Drop CTRL V1 Mechanical Keyboard Reviews | Drop

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Drop CTRL V1 Mechanical Keyboard

Jan 19, 2019

Verified Buyer

TL;DR: Great looking, well-lit, solid build with some unfortunate minor flaws, not-quite-accurate marketing, and distinct lack of available information and support. I have very mixed feelings about this keyboard. There are many things about it that are genuinely a cut above, having more in common with boutique or custom-built projects than something you could just buy on the internet. Unfortunately, there are some very real problems with the board, and with M̶a̶s̶s̶drop itself that I just can't ignore. This is one of the most interesting boards on the market, and if its flaws aren't a deal-breaker, might just be the platform you're looking for. This is a keyboard I'm happy to own, but not necessarily happy that I bought. Let's do some pros, mehs, and cons: The Good: + Well-executed, elegant, minimal design; it looks amazing + Very good build quality and solidness; it feels premium + Gorgeous, bright, smooth, programmable* RGB lighting; (O.O) + Can remap any and all keys, programmable up to 5 layers* + Genuinely hot-swappable switch sockets (noice) + Can ship with interesting, somewhat rare switches + Comes stock with double-shot PBT shine-through keycaps + USB-C connection with a port on either side + Includes metal keypuller that unscrews to reveal a case tool + Yes, they actually give you a tool to take it apart in the box The Meh: ~ Gorgeous design comes from a different keyboard ~ Controversy surrounding said interesting switches ~ Customizing RGB et al with the Configurator might be more obtuse, limited, and slow than it needs to be ~ Pronounced texture of the caps is polarizing; I love it, but... ~ They can feel super clammy due to the coating ~ Shine-through a little inconsistent due to plastic ribbing under caps ~ This keeb is pretty pingy*; installing foam inside can help ~ EDIT: *The main culprits of the ping are the Halos switches' springs - lubing the ends can help as well ~ Included magnetic feet are solid, but can roll off easily if pushed sideways ~ Stabilizers are OK. Not bad, but a $200 keeb might deserve better - give 'em the grease in all the right spots and they'll quiet down The Bad: -̶ ̶M̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶s̶l̶o̶w̶l̶y̶ ̶f̶l̶i̶c̶k̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶e̶f̶a̶u̶l̶t̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶n̶e̶s̶s̶;̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶i̶l̶a̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶s̶u̶e̶s̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶o̶n̶ ̶:̶/̶ -̶ ̶R̶G̶B̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶h̶u̶g̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶-̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶i̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶(̶!̶)̶ - EDIT: Using the RGB feature of this keyboard reliably requires USB 3.0 - This is not discussed in the literature and not disclosed by support when asked about flickering - *RGB, and macros were advertised as easy to customize through QMK, buuut... - Neither use standard QMK syntax and you can't use QMK Toolbox - None of this information is in the "literature" and customer support has no clue and won't discuss - PBT quality is so-so; some cap stems slightly twisted, space bar noticeably warped - Semi-circular scuffs on the case between the F-keys, apparently from some machine - Mine had a ding in the case despite undamaged packaging -̶ ̶U̶S̶B̶-̶C̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶w̶a̶y̶s̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶i̶a̶b̶l̶e̶;̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶l̶u̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ -̶ ̶E̶D̶I̶T̶:̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶p̶p̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶a̶u̶l̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶r̶a̶p̶p̶y̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶u̶n̶s̶u̶i̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶e̶n̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶c̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ - EDIT 2: I have yet to find any extension cable that works, even 3.0, but extra long USB-C cables do work - Customer support would not answer any of my questions, and, this is the big one... - Despite it being listed as "in stock", would not replace the physically damaged, u̶n̶r̶e̶l̶i̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ board. Applying group buy policy to an in-stock retail purchase is pretty scape-goaty and lame.

The Takeaway: It's a genuinely good (even very good) product in its own right, but the marketing (and as part of that, information given to influencers) isn't on the level--and customers simply aren't being provided with enough information to get the most out of it. It would be totally different if this thing came with a manual that described how to program the thing or at least what syntax it uses - because only the keymapping is QMK - the RGB and Macros aren't. Who told the customers that? Nobody. The communication and support just isn't there. Personal experience ranting: The warranty card that comes with this item spends 5 or so bullet points talking about how they'll replace the product if it's not right... and one pointing out that M̶a̶s̶s̶drop reserves the right not to replace a product that does not work as advertised. The card says they will do this if they can't source a replacement (reasonable) - but the reps made it sound like a replacement was never in the realm of possibility under any conditions (hmm). I suppose that's their prerogative - but that in combination with their unwillingness (or genuine inability) to answer questions has left a decidedly sour taste in my mouth when it comes M̶a̶s̶s̶drop and this keyboard. They offered a refund to return the board, or a roughly 15% discount. I might have taken the refund and simply bought another, but M̶a̶s̶s̶drop could not confirm or deny if the next board I purchased would be likely to have the same issues - they simply wouldn't say - and unfortunately, the big one of the RGB not working correctly comes up a little too often for my comfort when searching online. The reps were very polite and I imagine they were following policy exactly as they were instructed, but their responses were so canned it felt like I was talking to robots. I've enjoyed a handful of drops over the years, but it's pretty hard to imagine coming back after this experience.

(Edited)

Was this helpful?

bamacolby

Jan 22, 2019

DeadeyeDavePlug it into a USB 3.0 port and it should fix the flickering LEDs. The 2.0 ports don’t seem to provide enough power.

Jan 22, 2019

DeadeyeDave

887

Keyboard Club Member

Jan 24, 2019

bamacolbyI will definitely try this; if I find it solves the issue I'll update this review and contact Massdrop to suggest they update the product page. An additional question; do you know if using extension cables could have an effect here? If so, are certain extension cables better than others? Thanks again for the info and suggestion.

Jan 24, 2019

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sleepynerd

Jan 24, 2019

DeadeyeDaveDid this fix the issue?

Jan 24, 2019

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DeadeyeDave

887

Keyboard Club Member

Jan 27, 2019

sleepynerdIt did! I'm really glad - though I think it's pretty odd Massdrop does not appear to know this about their own product. This is the kind of thing I'd expect to see on the information card - or at very least to be revealed when I ask customer service. Nope. They know (or will say) next to nothing about the details of their products... I also tried a few different extension cables - some with better results than others. I'm not really sure what the factor is with the cables aside from maybe some are just not suited for higher power loads (or are just garbage). If you need more cable length than the included one provides, I'd say just replace it with a longer type c cable rather than using an extension.

Jan 27, 2019

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SmileOrDie

Mar 14, 2019

DeadeyeDaveThanks for the great information here. Really appreciated. Going to try the keyboard out soon once I get mine from the drop going on right now. Also I will post how it goes, ordering mine bare-bones. With that being said I will only be talking about the frame and board, not the switches or the key-caps.

Mar 14, 2019

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