In the last video I picked up a cheap mech from Kmart, and asked you guys what I should
do with it. And a lot of people said to mod it, but it’s actually really tough to do
something worthwhile because it’s just too far gone. But I had the Ducky / HyperX One
2 Mini next to me, and thought it would be worth sprucing it up. Super popular keyboard,
a heap of people have it, and this one being the HyperX version, I thought they had some
decently smooth switches, so yeh, we’re gonna try and make this as nice as possible.
First let’s have a quick listen to it in it’s stock form.
So not bad, just as you’d expect. But a fair way out from like a high end custom mech.
So let’s do it.
What I want to do with this is make it better, but try and keep as many of the parts as possible.
Like obviously an easy way to change how it looks and feels is to just change the case,
and even changing the switches as well, but it won’t be a One 2 Mini anymore.
Alright so the worst bit with this is desoldering. This board in particular with the HyperX switches
have RGB LEDs, but are through hole rather than SMD, so they have 4 pins, in addition
to the 2 switch pins. So that’s 6 pins per switch, times 61, and that’s 366 joints
to suck up.
So these are the HyperX Red switches. These are very similar to Cherry MX Reds in specs,
but with a slightly shorter travel. But to make em feel better, and it will make a huge
difference in how the whole board feels, we’re gonna lube them and spring swap them. Unfortunately
the bottom switch housing doesn’t allow for switch films, even though it looks like
it, so yeh, can’t do that.
We’re gonna use Krytox 205g0 for our lube, which is a solid allrounder. And for the springs,
I have 55-62g Fei switch springs, thanks Tommy. And these are actually already lubed.
Lubing is a super time consuming process, especially if you want to do it relatively
well. Since it’s just for me, I wasn’t super careful, and I’m using a pretty thick
brush for this.
Here’s the steel mounting plate. It does have a completely standard ANSI layout, but
because it’s using plate mount stabilisers, I won’t be swapping it. The stabilisers
weren’t too bad as well as they are slightly lubed from the factory.
Here’s the plastic case. As said, I’m not gonna replace this, but I’ll give it
a little paint job. Since it’s a limited edition board, I do want to keep that red
HyperX theme. There’s branding and stuff as well, so I’m going to keep the bottom
piece as is. This was a little scary to pull apart as it’s just like plastic clips holding
the two pieces together.
For the top piece though, we’re gonna use a metallic paint so that at least looks a
little like metal. I was gonna use a metallic red, but then decided to go with a light silver
which still keeps in theme.
To the bottom piece, this is a classic tray mount design, meaning that the PCB is screwed
to the bottom of the case. This can result in an uneven and also harder typing experience.
The bottom out is harsher where these points are, and especially with the steel plate,
it doesn’t really give that satisfying thocky experience.
So one thing we can do is remove that middle standoff. Whether it makes a difference, I
don’t know, but whatever.
Aaand soldering time.
Another thing we like to do to help with the bottom out feel, acoustics, and just to make
the case feel more full, is to add foam. I couldn’t be bothered to order something
online and wait, so I went to my local hardware store and this is what I found. I’m not
recommending it or anything, it’s just what I saw, and it was like 6 bucks.It’s 4mm
thick and seems to compress a little bit. And I was worried because there’s actually
not a whole lot of room in the case, and the standoffs are super short. Like 1.5-2.5mm,
so not much room at all.
First attempt. No chance. Not even close to fitting.
Then I removed a little more, and I actually got this to screw down into place after a
lottt of force. But it was bulging and the bottom out was just wayy too solid which makes
sense. And I didn’t like how it felt at all. It needed some flex, especially towards
the middle. And we did remove that middle standoff, so we should give it that room.
And I ended up with this. Just a bit in that deep bit at the back. And then those 2 bits
on the side. So not much really.
And here it is all done. Pretty nice.
I put GMK Jamon on top to keep with the HyperX theme. And yeh, that’s the one major substitute
I did make to the keyboard. There’s not a whole lot you can do with modding keycaps.
I didn’t want to paint them, and you can’t dye them, since they’re already black, so
it gets the GMK treatment.
The silver finish ended up pretty nice, and is sleek and smooth. And it just breaks up
the look of the board, being sandwiched between the red top and red bottom. It would look
more like metal if the shape of the plastic was maybe thicker. Like on the side profile
you can pass it off for metal. But the shape and the red plastic beneath it gives it away.
But the finish itself can easily pass for a sparkly anodised finish.
One thing that I don’t particularly like is that the bezels don’t go that little
bit higher. Like 1mm higher, and it would reduce that gap where we can see the keyswitches.
And that doesn’t really align with the enthusiast consensus.
But yeh, it is a plastic case in the end, and doesn’t emulate a nice metal case. Plastic
doesn’t mean it’s bad though. There’s some amazing layered acrylic boards out there
which look and feel amazing. But being a plastic shell design, it’s a little different.
Alright, now to the important bit, how does it feel and sound?
It sounds a whole lot different. First thing you’ll probably hear is that it’s a lot
quieter. And it is. Originally, the key presses were quite high pitched, with a sharp top
and bottom out sound. Keep in mind that the keycaps also contribute to this a bit too.
There was also a bit of metallic ping before, but that wasn’t super audible.
So a quick rundown. We lubed and spring swapped the switches, removed the middle standoff,
and added a bit of foam to the bottom. Lubing makes a massive difference. You can hear that
there’s less scratch, and it dampens the switch internally. The heavier springs also
dampen it a little bit, so it’s much quieter, and instead of having that high pitched sharp
sound, it’s much more mellow and dense. There’s no longer any metallic ping, and
the sound is much more self contained.
I did find the HyperX Red switch to be decently smooth for a stock switch. Certainly much
better than a Cherry MX Red, which it’s based off. With the lube, it feels fantastic.
Not the smoothest switch out there, but pretty damn smooth and satisfying. The 55-62g Fei
springs are pretty weird though. I kinda wish I used something a bit more normal, so that
it would be easier to compare, but it’s what I had on hand, and thought I might as
well. It has a bottom out of 62g which is somewhat light actually. But an initial weight
of 55g which is quite heavy. For reference, a Cherry MX Black switch which is regarded
as a heavy switch, has an initial weight of like 40g or something. I think that’s how
it works, I may be wrong, but it is definitely a little fatiguing to type on for me personally.
That initial weight makes it feel a little stiffer, and it definitely contributes to
the sound as well.
Also, with the plastic case, the bottom out just doesn’t feel as tight as like a high
end custom would be like. Not sure how to explain it. Like customs can have that bit
of give and flex, and that’s what many are designed to do, but it still feels solid,
as it’s usually to do with the plate mounting. With this, it’s like I’m feeling the table
when I type. That sort of bassy feel. So it doesn’t quite reach that custom level, and
you wouldn’t expect it to. But it sure is a whole lot different to how it felt stock,
and besides the weight of the springs, it is a really enjoyable typing experience.
Oh, and the stabilised keys are much better. No rattle, and have a thockier sound and feel.
And that’s my upgraded One 2 Mini. I hope you liked it. It’s a lot of work, but if
you disregard the keycaps, it’s not actually that expensive. With a normal One 2 Mini,
so not the HyperX version, it would be much easier to desolder because it has SMD LEDs,
and you don’t need to desolder those. But do at your own risk, you can potentially wreck
your PCB, and warranty definitely won’t cover that.
The paintjob bit is totally doable though, if you’re game to take it apart.
Anyway, I think it turned out great, and let me know what you think. Oh and I do have something
else planned for that cheap Kmart board, so stay tuned for that.