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Drop ALT V1 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard

$140

overview

details

reviews263

photos174

q&a32

discussions218

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... / KEYBOARDS / DIY KEYBOARD KITS / DROP

Drop ALT V1 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard

Name: Drop ALT V1 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard
Brand: Drop
SKU: drop-alt-barebones-mechanical-keyboard
Price: 140 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.212928 (263 reviews)

263

$140

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Product Highlights:

3 pin

Hotswap Sockets

Plate-mounted

Plate-mounted Stabilizers

QMK Compatible

Frequently bought together:

Switches (70 pack)

Drop Keycap Kit

Review Highlights:

SteadyWolf2000

Amazing keyboard

Keyboard is hefty and feels very sturdy. I bought the barebones kit since I saw you could purchase it with the GMK Red Samurai keycaps and I also wanted to use different switches than the ones you could get with the pre-built set. It's very easy to get into the board if you want to band-aid and change the stabs. I went with sakurios from zeal pc and keyboard feels amazing. I love the look of the Red Samurai caps and I'm pretty fond of the mx profile. I haven't yet messed with flashing the board but I like the options that are preset on the board for RGB. I highly recommend this keyboard, definitely the best keyboard I've ever had.

Would recommend to a friend.

PabloSanto

Awesome quality! I love how it sounds, looks and feels. Top notch.

I've assambled mine with Zealios V2 and DROP + MATT3O MT3 /DEV/TTY KEYCAP SET. Its like driving a Bugatti - or at least what I can imagine it would be :)

Would recommend to a friend.

See all 263 reviews

Q&A Highlights:

Drop+MechKeys

4284

What kind of switches can I use with this - PCB mount or plate mount?

ShadowShark

Plate mount will work best, but if you happen to have PCB mount switches you can mod them to allow them to fit (involves clipping two plastic bits off the bottom of each switch).

See all 32 questions

overview

details

reviews263

photos174

q&a32

discussions218

Customer Reviews

4.2

(263 reviews)

(134)

(91)

(14)

(8)

(16)

89% would recommend to a friend

By Feature

Sound

SilentLoud

Feel

StiffFlexible

Build Quality

5.0

(3)

ActivitiesPopular among reviewers

Paired SwitchPopular among reviewers

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Hoves

Keyboard Club Member

Nov 25, 2023

Activities:Work

Paired Switch:Linear

Keyboards Owned:4

Verified Buyer

rgb lightshow

this thing is bright, and it flaunts it too. the biggest difference in sound is from what you put it upon more than anything you can mod on the keyboard itself.

Recommends this product? Yes

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emonte

Keyboard Club Member

Oct 2, 2023

Activities:Gaming

Paired Switch:Clicky

Keyboards Owned:0

Verified Buyer

First Barebones Keyboard

After finally caving into going for a m&k setup I reached out to a friend who's big into the custom keyboards and asked for some recs. He said despite all the keyboards he has, he always seems to go back to his Alt keyboard. Without hesitation I went ahead and bought the Alt V1 and fell in love with it right away. I have mine with the Cherry MX Blue switches as I wanted all the clicks when I typed and gamed. I love it so much that I'm upgrading the PCB to the V2 that was recently dropped. As this was my first ever custom/barebone keyboard I was a little anxious diving into the via software. Despite not diving into macros or adding more layers, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use once the PCB was recognized. Highly recommend this keyboard if you're in the market.

Recommends this product? Yes

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joefitz

Keyboard Club Member

Sep 15, 2023

Verified Buyer

Nice case, flexible hot swap, overall an excellent keyboard

I really appreciate the looks of the case. Although I prefer understated RGB, it's cool to have some lighting and I can turn it off if it bothers me. Hot swap switches was a must-have for my purchase. I wasn't sure what kind of switches I would want and didn't want to have to desolder and solder to make that change. I like the Halo True switches that I bought, but I could see trying out some lighter tactile switches because these are pretty stiff. I used drop's configurator to customize the keyboard but it was really slow to build new firmware and then it required installing the new firmware. So I switched to VIA. This was not straightforward because when I used Drop's configurator to install VIA compatible firmware it wasn't recognized by the VIA configurator. So, I had to find the firmware on VIA's own site https://www.caniusevia.com/docs/download_firmware then and use Drop's configurator to install it... Finally, the board was recognized by VIA. I liked using the VIA configurator a lot more because my key mappings were immediately testable on the board. This made configuring Mac specific keys much easier to troubleshoot... specifically I mapped these: brightness down: F14, brightness up: F15, mission control: macro ctrl+up. I tried connecting a portable SSD (Samsung T7) as well as a thumb drive to the second USB-C port and was unsuccessful on both counts. Disk Utility detected the thumb drive but didn't mount it, and the SSD was not detected. I'm using a dongle to connect the keyboard because the cable that came with the keyboard is USB-C to USB-A. I'll be switching to a C-to-C cable soon. I'm a little sad that V2 came out right after I bought this, but after switching to the VIA firmware I don't feel like I'm missing out too much. I bought o-rings from a 3rd party and tried them out... it felt mushy and so I removed them within hours.

(Edited)

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philatypus

Keyboard Club Member

Sep 15, 2023

Activities:Work

Paired Switch:Linear

Keyboards Owned:2

Verified Buyer

Great build quality; dual USB-C

First barebones I’ve purchased and it’s a great place to start! It’s a slim board and the light strip that wraps around is a very nice way to add an accent.

Recommends this product? Yes

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PPSubMicro

Keyboard Club Member

Mar 27, 2023

Verified Buyer

Great Starter Keyboard

Got this as my first barebones keyboard it got me into keyboards. There is a minor ping but for a starter keyboard, it's okay. The keyboard feels hefty and super easy to use and customize. The stock stabilizers are okay but lube them or change them altogether. Sadly only 3 pin compatible but for a starter, it shouldn't matter.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Cutelyne

Feb 27, 2023

Verified Buyer

Good keyboard

Nice keyboard but definitely needs mods. There’s a lot of space between the top plate and the PCB which made the sound really hollow and pingy. Stabs are pretty basic and need some lubing. Generally a decent keyboard. I like the firmware Drop has for the lighting. It was really simple and easy to use.

Recommends this product? Yes

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ShelleyFrankenstein

Keyboard Club Member

Feb 7, 2023

Verified Buyer

I loved the CTRL so much that I wanted ALT

I really like the compact keyboard. It feels solid, and doesn’t take up a ton of space.

Recommends this product? Yes

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chumbiswumbis

Jan 17, 2023

Verified Buyer

Great board, terrible stabs

The board is great, hefty, super easy to use and customize. For how quality it feels in every other aspect, the stabs seem like a huge oversight. Compared to the rest of my build they are absolutely deafening and abrasive sounding. Go ahead and order better ones when you order this because you're going to eventually anyway.

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hjiang808

Jan 2, 2023

Verified Buyer

My second DROP ALT

I really like the elegant DROP ALT keyboard, and this is my second one. I chose the barebones option as I want to put in my own switches and keycaps (that was what I did with the first one anyway).

Recommends this product? Yes

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