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96% would recommend to a friend 
Drop Phantom Plate-Mounted Stabilizer Pack
$25
01 / 09
Drop Phantom Plate-Mounted Stabilizer Pack
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(109 reviews)
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keyboard_arrow_downRawdilz
297
Apr 20, 2022
These stabs surprised me
Ok I tried a set of these stabs in my drop shift keyboard. Wow. Night and day difference from the stock stabilizers that came with this board. Even compared to me having the stock stabs lubed and taped where the housing clips into the board (due to the stock stabs being loose) I tried the new stabs how they shipped from drop, with almost no lube on them and no tape it was a major difference. They are a tight fit. But not too tight. I’m definitely sold on these plate mounted stabs. These will be my go to stabs for any builds that are plate mounted. They got even better when I properly lubed and holey modded them. 👍 (edit for grammar)
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
Squirly
38
Apr 28, 2022
Nightwolf027
20
Apr 19, 2022
If you want an upgrade to stock stabs get these
I got mine yesterday but due to work wasn't able to post anything until now. I used them stock for a little and there is some noticeable rattle and a little bit of ticking. Compared to how the Alt stabs are stock though, they sound much better. They are also much better than the stabs that come with the Akko 3068b.
I lubed the stem and housing and applied some dielectric grease to the wire and the sound improved significantly. I can definitely tell which stabs I did a good job lubing and which ones I did not. My enter and backspace keys do not sound like there are stabs there at all. I need to revisit my spacebar and left shift however as there is some ticking on each one of them. There is still just a little rattle on my spacebar as well. I am assuming it is from the wire because they fit in extremely tight into the board. I did end up clipping the legs on them as well and my PCB was already had the band-aid mod. I do not have the patience for the holee mod so I do not intend to do that.
As a beginner to this hobby I've got to say these are the best stabs I've used. They feel great and with a little more tuning it will seem like they aren't even there. These definitely are an upgrade from the stock ones that come with low end boards and I am curious on how they stack up against some of the more mainstream stabs. If you are running stock ones and want an upgrade these will definitely do it.
Edit: I revisited the ones on my left shift and my spacebar and the ticking has gone away. I also saw that I didn't fully clip in the spacebar on one side so that was where the rattle was coming from. I would 100% recommend these as they sound and feel like the stabs aren't even there.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
swgless
35
Apr 19, 2022
A first look at the Drop Phantom Stabilizers
A first impression of the Drop Phantom Plate Mount Stabilizers.
As a Drop Keycap Club Member, I indicated to Drop I was interested in reviewing and trying out their new stabilizers. They sent me a set for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and I get to keep it. All opinions are my own.
It is quite exciting when a new version of an existing product is announced. As a community member, I have a lot of hope the product in question is an improvement over the current meta. In the PCB-mount stabilizer world, many would agree Durock V2 stabilizers to be the golden standard. while I haven't personally tried them, newer stabilizers such as Stabies and TX stabs have received a lot of praise. Some of those lucky enough (or with pockets deep enough) to get their hand on them claim they are an improvement to the Durock V2s. Are The Phantoms the next hype stabilizers like the Stabies? Are they the new golden standard like the Durock V2s? To be honest, I’m not so sure.
During my time in this hobby, I’ve started with a handful of entry level keyboards including the DROP CTRL and NK65 Entry. Since then, I’ve dove deeper into the hobby into more limited customs with different mounting systems and form factors. I currently main the Frog TKL by GEON Works. I hope this doesn’t come off as boastful or bragging, my intention is to shed some light on my background and where I’m coming from and how this may affect my review.
I admit my understanding of the plate-mounted stabilizer meta may be lacking. However, I have mained the NK65 entry edition (board I used for testing) for about seven months and in that time, I have tried genuine Cherry and Durock stabilizers. These offerings will serve as comparisons to the phantom stabilizers. I have also used the stock plate-mount stabs that come with the NK65, but given they come prelubed and I’m not sure what brand they are, I will not be comparing the Phantoms to these (I hate them). To be transparent, my previous preference for plate-mount stabs are the Durocks.
Let’s first discuss the stabilizers in stock configuration. Phantoms feature a UHMWPE stem and PA12 housing. The Durocks are made of Nylon and I believe the Genuine cherrys are as well (but don’t quote me on that lol). Phantoms (at least the units I got) come fully assembled with an extremely light layer lubricant on the wires. This lubricant naturally settles to the bottom of the stem. Durock and Cherry stabilizers come unlubed. I think it is an interesting choice to include such a small amount of lubricant on The Phantoms.
To test the acoustics, I used my NK65 Entry Edition with lilac tactile switches, modded with stupidfish plate foam and band-aid mod. In stock configuration, the acoustics of the phantom is quieter than the durock and cherry offerings. The downstroke is notably muted likely due to the Lube that accumulates at the bottom of the stem but may also be due to the unique plastics. However, the rattle that comes when the stab returns to resting position sounds roughly the same loudness with all three offerings. All options would benefit from disassembly and Lubing the stems, inner housings, and wires.
I then spent 30 minutes lubricating the phantom stabilizers as well as 1x each of my spare 2U Durock and Cherry stabs. I used 205g0 on the stem and inner housing and dielectric grease on the wires. I tried to keep a similar technique across all stabilizers, but I have no way to guarantee accuracy or precision. Please take the upcoming sections as my personal experience and it may not be reflective of your own. And the sample size is extremely small lol
The phantom stabs fit quite snug and tightly into the NK65’s Plate. I even had some difficulty fitting it into the mounting spot and sometimes had to force it in. Removing the Phantom required some manipulation and wiggling it lose. The Durock and Cherry easily clipped in and out. At least I know when the Phantoms are clipped in, they aren't going anywhere!
For me, when I choose a stabilizer, sound, smoothness, and everything else is secondary to how easy it is to eliminate all rattle. I was able get the Durock tick-free on the first try. The Cherry required help of a syringe to “plug the butt,” a technique where a syringe is used to deliver lubricant to coat around the ends of the stabilizer wire. As for the phantoms, I got the left shift and enter first try. The backspace required a plug on the right wire and was tick free. The spacebar took the most time to tune including a retry + plug before it was tick free.
Previously, I’ve always clipped the legs of plate mount stabs because… well that’s what Taeha did in his guide lol. But after trying the 3 different stabs with clipped and unclipped legs, the difference was hard to tell/non-existent across all 3 stabilizers. This could also be due to the band-aid mod on the PCB or perhaps it is difficult to tell on the NK65 EE.
Drop claims the stabilizers are quieter than others with their UHMWPE stems and PA12 housings. In my experience, the sound level is actually fairly consistent across all three different stabs (I tested them all in the same location: left shift). I did notice a “deeper” sound with the Phantoms compared to a more “poppy” sound with the Durocks and Cherry.
Under these testing conditions, I find the Phantoms to be the smoothest stabilizers of the bunch. But after multiple typing tests (monkeytype.com, quote, long) and moving the 3 different 2U stabs around, I find myself not really noticing the differences in smoothness.
I’ve briefly discussed the stock config, fit, modding difficulty, clipped vs. unclipped, acoustics, and smoothness. I’m sure there are other variables I’m missing but I’ll stop here for now. In the future, I would like to do a double-blind test with some friends to see which stabilizers they prefer the most. Also find someone with actually decent recording equipment. (Drop feel free to send me stuff :D)
In summary:
They look COOL, sound GREAT, and are made of UNIQUE materials (for stabs). Although the Phantoms are quieter than other options out of the box, they still have some ticking that is especially noticeable in the uptick. For people who don’t care to mod their stabs, this is a decent choice. I’m almost certain they will sound better than stock stabilizers in a prebuilt. For those who wish to eliminate all rattle, disassembly and lubing will be required just like any other stab which ends up equalizing the sound level compared to other branded stabilizers. However, unlike any other stab, these are priced at a premium. After modding, I find myself preferring the Phantoms over Durock but not by much. Is the price difference worth it? For me, no but I don’t think this product is necessarily targeted to me.
I think these are for people who are newer to the hobby with hotswap prebuilts or entry level customs and they are fully content with them. These people might be looking for a stab upgrade and Drop just dropped one for them that comes lubed (however so slightly) and ready to clip-in out of the box.
Have a nice day.
Recommends this product? Yes
ChewieSolo
150
Apr 23, 2022
Competitive Plate-Mount Stabilizers
Disclaimer: For full transparency I got a set of these early (sans 7U stab) for free from Drop, otherwise there was nothing said or paid from them, all thoughts are my own.
Setup notes:
I tested these on a low-profile Massdrop branded CTRL (2 magnet variant with the case swapped to the Burgundy one). Normally I use a few different Kailh clicky switches (Speed Bronze, Box White, and Box Pale Blue), and I will include a note about them but primarily I tested with NK Silk Yellows to remove the switch noise and feel as much as reasonable.
Testing Notes: I primarily tested the space bar (6.25U) and the right shift (2U). I compared them both stock and modified vs. the stabs that came with my CTRL (also both stock and modified) and briefly to stock Novelkeys plate mount stabs. Both the original stabs and these Phantom ones were modified in the same way, which is cleaning any existing lube, lubing the housings with Krytox 205g0, lubing the wire with Permatex 22058 dielectric grease, clipping the legs, and doing a band-aid mod.
Testing Stock vs Stock CTRL Stabs:
I seemed to have been somewhat lucky with my original stabs and choice of switches (wire rattle was mostly covered by the clicky switches) as I didn't have quite as bad wire rattle or housing looseness as I have read that other people had. However in stock form my original stabs did exhibit some noticeable wire rattle when tested with the NK Silk Yellows, housing looseness remained a non-issue on my set (they were a bit too tight imo with the new case). Additionally the originals suffered from an inconsistent feel and sound across the key, especially the space bar. In comparison the new Phantom stabs were a marked improvement stock. They still exhibited some rattle but much reduced and definitely a non-issue when used with clicky switches, and were much more consistent. Additionally the housing were tight enough to not pose any issues, but weren't too tight a fit with the plate. For linear or tactile switches I still probably wouldn't use them stock (especially with how easy they are to remove and mod since they are plate mount), but for a clicky switch I wouldn't have any issue using them as is. A very clear improvement stock despite the OG stabs having the advantage of some lube.
Testing Stock vs Stock NK Plate-mount Stabs:
I didn't spend much time on this comparison as I didn't want to mod the NK stabs at the moment. I would say unmodified these two sets are fairly comparable, with housings not being loose and some rattle but not so much as to be a problem with clicky switches, I would mod both if used with linear or tactile. Both were failry consistent in their feel and sound across the space bar. I would say this one is basically a tie, which is nice to see since they are both around $25 MSRP last I checked.
Testing Modified vs Modified CTRL Stabs:
After modifying the original stabs (see Testing Notes for details) they were much improved over stock and I would say slightly better than the stock Phantoms. The originals still exhibited some rattle, but not too much and were much more consistent in feel across the key (especially noticeable on the space bar). Definitely usable with clicky switches and maybe close enough for tactile or linear if you don't mind some small amount of rattle but not quite for me. Now the modified Phantoms while not a big an improvement as stock vs stock were still a noticeable improvement. They had little to no rattle remaining, a deeper sound when bottomed out, and very consistent across the key. The modified phantom I would have no problem using with any switch type.
Conclusion:
Overall I would say that the Phantom stabs are a worthwhile upgrade against the included CTRL stabs and compete in price and quality to my similarly priced NK plate-mount stabs. So while I don't believe they are the clear winner against similarly priced plate-mount stabs I would have no problem recommending them and would say to buy whichever set works better for you in terms of the store (i.e. if you are already buying other stuff there), price, and shipping.
Recommends this product? Yes
fer.real
528
Keyboard Club Member
Sep 9, 2022
checkVerified Buyer
Honestly the Best Plate Mount Stabs I Have Used
There are lots of good options for PCB mount Stabs. Durock and OwlLabs are good options. Glorious GSV2 s stabilizers are suprisingly good. And the list goes on...
Plate mount stabs, on the other hand, don't see much love. Gateron and Durock have offerings, but they're not as good as Cherry/GMK plate mount stabs, which are only meh.
These change the whole equation. They are pre-lubed, absolutely quiet and rattle free. Plus, they fit nice and snug in the plate.
The one criticism I have is that the factory lube was a little uneven on one of my sets. This is not uncommon in factory-lubed products. I just added some Krytox205g0 on top and they sound great.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
Epickeyboards
0
Aug 8, 2022
checkVerified Buyer
look, sound, and feel great, plus wires and housings come pre lubed!
so, I bought these for a build I was working on. I chose these because they looked pretty good and the reviews said so too, so I bought them. anyway, I opened up the 7U spacebar stab to mod it, and I find lube on the wire! not random lube in a random spot that won't do jack $#!t for the stab, ACTUAL LUBE ON THE WIRE! WOW! WORKING PRE LUBED STABS! unfourtanatley I had to take the lube off to apply my own, etc, but if you don't want to lube or even mod these stabs, they seem like a solid choice. and if you do, they are still quite high quality. 10/10 for me, I am sure wether you want to mod them or not, you will love them! Edit: I think I overlubed them lmao, but I’ll just take some of it off to get rid of the mushiness and ticking. Anyway still great stabs
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
cofo
6
Keyboard Club Member
Nov 19, 2023
checkVerified Buyer
Quality stabilizers
Nothing too exciting here, at least for this first time keyboard builder. Stabilizers seem like a must. I have had these installed since the first day I began using the kb, and I have never owned any other stabilizers and so forth, but I am content with how these work for me. Admittedly I did have to look up how to install them, but they are very simple to install. And compared to how the spacebar felt and looked when I used it without the stabilizers, I feel reassured that I bought them at all. On the ALT V2, my kb, these fit on left shift, spacebar, return/enter, and backspace. Some pics should be attached.
Recommends this product? Yes
The_Manic_Geek
411
Keyboard Club Member
Mar 22, 2023
checkVerified Buyer
Excellent Kit!
If I had to complain about anything, it'd be the price... but relative to what you get, these are some of the nicest plate-mount stabs in my inventory. You get enough to do a proper full-sized keyboard, or if you have some spare wires lying around, two TKL or smaller boards. Stem and housing build quality are really good and none of the wires in my first set gave me any issues with tuning them. Just bought a second set, will update post with photos and my continued experience.
Recommends this product? Yes
Ed3291
57
Feb 21, 2023
checkVerified Buyer
Better than stock
If it's your first time getting stabilizers I would get these, They are way better than stock, easy to install and an affordable practical modification.
The bad: They come in a soft silicon/plasic bag. Thats it, no other packing protection. The bag itself had a couple of holes from the stabilizers puncturing through but they were not damaged themselves.
Recommends this product? Yes
CMDR_Vod
30
Keyboard Club Member
Nov 17, 2022
checkVerified Buyer
Seem to do the job
Seem like a decent enough offering for plate-mount stabs when you need them. Star knocked off as they came in a baggy pre-assembled which I did not like (most stabs I get come in a box to prevent wire warping or bending during shipping)
Recommends this product? Yes
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