Alright I’m getting pretty tired of these entry level keyboards, but these are probably
more useful than most of my other stuff so here we go again.
The Portico is yet another entry level enthusiast keyboard made with injection molded plastic.
The primary difference between this and the other two we’ve looked at so far is that
it uses the popular foam strip mount.
When I bought it, it was 119 dollars plus 15 for shipping, so about 135, but the product
page now says 135 dollars, so we’re probably looking at closer to $150 when it’s all
said and done.
At that point, I think we’re starting to push it, but let’s get into it.
I did an unboxing of this on stream, so if you want the full experience, go watch that.
The notable thing here is that the board comes with a similar array of stuff as the NK65
including a carrying case and a coiled cable.
The case is pretty cheap as expected, but should be ample protection for such a lightweight
board.
The zipper accent is supposed to be matched with the keyboard, but it’s not that close
here.
The cable is just this ugly black monster that honestly looks a little grotesque with
a coil that’s longer than the board itself.
The coil seems to be not that tightly wound so it’s functional, which I like, but I
know that’s not what the cable nerds are looking for.
It comes with a full set of C3 stabilizers with enough parts for a TKL if you wanted.
I believe this too is intended to be color matched, but of course not really.
These were good in the one other board I used them in and they even seemed to be pretty
good without any lube.
I appreciate all of the extra hardware it comes with, including an extra set of foam
gaskets.
It can be pretty frustrating to lose any of these small pieces so this is a big plus.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the included accessories.
Obviously the case and cable aren’t going to be the most high quality things but the
stabilizers being good, at least for me, I consider a big plus.
As far as enthusiast injection molded keyboards go, this has got a pretty interesting design.
While we might have seen the box-on-a-wedge design a million times on milled customs,
most other injection molded boards are just a wedge, so that’s cool I guess.
In particular, this has overhangs on the rear and the sides, which makes it pretty easy
to pick up.
From the side, something that stands out to me is that it looks really slim.
Though when you compare it against any other keyboard, it’s just average, so it must
be some kind of optical illusion, maybe due to the translucency.
The bezels are approximately typical height.
Not super tall like in the Kara, but a little lower than what I’ve seen in modern custom
boards.
From certain angles, you could see the switches.
You could already see the switches due to the translucent sides but still.
Nothing much going on in the rear except for the improperly recessed USB type-c port.
When you plug it in, you’re able to see a sliver of the cable shielding which feels
unrefined.
This is especially bad since without a daughterboard, the port necessarily needs to be on this top
portion instead of under it.
For how many more years do we need to make keyboards to get this right?
C’mon guys.
This last point is even more of a personal opinion than everything else, but I really
dislike this color.
This is described as mint but it doesn’t look like any mint I’ve ever seen.
The only mint thing this reminds me of is back when I had free dental care in Korea
I was getting a gold tooth to cover cavities.
They molded my teeth with this mint flavored putty which was this color.
This gross color paired with the transparency is incredibly difficult to find a complementing
keyset for.
Usually black or white looks fine on any board but not this one.
I think we should go ahead and move past transparent plastic for injection molded stuff, maybe
except for colorless.
They always look cheap and gross.
On the bottom, there’s just this sticker, and the logo is just a scalene triangle?
The layout is 65% with a blocker and a 6.25u bottom row.
I guess this is best for compatibility but I know most people prefer a 7u bottom row
for looks.
It’s really hard for me to separate the color from this board, but if I try really
hard and imagine that it was solid white, I could see this looking alright.
It would definitely be a departure from wedge designs like the NK65, Rama Kara, KBD67 Lite,
and the Ikki68.
Let’s now look at the exterior finish of the board.
Like I keep saying, not all plastics are created equal and big players like Leopold have consistent
finish without shiny spots on their keyboards.
It’s a pretty easy comparison against the NK65 since that one was scratched up to all
hell in very visible areas.
No such marks here which is cool.
It’s not as straightforward against the Kara because of the difference in opacity,
but it seems to have the same problems with shiny spots to a greater degree.
The most noticeable is the shine spanning the entire width of the board for the front
and rear faces of the top case.
Not easily visible except under harsh and bright light, but it’s only fair to point
it out.
The bottom case actually looks really good with just a few scratches in random enough
locations that I probably caused them.
I think these flaws go a long way in making the board look cheap.
Inconsistent shiny spots are things that are most commonly seen in very cheap plastic items,
so I’d like to see some improvements here.
Let’s actually build the thing and see how it does.
One of the distinguishing features of the Portico is that it has a FR-4 plate.
This is the same material that PCBs are made of.
The plating around the switch holes looks pretty neat and the pre-applied foam strips
are convenient.
I think it’s interesting that the plate wings where the foam strips attach are only
connected by a small bit.
Perhaps this can contribute to bounce.
As with most other hotswap boards, we have hardware that can be used to make the PCB
and the plate one assembly.
You would do this if you wanted to change switches without taking the board apart, but
I leave it out so that I can avoid unwanted hotspots.
The PCB has per-key RGB as well as RGB underglow.
I don’t usually discuss PCBs but this one seems a little weird, so let’s take a quick
aside.
On the TKC discord, I see many many complaints about the PCB acting up randomly.
Everything ranging from USB ports being ripped out to chattering or dead switches.
I haven’t experienced this personally, but the sheer number of reports should be considered.
Another weird thing is with the RGB.
The product page says the LEDs are not individually addressable.
Personally I’m ok with it because I just put it on rainbow or turn it off, but if you
have complex lighting in layers, this keyboard can’t do it.
I actually installed the beta firmware that was published back in May which added the
ability to use the “lighting” tab in Via.
With the stock firmware, doing so would put it in an inconsistent state, so this seems
to be an improvement.
The stock firmware also did some dodgy stuff like using nonstandard keycodes to control
lighting.
I think the beta firmware is the way to go.
Hopefully it becomes an official release soon considering it’s been at least 3 full months
since then.
Again, potential issues with the PCB is bad news for something you might need to depend
on while working, so I would personally wait for some material improvements before taking
the plunge.
Now let’s get back to our build.
Between the PCB and the plate, you can install the included piece of felt.
This is supposed to dampen some noise, but I’ll include a comparison later on so you
can decide for yourself.
Once you have the assembly all together, you can lay down the large slab of internal dampener
silicone which should create an even space underneath the PCB.
This is actually where a lot of the weight of the board comes from.
If you exclude it, it feels like a toy.
I’ll include a comparison for this later as well.
One thing I’m finding absolutely essential in these injection molded boards is that there
should be threaded inserts for screws, rather than going directly into the material.
With these, we should be able to avoid getting loose threads like on the NK65.
Assembly from here is as simple as stacking all of the pieces and installing the 9 back
screws.
Not that it really matters but the screw goes in for a while before it’s secured.
Takes me a lot longer to disassemble than most other boards.
With it all together, I don’t really have major complaints about the build quality of
each of the pieces or how they go together.
If I had to nitpick, the bottom edges where you might hold the keyboard is a bit sharp
but that’s whatever.
Though I think with the shipped-to-USA price being increased to about $150, I start having
the same value problem as the Kara.
At the end of the day, this has more in common with prebuilts than a custom so I think it
would be best if they can get the price back down to what I paid, which was $135 shipped
within the US.
I think FR-4 plates offer an inexpensive way to try out a more bouncy typing experience
compared to anything metal.
That combined with what seems like a proper implementation of the foam strip gasket mount,
the feel is actually decently dampened.
The bottom out feel is noticeably more forgiving than the aluminum plate in the NK65.
The bounce doesn’t really exist though.
I think maybe the foam in the mounting mechanism is absorbing some of that.
If I type with my right hand, I feel nothing on my left.
I guess this one comes down to preference.
I would say in terms of typing experience it does offer something materially different
than the usual steel plate in OEM boards.
We’ll talk about whether that’s worth it in a bit.
The sound is largely what’s expected of an FR-4 plate.
The bottom out is somewhere between metal and polycarbonate where each keystroke is
a tap tap kind of noise.
Even without the silicone dampener, I’m not really noticing much reverberence from
the case, so it avoids some of the hollow sounds that you might find in a Tada68.
But in case they do make a difference here is a comparison for both the felt pad and the silicone dampener
So this seems like a pretty alright package for a beginner.
You got the trendy gasket mount with a plate that isn’t aluminum and some pretty alright
stabs, but it’s all going to come down to price.
Maybe it’s going to sound petty comparing $20 here and there, but as you get into lower
price brackets, I think it’s natural to be more sensitive.
For the Portico, it seems like TKC is charging a flat shipping rate of $15 for US orders,
so I’ll factor that into cost.
When I bought it, the total cost was $134, which is definitely not cheap, but maybe worth
it at the time to get something that isn’t just a prebuilt like the NK65.
However, the current listed price is $135 before shipping, which gets our shipped price
to $150.
And here, you’re running into the GMMK Pro which is $170 with free shipping.
And while the GMMK Pro definitely has problems and Glorious has been shady about some of
them, the board is still full metal with a very similar mounting mechanism.
The value proposition can get weaker if you consider the recent reports of stabs being
bad, but I would argue that the jump from an injection molded plastic board to a milled
aluminum board is significant enough that a difference this close leaves no room for
question.
In my opinion, newcomers to the hobby are going to be much more impressed with something
that feels heavy and premium in their hands versus injection molded boards which are essentially
glorified prebuilts.
The feeling I had when I unboxed my very first metal keyboard was something special, and
these just don’t do it.
Even though these injection molded enthusiast boards are intended for beginners, they would
be more useful for experienced people who want to try out certain mounting mechanisms
or plate materials on the cheap.
So maybe that’s it.
If you’re a beginner, skip this and get the GMMK Pro or the Q1 or whatever.
If you’re just wondering how overhyped this so-called “gasket mount” is, give this
a try.