So one day while working I saw this link pop up. Huge shoutout to my buddy
SteadyChicken for posting it. And I saw that it was Kmart, I saw that it had mini in the name,
and then that it was only 25 bucks. So I knew I had to get it, let’s hit up KMART!
I know Kmart in the U.S is like a dying breed, I dunno the full story,
so let me know what’s upl. But in Australia, which by the way are different companies, just
the same name, it’s for sure one the big variety department stores with over 200 in the country.
However, over the last few years, they’ve shifted to stocking super
cheap products under the Anko brand, which has extended to some electronics stuff.
A while back I did check out a full sized mechanical keyboard from them,
and yeh, was a little sussy, but now look at this.
Fully stacked shelves, they’ve gone hard with the gaming stuff, RGB for days here.
But what we’re interested in is this stuff. It was absolutely stacked at this time,
I think it was the day after I saw the link. But look at that price,
$25, and that’s Australian dollars, so more like 19USD ish, which definitely
puts it right down there. And more importantly, it’s right here on the shelves, ready to go.
Super simple packaging here, we get the keyboard and a user manual.
First impressions, this thing is lighttt, coming in at just
over 400 grams, and that’s with the cable, as it’s non-detachable. So as you can imagine,
it’s because it has an all plastic construction, meaning that the plate is also plastic, where 95%
of prebuilt mechs will have some sort of metal plate. To be clear though, plastic isn’t bad,
it’s actually often desirable in custom mechs, but it for sure makes it super light and flexible.
Aesthetically though, it’s not bad at all, because it’s a 60%,
you can’t really go wrong. It has very minimal bezels, which are flush to the plate,
giving us a floating key design with the keyswitches exposed, along with that lighting.
The side profile is simple, with probably a 5 or 6 degree incline. It does have that
non-detachable cable which actually caught me off guard when I had to use it. I’m just so
used to being able to grab one of my cables and plug a keyboard in. And the bottom,
bunch of rubber feet, and a sticker in the middle, and that’s it.
The keycaps are pretty good, about 1.1mm thick, and they’re double-shot, so the legends are a
different piece of plastic and won’t fade away. It’s that typical backlit cap font,
not the best, but it is what it is for that RGB lighting. And I say RGB lighting,
but it’s just fixed multicolour with some effects. So for example, the Q key is always yellow.
You’ll also notice that there’s a bunch of stuff printed on some keys,
because as I mentioned before, this is a 60% keyboard, which the name ‘mini’ implies.
A 60% keyboard is approximately 60% the size of a normal full sized keyboard,
this one having 61 keys, having just the main cluster of the keyboard. Therefore to access all
the other stuff, some keys have additional functionality which is accessed via the
function or FN key. So for example, the F1 key is accessed by holding FN and 1 together. And this
is how it is with all compact keyboards, however this does not have any further programmability and
customisability. Not for everyone, but you know, don’t rip it til you try it.
One thing that gets me here is that for some reason it has an ISO enter key. First of all,
we don’t really use that in Australia. But secondly it doesn’t have an actual ISO layout,
everything else is standard ANSI, so that’s a bit odd.
Another thing that isn’t the greatest is that it has 2-key rollover. So what that means is that the
keyboard can guarantee 2 simultaneous keypresses. This is only present for a few combinations,
it tops out at 7, so for the most part, you’ll be fine, like WASD and spacebar all work together.
But the one that got me was Windows + shift + S for screenshot stuff, which was kinda annoying.
Under the keycaps we have the Xinda blue clicky keyswitches,
and this is the only switch it comes with, so let’s listen to this bad boy.
So
yeh, I’m sure you could hear that for yourself. Honestly it’s not bad for what it is,
it’s pretty standard for a really cheap mech, a lot of them tend to go with clicky switches.
In this case we have Xinda Blues, they feel like the typical click jacket blue,
like Cherry MX Blues, and in this case, they’re loud,
which fortunately kinda masks the super rattly stabilisers. But nothing is hiding this.
Funnily enough though, to help cut costs I guess, only the spacebar and the right shift
have stabilisers. The backspace, ISO enter, and left shift do have spots for some, but no wire. So
there is some instability and wobble, you feel it a bit on the 2.25u left shift,
but otherwise it’s fine to be honest, plus it means no rattle.
It’s quite a pingy board as well, using a deskmat or two definitely helps a lot with that. But
the thing is, if you’re getting this, it’s probably your first mech, and as we all know,
clicky switches are kinda mindblowing at first because they’re the furthest away from a normal
computer or laptop keyboard. And that’s the thing, it’s still a mechanical keyboard, and that’s the
experience it provides, and is why I can totally get behind it for only 25 Australian bucks.
Alright let’s crack it open. There’s a few Phillips head screws under some keycaps,
and it just comes apart pretty easily.
Here’s the bottom plastic piece. Super basic as you would expect,
plastic standoffs, but nothing wrong with it really.
The more non-standard stuff is with the actual keyboard.
We can see that stabiliser situation again, where only the spacebar and right shift have
wires. And again that plastic plate. Rather than metal. It does come down the sides,
so it makes it a little sturdier, but this is why this thing is so light.
Turning it over to the PCB. Another minor cost cut, the USB cable is just soldered on
and secured with hot glue. The solder joints for the switches and LED’s are all cool.
The Xinda switches are just 3 pin, rather than 5 for those who care. And the SMD
LEDs as we saw before aren’t actual RGB multicoloured ones, but are singular colour.
And that’s the Anko Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard from Kmart here in Australia. 25 bucks,
in a department store. Some of you guys that have been in the scene for a while,
I don’t think we really imagined this like 5 6 years ago. It’s not an amazing keyboard by
any means, but it’s a mechanical keyboard. I still remember buying my first Ducky Shine 3
TKL with Cherry MX Blues all those years ago, absolutely loved it, and honestly I think this
packs the same kinda initial punch that brings you into the world of mechanical keyboards.
For the next video on this keyboard, inspired by my buddy Timmy, I’m gonna try and do
a bunch of mods to it, BUT only using Kmart items, somehow, which should be fun so stay tuned for
that. Big shoutout to drass and mr galilee for assisting, have a good one, and bless.