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CTRL V2 High-Profile Barebones Mechanical Keyboard

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CTRL V2 High-Profile Barebones Mechanical Keyboard

Name: CTRL V2 High-Profile Barebones Mechanical Keyboard
Brand: Drop
SKU: drop-ctrl-v2-high-profile-barebones-mechanical-keyboard
Price: 149 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.333333 (6 reviews)

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Product Description

Our original CTRL High-Profile took our bestselling keyboard to new heights, and our CTRL High-Profile V2 raised the bar even higher—in more ways than one. Now, this elevated, Drop-created successor to the tenkeyless throne is available in a stripped-down build to help you create your own dream board Read More

Customer Reviews

4.3

(6 reviews)

(3)

(2)

(1)

(0)

80% would recommend to a friend

By Feature

Sound

SilentLoud

Feel

StiffFlexible

Build Quality

4.7

(3)

ActivitiesPopular among reviewers

Paired SwitchPopular among reviewers

randilonious

Dec 13, 2023

Verified Buyer

Super well made and great value

I really like this keyboard. I got into keyboards with Drops LOTR run and decided to make my own. I got some Holy Panda X switches and MT3 Cyber keycaps in a Mystery box which I used for this! Only thing is the this desperately needs stabilizers. Without, the spacebar needs to be hit dead center or it just tilts like crazy.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

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sqlRunner

Keyboard Club Member

Mar 3, 2025

Activities:Work & Gaming

Paired Switch:Linear

Keyboards Owned:3

Verified Buyer

excellent sturdy ( quiet ) keyboard

I enjoyed putting this keyboard together, especially after having some experience making a few during the past few years. I put silent cherrys in this thing which are nice and quiet, still working with the stabilizers in the 4-5 specials ( spacebar, delete, shift ...). The way it lights up the workspace, gives me a smile

as you can see, here are the slient, clear cherry switches ...

Recommends this product? Yes

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Inwards

Keyboard Club Member

Oct 30, 2023

Verified Buyer

Very minor upgrade over v1

It was nice that this came with some of the improvements that many CTRL owners like myself have performed on our own V1 kits over the last few years. I have added the internal foams from Stupid Fish and Keyboard Kustoms, as well as painstakingly applying IPXE or Poron pads to the PCB to my other CTRL's so I had some ready-made comparison units ready to go when I received this version. The good news is that my unit sounds and feels pretty close to those upgraded versions, at a much lower total price. The bad news is that the only real difference in engineering is the slightly upgraded PCB (which is sort of frustrating as it includes support for screw-on stabilizers, while the case plate does not). This isn't CTRL v2, it's v1.1. It's still solid, heavy and easy to work with. But it is very much showing its age at this point. If anything, it's an advertisement for the CTSM80, which is priced similarly but has options for weights, better case colors/covers, gaskets, different plate materials, etc, etc.... I can't think of a reason to buy this in late 2023. There are so many better options for the price, including those from Drop itself. It's not a bad board, anymore, thanks to the foam, but it suffers by comparison and half a decade of tough competition.

(Edited)

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spiritofjerry

194

Jan 29, 2024

InwardsUnfortunately for those of us that prefer north facing RGB, there aren't many options out there anymore. This is still very good if you require shine through legends.

Inwards

Keyboard Club Member

Jan 29, 2024

spiritofjerryTrue enough, if you want a heavy, aluminum case, with North Facing LEDs, I can't think of any modern alternatives. Is is possible to make your build sound decent in this case, but it used to take a lot of work. With the foams and Tempest Mod, it's...satisfactory.

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shadowscape

May 18, 2024

Activities:Work

Paired Switch:Tactile

Keyboards Owned:4

Verified Buyer

Good investment

This is my first venture into high-end mechanical keyboards with hot-swapping after my previous one died. I tend to be rather aggressive typist (my SO asks frequently "you punishing the keyboard ?") and this one is rugged and heavy enough to endure.

Recommends this product? Yes

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BeefMan

Keyboard Club Member

Nov 22, 2023

Activities:Work & Gaming

Paired Switch:Linear

Keyboards Owned:40

Verified Buyer

It’s fine if it’s on sale

Which it seemingly already always is. I had a CTRL high profile v1 in purple with stupidfish foam I sold to upgrade to a black V2. I wasn’t happy with the look of my old build, and wanted to use some different keycaps I had, so black matched better. It’s not much of an upgrade from V1 to V2 since I had the foam in V1. The south facing RGB is an upgrade to some, but I wasn’t using shine through keycaps, so it was moot for me. I found it odd that the barebones V1 purple is currently listed with a weight of 1.9kg. I figured the V2 would be the same since it doesn’t have the weight included on the product page. I weighed the V2 built at 1.8kg. Pretty disappointing there. At $200 for the barebones at full price, you can get much much better value elsewhere. I purchased it when it was at $179, and I had my DKC coupon at $40 off and Drop rewards of $35, bringing my total to $104+tax. If I could only have one TKL keyboard and that amount of money, I’d still get a Monsgeek M3. This isn’t a bad buy, as I’m happy with it, it’s just a bad price for most. It doesn’t even come with stabilizers. Which isn’t that bad in hindsight as bad stabilizers for free is worse than good stabilizers for a price in my opinion… If you have the money to burn and it’s on sale, go for it. If you only can get one keyboard, I’d look elsewhere.

Recommends this product? No

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BeefMan

Keyboard Club Member

Mar 8, 2024

Just a few: Monsgeek M3 for budget, Neo80 for mid range, KBD8X MkIII for higher end. Could even go with Drop’s own CSTM80. I don’t own a Monsgeek M3, but I do have an M2 and M5, so I can assume the quality of the M3. All but the KBD8X are less expensive, and all of these options are readily available (Neo has 2-4 week waiting period).

IterativeCycles

Feb 17, 2025

BeefMan> "The south facing RGB is an upgrade to some, but I wasn’t using shine through keycaps, so it was moot for me." FYI, the product picture for this board has north-facing RGB and the specs list "North-facing RGB LEDs." That said, the Neo80 and KBD8X MKIII have south-facing switches and no RGB. South facing RGB, like on the Monsgeek M boards, is worse unless you're using cherry profile keycaps on switches that have an interference effect. Many switches these days won't have clearance issues, due to reduced travel or contoured top housing. The Monsgeek M1 (which is a 75%) gets recommended a lot as a budget option and does have per key RGB The M1 V5 is gasket mounted and has ball catch assembly, which is nice for modding. The thing I'd think twice about is that the PCB is 1.2mm; a bunch of content creators preferred 1.6mm thick PCBs. On the plus(?) side, no flex cuts on that PCB, and with the M1's foam I'm not sure how affected the sound will be, since you're likely not running it foamless.

(Edited)

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nickipoo

Apr 30, 2024

Verified Buyer

Stable and Bright

If you're looking for a heafty and colour casing, then you found it. It's heavy, sturdy, and allows for all of the RBGs to be customized (or disabled). If you're looking for a light travel keyboard, look elsewhere! Remember to buy stabilizers! Your spacebar will barely work...

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

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