Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
Consider this a Preview Review, as I have yet to build this keyboard together with a friend. For now I did just a parts check and tested the PCB, I will be stern as this is a Premium product, but some of the stuff feels a bit cheaped out on.
Okay, so my keyboard arrived in an ambigious cardboard box for protection, sadly most of the airpackets were deflated I found out when opening the box, but the Planck kit is packed well, so should be able to handle some shaking.
The parts are complete in my delivery, no missing caps, screws or any other part. I dry-fitted almost everything, my switches fit snug and proper in the plate, and it fits inside the case fine. PCB was also connected and tested, booted fine, interesting noises the speaker made, I first thought it was glitching, but it's rythmic and it sounds like super short checking ticks before the start-up beeps after listening again. Touched the contacts to test if it would register too, and it did, successfully 'typed' a few letters in Notepad this way.
Time to get critical! A few things did bother me a little, first and foremost, did that stock cable have to be so thick and/or the opening in the case so small? It can't fit in the opening at all. I do not plan on using it as I have a custom cable, but this just seems silly. My custom cable does also have some play sadly, but might be fixable.
Second issue, alu screws, they're as good as non-magnetic, which is going to make installing a bit of a pain. Seriously, don't cheap out on this, what's it going to save, a buck? I'll happily pay that!
Third issue, my case has a few pretty serious scratches on the inside, as if the PCB was test-fitted up-side-down and the USB connector scratches the inside pretty badly as it's perfectly opposite of the opening for it. There's also a few scratches in the middle of the inside. They might be visible later if looking between the keys, not a show-stopper, but it might irk me, and is just bad. (They're deep enough to penetrate the coating visibly.)
Fourth, the screws seem quite short, but it doesn't seem to pose a problem at all. What does feel like a minor one is that the holes on the PCB are waaaay bigger than the diameter of the screws, the heads don't risk falling through, but it might give some play if they're not fastened tightly, will see if this will be an issue once assembled.
Fifth and last, the Spacebar, it seems like the other keys as the top is not round but a dip, so the sharp edge might keep poking in my thumb when typing.
To finish, some things that surprised me pleasantly, the case and mid-plate, solid, heavy, feel very premium. The sleeve feels superb, very tough on the outside, and stupidly soft on the inside. The caps are thick, very thick, and the texture feels super pleasant, I really like them so far. Stabilizer is included, I wasn't sure, but it saves hunting one down, not sure yet if it's the best quality yet, however. Though the cable end is too broad on the keyboard end, it's braided, pretty decent. Finally, the box shows the standard layout on the bottom, and has links and instructions printed on the inside.
That's it so far, I'm glad mine seems to be okay so far, but the quality feel is missing here and there, there's quite a few small blunders and issues. Reading the comments, I did dodge the most severe ones, but didn't come out without a scratch either, literally.
built
Also isn't steel cheaper than alumium?