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Drop CSTM65 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard
$69
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Drop CSTM65 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard
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$69
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Customer Reviews
4.1
(12 reviews)
5star(7)
4star(2)
3star(1)
2star(1)
1star(1)
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Sound
SilentLoud
Feel
StiffFlexible
Build Quality
3.7
(11)
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0
Keyboard Club Member
Nov 6, 2024
Activities:Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:0
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Great First Build
Love the heaviness of the keyboard, and the customization options you have for the front plate. Not disappointed for it being my first build.
Recommends this product? Yes
Dr_Thocktopus
10
Keyboard Club Member
Sep 3, 2024
Activities:Work & Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:4
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Customize your heart out.
The keyboard itself is very nice and can has a great sound with a little bit of extra modding. I like the profile it gives and it is nice and clean. My favorite part of this keyboard is the customization options. There are already lots of colors to choose from to pair with a ton of caps. I really hope they release some special ones sometime. I would really love the option to buy just the cover whenever there is a special cstm line keyboard that comes out. But overall, great keyboard and for the money, its about the best value you can find, in my opinion.
Recommends this product? Yes
CLGrassa
20
Jul 14, 2024
Activities:Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:1
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Customizable
The amount of customizability with this keyboard is insane. I feared it would be a tad overwhelming with this being my second build and what not. Honestly I don't know why I was scared. I think the ability to choose your case color is pretty cool. I basically went with the barebones forgetting that the pre-built existed. I ended up basically building the same thing as the pre-built (oh well, live and learn). I love the CSTM65 so much that I'm going to pick up a CSTM80 for the work setup. Except, this time I'll just pick up the pre-built.
P.S. If you made it this far, the barebones DOES NOT come with stabilizers. I didn't see it mentioned anywhere when I built mine, but just as a heads up. From one amateur keyboard builder to the possible next :)
Recommends this product? Yes
CLGrassa
20
Sep 17, 2024
CLGrassa*EDIT* The space bar stabilizer size is a 6.25! (In case you get it barebones)
soysaucejosh
4
Keyboard Club Member
Jun 12, 2024
Paired Switch:Tactile
Keyboards Owned:3
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Really nice entry keyboard
For the price, you can’t really ask for more. Plenty of foam provided, easy to setup your stabs, switches, and keycaps, and customizable swappable case
Recommends this product? Yes
alejocobit
15
Keyboard Club Member
Jun 1, 2024
Activities:Work & Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:7
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entry level keyboard
very good keyboard to start in the hobby, I bought the cstm80 and cstm65 for the price of one, I can't wait to try a metal plate
Recommends this product? Yes
itsdavetv
19
May 9, 2024
Activities:Work & Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:15
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Great Barebones Kit
Easy barebones kit for new keyboard enjoyers and allows for multiple build options! Go to town and use your favorite switches and keycaps.
Recommends this product? Yes
Sailinserge
120
Keyboard Club Member
Apr 25, 2024
Activities:Work & Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:20
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Easy to customize, ignore negative reviews
i bought the CSTM80 when it first came out and fell in love with that keyboard. When the CSTM60 was out, I knew I had to get one. It’s just as good as the 80 and has all the customization options. The gasket mount is great, not super flexible but has a great sound to it. Only thing I modded was tape on back of PCB but I do that to all my keebs. Highly recommend, great entry level keyboard.
As for the negative reviews, people should read the products description and maybe research a little before shelling over your money. This keyboard IS VIA compatible, but not out of the box. It comes ready to go for Drops proprietary software. You can make all the changes you want using it but if you want to make it work with VIA, Drop has the instructions on how to upload the VIA compatible firmware to the keyboard. It took me 2 minutes to get this all done. Not a big deal. Certainly not enough of an issue to say this product is crap either. To each their own. Hope this helps anyone on the fence about buying, cheers.
Recommends this product? Yes
DerYid
7
Apr 21, 2024
Activities:Work
Paired Switch:Tactile
Keyboards Owned:4
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Good board, wish Drop would make it easier to get the VIA compatible firmware
The PCB seems functionally very similar to the one on my DropALT, but the VIA compatible firmware was not available on Drop's configuration pages, as it was for my ALT. For the CSTM65, I had to get the drop_cstm65_via.uf2 firmware from VIA at caniusevia.com/docs/download_firmware, then download the mdloader for Linux (and set its property to executable). Then I put the firmware file in the same directory with the loader and ran the bash command ./mdloader --first --download drop_cstm65_via.uf2 --restart and then during the 60 seconds I pressed FN+lftCntrl+backspace and held it, which opened the kb as a drive. I then I dragged and dropped drop_cstm65_via.uf2 into the drive which seemed to reset it, and after it reset I opened VIA and the kb was recognized. After that, it was smooth sailing and the CSTM65 works properly with VIA and has plenty of memory for my lengthy macros, which are major reasons why I like the CSTM65 and ALT kb's. But Drop is not helpful at all in providing this information. Customer service was polite but sent me back to the configuration page which (at least on my last visit) does NOT explain this process well, nor did it provide the necessary link to the firmware. Why be so opaque about this? A straightforward link to the firmware right on the product page would be helpful.
Recommends this product? Yes
torgny
57
Keyboard Club Member
Mar 20, 2024
Activities:Work & Gaming
Paired Switch:Linear
Keyboards Owned:15
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Amazing barebones keyboard for less than $80
TL; DR This is a counter-review.
The long version: I have read the other reviews, and I must say, do better. Complaining about an accessory product run that you failed to notice was not going to be delivered with the keyboard itself is not a good review. Deducting stars because you need to improve reading comprehension is nothing short of silly. Complaining about the price because you feel like you should be granted instant gratification does nothing for you, or the other people that will want to try this product. All of that said... As soon as I saw a CSTM65 being launched, I ordered the barebones variant without hesitation. This is a premium, customizable keyboard for less than $70 (or even $80 when not on sale) that comes with pretty decent build quality for the money, and especially compared to other products on the market. Sure, maybe you do not want to replace the switch plate in your keyboard, or mess around with switches and keycaps, and you'd feel better buying a fully assembled Keychron for a couple of bucks more... By all means, enjoy your new keyboard. You probably bought an iPhone because you felt that the Android operating system was not as polished and well-designed, and at the same time you failed to realize that the Apple ecosystem is extremely limited compared to the Android market that caters to thousands of different devices, and still manages to outshine Apple most days of the week. Complain less. Type more. You didn't like the experience? Fine, talk about that. The actual review: This keyboard easily competes in the $80 range of budget keyboards. The gasket mounted PCB can be augmented with different switch plates to give you more or less bounce. Personally, I like the FR4 plates because they provide good resistance while also being flexible enough to cater to heavy typers like myself. I slam them keys down with conviction and zest. Metal plates tend to generate too much noise and require too much foam and other means of dampening, unless I am going for old-school clicky switches.
The long version: I have read the other reviews, and I must say, do better. Complaining about an accessory product run that you failed to notice was not going to be delivered with the keyboard itself is not a good review. Deducting stars because you need to improve reading comprehension is nothing short of silly. Complaining about the price because you feel like you should be granted instant gratification does nothing for you, or the other people that will want to try this product. All of that said... As soon as I saw a CSTM65 being launched, I ordered the barebones variant without hesitation. This is a premium, customizable keyboard for less than $70 (or even $80 when not on sale) that comes with pretty decent build quality for the money, and especially compared to other products on the market. Sure, maybe you do not want to replace the switch plate in your keyboard, or mess around with switches and keycaps, and you'd feel better buying a fully assembled Keychron for a couple of bucks more... By all means, enjoy your new keyboard. You probably bought an iPhone because you felt that the Android operating system was not as polished and well-designed, and at the same time you failed to realize that the Apple ecosystem is extremely limited compared to the Android market that caters to thousands of different devices, and still manages to outshine Apple most days of the week. Complain less. Type more. You didn't like the experience? Fine, talk about that. The actual review: This keyboard easily competes in the $80 range of budget keyboards. The gasket mounted PCB can be augmented with different switch plates to give you more or less bounce. Personally, I like the FR4 plates because they provide good resistance while also being flexible enough to cater to heavy typers like myself. I slam them keys down with conviction and zest. Metal plates tend to generate too much noise and require too much foam and other means of dampening, unless I am going for old-school clicky switches.
Recommends this product? Yes
ThatKeefGuy
0
Mar 25, 2024
torgnyThat is a good point to make. Some of the complaints and irritants of the board were fault of my own and other buyers. But I still find the quality to be lackluster for the price, personally at least. I'm glad you enjoy your board and it looks beautiful! Most negativity was anger of the moment, but there are still flaws that are hard to overlook. It's just a little disappointing for the most part, but for those who don't care, the board is fine.
ThatKeefGuy
0
Feb 19, 2024
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Good Board, Little Misleading Unless You Read The Fine Print
I saw the CSTM65 sponsored on a YouTube Short/TikTok video talking about the board. It showed off the pre-built being on sale for $100. I chose the barebones because it was on sale and I had extra keycaps and switches. When the board arrived I was a little confused because it included no stabilizers and included no decorative top plate. Looking back at the included items on the item listing it doesn't state the specified items are included, although it does mention that the items are not included, although you would really have to read through the details to see that. Although the absence of stabilizers is not explicitly mentioned from what I could see.
I had to buy stabilizers online, which is fine because I would've switched out the stock stabs for Durock V2's anyways and its 100% usable without the decorative top plate. I also purchased a top plate separately shortly afterwards, but was a bit annoyed to see that they were on pre-order and was told they would be shipped in a couple months.
The build quality of the main board is decently high quality, although I would expect a little better for the price, but I doubt you would complain. There is plenty of foam included that eliminated all hollowness in the board and makes great acoustics. The aluminum weight adds a good amount of heft to the board, adding to the feel of the quality. My only gripe is that the gaskets are a bit stiff and doesn't add much flex when typing at all, although a better feel than a top mounted board.
I've used only linear switches in this board, being Gateron Yellow KS-9 Pros, and KTT Kang Whites. Only modifications I've done to the board is the Tempest, or tape mod, which I don't believe the board needs, and it sounds beautiful.
Overall I give the board a 3/5, Its not very good for the price, but I believe It would be if it included the top plate, and I find the gaskets are a bit lackluster coming from a larger brand like Drop. Only thing holding me from recommending this board is lack of availability of the top boards. Although I would recommend the pre-built version easily.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
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