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Mode should not be a new name to you.
Ever since their first release of the eighty back in 2020, a board that we reviewed, the
studio has been creeping more and more into the limelight, with their ability to keep
boards in stock intriguing many.
Fast forward 2 years, following the release of their 65, comes the sonnet, a 75 keeping
up the spirit of customizability and accessibility.
But is it something you should consider as your next metal rectangle?
Let's find out.
I did not receive retail packaging, and for good reason.
There is a LOT included.
Just to keep transparency, I’d like to disclose that sonnet parts were shared between content
creators.
I do not get to keep anything, and the parts I have also may have been used before, instead
of being fresh off the factory line like usual.
Let's start with the smaller stuff.
First, our required screws and some bits.
Next, a set of durock v2s, and a lube syringe, which will not be included in the base board.
We have plate caps, used for one of the mounting styles, and some nice mode branded tools.
A daughterboard, gray feet, and our foams, including a PE foam and plate foam.
Here’s the hotswap PCB I’ll be building with, and the case silicone for another kind
of mounting style.
And here is a prebuilt inner assembly with reflex linears on a polycarbonate half plate.
Finally we have a black POM plate, and a carbon fiber plate.
Onto stuff for the case.
These are the only two pieces I have in retail packaging.
You can see this one’s already scuffed.
In here is our stainless steel multicolor accent.
Additionally in the next box, we have a black aluminum one, and a rose gold one.
Also a copper internal weight.
Moving onto our top case and bottom case.
I opted for a silver top and copper bottom which is HEAVY.
And that’s it.
First off, you get the choice between a hotswap PCB that supports stepped caps and 7U spacebar,
and a soldered PCB which can support stepped caps, split backspace, 7U spacebar, split
left shift, and ISO enter.
These are, of course, VIA compatible.
Both have daughterboards.
I’m just not going to list out all the colors because there are so many options for each
piece.
Even inner parts like the plate caps and silicone base can be customized.
I highly encourage you to use their very well designed configurator to make your own ideal
Sonnet.
For plates, we have usual FR4, POM, PC, Aluminum, and Brass, but also carbon fiber and copper.
Half plates are also natively offered, in FR4, PC, and Aluminum.
Finally, because sonnet has so many options, the price can range from 300 dollars to 734
dollars.
Building is easy.
First I’m going to take care of case stuff, like the daughterboard, copper internal weight
and silicone,
and the rose gold strip.
Next, the inner assembly.
I’m going to grab the hotswap PCB that I’ve already put durock v2s into.
We’re going to throw on the carbon fiber full plate, and install some SOTCs lubed with
205g0.
I might as well use the standoffs because the posts are glued in.
And now we can talk about mounting.
Sonnet allows you 3 different mounting styles.
The first I’m going to test is the stack mount, which has the inner assembly resting
on top of a large piece of silicone.
This was the primary mounting style of the eighty, and tends to result in a higher pitched
and slightly more muted sound profile.
Second is regular old top mounting, and third is top mounting with the included plate caps,
which help isolate the inner assembly by providing a dampening barrier between the case and plate.
With mounting figured out, I’m going to throw on DCX White on Black, a very simple
set that helps the colors of the board pop.
Mode boards always have decent sound.
It’s pretty hard to make a mode sound bad.
Mode did provide a prebuilt inner assembly with reflex linears on a polycarbonate half
plate, and I’m a fan of its sound in the stack mount config.
It’s quiet on the plateless part, as expected, but the sound is really clear and clean overall.
Although, the sound of the switches that have the pc plate under them really don’t sound
terribly strong, so if you were to do plateless I would stick with FR4 or aluminum.
Carbon fiber is generally high pitched, and with SOTCs, a pretty loud switch, this build
has the sound of shaking a spray paint can, as the kids nowadays would say.
Stack mount has my favorite spacebar sound, but overall for this build the mounts sound
pretty similar.
Isolated top mount had a bit of hollowness, and regular top mount even more.
The best way I can describe it is a deep thunking sound.
The pitch also decreased from stack to isolated top to top, with stack mount being the highest
pitched.
Ultimately, the best sounding mounting style highly depends on your build.
Stack mount has always been a bit controvertial, because of how much it relies on foam, or
in the case of the sonnet, the bottom silicone.
But with mode having practically made the mount, and also having the option to use 2
other mounting styles instead, I don’t see it as an easy way out.
None of the 3 mounting styles are good for bounce.
Stack mount takes away most space for movement, and top mounting is stiff.
Despite this, with stack mount, you can still see some flex on each row.
Even with a stiffer carbon fiber plate and standoffs installed.
The silicone piece does a good job of compromising between space and acoustics.
As for top mounting, both regular top mounting and isolated top mounting with the plate caps
have the same stiffness.
I will note that the solder PCB has 2 flex cuts while the hotswap PCB has none, so keep
that in mind when configuring sonnet.
Stiff mounting also means that there isn’t that big of a difference between plateless
and plate.
Especially with stack mount.
Carbon fiber is pretty stiff, basically between the stiffness of FR4 and aluminum.
And with standoffs, all 3 mounts are,
unsurprisingly, stiff.
On isolated top mount and top mount, if you press down hard, there is a considerable amount
of bounce.
But in my case, this comes with the compromise of hollowness.
I really like the design of the sonnet.
Clearly mode has decided to put a lot of effort into the design this time around, and it has
paid off.
On top we have this strip, which you can get in a ton of different colors and materials.
The side profile is striking, with a curve on both the top and bottom piece.
It not only curves upwards, but inwards, and I really think this contributes a lot to the
overall cost of the board.
The top and bottom are flush until the curve starts, where you can see a tiny sliver of
the top piece all around.
Only the left and right are curved, with the back having a flat slant.
In the center is our recessed centered USB port.
Near the bottom foot of the bottom piece is an engraving of the mode logo.
Sonnet shows a clear departure from the simplicity of the 80 and 65, while still remaining distinctly
mode.
All of the branded accessories are just the cherry on top, and they make for a RAMA- level
attention to detail.
Sonnet is a great example of a truly premium board.
One that doesn’t take away from customization, and one that doesn’t rely on being exclusive
to define its quality.
Whether you want to keep it more low key, or go all out and splurge on exotic metals,
there’s a sonnet for you.