as a space saving “typing” keyboard which may well prove useful in these working from home times.
It’s compact size is created by moving the number pad over and losing a few buttons that you would see on a standard keyboard (though most of the function buttons that are lost as a result can be found on double use keys elsewhere).
It’s very responsive so is good for gaming where needed. The layout makes it a little more difficult as use as a “regular” keyboard until you get used to it but is fine after then.
Other than a gimmick I’m not sure what the “backlit” number pad function achieves. It’s not exactly dazzling to be honest either.
It feels solid and sturdy and well put together so I’m very confident it can withstand ever day use and wear & tear no problems.
Maybe a bit too much of a niche product for all-round use for most people but will work well as a “gaming” keyboard and if space is an issue it makes a more than competent “office” keyboard too.
This review is for the havit Mechanical Keyboard Red Switch 90 Keys UK Layout Wired Keyboard with PBT Keycaps for PC Gamers Computer (Black)
39.99 at the time of review.
You get the keyboard, a key puller tool and a small booklet that gives you the key combinations to fill different functions.
First impressions are that this is a weird looking keyboard, but interesting. I don’t know why they chose to colour the keys they did as I would have expected the more usual WASD etc. keys to be coloured as this board is aimed at gamers? Still, it is different. To top off first impressions, they have put their logo on the front right side rather than taking up space on the top of the keyboard as most manufacturers do. Nice one.
The keyboard is heavy which means it won’t move around easily and the risers at the back are reasonably substantial. The cable is corded but is only 150cms long; I would have preferred 180cms or longer. I also find the keyboard is higher than I like to type on: the front of the case is 2cms high, and the top the keys there are 3cms high. With the risers engaged, the rear case is raised to 4.5cms and the keys at the rear are 5.5cms off the desk. The whole keyboard is the same size as my existing mechanical one at 35.5cms by 13cms.
The number pad light is not very bright at all and in daylight is difficult to see if it is on or off, so this isn’t a good selling point. There is no CapsLock light.
The key puller tool doesn’t actually fit fully over the bottom of the keys: I found I had to push it over the key to touch the base of the keyboard then twist the tool slightly so that it overlapped the edges/corners of the key, before I could pull the key out. It did work well though with that slight observation.
The keyboard keys make the kind of noise that all mechanical keyboards make — it is a loud clicky sort of sound that you have press really slowly and carefully to minimise the sound to a level that wouldn’t annoy someone else. All mechanical keyboards are like this so this isn’t a reflection on this keyboard, just mechanical keyboards in general. The good news is that you can buy o-rings that fit over the “pin” of the inside of the key when you pull them off. Slide an o-ring over this pin, then push the key back gently onto the + shaped pin on the keyboard and the noise is much more subdued when you use the key(s). I have done this to my existing mechanical keyboard and it worked for this one too. Bear in mind though that you have to push the o-ring over the pin on the key and not the + pin on the keyboard itself. If you do, the o-ring can become dislodged enough when pushing so that it jams the key in a down position and you have to pull the key back up with some effort, remove the o-ring and try again. But this does work.
I really do like that havit have put a numeric keypad onto this keyboard and that you can switch it on and off with the Fn + NumLock key (which without Fn is the Backspace key) — very clever and other manufacturers should take a note of this. You can also disable/enable the Windows key with Fn + Windows key should you need to.
The keys have a decent resistance to them for typing on, the Enter key is double height which is good and the right Shift key is 2 keys long, again good. The left hand Tab, Caps, Shift and Ctrl keys are all the correct size as well.
There is a lot to like about this keyboard as it is good type on, it takes up less room than a full sized keyboard, yet it still has the numeric keypad which is a great feature and it looks different.
My current mechanical keyboard has backlighting on all the keys, and initially I was really sceptical about this, but I must admit really liking this now and when I swapped onto the havit keyboard, it felt (looked) dull by comparison. I also find the havit keyboard is too high for me (or the angle I type at) and the lead is a touch too short to suit my setup. These last three are all personal to me and I am not going to take them into account when giving a rating for this keyboard, but I felt they are worth pointing out.
In balance then, I am giving 5 stars to this havit mechanical keyboard because it is a well-designed piece of kit and should last well.
This Havit mechanical keyboard has a nice feel in use, not doubt due to the red key switches. It uses UK key layout which is convenient and the keys are mostly where they should be, although it did take a couple of moments to find the ‘Del’ key – it’s on the 10 key pad.
Unfortunately, the keyboard is not backlit and it appears that the lettering/numbering on the keys is printed on. This means that it’s only a matter of time before they wear off.
I really like that this keyboard is of a compact size, 36cm wide, and is about as small as a full size keyboard can be.
All in all, a good keyboard at a reasonable price, but let down by the lack of backlighting.
This :
havit Mechanical Keyboard Red Switch 90 Keys UK Layout Wired Keyboard with PBT Keycaps for PC Gamers Computer (Black)
Looks to be a fun, funky, and nicely designed bit of kit.
But…
Is it any good?
Is it good value?
Are there many of these annoying questions still to come?
Well, to find out, we should pop on our gamers caps… here’s mine: , and get the snacks in , as we find our inner gamers, and take a closer look… …
It arrives in a pretty plain, and ordinary looking cardboard box.
It’s a very low-key first impression.
Out of the box, and the contents are easy to catalogue:
1 x Mechanical Keyboard Red Switch 90 Keys UK Layout, WIred.
Nice and simple.
Just like me.
No… wait… not just like… dammit…
The build quality of the keyboard is excellent.
It feels sturdy, tough, and durable.
It is chunky, and solid, with a nicely designed layout.
It is a compact, and squat looking keyboard, with a compacted down right-hand side, allowing it to be housed in a less wide keyboard case.
It doesn’t feel limited, or too compact though, with its full sized, chunky keys, and it’s full sized Num-Pad, it feels full sized, grown up, and just like a traditional keyboard.
It is mechanical, with the sought after Red Switches design.
There are no flaws visible on the keyboard, and with no manufacturing marks, no ragged edges, or poorly finished junctions, it all comes in perfectly complete, and nicely polished.
It was installed in seconds being plug and play, there were no drivers to download, or no software to install, it was up and running immediately.
The keys feel good, tough, fully resistant and with a very positive action, and they are a joy to use for gaming.
Both for FPS, and slower strategy games, it was brilliant to use in testing.
The keys are full travel, and full sized, with a nice solid click on each keystroke, and a nice action that gives plenty of feedback, you will always know when you have engaged a key properly.
It was a pleasure to use, and I very much enjoyed using the keyboard to revisit some of my favourite games,
It did not miss a trick, or a beat, and was faultless in every game.
It had no missed keystrokes, no missed presses, and was perfect to play with.
I am a very happy owner of this keyboard, and use it as my main keyboard now.
The price, at just under forty quid, is fantastic.
It is very good value.
A fully mechanical, red switch keyboard for this price is fantastic.
Yes there are compromises, with a compact layout, meaning less keys, but it plays perfectly the same as my old full sized keyboard, with a much nicer action.
Overall,
This keyboard is brilliant.
It is very well-designed, with a nice layout.
It is very well put together, with a nicely finished and polished standard,
It plays perfectly, with it never missing a beat, in gaming.
It is priced very keenly, and a genuine bargain.
I can highly recommend this keyboard.
I hope you enjoyed our time together .
Thank you for reading my review .
This keyboard does indeed have a switch-plate which is a good thing, as this not only provides a more consistent typing experience but also provides considerable structural rigidity to the keyboard. The plate is white and made out of some sort of metal in white paint. I would take a guess and say it’s either aluminium or steel. I think that it is an odd choice for the plate to be white, however. Normally white plates are used to help reflect the RGB light off. The stabilisers are used for any key the same as or larger than 2u long. This means that stabilisers are used for the spacebar iso enter, backspace key, right shift and the large 0 key in the Numpad. The stabilisers are rattly but honestly could be worse – they are fairly smooth stock and unlubed and rattle a bit, but not disastrous amounts. I am happy with the standard of them. There is no housing wobble between the stabiliser housings and the plate, just the stabilisers themselves. Some modifications such as adding lube and using the holee/epsi mod should dramatically fix this problem.
The switches are a Chinese MX clone switch which means that the keycaps can be swapped for anything that uses the cherry MX-style stem (other than cherry profile), and if wanted you could desolder the current switches and put in any other switch. This also means that this is a true mechanical keyboard, where the switches actuate around halfway through the travel, unlike most membrane keyboards. They are of course red and so they are linear. They have Jixian on them and are honestly better than I was expecting. While there is some audible scratch to it and some roughness, this is nowhere near as bad as what I was expecting. They are sufficiently smooth for most people starting off, but will definitely need to be upgraded for the enthusiast. I believe that the performance is more than acceptable for one’s very first mechanical keyboard or anyone who wants an upgrade from their membrane keyboard. The stem wobble on the switches is also a lot better than I was expecting.
The keycaps are PBT and so in general sound deeper than ABS keycaps. I do like the sound of these keycaps and the thickness of the keys are around 1.5mm thick (much thicker than I was expecting), and the spacebar being of thinner plastic. This results in the spacebar having a distinct pitch to it which I really like. The overall keyboard has more of a dampened sound as opposed to something sharp and admittedly sounds plastic when typing. I am still very happy with the sound however and is much better than a tinny, pingy metal keyboard in my opinion. The caps are not die sub or dual-shot but rather just printed, I prefer this to dual-shot but not to die sub, as you do get the consistent legends, but not the durability of the others (the letters will start wearing off over time). What is very nice is that the font is nice and simple – it is not that horrible gamer font.
I also really like the weighting on the switches. They feel a little more like slow springs.
A very good feature of this keyboard is that this uses the UK ISO layout, which has these main characteristics: has the large iso enter key, with a backslash to the left of the z key. The @ sign is next to the semi-colon key instead of where the number two is. Also, this means that if you are using this keyboard in the UK, then all the keys are in the correct locations and you won’t need to press the no.2 key for an @ sign if using an ANSI keyboard, making everything simpler, especially for those who use the extra keys.
The layout is an odd layout as it’s essentially a TKL keyboard but with a Numpad instead of a navigation cluster. This is achieved with the overall footprint being the same as a normal TKL but with the arguably more useful Numpad rather than the nav cluster. You can however select between the Numpad functioning as a Numpad or nav cluster. I would argue that a very important key is the del key, and since the is no navigation cluster, there is no designated del key. However, there is one on the bottom right of the Numpad. Thankfully some thought has been applied to this, as to access the del key, you can hold the fn button and press the corresponding key simultaneously instead of having to switch on and off the layers. The rest of the keys in the navigation cluster don’t do this, however (and I don’t think that they really need to either). It would have been nicer if the del key was placed in a better location, although I do understand the reasoning behind it.
Overall I am very happy with this keyboard. It sounds deep and the switches are of the perfect weighting for most people. The colour of the keycaps are definitely subjective, but I am starting to like the colours more and more. The layout will be almost perfect for most people, especially since the most important keys are still there but in a smaller form factor without looking clustered. Having no RGB is classier in a way. The switches and also the stabs perform admirably for the price too and the plate is nice and tight for the switches, which is important since the PCB can only fit 3-pin switches. While the keycaps may not look the best, it’s best not to take for granted that they make the keyboard sound pretty decent in this keyboard and the font is pretty clean – not that horrible gamer style. The only real problems are that the indicator lights are a bit too dim and the location of the del key could be more accessible. Also, the case is held together using clips, which increases the difficulty of opening it up for fixes, and while I could drop one star because of these, due to the price of this, I feel like it would be quite unfair.
[This applies only to the people who are willing to spend the time to open up and modify the keyboard, or those in the mechanical keyboard scene and enjoy doing this sort of thing:
I attempted to open up the keyboard to see the construction and try to make it perform better, and I have improved it somewhat. I removed the caps and took off the top part of the case. The top part is simply clipped onto the bottom, so you’ll need some prying tool to get it off without snapping or bending the top piece. There is a screw hidden underneath the top piece, so this is really the only way to do it. Once done so, you can simply unscrew all the screws holding the plate to the base, and the PCB+switches+plate should come free off the case. The cable is connected via a JST clip so you can remove that when modifying. There is also some space underneath the PCB.
I painstakingly desoldered all the switches. A lot of the switches were soldered with bent pins through the holes, making it really hard to remove and a certain technique to do so without pulling off the pads of the PCB. After, I could see that there was one sort of spring attached and I can only guess that this is some sort of ESD protection but I am not too certain. I opened up the switches and lubed each and every one of them. The top of the switches are polycarbonate, so be careful not to crack them as they are brittle. Also, make sure that you assemble the top pieces properly otherwise you’ll bend the contacts and break the switch. The housing is similar to the Kailh style where there is one large clip on either side. I also lubed the stabilisers, and now there’s not a single rattle at all – I am very impressed with these. Just before assembling everything together, I stuffed some toilet paper underneath to absorb the sound.
The overall sound after modifications are much more muted and quiet, but with a much cleaner sound and smoother feel. For most people, however, I wouldn’t really think that doing all this is necessary.]
Hope this was helpful!
Other than the photos, I have a video that has no ‘video’ but should serve as a sound test AFTER it has been modified. As you can probably hear, you can probably associate the sound characteristic with the case material.
This is a cutdown QWERTY keyboard and I must say — it’s just perfect for having a small computer desk to work from. The keys are normal size of course, but this is compact and in a way “cute?” At the same time the colours remind me of something futuristic, functional and industrial machine-like. The orange gives it an industrial look. So — I can nothing but adore this! Those brightly coloured gaming keyboards have missed something; this doesn’t use garish LEDs — but it’s just as gaudy. It’s clicky too but not with the metallic tap of gaming keyboards; which gives it a more plastic feel when you press it.
The downside: it does not have CAPs or Num-lock indicators. One assumes you just press and if it’ stuck on Caps or not — just do something about it.
I can 100% recommend. What an amazing keyboard
My original keyboard is cherry red switches and does it feel the same as this one? Well kinda and no. It doesn’t feel as .. tactile although I do prefer red than the blue one offered in mech keyboards of this price range.
It is the same size as my 10 keyless one but offers a keypad function which is good if you enter a lot of numbers or in my situation just easier to access without looking.
The keycaps are ok however the whole keyboard is not illuminated, only the keypad. Illuminates to show that the number keypad is active and off when pgup/dwn home/end are active. Key spacing is the same as a full size number keypad so no clawed crunched up fingers.
It is nicely made and how they manage to get this quality at this price point is pretty amazing. I won’t be swapping it out for my regular keyboard but if it was black and red backlit then .. that would be a pretty hard decision to make.
For me the colour combo lets it down as it doesn’t really match the rest of my setup, if you ain’t to bothered then this might just be the keyboard for you. After all, you are paying a lot less than a premium brand keyboard but you are almost getting the same feel.
Nice keyboard, defo consider if you are on a budget and want a change from blue mech keyboards.
I haven’t seen or perhaps felt a keyboard like this in years and it is so refreshing.
I can see why this is sold as a gaming keyboard, because the full travel keys will offer you an advantage on occasions, but I think that this is a good quality unit for any use, and personally I like this when typing.
Keys are divided by colour — numeric keypad, space bar, esc key , f5 through f8 and carriage return (which is not repeated next to the numeric keypad) are all orange. F1 through f4, F9 through F12, Tab, Caps lock, Shift, control, Windows key, Alt, Function, menu, cursors and backspace are all black, whereas the alphabet and the numbers/symbols outside of the numeric keypad are white.
The keyboard has two props to angle it up too.
I absolutely love this keyboard and look forward to using it for years to come!