Today we’re gonna check out the Polaris custom mechanical keyboard by Kevinplus and
ai03 with KBDfans, but I feel like doing a timelapse today.
Hopefully you’ll get to see the whole process and everything.
I think my memory card can do like just over an hour worth of footage, so I should be able
to do that.
Also, I’ll talk about the keyboard and all of that at the end.
I made it!
Only just.
It took me about an hour and 20 minutes and I had about 2 minutes left of recording time.
It was a really fun build, it was a bit more involved than other boards, with more pieces
and more steps.
But even so, it was easy and straightforward, but I did have the awesome build guide that
they did up on my screen.
The most time consuming thing actually, besides lubing the switches which I didn’t show,
was the stabilisers.
The PCB is 1.2mm thick, which is thinner than the typical like 1.6mm.
So it comes with shims for loose fitting stabs.
And being the first time I’ve personally come across this, I played around with it
a bunch, and turns out I didn’t need em with the C3 stabs I had.
But other than that, it was a real smooth build, with everything fitting perfectly.
We even have a few extras with the gaskets.
And they’re everywhere.
6 on the top and 6 on bottom of the plate, and then another 6 around the plate, so no
metal to metal contact.
And to add to that there’s foam that fits between the PCB and plate, and then another
piece underneath the PCB.
So it’s packed.
Absolutely packed, there’s hardly any free space in there.
I had a polycarbonate plate, so pretty flexible.
And lubed Novelkeys Cream switches, which are a medium weight linear switch, so no click
or tactile bump.
It types like a dream.
I mean lubed linears, they’re just awesome.
I did attempt to wear in the Creams, but that was only for like a week or so, because they
are kinda scratchy stock.
But yeh, lubed, they feel and sound great.
Lube naturally dampens the switch, but paired with the gasket mounting and poly plate, it
makes for a nice thocky experience.
There is a bit of flex as we can see.
But it’s not much, and that's how I like it.
It softens the bottom out, but is still firm under the fingers.
And don’t forget that everyone has different preferences.
It also does a great job with containing its sound, rather than transferring that sound
to the desk, which can be really apparent with other boards.
It’s just dense which makes sense with how packed it is.
The Polaris came in a bunch of configurations.
So this is a 60% board, which basically has the main area of the keyboard, with everything
else accessible on different layers.
The one I have here is just the regular layout, but the owner went with a split backspace
and split right shift.
But there is also the HHKB version, and the Winkeyless version which have their respective
blockers.
There was also a range of colours available.
And the purple on this looks stunning.
This finish is super smooth to the touch.
Like more slippery than all the other anodised boards I have around here.
It looks pretty much perfect to my eyes, no defects, and the colour matching between the
two alu pieces is on point.
On top it’s a classic design.
Relatively thin bezels, with the top and bottom being slightly thicker.
The side profile is angular, simple and sleek, nothing more.
And the brass weight is the hero for the bum and bottom.
It's a beautiful accent, and I personally do like how much of it is visible on the rear.
And to finish it off, we have the pretty ai03 logo.
Also, a huge thanks to my mate Eric for gifting me GMK Oblivion.
I was gonna save it for something else, but I legit didn’t have anything else for this
purple case.
Seriously, thanks a heap.
And that’s the Polaris.
An absolutely amazing board.
I’m super impressed with everything.
The quality is seriously top notch.
It has all these features with gaskets, the foam, everything is just on point.
Even the packaging was a pleasant surprise.
I know we see this with other boards, but this sort of refinement for about 265USD I
think, is nearly unseen.
I know that there will be a lot of people thinking that that’s a lot of money, and
of course it definitely is a lot.
But you don’t get this for under 300.
This is more of a 400 dollar keyboard in my opinion.
It’s great value, and I applaud them and KBDfans for achieving this, because you know
me, my background with budget mechs, and I know it’s not a budget mech, but making
premium features more affordable is wonderful to see.
I’m super keen to see future stuff from these guys.
And I hope you didn’t mind this different type of video today, I just felt like something
different.