Nice build.Asian Warlord wrote:
GK61X RGB with a panda keycaps
I was suppose to change the switches on my old keyboard but that keyboard played a prank on me. When I bought the old keyboard it said that it was "HOT-SWAPPABLE", so my dumbass went ahead buying it without reading any review on it nor watch any videos on it until last week when my switches arrived.
I was so happy while I was working that day, so after work I could swap them out. When I got home I went on discord and vc with Shinrun. I was pulling so hard on it that I got so pissed and gave up and said "why is it so hard to pull out?!" and he replied and said "Your pull out game is weak, that's why." It pissed me even more.
Then I pinged Penguin and Tad on the OT!NEOS discord server. Then Penguin told me that I bought it before they released the hotswap version. My face went from happiness to blank.
So the next day (last week) I bought this keyboard and today it arrived and it feels so nice. I'm really satisfied with this purchase.The Total cost was $156 both the switches and the Keyboard + Keycaps.Sound Test
Thank you for your time.
Aesthetics wise, it looks okay I guess. Personally, I'm not a fan of the Panda keycaps, but I don't think they're a bad looking keycap set either. I think the GK61 case itself isn't a very aesthetically pleasing case since they have a very thin bezel. But yeah, it's not a bad looking keyboard either.
Although aesthetics is very subjective, even more so than other categories so don't take my critics too seriously.
This board uses a 60% form factor, which is a very small "space saving" layout. It basically removes the numpad, Nav cluster and the F keys row so you're left with only the alpha block.
I personally don't like 60%, but a lot of people really loves the layout.
Nothing much to comment about build quality. It's pretty standard. The plastic case is a bit flimsy and thin, but since the board have a metal mounting plate, it's still sturdy enough.
The keycaps are made out of dye subbed PBT, which is a high quality printing method so they're going to be very durable. The font is pretty clean as well. Although one thing to point out that, dye sublimation only works well when using a darker coloured dye onto a brighter coloured surface. Which is why on the dark grey modifiers, the legends are black, which isn't a very contrasting colour and it's pretty hard to see the legends. Although it's only the modifiers so it's not too bad. iirc, the black model of the Realforce keyboard uses a dye subbed black PBT keycap set, which might as well be blanks lol.
Kailh BOX Jades are a clicky switches with a very big and satisfying tactile bump.
They're from the BOX line of switches, and I think they're excellent switches.
The click, although louder than MX blue and it's clones, sounds a lot more metallic, sharp and satisfying. It still can be too loud or annoying to some people. But I'd take Kailh BOX Jades sounds over Cherry MX blues any day. MX blues are rattly, high pitched, grainy and plasticky, and not at all a pleasant sound.
Especially with the keycap set you're using, the Jades sounds pretty nice and deep.
The Gk61, or at least the newer models - have the ability to be changed into a split spacebar, which is a nice addition if you're into split spacebar or you want an extra button to work with. One popular layout I've seen people doing is that they make the left side spacebar a spacebar, but the right side is the backspace key.
Overall, quite a nice board.
6.7/10