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Drop CTRL V1 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard

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reviews284

photos196

q&a53

discussions193

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... / TENKEYLESS (TKL) KEYBOARDS / DIY KEYBOARD KITS / DROP

Drop CTRL V1 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard

Name: Drop CTRL V1 Barebones Mechanical Keyboard
Brand: Drop
SKU: drop-ctrl-barebones-mechanical-keyboard
Price: 150 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.376761 (284 reviews)

284

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Product Description

To put it simply, the CTRL mechanical keyboard has it all. Constructed with a solid aluminum frame with a built-in switch plate, it’s stable and fortified Read More

Review Highlights:

TerryW

The keyboard you need to buy!

Buy a bare bones keyboard and buy your own switches! Totally recommend that, it's cheaper and you'll end up with backup switches just in case one or two get funny years later into use! 

This keyboard is absolutely stunning in its machined aluminum frame. Everything is sturdy, build quality is astounding. The finish everywhere is pleasing to the touch. The keyboard has QMK firmware which makes it more or less fully customizable! Switches can easily be hotswapped which is awesome if you want to buy different switches or replace them. FYI most switches can be bought for pretty cheap. I love the caliber of RGB brightness, diffusion, and customization on this board.

Overall one of my favorite purchases I've made beside buying shares of TSLA!

Would recommend to a friend.

nubduck

Decent quality for the price - Space Grey

This is a great starter board with hot-swap. Great accessories kit including: Keycap puller, magnetic back stands, USB-C cable. Will grab another unit again given the chance.

Would recommend to a friend.

See all 284 reviews

Q&A Highlights:

Drop+MechKeys

4286

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

fatmansmemes

They are Plate mounted, but if you get PCB mounted switches you can just cut off the two extra thingys, i forget the words for them

Ajr5

Is there a full sized version in the works?

RandyMcChicken

There is the Drop SHIFT which is a full sized keyboard, but the only barabones version of the SHIFT available as of now is the high profile version.

See all 53 questions

Customer Reviews

4.4

(284 reviews)

(165)

(81)

(25)

(6)

(7)

88% would recommend to a friend

By Feature

Sound

SilentLoud

Feel

StiffFlexible

Build Quality

4.2

(11)

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LoudBrownGuy

Oct 23, 2023

Activities:Work & Gaming

Paired Switch:Tactile

Verified Buyer

Good keyboard, if you want floating keys

Good keyboard but you can find a better keyboard at this price.

Recommends this product? No

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Firebolt

Sep 29, 2023

Activities:Work & Gaming

Paired Switch:Tactile

Keyboards Owned:4

Verified Buyer

Overall decent for a starter, had some gripes

For the most part, it’s a decent quality product, and for the price you get a good starting point from which to build upon, although future modifications are limited. I paired mine with some lubed & filmed Holy Pandas, trimmed & lubed everglide stabs, stupidfish case foam, tape mod & red/black skylight keycaps. Definite QC problems with the keycaps, but the rest was great. Main gripes came from the less than overt listing images showing whether it was the ‘high profile’ or ‘low profile keyboard’ (I went with the low profile). And how tight the tolerances were for the plate stabilisers & switches. On more than one occasion I’ve cut my finger on the metal removing the stabilisers, or broken/bent a switch puller beyond use trying to remove my switches. Makes the typing feel great, but makes modding/repairs an absolute PAIN!!

Recommends this product? Yes

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Eric1245

Keyboard Club Member

Sep 28, 2023

Activities:Work & Gaming

Paired Switch:Tactile

Keyboards Owned:5

Verified Buyer

v2 is better!

nice - look nice - usb c 2 port nice - price bad - not 5pin swotch bad - stabilizer so buy v2!!

Recommends this product? No

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feebdaed

Keyboard Club Member

Sep 5, 2023

Activities:Work

Paired Switch:Tactile

Keyboards Owned:2

Verified Buyer

disappointing

The looks are okay, it would be better if you couldn't see the sides of the switches, should have gone with the high profile version. The sound is passable, though it changes from the edges to the center. The default stabs are noisy, but some sound like they have a piece of felt underneath, I took the keycap off but the sound went away. The bigger problems are electrical. It only works with the included USB C-to-A cable, multiple USB C-to-C cables don't work even though they work with other boards, even other C-to-A cables don't work. Also some switches don't connect with the PCB, the Holy Pandas worked fine, but I tried some Gaterons and there were a couple of spots where I had to bend the pins southward so they would make contact. The software story is complicated. There is the web based configurator, the downloadable configurator, the mdloader, Via, and one other. None of the downloadable tools have Apple Silicon support. So the combo that worked best for me was the web configurator and a local build of mdloader. Unless your goal is to continually tinker I wouldn't recommend this keyboard.

Recommends this product? No

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TimeFlyer28

Aug 12, 2023

Verified Buyer

Nice premium keyboard(except for the stabilizers) with really nice LEDS

Update: I contacted support and they replaced my keyboard with a replacement that works as it should. Overall really good keyboard and really nice LEDs, the only issue i have with it are the rattly stabilizers. Original: It's a really nice keyboard and everything about it was good and it had really nice build quality (except for the stabilizers being very loud and rattly but I knew that when purchasing it and I plan on replacing them so it wasn't a surprise)... until I noticed that 2 of the LEDs on the right side of the keyboard were malfunctioning. The middle one will sometimes display the wrong color while the one right next to it seems to be dead, which after noticing it is bothering me a lot. I contacted customer support and will update the review if anything happens. I really want this keyboard to work out.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

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mcgillionaire

Jul 15, 2023

Activities:Work

Paired Switch:Tactile

Verified Buyer

Good quality, wysiwyg

Very satisfied.

Recommends this product? Yes

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camoG

Jul 12, 2023

Activities:Work

Paired Switch:Linear

Keyboards Owned:8

Verified Buyer

Good for the price

Good for the price.

Recommends this product? Yes

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puttio

Keyboard Club Member

Jul 11, 2023

Activities:Work & Gaming

Paired Switch:Tactile

Keyboards Owned:100

Verified Buyer

Okay for first keeb. Not so nice for your second and onwards.

It's nice if you're just getting into this hobby. But be aware that the PCB has supports only 3-pin switches which honestly is quite frustrating. Modern keeb kits now almost always supports 5-pin switches. Stabs are horrible though.

Recommends this product? Yes

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