So I got these 2 keyboards to build for the Keyboard Treehouse. And I have these switches
to review for Drop, like ASAP, so this is perfect, you don’t often get the chance
to be able to compare switches in the exact same keyboard, and these switches will go
right up against the Holy Panda’s, which are some of the most desirable tactile switches
out there.
How cool are these cases by the way, comes with the boards. Nice hard shells. CannonKeys
branded zippers. And just super practical. Everything is fully protected, and you get
a carry case.
So I have 2. The navy blue one is just a one off sort of colour, but the green is the special
Keyboard Treehouse edition.
And let’s take em apart.
Here’s the bottom aluminium piece. Finish on the inside is flawless. We have some alignment
holes on the outside, with the two centre holes being for the brass weight.
The top piece is much of the same, but with the protrusions that match the alignment holes
on the bottom piece.
The plate is made from 1.5mm brass, and again the finish is flawless on the top and bottom
surfaces. But on the outside edge, there’s some dark spots, and one of the corners was
a little off, but none of that really matters.
And finally the 3mm brass weight, which comes in at 259 grams. Nice simple rectangle, and
I guess they had to be exterior screws because of how thin it is.
So the switches I need to review are these Everglide Dark Jade Black switches from Drop,
which have also been called Moyu switches I believe. And they pretty much go up against
the Holy Panda’s, being a super tactile MX style switch.
Specs wise, quite similar. 67g bottom out, so medium sort of weight. The travel is a
tiny bit shorter though as it has a longer stem pole. I’ve been told they have a POM
stem and PBT housings, supposedly. One really really cool addition is that they’re 5 pin,
with the 2 extra plastic prongs which friction fit into the PCB. So you can do plateless
or half plate builds now. And the stem legs are lightly lubed, but it looks to be pretty
thin.
And they start at about a buck each, so even the price is just about the same.
Let’s just do a dry build for now without lubing the switches, so I’m not gonna solder
these in, and then I’ll record the sound.
Here’s the smol PCB, it supports 5 pin MX style switches and 2 pin through hole LEDs.
And there’s a bunch of tiny SMD LEDs all around the edge.
So this is a top mount board, meaning that the plate screws to the top aluminium piece,
and the PCB is held in by the switches.
Super quick listen, but we’ll come back to this later.
Alright, this time I’ll actually solder it, and I lubed all the switches with Christo
MCG111, and oiled the springs. As said, the legs were already lubed. For the most part,
so I’d say 90% 95% of them, the lube was fine, and confined to just the legs. But some
there was too much and it spread. But I felt that it didn’t make a huge difference in
feel as it was pretty thin.
I didn’t show it before, but the stab cutouts are superrrr tight for these C3 screw ins.
Like without shaving anything off the stabs or the plate, you really gotta force it down
hard.
And here they are, super cute, love how they look. So this is V2 of the TMO by Funderburker
and CannonKeys and being The Middle One, it’s a 50% board. Physically, it’s actually longer
than a 60% because we do have these macro keys on the left, but shorter in height, as
we don’t have the number row.
But yeh 50%, so that’s relative to a traditional full size 100%. Percentages by the way aren’t
exact or anything, it’s kind of tough to understand at first, there’s no like real
solid standards, and they’re derived from other percentages.
But anyway, I already struggle with using a 60%, without my dedicated arrow keys, and
even the function row at times. So as you can imagine, losing the number row is just
sooo tough for me. This is QMK and VIA compatible by the way, so fully customisable which is
a necessity with these sort of boards. I use numbers a bunch, along with my mouse as well,
so I don’t have both hands on the board simultaneously when doing that sort of work,
and to access these other functions, you kinda need to do that, and that’s the beauty of
it. Everything is within reach via layers. There’s minimal hand movement, and if you
can get away with that, then that is actually amazing. But I can’t really do this justice
as it does require time,I don’t have to get used to it, and figure out what’s best
for me.
And that’s what’s so cool about custom mechs. You have the freedom to get something
that suits you and your needs. And while it doesn’t suit me, I know a bunch of people
that daily this, so clearly it’s usable.
The board itself is stunningly crafted. Fit and finish is close to perfect, just a little
rough on the edges of the plate, again, doesn’t matter. Both come in at just over 1.2kg. That’s
about the weight of a classic retail full size board with a steel plate. So it packs
a punch at this tiny size.
It doesn’t stray too far from the original design with this pronounced chamfer at the
front which gives it its signature look. It has a 7 degree typing angle, and a very clean
side profile.
The brass weight is a nice premium touch and again, just nice and simple. And I really
like the TMO logo. It’s kinda soft and playful, not too serious, and just feels right to me.
Alright, let’s get back to the switches. There’s a couple versions of the Holy Pandas.
Unfortunately I don’t have complete stock ones. The ones I put in the blue board have
been used, have the OG Panda housings, I think they have different springs, and are lightly
lubed with Christo MCG111.
I also have some from Drop’s batch that were factory lubed before.
First off, all of em, super tactile for an MX style switch. The bump is right at the
top, very pronounced, and nicely rounded, and therefore give a very similar experience
and sensation.
Based purely on what I have, which is a small sample size, the Dark Jades feel cleaner,
with less scratch and therefore the tactile bump feels a little sharper. They’re very
close though. Maybe it’s that longer pole and shorter travel on the Everglides that
give it that impression. There’s not much empty space after the bump where you do feel
a bit of scratch on the HPs. But cleaner and sharper would be my main takeaway words. And
lubing just dials everything back a touch, and does remove that little bit of ping from
the springs.
Let’s listen to the boards.
Very loud switches. It sounds like the stock Dark Jades are the loudest, again very clean.
Not a great comparison though, my apologies. The lubed Dark Jades feel and sound amazing
though, but I think I went a little heavier with the lube than what’s on the HPs.
So to me, they’re very similar in feel. With what I have, the Dark Jades feel cleaner
and sharper in the bump, and I do prefer them. Newer batches of HPs from Drop may feel different
to what I have, I don’t know. It may all be quite negligible, but at the end of the
day, they both feel amazing, peak tactile performance, and it is a really good clone
in my opinion, and has the added advantage of being 5 pin, although doesn’t have SMD
LED support.
As for the board itself. Being quite small, there’s not much room for any flex, so it’s
pretty solid, therefore the bottom out is solid as well; being a little hard. But for
these kind of switches, I actually like that.
And that’s the TMOv2. We’ve been able to secure 10 of these special edition green
coloured ones on the KeyboardTreehouse.com. This colour wasn’t part of the original
run. I’m not getting anything from this by the way, so don’t worry. But just for
those who may be interested, use code TAEKEYBOARDS in the link below. But warning, this is a
custom keyboard, so it is pretty pricey.