I Typed On a Concrete Keyboard—And Loved It

The stabilizers are PCB-mounted, which is preferable to the everyday plate-mounted models that many keyboards use, and are lubricated from the manufacturing unit. The lube on these stabilizers, whereas a bit extreme (there have been small clumps of lube seen on the skin housings, which isn’t typical), feels nice. The stabilized keys are easy and constant, with no audible rattling or sticking when typing.

However because it seems, the best draw back of this keyboard is, additionally, the fabric alternative. As a lot as unsealed, uncooked concrete is quirky and enjoyable, it’s finally a utilitarian materials: It’s heavy, has an inconsistent texture, and stains simply. Throughout my time with this keyboard, it gathered fairly a few smudges and stains, almost all of which had unknown-to-me origins. Possibly they got here from cleansing sprays, or from one thing on my arms, however I actually don’t have any clue. Relying in your perspective, this may be a flaw or a bonus. What some think about soiled, others will see as “patina.” However as somebody who likes preserving their electronics squeaky-clean for so long as attainable, it’s positively a little bit of a bummer to me.

(Being concrete, I would assume there are dozens of the way to get almost any stain out of this keyboard, resembling a energy washer or a can of brake cleaner. Nonetheless, I didn’t have the gumption to attempt it out for myself, and as such, I can’t assure that it’s attainable.)

Gaming on Granite

Regardless of my a number of complaints about Keychron’s all-ceramic keyboard, I was nonetheless keen on the Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) switches inside. They had been revolutionary, useful, and novel, with notable benefits over commonplace Corridor Impact (HE) switches. Due to that, I was shocked to see this keyboard going again to straightforward HE switches. They’re nonetheless nice switches, after all, however going again to an inferior choice for a equally distinctive keyboard doesn’t fairly make sense to me.

Regardless, these switches are nonetheless spectacular by some other commonplace of comparability. They really feel easy, have a cheap weight, snap again shortly when pressed. This keyboard each feels good to sort on, and is responsive sufficient for gaming, particularly with the 1,000 Hz polling charge.

{Photograph}: Henri Robbins