Cheap $45 Mechanical Keyboard Round Up!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,773 words · ~8 min read
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I think I'm finally starting to understand you guys the numbers tell me
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that y'all really like cheap sh and your
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comments are giving me a slightly different version of the story one that
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I think I've also figured out you want to see the cheap stuff that's also the
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good stuff so we went looking for the
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least expensive keyboard on the market
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but one that is still fully mechanic mechanical and without
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any of that mechanical feel marketing
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Malarkey either so here we go then a
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Roundup of the nine cheapest true
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mechanical keyboards on Amazon
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enjoy the be quiet! dark Bass Pro 900s
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modular design supports a variety of different layouts and configurations
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click on the link in the video description to learn more first up is our audience's favorite
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brand apparently red dragon products
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have been flying off the shelves like
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fire since our last peripheral Roundup
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available here this is the red dragon
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k551 Vara the product page says it is
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built like a tank and actually we're
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inclined to agree it's Splash prooof and
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the exposed steel back plate is sturdy
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not to mention heavy AF it's got double
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shot injection key caps with a gamery
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but very readable Legend over top of what they describe as Cherry green
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equivalent switches but they both look and feel a lot more like blues if you
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ask me with that in mind then the typing experience is pretty good but the key
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caps are a little on the slippery side and keystrokes produce a metallic twang
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that like country music you'll either love or
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hate the backlight has a generous 10 steps of brightness including off but
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unfortunately only one effect breathing
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though an RGB version is available and
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there's an unlit one as well in case you want to save
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$2 owas Demon King is a 10 keyless with
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according to the Box its own branded owa
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mechanical Blue switches but it turns out that they're actually just Gaton
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blues and the diagram on their website is a ripoff of Razor's marketing
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materials for their razor green switches produced by Kale anywh who the keyboard
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itself is nice and heavy but with more deck Flex than other keyboards in our
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Roundup and typing is overall okay due
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in large part to the laser engraved key caps whose WID and raised Corners are
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debatably fine but whose keycap wobble
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is not the Dual Purpose keys have the symbols beside each other rather than
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stacked so the backlit version that we're assuming exists can illuminate
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both but on ours it's just kind of hard to read or funny my favorite keys are
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the 5% key and the
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one on that subject there's also an indicator light for numlock even though
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there's no number pad it's a decent board overall if you don't
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mind the annoyingly narrow Enter key since it uses the European ISO layout
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rather than the North American NY the next keyboard on our list isn't a
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mechanical keyboard at all it's the airox k500 Irina capova named after a
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Russian actress for some reason we're actually including this one just to
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highlight how easy it is for people with little experience with mechanical
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keyboards to order the wrong thing this
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one is in Amazon's mechanical keyboard
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category even though it uses scissor key
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switches for what it's worth though she feels a little cheap but she types
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pretty nice if you're into low profile switches if Apple made a mechanical
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keyboard aimed at Gamers with a rainbow
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LED scheme at okay it's not very Appley at all but the 10 keyless z77 from e-
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element is actually pretty sweet anyway it's otmu Blue switches are a little
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louder than Cherry MX Blues but otherwise they offer a very similar
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tactile experience and they also have
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some extra brackets around the cross that are supposed to increase stability
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but it should be added you won't be able to add your own sound dampening O-rings
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the build quality feels solid and even though the backlight colors can't be
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changed on this version it comes preloaded with nine effects that are
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easy to control with without the use of software finally I'm not sure if this is
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a good sign or not but they included a few extra key switches in the Box should
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the board's original PCB mounted switches fail so ugly gray cable aside
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this one is a great option and if you're
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looking for an even more compact version
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of the same try the 545 g e element z88
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super skolar all all the features and
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keys of the z77 but Smarter with a
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smaller footprint and bezeless design it
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actually has some other improvements too like a detachable cord Cable Management
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tracks and multiple backlight color
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choices but what if you want bigger and not smaller then there's the uh hey wait
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a tick no this one isn't for me element actually it says it's an eagletech
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kg011 one and yet it has a similar
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finish and the exact same Legend as the
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last two boards and that's the same
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legend that the red dragon keyboard was using too okay so budget keyboard part
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sourcing seems to be a little inbred but regardless this one is also a nice board
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with an icy blue backlight that can be set to breathing mode and a Corsair
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inspired metal back plate not to mention
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that like the others mentioned switchable WD and arrow keys are
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included in case you wear out one of the sets and now then for something
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completely different this thing is called the kissan or magic Force smart
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one depending on where you look it's our
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smallest keyboard with just 68 keys and
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weighing a mere 528 G the Blasted finish
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of the back plate belies its low price tag and it's even available with
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switches from Cherry Gaton or otmu for
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different feels what they all have in common though is that the function and
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number Keys which have been combined and
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a removable cord and media on the go adapter are all included to make it a
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very portable keyboard you might even consider taking this one to class since
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ours uses the quiet otmu black linear
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switches these have a similar feel to Cherry MX Reds the ones that are so
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common in gaming boards but quite a lot
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heavier okay now this 10 key actually is
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from e- element though it has a different Legend different key caps and
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even different stems the screws on this weird
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compartment on the bottom made us think that they might have put weights inside
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like a high-end gaming mouse but no all
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1,220 G of this puppy seem to be from
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the thick steel back plate it's got a
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bunch of lighting modes even though the backlight color can't be changed and if
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you're into that sort of thing it's probably our loudest keyboard in this
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Roundup overall not bad and it's the
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only one with an included wrist rest though with that said we couldn't find
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anyone whose wrists or even Palms actually touched it the dro grammar or
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gramar or caliber whatever it is is a
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lone wolf in many respects it's the old only board in our Roundup that uses
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Brown switches offering a happy medium between typing and gaming and apparently
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it helps you use every Spell correctly
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which okay it's also the only one with a
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braided cable embedded numpad and the
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ability to set up five of your own lighting schemes though the included
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effects are a fair bit cooler as for the
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cons the otherwise nice backlit double
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shot key caps have additional pad printing on the outside that looks
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blurry and cheap the casing is creaky and the caps lock key is illuminated
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when caps lock is off rather than on for some reason overall though we really
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liked its feel features and compact layout now then to hand out the trophies
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the magic Force definitely put a spell on me it's sturdy yet light and is
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available with a wide variety of
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different configs very ious key switches key counts and even backlights if you're
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looking for something big heavy and gamery though we ended up recommending
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red dragon again and I also personally
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thought that the e- element z77 was pretty well rounded with that said
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though the big surprise here is that none of these boards stands out as bad
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your mileage may vary though because at the low end of the market you don't get
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the same quality assurance program that you would from a major brand though at
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these prices there's the argument to be made that you could just pick up another
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one if it dies Blue Apron lets you create
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delicious chef-designed recipes at home
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by delivering all the farm fresh ingredients in exactly the right
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proportions to your doorstep no trips to
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the grocery store and no waste from unused ingredients they're delivered in
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a refrigerated box so even if you're not at home when your package arrives that's
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no problem and they Source from quality suppliers and Artisans they offer two
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types of plans the two-person plan and the family plan with each menu between
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500 to 800 calories per person all meals
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can be prepared in 40 minutes or less and there is no commitment you can skip
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or cancel the service at any time they
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offer a large selection of recipes and they're adding new dishes to their menu
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every week so so learn to make new recipes and Cuisines and get out of your
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dinner rud of making the same old dishes or relying on takeout the first 100
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people go go go will get three free meals on their first Blue Apron order
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using the link below so thanks for watching guys if you dislike this video
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you can hit that button if you liked it hit the like button get subscribed maybe consider checking out where to buy the
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stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description also down there is our
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t-shirt store where you can buy cool shirts like this one and our community Forum which you totally join