If you’re new to the custom hot swappable mechanical keyboard scene or just want to get new keycaps for your existing keyboard, you will need to make sure you’re getting compatible keycaps. Don’t just grab any keycap set that you can find! It can actually be tricky and you may end up missing some keys or have keys that don’t fit if you have a non-standard layout.
Some third party keycap makers don’t list all of their keycap sizes or are missing keys for non-standard layouts. Non-standard layouts found in 60 and 75 percent keyboards would have a shorter right shift key and shorter bottom row keys. I found that full sized and TKL layouts with 1.25U bottom row keys are the easiest to find keycaps for.
Mostly used on many gaming keyboardsMost common on standard mechanical keyboardsMostly used on gaming keyboards
Keyboards with a shorter right shift, ALT, FN, CTRL keys are harder to find custom keycap sets for. It’s not impossible, but you need to put in more work to find a compatible keycaps. I would rather avoid all the hassle and just get a standard keyboard.
I highly recommend getting keyboards using the most common layout below because you will be able to find keycap sets so much easier than non-standard layouts. They are usually full sized and TKL keyboards.
Notice how all the keys besides the spacebar are 1.25U in size
If you don’t mind having a smaller selection of custom keycaps for non-standard layouts or just like more compact layouts, that’s totally fine! Everyone has their preference at the end of the day.
Who is Royal Kludge? What company are they and what do they do? From what I can gather on their website, they are a Chinese computer peripherals manufacturer of primarily keyboards. Their name derives from Royal as in royalty/nobility and Kludge as in assembly equipment. They also make their own RK brand of switches, gaming headsets, mice and wrist rests. I could not find where their headquarters are, most likely somewhere in China obviously, but they do have a US location and online store located in Las Vegas. They also have an Amazon store front which is where I got mine from. RK seems to make quality keyboards and could become a well known brand as this is the first time I have heard of them. I am in no way affiliated nor sponsored by Royal Kludge. I got this on my own and all opinions are mine alone.
Features
The RK Royal Kludge RK84 is a great budget entry into the hot swappable mechanical keyboard segment. You can find this keyboard on Amazon for $64 at the time of this post. It packs a lot of value for its feature set.
Checkout the summary of features below:
Hot swappable mechanical keyboard
75% keyboard layout / 84 keys
Full RGB in all keys and has programmable per key lighting
Includes RK brand switches with your choice of blue, brown or red switches
3 or 5 pin compatible switches
Comes in black or white
There is a removable frame so you can have an embedded or floating keycap style look
3 modes of connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, wireless 2.4GHz dongle, USB-C
3750mAh battery
Has 2 built-in USB type A pass-through ports
What is included in the box:
RK84 keyboard
2.4GHz dongle
2 Magnetic pad feet
2-in-1 Keycap and Switch puller
4 replacement switches
USB-C to Type A cable
Manual
Why did I chose this keyboard? Mainly because I wanted a quieter keyboard with red switches. I was using a Logitech G710 with blue switches. While I liked the clicky tactile keys for about 7 years, I finally got tired of the loudness and it was tiring for my fingers when gaming. The G710 has unswappable switches so I decided to look into hot swappable mechanical keyboards. I wanted something more compact, wireless and under $100. This fit the bill well and stood out amongst the competition in its price range.
So let’s get this straight, you get a fully hot swappable RGB wireless keyboard that has USB-C with 2 built-in USB ports and is also moddable?! And you get all of that for under $70! What a great bang for the buck!
Revision Improvements
Pretty much all of the features listed above are the pros and the value you’re getting out of it. There are some revision improvements that needs to be mentioned like the now included foam padding inside the keyboard that was not present in earlier batches. I got mine on July 18, 2022 and saw another review mentioning that foam padding was included around April 2022. The foam padding greatly improves the “thoccyness” and makes typing sound less hollow. That’s one less thing to mod and it adds a bit of value to the keyboard.
Foam now included!
2.4GHz Dongle
The wireless connection on the 2.4GHz dongle also seemed to be improved as I’ve heard that the signal distance was poor on earlier reviews and that they needed to be within less than a feet/30cm in order to have a strong connection, but I did not have any connection issues within a few feet from my testings.
There’s a neat feature for storing the 2.4GHz dongle underneath the keyboard. The dongle attaches magnetically and is confidently strong enough to be held in place.
Attaches magnetically!
USB Ports
The fact that there’s 2 built-in USB A ports is a nice bonus. The keyboard acts as a hub for those ports. You can charge your phone or use thumb drives there for example. The USB-C port is for connecting the keyboard to the PC for wired use and for charging the keyboard.
Not many keyboards include 2 extra USB ports
Hot Swappable Switches
My main sought after feature of this keyboard is the ability to hot swap switches. Finding a hot swappable keyboard in the $60-70 range is a great budget entry level. More premium keyboards can go from $150-200 or more.
The RK84 is compatible with 3 or 5 pin switches and has north facing LEDs. South facing LEDs would have been preferred for the better compatibility of cherry profile keycaps, but at least the RGB will shine through the keys better.
You get a choice of red, blue or brown switches. I’m unable to confirm who makes their switches but I’ve heard they use TTK switches. I went with red switches for gaming and the low noise. The switches are not lubed but the stabilizers are. There’s a scratchy sound and definitely could use some lubing which I plan to do.
Keycaps
The keycaps are doubleshot ABS. I would have preferred PBT keycaps. They feel nice at first but I’m already seeing signs of wear after two weeks of use, but what’s great is that they keys can be swapped with another set of keycaps.
RGB and Software
There is per key RGB lighting on every key on the keyboard. There is a caveat though, you will need to use RK’s software which isn’t great but still usable. The UI is not intuitive and can be iffy. You need to have the keyboard connected by USB in order to customize your settings. You can cycle through the lighting effects using wireless though. The brightness level isn’t the brightest but is adequate enough to see the legends on the keys. I think it would be better if the brightness can go higher when in corded mode.
Battery
There is a 3750mAh battery which I think is decent. I’ve seen smaller and larger batteries in other keyboards so I guess this is middle ground. I have not tested the battery life so I cannot really comment on it but from what I can gather, you can get about a weeks worth depending on rgb lighting use. The battery is detachable which is great for repairablilty.
Accessories
The included keycap/switch puller combo is a great accessory. It’s not one of those cheap plastic ones.
The USB-C to USB-A cable is a must have and I’m glad it isn’t micro USB. The cable quality is good but a bit stiff. The cable is 5 feet /1.5 m in length.
There are 4 extra switches which is nice to have.
The foot pads are magnetic and hold on securely but I would prefer the flip out feet so that I don’t have to worry about losing them. Without the magnetic feet, the keyboard sits pretty stable and does not shift around easily.
Thoughts and Conclusion
The RK84 is a great budget hot swappable mechanical keyboard. It’s solidly built and compact. It’s a good keyboard for beginner enthusiasts but with one big glaring exception. There just isn’t a good selection of keycaps for non-standard keyboard layouts. Finding keycap sets for 75% layout has been challenging. The smaller right Shift, Alt, FN and Ctrl keys are what make it difficult to find. You have to be very careful to make sure all the keys are compatible and many listings don’t list the sizings on all of their keys or is hard to determine from the pictures. That is a big enough con to make me want to return the keyboard and find another with a standard layout. It’s unfortunate since I do like the RK84 but I will either wait for better keycap set availability or stick with a standard keyboard layout like a TKL. The search for my endgame keyboard continues.
I got interested in portable chargers since I got a bike and needed a way to keep my phone charged. How much charging did I need? Can it fit in the tiny saddle bag that I got? I decided to get the Anker PowerCore 5000 and
Jackery Mini Premium 3350mAh portable chargers to see which suits my needs best. Continue reading →
Greetings fellow Terrans, today I am reviewing the Joby GP1-A1EN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod! It was purchased on Amazon for $11.30 at the time. When it came in, I expected nice clean fancy packaging found in high end cell phones but instead met with a cheap plastic shell and cardboard backing found in cheap toys. Cheap plastic toy also came to mind when I first laid hands on the Gorillapod tripod because it was so light! I feared if it would even hold my super compact Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS. Maybe my expectations were too high after reading so many positive reviews? Don’t jump to conclusions with first impressions. After giving some time to test out the tripod, I came away impressed with its function and creative uses. The Gorillapod is actually made of high quality plastic and rubber despite its initial light cheap feel. The flexible legs is the key selling point and they do an excellent job in wrapping itself around many oddly shaped objects. I did not find any loose joints and felt confident that the tripod will last for years but only time will tell. The rubberized rings on each joint greatly increase gripping power while the larger feet ensures that the tripod is firmly grounded when being used as a standard tripod. Continue reading →
After a week of delay, the announcement of the Galaxy Nexus is finally here. I’m curious to see if the phone will have a removable battery cover and if there’s a microSDHC slot. I’m really liking the new features that Google has added, such as the face recognition unlock and zero shutter lag camera. Now the question is, am I really tempted to get this? To a certain extent, yes. But not on the scale when the Nexus One was announced. This feels more of a spec bump along with an OS update. I guess my expectations were too high and was disappointed in Google’s decision to go with a 1.2GHz CPU instead of a 1.5GHz. Sure it’s only a 300MHz difference, but Google was supposed to set a new bar on what phones should be. Another question I have is what kind of graphics does the Galaxy Nexus have. I have not heard of any mention of Nvidia’s Tegra at all and that’s also a disappointment. Now I notice that the power button is on the right side, okay I don’t mind that so far. Then the headset jack is now on the bottom right next to the micro USB port, I’m not so sure if I like that spot. I hold the phone in portrait mode primarily when listening to music and I’m thinking that the headset jack will make the phone more difficult to hold. I should be fine when watching video in landscape mode though since viewing can be on either side. What about Samsung’s trademark hump on the bottom of their Galaxy phones? Will it be comfortable to hold and give a good grip?
The back cover does come off a la Galaxy S series and there will be no microSD card slot 😦 . That’s a pity. I sure hope 16GB or 32GB will be enough storage in the long run. To be fair, 16GB is a ton of internal storage for my app needs considering that I came from a Nexus One which came with a meager 512MB internal storage and not being able to move all apps to SD sucked. Also, uploading photos with Google+ immediately after pics are taken is an excellent feature for social media sharing and backup purposes, who needs storage when it’s all already uploaded?
The Nexus One has USB mode, which acts as an external drive when plugged in. However, the transfer speeds were terribly slow. I really hope that the Galaxy Nexus will have fast file transfer speeds because that would be the only reliable method to transfer files. There are wifi file transfer apps available on the Android Market, but the reliability isn’t great and files get cut in the middle of a transfer.
Mumbling Mithinco 