Welcome back to nearLucid.
Today we’ll be taking a look at the iskar, a premium minimal board from none other than
the designer that kicked off this very youtube channel, bitmap studios.
This prototype unit was sent to us for review, but as always that will not affect our opinion
or statements in any way.
First the unboxing.
We’ve got separate boxes for the rim piece and the main board, so let’s take a look
at the board first.
The box looks really nice, with a gold inner lining and gold iskar logo tying the box together.
The quality of the paper and cardboard for the final packaging will be improved, so group
buy units won't look nearly as scuffed as mine.
Opening it up, we first have our multi layout hotswap PCB without a daughterboard
And our polycarbonate plate in this custom sleeve.
Under this is going to be our board itself.
Inside, we have our thick and thin gaskets, Optional PE foam,
And the top and bottom case together.
I’m already smudging it up.
The group buy units will include case and plate foam, and the pe foam will be redesigned
to include stabilizer slots.
Now let's take a look at the rim.
This is encased in quite a bit of foam and plastic wrap.
Our configuration today is a black case with a black mirror PVD weight and a silver mirror
rim.
Let's get into the specs.
Iskar is an aluminum compact 65%, with a hotswap PCB and no daughter board.
This supports stepped caps and a 7U bottom row.
Case color options are black, ewhite, navy, and plum, and rim colors are silver PVD, black
PVD, gold, and rose gold.
Rims are stainless steel except for rose gold, which is aluminum.
Plate materials are polycarbonate, aluminum, and brass.
QMK and VIA are both supported, and the typing angle is 7 degrees.
The price is $490, with the group buy running from January to February 2022 at bitmapstudio
dot xyz.
The unit count for the buy will have a soft cap, which is still not yet determined.
For this build, I managed to get my hands on some nylon staebies.
I applied 205g0 pretty conservatively and we’ll see how they perform from here.
Next, we’ll put in some scuffed thin plate foam from my glacier 80, and for the first
configuration, we’re going with quartz switches in the polycarbonate plate.
These have been lubed with 205g0.
Lastly for the inner assembly, I’m going to add 2 layers of tape on the bottom of the
PCB.
With the inner assembly done, I’m going to apply the thick gasket strips to the bottom
case, And the thin gasket strips to the top.
Choosing to use thick or thin gaskets on each housing is entirely up to you.
Thick gaskets on the bottom should provide a tiny bit more bounce, so this is what I’m
going with.
Next, we can close the cases, Remove the weight,
Screw in the case screws, Replace the weight,
And apply the bottom feet.
We’ll be topping this off with modern dolch 2, which I have waited a whole 2 years for.
Let's take a listen.
So the sound signature is definitely pretty unique.
It does lean towards the high pitched side, although the volume stays pretty constant
throughout these switches.
Unfortunately it does take quite a bit of work to achieve the textbook clack, so if
you really care about sound in your keyboard it might be a bit of a turn-off.
Of course, since I used scuffed foam made for other boards instead of foam made specifically
for the iskar, your build may be different sounding even with plate and case foam.
I recommend using some sort of plate foam, since it definitely makes the board sound
more lively.
Case foam is up to you, although I don't find the board to be hollow, so I would personally
leave it out and enjoy the bounce.
I would also recommend tape modding, as the base board leans towards the quieter side
and could definitely use the added help.
The typing feel is on the stiffer side with thick case foam.
There definitely i sn’t a lot of space for the PCB to be pushing downward inside the
case.
Without case foam, there is a moderate amount of bounce.
The design is where the price tag really shows.
Immediately on the top is this very shiny rim, outlining the layout of the board.
I really wish this was magnetic, like the backpiece of the mode65, as that would make
it super easy to swap out configurations.
Not a big deal at all, I just think it would be neat.
The side profile is pretty unique.
The cut in the top case is slightly curved, revealing a sliver of the bottom case.
This was originally intended to be a dual tone accent, and the bottom case would be
a different color.
Unfortunately, this also didn’t make it out of the planning phase, but I would love
to see owners of multiple iskars in the future mix and match their top and bottom cases.
This same style of curved cut is also present at the front of the board.
Moving to the back, we can see the black mirror PVD weight under the recessed center USB port.
This is the most interesting part of the board, and although black is more on the subtle side,
there will be options for gold and other colors that pop out more.
Looking at this weight from the bottom, in the center is the iskar logo, debossed and
bead blasted.
The weight also slightly curves towards the center, giving it some more sophistication.
A pretty common complaint from viewers of the board is that the iskar logo doesn’t
make a whole lot of sense, and would be better off replaced with the bitmap logo.
I personally don’t really mind either, but I thought this was worth mentioning.
The screws to remove the weight are hidden under the bottom rubber feet, and the 4 upper
case screws are cleverly hidden under the weight to preserve the cleanliness of the
bottom.
This is a little bit annoying when it comes to opening up your board and changing things
around, but is a very appreciated aesthetic choice.
Also on the bottom, we can see just how the curved side profile has affected the machining
of the top case overall.
In my opinion, the iskar is a great execution of both the minimalist and premium styles
of design, and manages to combine them together to form a beautiful desk piece that is able
to be customized to match your unique preferred aesthetic.
Material quality is where things get iffy.
My prototype unit has anodization hooks on the inside of the case, and multiple pretty
nasty scuffs on the black pvd weight.
Also worth mentioning are the machining marks on the iskar logo, but I think this actually
looks pretty interesting.
While streaming my iskar build to a private discord, we also discovered that the screw
holes on the rim peculiarly had no threads, which made for a very frustrating 10 minutes
of figuring out why the screws wouldn’t … screw.
Fortunately for you, this is now something that is going to be checked during quality
control, and my rim unit has been replaced.
Despite the issues, I’m not worried at all about the group buy units.
Bitmap said he would keep quality control tighter for iskar than the alpine65, which
already came out really good.
I’ve been following iskar’s progress starting from way back in late 2020 when the design
was first unveiled to the active members of the bitmap discord, to the voting for available
color combinations, and finally to the group buy in January of 2022, more than 2 years
from when iskar was first imagined in July of 2019.
It's certainly been an incredible journey, and I'm really glad that I was able to help
guide the board’s design, the production of the promo, and interest check through the
whole process, albeit not by much.
Being the mere second board run by bitmap studios, the 500 dollar price tag sets huge
precedents and expectations for iskar that took quite a bit of effort to achieve.
But in the end, the worth of the board is, like always, entirely up to you.
And that's all I have for you today.
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