Budget mechanical keyboards are an important segment of the market, as mechanical keyboards
can be very expensive.
And as the market grows, the options grow, and we start to see less normal form factors
become more accessible.
So today we check out one of those options, and this is the MantisTek GK3-61 bluetooth
mechanical keyboard.
Opening up the box, and we have the keyboard itself.
We have a small user manual, and warranty card.
And finally in the back we get a micro USB cable.
So here’s the keyboard, and first impressions in the hands and it’s decent, taking into
consideration that it’s a plastic case.
There’s minimal flex as it has an internal steel plate, and of course it’s small size.
And it comes in at about 570g, which is about the same as the Anne Pro 60% keyboard.
As this is a budget 60% board, naturally we’re going to draw a lot of comparisons to the
Anne Pro, so that will be scattered throughout the video.
As said, this does have a plastic enclosure which only comes in black.
One of the cool things about the Anne Pro was that it came in several colours, like
my yellow one here.
The case is very simplistic, with a typical 60% plastic case design, having minimal bezels,
being high profile, so that the keyswitches are hidden away, and it has a slight natural
inclination to it, as it does not have any flip up feet.
The finish of the plastic on the sides is quite smooth, and has a kind of satin finish
that has a sheen, and it kind of does pick up fingerprints, but it’s not bad.
Although the rim of the case is in this glossy finish which I personally don’t like.
It just makes the plastic look cheaper and unrefined in my opinion.
But then on the bottom we have a more traditional rougher textured plastic finish which looks
better in my opinion, and just feels better, so I wish they’d just gone with that all
over.
Also on the bottom we have our 4 flat rubber feet for non-slip.
And we also get an on / off switch which is something the Anne Pro didn’t have.
And finally on the rear we have our micro-USB port.
Back to the top, and this is of course a 60% keyboard, so it is basically the main area
of your keyboard, with 61 keys.
So in order to squeeze in all the other keys and functionality, we have layers.
On the top layer we have what you see, which of course are the most used keys, with the
alphas, numbers, and modifiers.
However one key distinction that the MantisTek goes with, are that these keys here are the
arrow keys.
And this is on the default layer, whereas usually they’re on the secondary layer.
Although we can switch between the arrow keys, or the normal keys, by pressing FN plus right
shift, and then it will be more like a standard 60%.
Now this is where it gets messy.
As we can see there are basically 3 functions on this key here.
We have the up arrow, forward slash, and the question mark, but there are only 2 layers.
So to use the forward slash, we press FN plus slash.
But to use the question mark, we press left shift, FN, and question mark.
And yes, that is left shift, not right, which is such an awkward combo to execute.
However, after updating the firmware, which is a necessity to install the software, this
is fixed, by now having right shift plus question mark, being the new combo.
Another perspective is for new 60% users.
Not having dedicated arrow keys can be a pretty bad thing for some people.
That includes myself.
I really do love my dedicated arrow keys, and is one of the main reasons why I avoid
using 60% keyboards, and prefer something like 65%.
So I actually quite enjoyed having the arrow keys there, but this is something you can
pretty much do on all 60% keyboards through their programming.
As for the other keys, we have the function row on the number row as per usual.
And the nav cluster, which consists of insert, home, delete, and all that, is all on the
right side of the keyboard.
We also have our lighting controls, as this is of course an RGB keyboard.
So we have brightness up and down.
Also speed control.
We can change the colour of the effect.
And to go through all the effects, we press FN and pipe.
I’m actually quite impressed with the lighting.
It’s vibrant and colourful, and it is proper RGB, so the transitions between colours is
smooth, unlike some budget boards which have like 5 colours that don’t mix.
There is desktop software to this keyboard, rather than the sketchy phone app that the
Anne Pro used.
However late last year MantisTek were caught having a keylogger on their GK2 keyboard,
which apparently sent the number of keypresses registered on the keyboard, rather than actually
recording what you type.
That still wasn’t a cool move, regardless of their potential pure intent in perhaps
measuring performance.
And to download the software, you have to go to the banggood product page, and it’s
also not the most legit thing, as it’s just on Google drive.
But here it is and it’s very standard and self explanatory.
First we can have different profiles for different key layouts.
And then here we can customise each key, with all these options here.
However, it only allows you to customise that top layer.
And people who have a 60% or small form factor keyboards know that you do need more than
that.
There’s no real point in customising that top layer, as for the most part, you’re
going to use the keys as they are.
Because you’re not going to change the letters or the numbers, and pretty much anything else.
We still of course have our other profiles, but you can only switch to them via the software.
And unfortunately, that’s just a real limitation.
You need to be able to at least customise the secondary layer, but if you like the layout
how it is, then I guess it’s fine.
And of course we have our lighting customisation area, with all the normal stuff.
The keycaps are backlit to allow the light to shine through.
And the typeface or font is clean for backlit caps.
These are also easily replaceable with any MX keycap set, as this does have a completely
standard ANSI layout.
Taking the keycaps off, and these are ABS plastic, and are doubleshot.
So the legends are another piece of plastic, being durable and will never fade away.
MantisTek claim that they are 1.5mm thick, but that’s only for the thick part of the
rear wall.
So they’re really just 1mm thick, which is quite thin.
And underneath the keycaps, and perhaps the most surprising feature, we have genuine Cherry
MX keyswitches.
At this price, you’d expect something like Kailh, Outemu, or Gateron.
I have Cherry MX Red keyswitches in mine, which is a light linear switch, but it is
also available in Blue’s for clicky, and Brown’s for tactile.
It’s a solid typing experience with the internal steel plate.
The stabilisers are a touch rattly though, which I guess is to be expected.
So a bit of lube will help with that.
And finally this is a Bluetooth keyboard, which can be useful.
To switch to wireless mode we press FN plus tab.
And then to pair it with a device, we press FN plus pipe, and complete the pairing process
on your device.
Unfortunately this does not come with a Bluetooth dongle, which the Anne Pro does come with,
and I don’t have Bluetooth on my desktop, so it was always tough for me to use it in
wireless mode, so I couldn’t really get a good idea on battery life, as I kept plugging
it in, and subsequently charging it.
But they do state a 10 hour battery life.
However it does have battery saving functions, and I’d imagine it would last quite a bit
longer.
As for the performance, it was perfectly fine for casual use.
When typing fast, I didn’t have any missed keystrokes or any noticeable lag.
There’s always going to be a hint of delay, and perhaps that may be an issue in gaming.
But again, I didn’t really test that, so my apologies.
To take this keyboard apart, we have a couple of screws on the bottom.
And if you know 60% boards, this is an immediate sign that it’s not normal.
And that’s because usually a 60% case will have the standoffs on the inside bottom of
the case.
Therefore this case and PCB are not compatible with all the aftermarket 60% cases that you
can get.
So that’s a bit unfortunate.
But it also does have Bluetooth, so you’d run into issues with some metal cases anyway.
The case itself is just a simple plastic shell, and we have a 750mAh battery, instead of the
claimed 800, which is shielded by a piece of plastic.This is a pretty small battery,
both in capacity, but also physical size.
So you can replace this with something bigger, as there is a heap of space here.
The mounting plate is made from 1.6mm thick steel, and this is what gives the keyboard
most of its rigidity and weight.
Looking at the PCB, and it’s very clean, with solid solder joints.
We have our RGB SMD LEDs for each keyswitch, and yeh, there’s no standard standoffs.
Plus we have the micro USB port right in the middle, so that completely messes up any case
compatibility.
And while I still have it apart, I thought I might as well give it a quick paint job,
because why not.
Alright so it’s a mixed bag.
It’s great to see another budget option for the less common 60% form factor.
The build is decent, with a standard plastic enclosure and steel internal mounting plate.
It does come with genuine Cherry MX keyswitches, which is good for the price.
And the RGB lighting looks great.
However, the programmability is lacking, without the ability to customise the secondary layer,
which I believe to be very important for a 60% keyboard.
The PCB and case are not compatible with other products, but that may not really be an issue.
And then you have the whole trust thing with their suspect activities in their past.
But I think they learned a lot from the backlash that they received.
So is it worth it.
It is cheaper than the Anne Pro, and they’re both quite similar, but the Anne Pro has Gateron
switches, which can be better, and also better customisability.
Another seemingly great alternative at the moment, IF you like clicky swtiches, is the
Motospeed CK61, which is much cheaper, and is another wireless 60% keyboard.
But this has the even better Kailh Box White keyswitches, which are super clicky and crisp
in comparison to Blue’s.
So I think you have to think about what you want out of this keyboard, especially with
programmability.
I feel that the Anne Pro is a better board, plus it has a huge user base.
But again, it is a bit more expensive, and I guess that’s just the classic scenario
with many products.
Thanks again to Banggood.com for providing this keyboard for review, and for their continued
support.
I’ll put the links in the description if you want to check it out.