At this point, the Grid600 is iconic.
From pictures on Reddit and Instagram to Randomfrankp building one on his channel, the large forehead
filled with a flashy module is instantly recognizable.
Its bold design has a great first impression, but what’s it like to actually own?
The design of the case is unique to say the least.
It’s got thick bezels throughout and the characteristic giant forehead for the modules.
The front profile is an elongated pill shape while the rear is a rounded rectangle.
The side profile blends these two ends into each other which means a weird looking soft
trapezoid.
The front and rear edges just have a shallow fillet while the sides are rounded all the
way through.
This creates a big contrast which I don’t think really works.
The bottom has a slightly raised portion, with slots for four large rubber feet as well
as the 6 screws that hold the module in place.
Even though the external USB port is through a fixed daughterboard, the cutout isn’t
100% tight, and because Type-C ports need to be slightly recessed, you’ll see a sliver
of the cable when plugged in.
Even though the Grid600 is now mostly known paired with the Peaks or Flash module, I think
the Classic pen rail completes the Model F reproduction look the best.
I only have the Peaks module and I think it looks pretty good head-on but as soon as that
rounded wedge side profile comes into view, it just turns kinda ugly.
The 10-Series Geforce aesthetic just doesn’t go with the extra rounded sides.
Model F keyboards have rounded front and rear faces.
Curiously the Grid600 rotates this 90 degrees to place the rounded edges on the sides, which
really don’t work for these relatively sharp corners
I think this board is one of those that look great at first sight but looking at it for
any longer reveals inconsistencies.
The futuristic look of the Peaks and Flash modules clash too much with the weird bulbous
case.
I’d really only pair this with Classic or Press modules for consistency.
Even though this is just a tray mount case, there’s a crazy amount of complexity.
Starting with the module area, there’s actually a good amount of space underneath.
This is to support the daughterboard connecting the 60% PCB as well as any additional electronics
that your module might use.
The daughterboard connects out with USB Type-C and two internal cables are included which
provide compatibility with both Mini USB and Type C PCBs.
This does not work with a C-to-C connection, even if your base PCB supports it.
I am so sick of Type-C ports that don’t work properly.
What’s even the point?
Moving on to the main cavity, you can see two steps.
The inner portion can be filled with the smaller of the two included felt pads and the larger
one can occupy the entire area underneath the PCB.
We’ll see if these do anything later.
When I first got the board, the felt pads were secured in place by these spacers.
The manual just says to remove them and doesn’t mention them later.
Not really sure what these are for, but they’d be really hard to install and I don’t think
you need them for assembly.
Finally, the part that’s most personally interesting is the removable center standoff.
I’ve always been a fan of these for the nice bouncy experience they provide when paired
with a plateless build.
This is a welcome addition, but I do wonder why it was this nice piece of machined aluminum,
when they probably could have just used a standoff meant for PC motherboards.
There was clearly a lot of thought and effort put into bringing this whole package together,
which just leaves me with the question: “Why tray mount?”
If you’re going all this way to develop a module system complete with a daughterboard,
why is there such a requirement to use a standard tray mount build?
If this had come out a couple years before it did, it’d make more sense, but things
like the Xeno and 268.2 happened around the same time.
For expensive cases like these, the expectation is for more even mounting mechanisms like
top or sandwich.
The vibe this board gives off is of a talented newcomer designer who isn’t too in-touch
with the meta.
But that’s where innovations can come from, so nothing wrong with that.
I think the engineering that went into this is certainly impressive.
Now let’s check out the execution.
The finish quality on the main case is mostly pretty good.
All of the external portions have a fine grain with no scratches or streaks to speak of.
The interior is significantly rougher.
It looks like this portion wasn’t at all processed after machining as it shows all
sorts of lines.
Also, the tops of the standoffs have some bare aluminum showing through.
At first glance, the Peaks module looks okay, and it definitely benefits from that GTX look,
but upon closer inspection you can see the lines running the length of the top surface.
On its own, this kind of brushed look isn’t bad, but it is just too noticeable of a difference
when compared to the mediablasted finish on the case.
The bottom also shows a large streak coming from one of the screw holes which is consistent
with what we saw in the case.
I get these areas aren’t visible, but I still would have liked to see a little more
attention to detail here.
The included hardware is pretty nice, with magnetic screws for the tray mounts, and the
felt pads are precisely cut for their slots.
I also appreciate these larger rubber feet which feel a little more premium when compared
to those tiny bumpons.
Overall the quality is pretty good.
The biggest issue is with the lines on the Peaks finish but that’s really not noticeable
because of the various shadows it casts on itself.
To evaluate typing experience, I’ll be using my standard plateless build on a Plain60-C
with stock Gateron Yellows.
Testing first with the most ordinary setup, which is with the center post with none of
the felt pads, it just feels like a tray mount.
Solid bottom out on the majority of the board and when using my plateless build, a little
bit of vibration when pressing on S and D with the left hand and K and L with the right.
As you can expect, this flex is wildly inconsistent due to the standoff between the G and H keys.
Not pleasant.
Next up is the same configuration but with both foam pieces attached.
The smaller piece sits well below the PCB, so I’m not going to do a separate typing
feel test for that.
At installation, you could probably tell what’s going to happen.
The top of the foam sits flush with the standoffs, which means there’s going to be a bit of
compression when you screw the PCB in.
As expected, the typing feel becomes very stiff but in a more consistent way.
There are no vibrations so this is not my favorite typing experience.
When using the felt pieces, removing the center standoff doesn’t really do anything because
the compression is largely what you’re feeling here, rather than any effect of the standoffs.
So if I’m using the foam, I’d keep the middle piece off since that just cuts down
on the number of screws you gotta undo.
Finally, in my favorite configuration, which is with no center post or felt pads, the typing
experience is pleasant.
There is a soft bottom out throughout the alphas with plenty of vibration transfer between
the hands.
Consistency does take a hit from that post underneath the spacebar which makes the right
side a little stiffer especially on the Z row, but this isn’t to such a degree that
I actively notice it.
If you have a tray case and have been wondering about flexible typing experiences, you should
try filing down that middle post and using a plateless build.
In my opinion, that’s the only tray configuration that’s worth using.
The sound of this board varies drastically depending on what configuration you use.
In the most vanilla one, which is with the center post and no foam, it just kind of sounds
like a regular tray mount case, if a bit hollow.
This is in contrast to the even hollower sound when you remove the center post.
It seems to me that the center post adds a lot of case sound whereas its absence means
more PCB sound.
Adding the smaller piece of felt that doesn’t make any contact with the PCB results in largely
unchanged sound.
This is consistent with my past experiences where flat sound dampening material only seem
to work when there’s some amount of compression
Adding the larger piece of felt gets us this compression.
This makes the sound significantly deeper and probably more pleasing to most people.
To further drive my previous point about the compression overwhelming any standoff effects,
you can hear that there’s virtually no difference in sound between center post configurations
when compression is involved.
This kind of dampening changes the sound but also the feel so really I’d argue that this
is an entirely different mounting mechanism
From these experiments, I’ll be using it without the center post for that bouncy feel
and leave the small piece of foam in there, just in case the tiny effect it may or may
not have is positive.
The Grid600 is a cool concept that was executed adequately.
As a buyer you have a lot of options, from choosing your mounting style, sound dampening,
as well as those modules.
I’m not a big fan of the design on the main case, but with most modules, your attention
is going to be focused on the mountains, the lights, or the additional keys.
The typing experience in my favorite configuration is really nice but I know most people are
going to use it with a plate which mostly gets rid of any bounce.
I’m having a really hard time finding how much this was at the time of group buy, but
I paid $315 from zFrontier’s extras sale.
That’s a pretty expensive board and at an aftermarket price of 4, 5, 600 dollars, I
just can’t recommend it unless you just gotta have that modules look.