HK GAMING GK61 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard 60 Percent | 61 RGB Rainbow LED Backlit Programmable Keys | USB Wired | For Mac and Windows PC | Hotswap Gateron Optical Blue Switches | Black
Gateron Optical Switches – The fastest Switches for gaming!
Optical switches are much more durable than conventional mechanical keyboard switches and are rated for 100 million keystrokes.
They have a high actuation point of 1.5mm for fast response. Light Strike optical switches utilize a horizontal infrared beam which is transmitted across the width of the inner keyswitch.
The infrared beam is normally blocked from reaching a sensor across from it by the stem. Once a switch is pressed, the switch stem no longer blocks the infrared beam and the beam is detected by the sensor, which activates the switch.
Due to the optical mechanism, an optical switch has an extremely fast response time of 0.2ms, which means faster reactions in those times where timing is critical, such as when gaming.
Gateron Optical Switches
Gateron Mechanical Switches
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switch Type | Linear | Clicky | Tactile | Linear | Linear | Linear |
| Total Travel | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm | 3.2 mm | 3.2 mm |
| Pre Travel | 2.0 mm (± 0.6 mm) | 2.0 mm (± 0.6 mm) | 2.0 mm (± 0.6 mm) | 2.0 mm (± 0.6 mm) | 1.0 mm (± 0.6 mm) | 1.0 mm (± 0.6 mm) |
| Operating Force | 60 cN (±15 cN) | 55 cN (±15 cN) | 55 cN (±15 cN) | 45 cN (±15 cN) | 35 cN (±15 cN) | 45 cN (±15 cN) |
| Audible Click | No | ✓ | No | No | No | No |
| | | |
|---|---|---|
Hot Swappable Gateron Optical SwitchesGateron Optical Switches can be hotswapped at wish and replaced by other switches. Hot swap keyboard do not recquire you to solder / desolder switches. (Hot Swappable with Optical switches only) | Dust and Spill ResistanceThe keyboard’s PCB is spill and dust resistant protecting the Keyboard from accidental spills while gaming. | RGB LightingThe GK61 comes equipped with multiple different lighting modes and features that do not require additional software. 16.8 million RGB color options available through the software. Compatible with Windows PC and Mac. |
| Weight: | 538 g |
| Dimensions: | 29 x 10 x 3 cm; 538 Grams |
| Brand: | HK Gaming |
| Model: | GK-61 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Hong Kong Keyboards |
| Colour: | Black |
I got the yellow mechanical switches and I love them! Overall this keyboard is very good for the price. Only downside is that the space bar has a very bad rattle and sound, need to mod to fix.
Small, yet functional keyboard. Comes with a long (5ft i guess?) Usb-c cable which I was quick to trade with my phone’s short charger (life hacks). Per key RGB is plenty good, didn’t bother using the software (didn’t recognize my keyboard) for custom key mapping. Everyone reviewing mentions that the ABS key caps are frosted (or matt) finish on top and glossy on the sides, but the one I received has all matt finish key caps. I honestly like matt over glossy as glossy gets easily scratched. Also, there is no microphone under the space bar for music synced RGB (some early reviews mentioned they have it), I can’t be bothered as I don’t use computer speakers anyway.
My experience:
Despite being all plastic, GK61 has some heft to it. This is my first experience, albeit first in a very long time, with a mechanical keyboard, so I haven’t yet gotten accustomed to the nuances of a mech keyboard. Not able to match the typing speed on my Blade 15’s keyboard yet, all in time until I develop finger memory. Haven’t had issues while gaming (CS:GO mostly), but encountering a lot of errors while typing mostly due to low actuation distance of Gat Silvers and no tactile (pfft, i know right?) feedback on key presses. So, further pressing down the key caps obviously doesn’t do anything, but feels quite odd if not pressing keys all the way (idk probably just me as I’m not used to it yet).
Minor con:
One minor quality issue I have with my keyboard is that the bigger key caps (shift, enter, space bar etc) wobble when you nudge them longitudinally (tangentially to the plane of the keyboard) at key cap ends. My guess is due to cheap quality stabilisers. I’ll probably look into upgrading them later on.
Future prospects:
That’s something would great to experiment on this cheap (in comparison) keyboard, modding the insides. My first mod will probably be adding a regular foam inside for a some thoccy-ness (everyone loves thoccy keyboards right?). Followed by stabilisers and then lubrication, perhaps.
Tl;dr:
– Good enough for a modding journey.
– Choose your switches wisely.
– Less options for optical switches.
Note:
Attached photo of my humble desk setup lol! High five Poverty!
This keyboard is amazing, I love the sound of the keyboard have, and it’s a pretty fast. I used to gaming, and this keyboard pretty good for gaming.
This keyboard is amazing, I love the sound of the keyboard have, and it’s a pretty fast. I used to gaming, and this keyboard pretty good for gaming.
This keyboard is amazing, I love the sound of the keyboard have, and it’s a pretty fast. I used to gaming, and this keyboard pretty good for gaming.
This keyboard is amazing, I love the sound of the keyboard have, and it’s a pretty fast. I used to gaming, and this keyboard pretty good for gaming.
Perfect in every way, takes a little getting used to but it’s a perfect gaming keyboard for anyone looking for a good budget mechanical keyboard this is the 1.
Perfect in every way, takes a little getting used to but it’s a perfect gaming keyboard for anyone looking for a good budget mechanical keyboard this is the 1.
Besides the software for RGB being a little hit and miss, it’s a really good keyboard and highly recommend! I got the yellow switches and believe me you really feel the difference!
Top Quality!
Besides the software for RGB being a little hit and miss, it’s a really good keyboard and highly recommend! I got the yellow switches and believe me you really feel the difference!
Top Quality!
Just been a day since I’ve been using it, but its an amazing product! Response time for a click is very high and the RGB lights work flawlessly. Would recommend the red one for anyone interested in gaming!
This keyboard is a really good option for a budget 60%. The optical gateron switches feel great (I got blacks) and the stabs are alright but the spacebar rattles a bit. It has plenty of good preset lighting modes and the rgb is really bright. You can also download a lighting software but I ended up not using it as the presets were better. I also customized it with custom keycaps (last pictures) and I plan to foam mod it and lube the switches.
I have had this keyboard for about 5 months and it still works perfectly with no problems at all. I would really recommend this to anyone.
Bought for my son which he loves. He says it’s an excellent gaming Keyboard
Bought for my son which he loves. He says it’s an excellent gaming Keyboard
This keyboard is brilliant for the price and the red switches sound really nice. The keys stabilizers are also really good its just the spacebar that needs a little improvement otherwise the keyboard is great.
Used it for 2 months and then spilled a drink on it. It never worked agai
Used it for 2 months and then spilled a drink on it. It never worked agai
I am happy with Gk61 and I am glad that my choice was the silver switch which is still fast for me just need time but the keyboard is good and I don’t feel eny different between this one and some of the big and expensive brands in the market.
I am happy with Gk61 and I am glad that my choice was the silver switch which is still fast for me just need time but the keyboard is good and I don’t feel eny different between this one and some of the big and expensive brands in the market.
I am happy with Gk61 and I am glad that my choice was the silver switch which is still fast for me just need time but the keyboard is good and I don’t feel eny different between this one and some of the big and expensive brands in the market.
I am happy with Gk61 and I am glad that my choice was the silver switch which is still fast for me just need time but the keyboard is good and I don’t feel eny different between this one and some of the big and expensive brands in the market.
My son loves this small keyboard.. Plays various games on his gaming pc.. And says the keys respond well
My son loves this small keyboard.. Plays various games on his gaming pc.. And says the keys respond well
Very good product, sounds very clean, wish it was a bit more customisable with the rgb
Very good product, sounds very clean, wish it was a bit more customisable with the rgb
Very good product, sounds very clean, wish it was a bit more customisable with the rgb
Very good product, sounds very clean, wish it was a bit more customisable with the rgb
Bought this for my boyfriend and he loves it, says the switches are so fast and good
Bought this for my boyfriend and he loves it, says the switches are so fast and good
Bought this for my boyfriend and he loves it, says the switches are so fast and good
Bought this for my boyfriend and he loves it, says the switches are so fast and good
Lovely keyboard though!
My 15 year old loves it. Small and responsive, it’s what he hoped it would be like.
My 15 year old loves it. Small and responsive, it’s what he hoped it would be like.
Amazing keyboard especially in white with black switches, would recommend for and entry level 60% mechanical keyboard.
Amazing keyboard especially in white with black switches, would recommend for and entry level 60% mechanical keyboard.
Product is amazing but unfortunately one of the key is broken not properly function. It’s would be great if the key was not broken and function properly.
Product is amazing but unfortunately one of the key is broken not properly function. It’s would be great if the key was not broken and function properly.
Product is amazing but unfortunately one of the key is broken not properly function. It’s would be great if the key was not broken and function properly.
Product is amazing but unfortunately one of the key is broken not properly function. It’s would be great if the key was not broken and function properly.
Son loves it, especially as he can change light settings
Son loves it, especially as he can change light settings
Son loves it, especially as he can change light settings
Son loves it, especially as he can change light settings
Can’t beat it – tried lots, this is the best!
I love everything about the GK except the fact that blue switches are very loud during the night.
This product is AMAZING. It has great rgb and the quality is very sturdy.
i use it for fortnite, call of duty and csgo and its perfec
This product is AMAZING. It has great rgb and the quality is very sturdy.
i use it for fortnite, call of duty and csgo and its perfec
This product is AMAZING. It has great rgb and the quality is very sturdy.
i use it for fortnite, call of duty and csgo and its perfec
This product is AMAZING. It has great rgb and the quality is very sturdy.
i use it for fortnite, call of duty and csgo and its perfec
It is very good, but its very fast at the beginning
It is very good, but its very fast at the beginning
It is very good, but its very fast at the beginning
It is very good, but its very fast at the beginning
The keys sounds are absolutely satisfying, for someone who loves the sounds of mechanical keyboards. The RGB backing also makes the keyboard look absolutely beautiful. Recommend!
The keys sounds are absolutely satisfying, for someone who loves the sounds of mechanical keyboards. The RGB backing also makes the keyboard look absolutely beautiful. Recommend!
its great keyboard everything is good except the space bar rattles a lot overall very good keyboard for the price.
Son loves this keyboard, has tried others but found this the bes
Buen producto, calidad precio! Keycaps intercambiables y personalizable! Software 100 por ciento funcional! Recomendado al 100!!!
-El tamao lo hace portable, lo cual es conveniente.
-El tamao tambin deja ms espacio en el escritorio para usar a placer el mouse cuando juegas. Antes tena un teclado completo y a cada rato chocaba con el teclado sobre todo en FPS.
-Luces brillantes, los LED y el color blanco hacen resaltar los efectos y colores!!
-Montones de efectos de luz!!! y varios layers para poner efectos customizados.
-Compr el teclado con los switches BROWN, y es un placer super suave teclear en ellos, mucho mejor que sonido agudo de click de otros switches.
-El cable es de excelente calidad USB C, con cubierta tejida.
-Excelente para programar si te acostumbras a teclear con la distribucion en Ingls.
CONS:
-Es teclado en Ingls, si ests acostumbrado a un teclado en espaol entonces requieres configurar ste como teclado ingls internacional para poder poner acentos y la virgulilla arriba de la , de hecho estoy usando este teclado ahora mismo y apenas estoy haciendo memoria muscular en los dedos para sacar los caracteres en espaol. Pero vale la pena honestamente.
-El software de configuracin es bastante crptico, te toma algo de tiempo tratar de encontrar cmo funciona y dnde moverle para instalar nuevos efectos.
-No tiene pies de goma de los que se sacan para levantar la parte trasera, aunque no es tanto problema en realidad.
Al final le puse 5 estrellas porque el precio es un super deal comparado con lo que te d, y es un super placer teclear en este teclado y se v increble la verdad, es fcil ignorar los pocos contras.
-El tamao lo hace portable, lo cual es conveniente.
-El tamao tambin deja ms espacio en el escritorio para usar a placer el mouse cuando juegas. Antes tena un teclado completo y a cada rato chocaba con el teclado sobre todo en FPS.
-Luces brillantes, los LED y el color blanco hacen resaltar los efectos y colores!!
-Montones de efectos de luz!!! y varios layers para poner efectos customizados.
-Compr el teclado con los switches BROWN, y es un placer super suave teclear en ellos, mucho mejor que sonido agudo de click de otros switches.
-El cable es de excelente calidad USB C, con cubierta tejida.
-Excelente para programar si te acostumbras a teclear con la distribucion en Ingls.
CONS:
-Es teclado en Ingls, si ests acostumbrado a un teclado en espaol entonces requieres configurar ste como teclado ingls internacional para poder poner acentos y la virgulilla arriba de la , de hecho estoy usando este teclado ahora mismo y apenas estoy haciendo memoria muscular en los dedos para sacar los caracteres en espaol. Pero vale la pena honestamente.
-El software de configuracin es bastante crptico, te toma algo de tiempo tratar de encontrar cmo funciona y dnde moverle para instalar nuevos efectos.
-No tiene pies de goma de los que se sacan para levantar la parte trasera, aunque no es tanto problema en realidad.
Al final le puse 5 estrellas porque el precio es un super deal comparado con lo que te d, y es un super placer teclear en este teclado y se v increble la verdad, es fcil ignorar los pocos contras.
It performs as advertised and the review I’ve given is due to the pricing, very fair and reasonable. This is a great deal, very happy with it.
Es un muy buen teclado llego antes de lo esperado y los rgb son muy buenos la teclas son tmb muy buenas y el ruido igual
Me gust demasiado el diseo del teclado, para mi los teclados 60% son perfectos para jugar profesionalmente, el RGB es fluido y puedes configurarlo y las teclas suenan muy bie
Nice keyboard…I bought it for my son to play computer games and he seems to be very happy..
I really enjoy this 60% keyboard, frees up a lot of valuable desk space and the Gateron Brown switches are really, really nice!
The added lettering on some of the keys let you know which key you are hitting when using FN which is nice.
Sadly its an all plastic build basically and it has a white backplate which would be nice if it was black to give it that all black look.
I think if you are looking for a beginner 60% to start modding this is a good one to go with, and if you’re looking for a compact keyboard with nice switches for gaming, this is also a good one to go with!
I really enjoy this 60% keyboard, frees up a lot of valuable desk space and the Gateron Brown switches are really, really nice!
The added lettering on some of the keys let you know which key you are hitting when using FN which is nice.
Sadly its an all plastic build basically and it has a white backplate which would be nice if it was black to give it that all black look.
I think if you are looking for a beginner 60% to start modding this is a good one to go with, and if you’re looking for a compact keyboard with nice switches for gaming, this is also a good one to go with!
It was amazing, It came in two days and I am really happy with the product.
My son loves this keyboard and the clicks sound of the keys (not something I like but I don’t use it so whatever lol)
-Rgb bastante luminoso
-Tamao perfecto
-Calidad / precio
-El click del switch azul es bastante satisfactorio
-Rgb bastante luminoso
-Tamao perfecto
-Calidad / precio
-El click del switch azul es bastante satisfactorio
This is the review you have been looking for!
I have recently switched from an Apple’s wired keyboard to my very first mechanical keyboard. Here is my experience.
General observations:
– Since my old keyboard was low profile and was a membrane keyboard, I needed a bit of practice to get used to the feel.
– This is more personal, but it is quite a bit noisier than a membrane keyboard. Even if I bought the Gateron red switches version, you can hear me type from across the house. (To fix this issue, I will be trying o-rings soon and update this review with some statistics.)
UPDATE! The o-rings helped reduce the noise from the keycap’s plastic hitting the switch. It won’t make a huge difference, but it’s better than nothing when using mechanical keyboards at night.
– Probably the best entry-level mechanical keyboard there is on the market.
Pros:
– This 60 % keyboard still has all the keys you might need on a normal full-size keyboard. You can access these keys using the fn key or lock them by pressing on fn + q/w/e/r. You will have access to the arrow keys, the f1 to f12 keys and the other 9 keys that no one ever uses (insert, delete, page-up, page-down, home, etc). You will NOT have a numpad, although I am pretty sure you can add one through their software. Using a Mac and/or worried about medias keys? You can install Karabiner, which is a software used to remap your keys! I personally switched the Windows key with the left Alt and set my function keys to allow me to change my volume and play or pause my videos using fn + f(something).
– The switches are hot-swappable. You can remove them and replace them with any Gateron switches! I have not tried with other brands (because I do not own any other switches), but the manufacturer said Kalih switches will not work on this keyboard.
– It has an IP rating of 64 for water resistance. That means it is protected from total dust ingress and water spray from any direction.
– The way they curved their keys increases my typing accuracy and comfort.
– Very little wobble on the keys and it will not impede your typing.
– The RGB looks great!
– Small, portable (you can unplug the cable), not too heavy and quite solid. I was not able to twist it.
– It won’t slide on your desk and you can reposition it easily too.
Cons:
– While gaming, the edge (facing my way) on the space bar hurts my thumb. I think a slightly curved edge would offer better ergonomics.
– There is a microphone somewhere under the spacebar for one of the lightning setting. I DO NOT know if it can be used for spying, but I would personally rather remove it. I will be attempting to disassemble the keyboard and check the PCB if it’s easily removeable or if desoldering is required. (I will update this review once it’s done!) THIS MICROPHONE IS NOT MEANT TO RECORD AUDIO. IT IS ONLY FOR THE LIGHTNING EFFECT.
UPDATE! The microphone is round and soldered to the board. You can either desolder it to remove it, but I do not know if it will break the keyboard or not. I don’t have a desoldering kit, so I cannot attempt that. Instead, I decided to cover it with hot glue. It probably won’t prevent my fbi friend from listening to me, but at least, the sound will be muffled. 😉
– When removing the keys using the keycaps puller tool provided, it scratches the glossy sides. Also, it will dent the base of the keycaps. I would personally suggest using a wire keycaps puller.
UPDATE! While installing my o-rings, I have used a wire keycaps puller (got it in the o-rings kit) and that did no damage whatsoever on the keycaps. This is definitely a must-have for anyone who would want to remove their keycap for any reason!
– There are barely noticeable dents under most of the keys. It is either because they have been already removed once using their plastic keycaps puller or because it was how these keycaps were manufactured.
– Many people have complained about their software saying that it has a poor interface and is a bit hard to use. I HAVE NOT tried it since it seems like it is not available on MacOS.
Should you buy it?
If you are looking for the best most affordable mechanical keyboard, you should definitely get this! It surpassed all my expectations. For that price, you cannot not get it.
Disclaimer
I have paid this product with my own money. I would never recommend something I would not buy myself. If you think this was useful, please upvote this so more people can see it! Thanks!
This is the review you have been looking for!
I have recently switched from an Apple’s wired keyboard to my very first mechanical keyboard. Here is my experience.
General observations:
– Since my old keyboard was low profile and was a membrane keyboard, I needed a bit of practice to get used to the feel.
– This is more personal, but it is quite a bit noisier than a membrane keyboard. Even if I bought the Gateron red switches version, you can hear me type from across the house. (To fix this issue, I will be trying o-rings soon and update this review with some statistics.)
UPDATE! The o-rings helped reduce the noise from the keycap’s plastic hitting the switch. It won’t make a huge difference, but it’s better than nothing when using mechanical keyboards at night.
– Probably the best entry-level mechanical keyboard there is on the market.
Pros:
– This 60 % keyboard still has all the keys you might need on a normal full-size keyboard. You can access these keys using the fn key or lock them by pressing on fn + q/w/e/r. You will have access to the arrow keys, the f1 to f12 keys and the other 9 keys that no one ever uses (insert, delete, page-up, page-down, home, etc). You will NOT have a numpad, although I am pretty sure you can add one through their software. Using a Mac and/or worried about medias keys? You can install Karabiner, which is a software used to remap your keys! I personally switched the Windows key with the left Alt and set my function keys to allow me to change my volume and play or pause my videos using fn + f(something).
– The switches are hot-swappable. You can remove them and replace them with any Gateron switches! I have not tried with other brands (because I do not own any other switches), but the manufacturer said Kalih switches will not work on this keyboard.
– It has an IP rating of 64 for water resistance. That means it is protected from total dust ingress and water spray from any direction.
– The way they curved their keys increases my typing accuracy and comfort.
– Very little wobble on the keys and it will not impede your typing.
– The RGB looks great!
– Small, portable (you can unplug the cable), not too heavy and quite solid. I was not able to twist it.
– It won’t slide on your desk and you can reposition it easily too.
Cons:
– While gaming, the edge (facing my way) on the space bar hurts my thumb. I think a slightly curved edge would offer better ergonomics.
– There is a microphone somewhere under the spacebar for one of the lightning setting. I DO NOT know if it can be used for spying, but I would personally rather remove it. I will be attempting to disassemble the keyboard and check the PCB if it’s easily removeable or if desoldering is required. (I will update this review once it’s done!) THIS MICROPHONE IS NOT MEANT TO RECORD AUDIO. IT IS ONLY FOR THE LIGHTNING EFFECT.
UPDATE! The microphone is round and soldered to the board. You can either desolder it to remove it, but I do not know if it will break the keyboard or not. I don’t have a desoldering kit, so I cannot attempt that. Instead, I decided to cover it with hot glue. It probably won’t prevent my fbi friend from listening to me, but at least, the sound will be muffled. 😉
– When removing the keys using the keycaps puller tool provided, it scratches the glossy sides. Also, it will dent the base of the keycaps. I would personally suggest using a wire keycaps puller.
UPDATE! While installing my o-rings, I have used a wire keycaps puller (got it in the o-rings kit) and that did no damage whatsoever on the keycaps. This is definitely a must-have for anyone who would want to remove their keycap for any reason!
– There are barely noticeable dents under most of the keys. It is either because they have been already removed once using their plastic keycaps puller or because it was how these keycaps were manufactured.
– Many people have complained about their software saying that it has a poor interface and is a bit hard to use. I HAVE NOT tried it since it seems like it is not available on MacOS.
Should you buy it?
If you are looking for the best most affordable mechanical keyboard, you should definitely get this! It surpassed all my expectations. For that price, you cannot not get it.
Disclaimer
I have paid this product with my own money. I would never recommend something I would not buy myself. If you think this was useful, please upvote this so more people can see it! Thanks!
The keycaps have a matte finish on the top, with gloss-finish on all sides. This is very different to the keys on my K70 which was all-gloss. The matte finish is definitely a winner because it doesn’t show fingerprints readily. The gloss-sides however show off grime, dirt, scratches and dust easily. You have to be carefully when removing the keys on this board with the included the keycap puller because it will scratch up the gloss-sides of the keys! The Shine through legends are decent and allow the backlight to shine through. The font is a bit “gamery” but not as bad as some others and I soon got over it quickly. However, the thing you WONT get over will be the white-printed secondary legends on the keycaps. You’ll notice that this keyboard has its F-keys, arrow keys and other functions (num-lock, scroll lock etc) as secondary functions. These can be quickly accessed by holding “Fn” in the bottom right and pressing the relevant key. The problem is that these legends are not durable. The appearance of the printing is great; It’s nice and crisp. But it fades incredibly easily. I’ve only used the keyboard for a few weeks and the printed legends on the A-Z part of the keyboard has this dull stained look. So far the legends haven’t started peeling, but the white print stains easily. For some it might not be a problem because you’ll hopefully remember the location of all the keys by them. But is definitely something for the manufacturer to improve upon on the next iteration.
The RGB lighting is cool. All the colours under the rainbow, except for white. The white colour looks more like a light blue. Odd, but definitely not a deal-breaker.
The Gateron Optical Brown switches feel pretty marvelous. They are very smooth, with a tactile bump much more pronounced that the K70’s cherry mx brown. The downward travel is also smoother, with noticeably less “grit/sandy” friction feeling. This makes the key travel feel much shorter. I’m not sure if its true, but these optical brown switches feel like they have a much shorter travel distance than the mx browns. I got used to it, and am not sure if I prefer it. For typing, i feel like I want a little bit more travel distance for comfort. It feels abrupt as I’m bottoming them out. Perhaps I need more time. The only other thing is noise. It doesn’t have a loud click, but you will definitely hear them thud everytime you poke them the full distance down. I found it to be louder than my K70.
Lastly, it has no wrist rest. This is the one thing that I missed from the k70. I’m definitely a wrist-rest user. The K70 has an included plastic detachable wrist rest. Although nothing special, it allows me to be a bit “lazy” when playing games on an extended session as I can rest my fingers on the wasd keys and that’s all. Without the wrist rest, I certainly felt the strain of holding my hands up on the wasd keys. What I 100% missed is the “detachable” aspect of the K70’s wrist rest. If you move your keyboard, the wrist-rest moves with it. Unless you glue your wrist rest to your GK71, every adjustment of the keyboard will require a follow up adjustment to the accompany wrist rest which gets very frustrating.
Otherwise that’s it. If you are wondering if you should buy this keyboard for $80AUD, then go ahead. There’s definitely worse that you could buy. The only problem is the cheap secondary legends printing on the keycaps.
The keycaps have a matte finish on the top, with gloss-finish on all sides. This is very different to the keys on my K70 which was all-gloss. The matte finish is definitely a winner because it doesn’t show fingerprints readily. The gloss-sides however show off grime, dirt, scratches and dust easily. You have to be carefully when removing the keys on this board with the included the keycap puller because it will scratch up the gloss-sides of the keys! The Shine through legends are decent and allow the backlight to shine through. The font is a bit “gamery” but not as bad as some others and I soon got over it quickly. However, the thing you WONT get over will be the white-printed secondary legends on the keycaps. You’ll notice that this keyboard has its F-keys, arrow keys and other functions (num-lock, scroll lock etc) as secondary functions. These can be quickly accessed by holding “Fn” in the bottom right and pressing the relevant key. The problem is that these legends are not durable. The appearance of the printing is great; It’s nice and crisp. But it fades incredibly easily. I’ve only used the keyboard for a few weeks and the printed legends on the A-Z part of the keyboard has this dull stained look. So far the legends haven’t started peeling, but the white print stains easily. For some it might not be a problem because you’ll hopefully remember the location of all the keys by them. But is definitely something for the manufacturer to improve upon on the next iteration.
The RGB lighting is cool. All the colours under the rainbow, except for white. The white colour looks more like a light blue. Odd, but definitely not a deal-breaker.
The Gateron Optical Brown switches feel pretty marvelous. They are very smooth, with a tactile bump much more pronounced that the K70’s cherry mx brown. The downward travel is also smoother, with noticeably less “grit/sandy” friction feeling. This makes the key travel feel much shorter. I’m not sure if its true, but these optical brown switches feel like they have a much shorter travel distance than the mx browns. I got used to it, and am not sure if I prefer it. For typing, i feel like I want a little bit more travel distance for comfort. It feels abrupt as I’m bottoming them out. Perhaps I need more time. The only other thing is noise. It doesn’t have a loud click, but you will definitely hear them thud everytime you poke them the full distance down. I found it to be louder than my K70.
Lastly, it has no wrist rest. This is the one thing that I missed from the k70. I’m definitely a wrist-rest user. The K70 has an included plastic detachable wrist rest. Although nothing special, it allows me to be a bit “lazy” when playing games on an extended session as I can rest my fingers on the wasd keys and that’s all. Without the wrist rest, I certainly felt the strain of holding my hands up on the wasd keys. What I 100% missed is the “detachable” aspect of the K70’s wrist rest. If you move your keyboard, the wrist-rest moves with it. Unless you glue your wrist rest to your GK71, every adjustment of the keyboard will require a follow up adjustment to the accompany wrist rest which gets very frustrating.
Otherwise that’s it. If you are wondering if you should buy this keyboard for $80AUD, then go ahead. There’s definitely worse that you could buy. The only problem is the cheap secondary legends printing on the keycaps.
1. I wanted a smaller foot print on my desk
2. I like new tech and wanted optical switches
3. The value proposition here was very intriguing.
Potential deal breakers:
1. Lighting – If you are an RGB crazed mad man, you might not want this for VERY picky reasons. The rgb used in this keyboard has two leds for each key. I have no idea why they thought this was a good idea or what they were going for but the downside to it is that you can see both leds depending on what color the board is trying to show.
2. Glossy sides of key caps if you are super picky
3. No media or volume control. (Can be remedied if you download and run auto hotkey on startup of windows. this is more of an advanced thing for someone to do, but anyone can do it, even with your keyboard you are probably using now)
Pros (in order):
1. Typing experience (Brown switch, this is my second mechanical keyboard) – For those who dont know, the brown mechanical switches have a tactile bump which is felt as a sort of wall on the key press that you break through. Brown switches are not clicky and the sound they make is muted and low tone which I absolutely love. I came from a logitech 810 that has the G Romer switch, which is Logitech’s proprietary mechanical key switch. These switches are very similar but I would say that the Gateron optical browns in this keybaord have a slightly more present tactile bump.
I was excited to try out these switches and I love them. I have been playing type racer for a couple of hours today just because of the amazing typing experience and the pleasing low bassy sound that comes from these keys. they are also a big reason why have taken the time to write out such a lengthy review for this product because i just enjoy typing on these switches so much.
Truly a pleasure.
2. Gaming (again, this is the brown switch) – I am a gamer so this point is either going to be a pro or a con in this review and obviously its in the pro list. As for the optical switches, i think the lack of input delay actually got me confused when i started playing. I read that input on other keyboards are like 30 ms while optical is bassically no input delay at all. I felt weird at first but i got used to it in a couple minutes and use the keyboard as normally would my G 810. I played first person shooter with this today and the tactile bump was a bit more of a hindrance than the G Romer switch on the 810 but i dont really mind it because i will eventually get used to it and wont notice it anymore. It is different but not different enough to were i wont get over it. If you are into linear switches than obviously you wont want anything to do with the brown switches in the first place.
3. stabilizers – the large keys like space, shift, backspace and enter all feel really solid. the space bar in particular on my G 810 along with the other keys was really lousy and am glad to be rid of it. that space bar was ridiculously clacky where the space bar on this keyboard makes a satisfying THUMP.
4. Lighting – it works. im not that picky or an rgb freak. I like a nice per key back lighting and this makes me happy. The double color you get from the weird leds is odd but its not a big deal. The instructions for how to change the lighting effects with the function + (whatever key) is all in the manual you get with the keyboard. (you can do more with the software but its not easily found and do not think most people will download it because of how you go about finding it)
Conclusion and take ways for me:
I will never buy a high name brand keyboard ever again. For what is 50 dollars, i got everything i could ever need out of a keyboard where high end brands like logitech would charge 100 to 120 or more for similar offerings. For me, spending extra money on anything else would be a 100 percent waste. I would gain nothing meaningful to me or my setup at all.
Regardless of price, these switches awesome (ive only had this and the G Romer switch by the way)
Este es bastante compacto y a pesar de ser switches gateron red se sieenten muy tactiles, cabe destacar que nunca he usado los brown o ningun otro xd. Las teclas actuan bastante rapido, antes de que la presiones por completo, me imagino que es debido a los switches opticos. A mi me viene muy bien ya que juego fortnite y las estructuras se ponen mas rapido y edito mas rapido.
El rgb se ve genial, tiene varios efectos que pones con la tecla FN del teclado pero los puedes modificar desde su software, que es bastante feo pero funcional.
Este es bastante compacto y a pesar de ser switches gateron red se sieenten muy tactiles, cabe destacar que nunca he usado los brown o ningun otro xd. Las teclas actuan bastante rapido, antes de que la presiones por completo, me imagino que es debido a los switches opticos. A mi me viene muy bien ya que juego fortnite y las estructuras se ponen mas rapido y edito mas rapido.
El rgb se ve genial, tiene varios efectos que pones con la tecla FN del teclado pero los puedes modificar desde su software, que es bastante feo pero funcional.
I’ve purchases 2 of these so far with red opticals, and I’ll likely end up buying 2 more of these boards simply because the cost is so low and it comes set up out of the box. The initial build quality is great and while the keys may be a bit clacky they’re still much quieter and smoother than any other stock keyboard I own. I ended up buying a set of PBT oem caps with this and I have some SA caps on order, but even with just the oem caps I was blown away by how fast and responsive this board was.
As for modding, I purchases several sets of additional switches out of the available linears (yellow & silver) and currently I’m using the silver ones with PBT oem caps after having spent the time to lube the switches. The feel and sound of this board with the listed changes is amazing!
I have yet to start using the yellows since I’m waiting on a few parts to mod the hell out of my second board but I already know it’s going to be easy to do and I’m expecting the outcome to be AMAZING.
I’ve purchases 2 of these so far with red opticals, and I’ll likely end up buying 2 more of these boards simply because the cost is so low and it comes set up out of the box. The initial build quality is great and while the keys may be a bit clacky they’re still much quieter and smoother than any other stock keyboard I own. I ended up buying a set of PBT oem caps with this and I have some SA caps on order, but even with just the oem caps I was blown away by how fast and responsive this board was.
As for modding, I purchases several sets of additional switches out of the available linears (yellow & silver) and currently I’m using the silver ones with PBT oem caps after having spent the time to lube the switches. The feel and sound of this board with the listed changes is amazing!
I have yet to start using the yellows since I’m waiting on a few parts to mod the hell out of my second board but I already know it’s going to be easy to do and I’m expecting the outcome to be AMAZING.
An excellent ‘mechanical’ keyboard with optical switches that is around $60.00 dollars. That sentence feels crazy to say, but it’s the gosh darn truth. This review is mainly for the Gateron Red Optical switch version of this keyboard.
Pros
1. Hot-swappable. If a switch dies just pull it out and replace it (not likely to happen considering no metal leaf), or get some different Gateron Optical switches like blacks or yellows to change the entire feel of the keyboard. Example, these red switches are incredibly easy to press. I really like how smooth the linear switch is, so I’d probably want to get some Gateron Optical Black switches.
2. Programmable. A really underappreciated plus is definitely going to be the software of this keyboard. It’s not in English, but it definitely still gets the job done. There are also Macro’s which I have started to use more often. Example, I was able to change around my Home and End keys so that they are more comfortably near the Function key.
3. That FAST response time. There is a noticeable difference between pressing a Cherry MX Blue switch down and having the character move and pressing this linear optical switch down and having the character move. I think there are two reasons for this.
a. The reason that actually matters, the switch actuation point is higher at 1.5 mm versus a Cherry MX Blue being at 2.00 mm.
b. The optical nature of the switch is said to have a response time of 0.2 mm. I don’t know if this actually matters in the long run, but it’s good to know that it may be faster.
Cons
1. The key caps are okay, but I do think these switches need O-rings to be perfect. I think the sound of the key caps is my biggest issue with them; they just sound cheap and the O-rings keep them from hitting the bottom plate. My second issue is that they don’t have a lot of texture to them so they’re kind of like in-between being smooth and textured which is just not a good feeling at all.
2. Certain keys are not programmable. For some reason all of the keys that change lighting effects and swab profiles can’t be disabled. I think this would be my only real problem with the keyboard on the software level.
3. THIS IS A PET PEEVE. I like the RGB, the screws guys, but come on. They’re not black nor are they white, just plain silver. I can’t not see them. They stare at me between the key caps.
Neutral
1. There’s a microphone in the keyboard for the Music back-lighting mode. I plan to mod this keyboard more, so I’ll probably end up desoldering the microphone anyways. I wish it was more software and went by the audio playing on the computer since that would be sick.
Current modifications: PBT key caps and O-rings.
Queued modifications: Better stabilizers, desolder microphone, I plan to replace the O-rings with some type of foam insert that will dampen noise more and result in less fatigue, and I want to refine my function key layout and figure out some macros.
The unit feels solid, key caps are easily replaced. One thing to note however is the space bar and enter key has a bit of wobble to it. The USB-C connection is nice as well. Brown switches are a little louder than what you would expect so be careful about working around other people.
The unit feels solid, key caps are easily replaced. One thing to note however is the space bar and enter key has a bit of wobble to it. The USB-C connection is nice as well. Brown switches are a little louder than what you would expect so be careful about working around other people.
Perfect for the price. Sturdy and great look. Plugged into the mac without any hassle just a couple of setup questions.
Cons: Wobbly (Rubber pads misaligned, may only be for my keyboard), Strange RGB lights bleeding into each other, Don’t think there’s any alternative cases, Mic under the spacebar that you can’t turn off, No adjustable feet.
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Just got this keyboard (Gateron brown switches) and it feels great. Everything works, the backlight is super bright (it is also adjustable) and the switches feel amazing. Some issues that I found with it and that some people talked about is how it wobbles. The rubber feet on the keyboard aren’t placed evenly making it wobble when you type, BUT the keyboard does feel pretty rugged. It could just be a defect for mine only, however this is just a fair warning because some people faced this issue as well. The wobble isn’t too much, it feels as if the bottom right feet is 1cm higher or lower than the other, so you can easily put something like a guitar pick under it and it’ll fix it. The keyboard has 3 offline/on-board profiles (Change by pressing FN + W or E or R) that you can customize via their software. These profiles are stored inside the keyboard so if you pack your keyboard and plug it into a different computer, your custom profiles will stay how they are. There’s also one driver based profile (Activate by pressing FN + Q). If you were to plug your keyboard into another computer, this profile will not be useable. For the RGB aspect of this keyboard, each key can be changed into whatever color you want via the software. The only problem that I found with this is that, when you’re using 2 different colors next to each other, they tend to mix. For example, in the picture I posted, the CTRL button is meant to be only orange, however, since I made Shift green, it bleeds into CTRL making the top green and the bottom orange. Overall, those are the only bad things that I found with this keyboard and it’s not really that major if you ask me. I highly recommend this keyboard to anyone thinking of getting a RGB 60% keyboard that’s also hot swappable (Only with Gateron Optical switches). Also, the software is trash. It’s just… trash.