Got this for my 10 year old brother for Christmas. Had to introduce him to the mechanical keyboard world young!! All of his friends see his keyboard and have begged their parents for something similar lol. Good quality and value for the price.
For the price, it's a great little 65%-ish keyboard with fun effects and the sound of stacked acrylic vs. an aluminum case with space inside. I personally have discovered that I prefer a higher profile and having a plate with the cutouts for switches to be more secure, but for people who like lighting effects and are still figuring out what kind of switches and keycaps they like, with the exception of the odd-sized right shift which is an eternal problem with these smaller boards with the arrow cluster, this is a really great neutral setup for testing things out and types decently well with a little work as well.
Edited to specify that the right shift is 2U, which is particularly uncommon. A lot more sets include a 1.75U option. You can use other 2U keys, like the 0 from a numpad, but depending on the profile it might not be quite right. Would recommend sticking to a uniform profile like DSA if you change out the keycaps.
Yeah, the Astrolokeys will fit. One thing to note, though, is that the Astrolokeys Windows/System key is 1.25u and it looks like this keyboard has a 1u Windows/System key and 1u function key. In theory, this should not a problem (however personal preference may dictate otherwise) because the base kit of Astrolokeys has enough 1u keycaps left over to cover this 66 board (eg. insert, pgup, pgdn) with keycaps to spare for use on the system and function switches. Since the DSA profile is flat sculpt you can move the keys freely without worrying about the sculpt profile of the board.
Okay, but better values out there. Sockets not great.
It's not a bad keyboard for the price, but you can get better ones. It does look nice and seems very solid. One issue is that some of the switch sockets are very tight, whereas others are pretty loose.
This keyboard has every feature I could want in an entry level board. Hot swappable, lots of lights, but also looks good unlit. I like having a keypad, which this board does not have, but that is easily remedied by a macropad of some sort.
I bought this board about 8 months before writing this review as my first custom mechanical keyboard. I've really enjoyed the board and still regularly use it despite now having three (soon to be four) other boards that I've bought/built since. The build is has basically zero features besides housing the pcb, but the fully acrylic sandwich case/plate does lend itself to a deeper and less clacky tone, especially for a low case. I got Gat browns with the keyboard and they were about what I was expecting based on their description, but I have ended up currently with a set of factory lubed Baby Raccoons that feel right on the board. I used the stock keycaps for all of one single use before swapping them for something else. As many others have mentioned, the rgb on this board is BRIGHT and overall looks quite nice but I do wish there was a way to sync the underglow and key lighting zones. I usually end up setting one to a pattern and the other to a static color or just off altogether. At the sale price of $50 that I so commonly see this board at, I'd say it's a very easily justifiable purchase, especially if you're looking for a cheap hotswap board and don't mind looking past a lack of programmability.
a storng keybord for the price especilay with the yellow swiches as they are a verry solid for the price
the only thing that takes away from the board is that it is verry hard to find replacement keycaps as the 1 u fn key and the short shift are a pain
The loss of the F keys and some other functional keys was a change, but wasn't too hard to adjust from the function combination. As for my typing experience, it wasn't that bad. The stock feel and sound isn't too tinny or anything. The RGB light experience and different modes is always fun to use. Been using this keyboard for the past few months and enjoyed the experience. No problems present or noticeable. Build seems solid to me. Will order for a friend or will highly recommend.