I, absolutely, adore this board. This 80% board has gone above and beyond what I imagined. Picked it up during the Black Friday 2022 sales, and I'm incredibly happy that I did.
I purchased both the poly and brass plates (which I actually enjoy the brass plate far more than I thought I would). I paired this with Kailh Box Jellyfish switch and some crystal clear keycaps. I wanted this board to be a crystal clear (and bronze, apparently) footprint. I didn't need to soundproof this keyboard. Really, I've hardly needed to do anything at all. The main thing I've done is lube the stock stabs, which work beautifully. I didn't do any tape mod as I wanted the board visible through the bottom and the LEDs to be able to shine through nicely as well.
The LEDs are incredibly bright, both behind the keys and under the board. I do suggest downloading and using VIA to control all of these functions. If you do not, you won't be reaching your full potential of what this board is able to do whatsoever. With this software, the keys are also incredibly easy to remap, so that's been really nice. I write in my spare time and use Home and End far more than I do Page Up and Page Down, which I've been able to easily adjust using the VIA software.
My only gripe, which really isn't even a big one, is that the screws at the top of the board (used to attached the top and bottom housing) are super deep in the board. It might be difficult to fit a Wowstick or iFixit screwdriver to go that deeply. That's, literally, my only gripe and it wasn't terribly difficult to find yet another screwdriver to complete the job. Just be aware of this during purchase.
Yeah so this could be a murder weapon, I hope your desk is like reinforced titanium cause she's a CHONKER. All jokes aside the brass has a satisfyingly smooth brushed finish that makes you feel like a heathen for daring to disgrace it with your fingie prints. The included stabs look minty fresh and are mega smooth even without lubing to boot. The crystal case makes you wanna stare and the black pcb ties the whole color scheme together, along with the beeeeefy shape, it just makes for a really premium feeling package!
So I went with Holy Pandas and DurockV2 stabs lubed everything with Krytox 205G0 and the Iron Man Keycaps because I wanted a transparent board to look like Tony's arc reactor in his chest. Overall with the switches and and everything assembled it sound great with the brass plate and foam. My space bar is extremely THOCCY! I have minor discrepancies though. The dampeners that were in the prototype i think were changed from foam to these rubber sticks that you have to press into grooves on the bottom and top housing. So just to warn you you do have to do this yourself there's about 16 you have to place into the slots made in the housings. Oh i forgot to mention RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB
EpikDrewbieThanks. This sealed it for me. You did everything and you’re still not successful with this board. Also, I’m concerned EXTREMELY THOCCCCY! really leans towards “hollow”.
This was such a great post for me! I appreciate you taking the time to document why this didn’t quite meet all your expectations.
The combination of the clear acrylic with the brass weight and accents looks absolutely stunning. Also really good for RGB if that's what you're after.
This keyboard is not the best for performance per buck by any means, but it is one of the most pretty boards I have ever built. The build itself isn't hard and while there aren't any instructions as some others have noted, it should be pretty self explanatory and straight forward, if not just watch some short YouTube videos and you should be fine.
I had no issues with the connection issues some people are mentioning, so I'm assuming that issue has been fixed, since I was able to flash my board using QMK just fine and I haven't had any issues with the keyboard not working.
The PC plate option will be more "thocky" given that it has a lower specific stiffness than brass, but if you like a firm typing experience, the brass plate can become really "marbly" with a little modding and the right switches.
It says gasket but the gasket performance is pretty much nonexistent. If you are after a squishy or bouncy typing feel, this keyboard isn't for you.
I bought it for $230 with both plates (just to try it out, ended up sticking with the brass for looks), it says that it's on sale from $339 but if it's ever actually listed for $339 in the future please don't buy it. Just get a Keychron Q1 or something and save yourself $100+.
5/5 because I don't think there are many (if any) 75% options that match this aesthetic. Don't buy if you don't like this look, or if it's not on sale.
I really love the look of the board and it sounds quite good to type on even though the gaskets don't really allow much movement from the plate and pcb.
Mine has as few issues that aren't deal breakers, but I wish weren't present. One of the acrylic posts on the bottom portion of the case has been chipped off, the brass plate came with a few minor nicks and scratches, one of the underglow leds flickers a bit on certain colors, the box it came in looks like it had been used, and the pcb is a bit warped which causes the spacebar stab stems to not be quite even so the spacebar is a tiny bit crooked.
Overall, a very cool board for the money, but it feels like I got some open box unit that had been used and returned.
Started experiencing an issue where the keyboard would become unresponsive - needed to unplug and wait several minutes to plug back into my machine. Today, it's gone off the deep end; after trying to unplug and replug on the laptop end, the keyboard end, trying out different ports, connecting to a new laptop, it refuses to respond: the only thing it does is turn the caps lock key light on.
EDIT: I believe the cable they ship this keyboard out with is not the best. Turns out the issue was with the cable - nothing to do with the PCB.
All in all, it's a fun keyboard, but the gasket mount springiness is essentially nonexistent. I enjoy the slightly metallic, pingy sound. Outfitted with Aquaking switches and pudding keycaps.
I'd rate this a 5 star if it weren't for the issues that started today. After 5 days of perfection after assembling it, my PC no longer recognizes the keyboard no matter what cable I try. Based on IDOBAO support and conversation I've seen on their discord, it is more than likely PCB related. After waiting for a month for the drop, plus 2 weeks shipping, I have to do even more waiting with returning the product for a replacement via UPS Ground. Incredibly disappointed.
I love the clear acrylic and brass look. The LEDs are stupid bright.
I built mine with Kailh Box Jellyfish X switches (clicky) and XVX/Womier Clear Translucent Cherry Profile keycaps for that full transparent look.
It is gasket mounted, so it prevents any rattling between the plate and case, but the gaskets are quite stiff, so there's not really any flex or bounce. The sound is quite clacky. There really isn't any room to add any foam under the PCB. You might be able to get a thin sheet of PE foam in there, but I feel like that detracts from the aesthetics of this board.
Honestly, this is probably gonna be more of a display piece for me, but damn it's pretty!
This was the first keyboard I've had to completely assemble, and I think it looks and sounds great. Built it out with Durock V2 clear stabs, Gateron North Pole 50g switches, and DCX 9009 keycaps. Accents are made of Walnut.
My friends that aren't as into keyboards as I am, say it looks great. Even my wife says it looks great. Absolutely zero complaints here.
This kit was my first keeb build after digging through forums and seeing what was out there for a while and it did not disappoint! The first thing to say is whether you want the RGB on or off, it's going to be beautiful. The light comes through without being too bright, and the colors accentuate the keyboard perfectly. I combined this kit with the Matcha Keycaps, replaced the stabs with the 43 STUDIO RX78 Gold-Plated PCB Screw-Ins, and Kailh BOX Crystal Pink Clicky switches. I've been using this keeb for just over a year now and I can rightfully say it is worth every penny I spent to build it after coming from Razer Blackwidows over the years. If you're on the fence, jump for it, you won't regret it.