Today we’re going to check out a mechanical keyboard from Plugable.
Plugable is a U.S based technology company that produces a range of input devices and
other things, so naturally they’ve gone ahead and produced a mechanical keyboard.
And this keyboard is about delivering a solid budget option with the features beginners
need, and this box reflects that, showing exactly what you get.
Opening up the box we have a user manual, the keyboard itself, with a little plastic
ring keycap puller attached to the non removable cable.
Here I have the tenkeyless version with 87 keys, so we’re missing the numpad.
But this also does come in a full sized version if the joint numpad is needed for work.
Tenkeyless keyboards are a great start for people that don’t necessarily require a
numpad since we do save a bit more lateral space on the desk, and it makes for a more
comfortable experience allowing us to bring our mouse closer to the centre.
They’ve gone with a pretty simplistic rectangular design.
This is only available in black, so we have the black keycaps and the black exterior.
It’s comprised of 2 main parts, with the steel top plate and then a plastic base, which
also extends to the top to give a more rounded look with the rounded corners.
We can tell it’s steel because it’s magnetic.
Many of these kinds of keyboards that sport this floating key design, exposing the keyswitches
from the side, usually have aluminium plates.
The advantage of steel is that it’s more heavier and denser than aluminium, and is
more rigid and strong.
The steel is quite textured, which is also quite visible, much more than the black plastic,
which doesn’t pick up any fingerprints.
This is a case design that I’ve seen on another keyboard, so there’s probably a
couple more brands that use this case, but of course change the internals and keycaps.
The top of the keycaps look really nice.
It’s quite a matte smooth looking finish which is a bit different to other cheap budget
keycaps, and I actually really do dig the look of the tops.
However the sides are a glossy finish which personally I don’t like, but it does give
an interesting mirror effect with the white LEDs reflecting off the sides, as well as
any other lights around, so you might like that.
The bigger issue is just that it attracts and shows dust really well.
This is an issue with all black keycaps though, but it’s just a bit more noticeable with
these.
The typeface or font on the keycaps is actually good, with nice and simple legends.
But because of the double shot nature of the keycaps, they have the gaps in the closed
legends which does detract from the look, but that comes with the cost.
These keycaps can of course be replaced if you want to down the line, since it’s using
a completely standard ANSI layout.
I’ve never liked logos above the arrow keys, and it’s the same case here.
Perhaps it could have been relocated somehow, like on the Lenovo branded case.
On the rear is the non detachable mini USB cable.
On the bottom are just 2 flat rubber feet.
So it’s not the most stable keyboard on the desk and can slide around a bit.
Honestly pretty poor not to have the 2 extra feet.
But with the 2 flip up feet which are rubber tipped, it’s completely solid.
There also seems to be some drainage holes that may lessen the severity of spills.
I’m really happy they’ve gone with a solid white backlight, rather than having stationary
colours or something.
It keeps it really simple and clean.
The lighting customisability is also kept to a minimum.
This is all controlled via the function key.
We can change the brightness levels with the minus and plus keys which have the up and
down symbols on them.
The only effect is the breathing mode which is done with function and home.
With the minus and plus keys controlling the frequency or speed of the mode.
And finally function and scroll lock turn the LEDs on and off, which also exits the
breathing mode.
There are some built in functions with the keyboard.
We can swap WASD and the arrow keys with function and W. Personally not a fan of the look of
the pad printed arrow symbols and extra WASD legends on the arrow keys, but it is functional.
For gaming we can press function and windows to disable the Windows key and the menu key.
On the function row we have a bunch of media control keys.
And some shortcut keys to open a browser, email, and calculator.
With F11 locking the keyboard.
The lock indicator LEDs are at the top of the keyboard.
But the positioning, plus not having a top shell, makes it very difficult to see because
the keycaps are in the way.
I mean it doesn’t really affect me, but still.
This does feature full N key rollover over USB, meaning that we can press all the keys
at once with no problems while gaming.
Taking off the keycaps we have pretty decent keycaps actually which are about 1.3mm thick,
which is made possible by the double shot construction, which has 2 mouldings of plastic
so the legends will never fade away.
And the white translucent moulding extends all the way down to give it that bit more
thickness.
Underneath the keycaps we have the Outemu Blue keyswitches.
These are just a clone of the Cherry MX Blue switches, and are similar in how they feel
and sound, so we have that click and tactile bump, with a medium weight, with a 4mm travel
distance.
And here’s a quick sound test.
This only comes in Outemu Blues, so if noise is an issue, then this probably isn’t for
you.
The typing experience felt solid with the steel plate, and was enjoyable.
Taking the keyboard apart is simple with a couple of Philips head screws on the bottom,
and a couple more on the top.
The plastic case is made from ABS plastic and has no ribbing on the bottom for reinforcement,
but with the steel plate, it’s not really a problem.
The screw bosses are solid and thick though which is nice.
The steel backplate is 1.5mm thick and is folded at the front and back making it very
sturdy.
The stabilsers used are Cherry style stabs for easy keycap removal.
Here’s the PCB, from August last year, saying that it’s revision 3.
We actually have the microcontroller separate.
We have SMD LEDs for the lighting, with the resistors right next to each of them, and
also diodes for each switch.
The soldering job is fine for the most part, but there’s quite a lot of dodgy joints.
This is what a solid and clean solder joint looks like.
And all these dome shaped looking ones are a perfect example of too much solder.
It still works fine, and I’m sure testing would have been done.
Overall, they’ve carried out what they set out to do.
They’ve produced a budget keyboard that hits all the basics, with a nice solid build
with the steel plate, decent aesthetics with the all black construction and white backlighting,
which I feel all budget boards should have if it does have lighting.
The double shot ABS keycaps are a good inclusion, but I’m personally not a fan of the more
smooth glossy sides of the keycaps, but that may be to your liking.
And perhaps the logo could have been relocated somewhere else.
But these are just aesthetic things and to my personal taste, and overall it’s pretty
minimal.
Another really important thing to consider is that they are based in Seattle in the U.S.
So if there’s any problems, you can contact them to work things out.
The low end mechanical keyboard market is a very congested and competitive one.
This sells for $43, and $50 for the full sized board.
At the end of the day it provides a solid typing and gaming experience with the Outemu
Blue switches, and full NKRO, and would serve well as a starter mechanical keyboard.