The tenkeyless keyboard has been an iconic layout and has been quite synonymous with
modern mechanical keyboards.
And in my opinion, it is a timeless one.
So today we’re going to check out one of the longstanding TKL boards in the market,
the VA87M from Varmilo.
A big thanks to mwave.com.au for providing this keyboard for review, and for their continued
support, and I’ll put the links in the description.
As said, this is tenkeyless keyboard, and this one has a completely standard ANSI layout,
although Varmilo do make ISO versions, with language specific keycaps which is awesome.
And a tenkeyless keyboard of course is just missing the numpad, so if a numpad is important
to you, then it may not be for you, but you could always get a separate one.
But by giving up the numpad, you gain a lot of lateral space, and while it may not look
like that much, it’s very noticeable with everyday use, and allows us to bring our mouse
closer to the centre for a more ergonomic experience.
This keyboard comes in so many different colours with its outer case and keycaps.
But the one I have here is perhaps the most stealthy configuration.
The case is made from plastic, but it has an almost metallic appearance, with a bit
of sparkle, almost looking like a dark metallic grey.
And there’s a very slight texture to the surface.
It’s quite an interesting design that I haven’t come across in other reviews.
It’s like a floating key design, meaning that the mounting plate is the top surface,
with the keyswitches exposed from the sides, but it isn’t as much as a traditional floating
key keyboard.
Here we have the plastic top shell acting as a cover, but it doesn’t rise to enclose
the keyswitches like most other keyboards.
So it only comes up about 1.9mm above the plate surface.
And this allows for a very minimal bezel around the keyboard.
The sides only go 3mm past the keycaps, while the top and bottom have about 5mm.
The keycaps match the enclosure being black on dark grey.
And I love this look, it’s very subdued, and the legends are perfectly legible to me
in normal lighting conditions.
But with the lights off, it does get a bit hard to see with just the monitor acting as
light.
The legends themselves have a nice simple typeface to them, and are also slightly italic.
And their quite sharp as they are dye sublimated, so they’ll be very durable over time.
Looking at the side profile and it does have a slight inclination to it, and because of
that near floating key design, the case itself is quite slim.
We can also see the pretty much Cherry profile keycaps that Varmilo use on all of their keyboards.
It’s a very popular profile, and is very comfortable to use in my opinion.
On the bottom we have some flat rubber feet for non slip, and two flip up feet that are
also nicely rubber tipped.
And we have our mini USB port in the centre, with cable routing channels.
Taking off the keycaps and these are a nice 1.4mm thick, and are made from PBT plastic,
which should be quite shine resistant over time.
And underneath the keycaps, this one in particular comes with Cherry MX Speed Silver keyswitches,
but it does come in all the other varieties of course.
These switches are intended for and marketed towards gamers, and are a linear keyswitch,
meaning that they have no tactile bump, and are smooth all the way down.
These have a total travel distance of 3.4mm, rather than the normal 4mm.
And have an actuation distance of 1.2mm, rather than the normal 2mm.
And the actuation force is 45g.
So they feel very similar to Cherry MX Red’s, but just bottom out earlier, so you have to
get used to that.
So the logic behind this is simple.
First of all a linear keyswitch has no obstructions and allows for easier and faster repetitive
actions.
The shorter distances will then contribute more to that.
And the light actuation force of 45g will again, make actions quicker and easier, in
theory.
All these factors are very minimal, but all together, it does create a switch that in
theory is better for gaming.
Whether it makes a difference to you, I’m not so sure.
I can game with any switch with no problem, but I’m not a pro or anything, but objectively,
it is a keyswitch that requires a lesser amount of effort to press, and will be ever so slightly
by a tiny amount, quicker to actuate and reset.
In my personal experience and opinion, I do like gaming with these.
It is easier on my fingers, and I do feel like I am slightly faster.
It may be a placebo effect, but I definitely feel less sluggish, in comparison to say a
Cherry MX Blue board.
But I am loving how it feels on this keyboard.
These Varmilo keyboards have been really impressive in how they feel.
They’re very full in how they feel, where another keyboard can feel more hollow and
not as dense.
And that also goes for how it sounds as well.
Just sounding more solid and deeper in comparison to others, and we’ll see why later.
The stabilisers on here are amazing, and contribute to that feeling.
These are genuine Cherry stabs, and are generously lubed, and perhaps overlubed.
But they make for amazingly smooth and soft feeling stabilisers that are often not the
case with majority of off the shelf mechanical keyboards.
Other little things.
We have some media control keys on the F7 for F12 keys, which is accessible via the
FN key.
We can also lock the Windows key, by pressing Fn with Windows.
And that’s pretty much it.
There’s no customisability, or programmability, or any dip switches.
What you see, is what you get.
Taking the keyboard apart is pretty easy by unscrewing a couple of Philips head screws,
and then releasing
the plastic tabs.
Alright so here’s the plastic top shell, and it is the thinnest and most flimsiest
piece I’ve come across.
But that’s only because of its low profile design, and when paired with the metal plate,
it doesn’t really matter.
The bottom shell is also pretty slim, but does have some ribbing on the bottom surface
for reinforcement.
Although the most important part is this piece of foam here.
This piece of foam is what makes the keyboard feel so good to type on, and also makes it
sound better.
It’s using a sturdy and standard 1.5mm thick steel mounting plate which is bent at the
front and back.
The PCB is very clean, and this specific keyboard did not come with LEDs, however as seen, most
of them are available with LEDs.
But since they are the same PCB you can easily solder in your own lighting, as I did with
this, but is of course not RGB compatible.
And as we can see, these are south facing LEDs, meaning that the LEDs are on the bottom,
rather than top, and this ensures that the keycaps do not hit the LEDs.
However the combination of south facing LEDs and the fact that the keyswitches are exposed,
this means that at an angle, the LEDs are visible.
This isn’t really an issue with normal use, as when you’re over the top of it, you can’t
really see them.
But when you step away from it, the LEDs are blaringly there, and on full brightness, they
are quite blinding.
So I like to keep mine on the lowest setting.
Overall, this is a wonderful choice for a tenkeyless keyboard.
All of these recent keyboards that I’ve checked out from Varmilo have all genuinely
felt so nice to type on.
There’s been a noticeable difference between the Varmilo keyboards and many of the other
mainstream brands.
And I think this is mainly attributed to the solid Cherry profile keycaps, the very smooth
and generously lubed stabilisers, and of course the foam on the underside of the PCB.
I feel that these implementations together create such a pleasant and satisfying typing
experience.
This may seem overwhelmingly positive, but many other keyboards feel hollow in comparison.
There’s nothing really bad to say about it.
I guess the top shell not surrounding the keyswitches isn’t for everyone, and you
perhaps would like a high profile design instead, but that’s just an aesthetic thing.
And there’s no customisability or programmability or any software, but at the same time does
keep things simple as well.
But all in all, I found it very enjoyable to use.
I feel that this is a benchmark in retail tenkeyless keyboards that are widely available
for a reasonable price, with another option being the Leopold TKL boards.
There’s also Filco, but they’re a bit more expensive.
Thanks again to mwave.com.au for providing this keyboard for review, and I’ll put the
links in the description if you want to check it out.
And also a big thanks to Varmilo for being a sponsor of the last Sydney Mechanical Keyboard
Meetup.