Welcome back to nearlucid.
Today we’ll be looking at the Class 65, a game boy inspired retro themed keyboard
by MM studio.
This sample was sent to us by MM studio for review, but as always that will not affect
our opinion or statements in any way.
Let's get into the unboxing.
The box has a really interesting top design, with a quite nostalgic graphic.
On the side is the logo.
Opening it up, we first have the gaskets, bottom feet, screws, and allen key.
Next is our very flexible plate And our PCB with the same interesting gasket
tabs as our previously reviewed board, the glacier 80.
Under this is the board itself.
It is very large.
The width matches my TKLs, and certainly has quite a heft too.
Inside it we have our thin and thick plate foams,
PE foam, Bottom PCB foam,
And thin and thick case foams.
Just look at this beautiful brass internal weight.
Unfortunately for this prototype unit there is a large disparity.
The shade of white that I have is not the same shade of white that the group buy units
will come with.
While this is more of an ewhite, the group buy units will be closer to beige.
Let’s get into the specs.
The Class 65 is an exploded 65% with a left macro column, offering both soldered and hotswap
PCBs.
The soldered PCB supports stepped caps, split left shift, split backspace, and 7U space,
while the hotswap PCB is fixed.
It’s PCB gasket mounted, but on this small S shaped part of the PCB to maximize bounce.
Case options are pink, beige, silver, and black.
The only plate material offered is an optional POM plate for the hotswap PCB, but for soldered
PCBs, plateless is recommended and optimized.
Finally, the price for the whole kit is a modest $270.
So being a gasket mounted board, the build process is pretty simple.
Let's start with the inner assembly.
Since this is soldered, I’ve gone ahead and already finished the entire inner assembly.
The stabs used are staebies, lubed with 205g0.
The spacebar has a staebie wire and durock v2 housings, lubed with XHT-BDZ and 205g0,
only because I ran out of staebie housings.
I’ve actually decided to go plateless for this board, so I’ve soldered in some durock
POMS.
These have been lubed with 205g0.
I’ve already installed the gaskets and daughterboard into the case, so we just need to put the
inner assembly in, Connect it to the daughterboard,
Add in our thin case foam, and close it with the case screws.
Lastly, topping this off is JTK suited assassin, which I thought would fit well with the subtle
off white color.
Let’s take a listen.
Very low pitched and poppy.
It was a little bit quiet so I would recommend either using a plate or loud switches.
Being my first time using plateless, it is a little bit jarring typing on something so
bouncy.
I’m not entirely sure I like it, as it starts to feel soft and mushy after a while.
If you enjoy bounce, I would still stick to a plate build, as the gasket tabs provide
more than enough bounce as is.
Both the sound and feel are definitely up to your preference though.
The design certainly stands out.
Not only with the color, but the proportions of the board created by the enormous bezels
is really pleasing to the eye.
This is the most notable first impression of the board, along with the non traditional
65% layout.
I really appreciate how the retro theme not only applies to this color in particular,
but also plays a subtle but visible part in the design of the board overall.
On the side, we can see the seam between the top and bottom case, slightly chamfered inward
to accentuate it.
The outer edges of the board are also rounded off instead of chamfered, again helping with
the retro feel.
The lower half of the bottom case has an angle and is slightly embedded inward, and from
the bottom we can see it is concave towards the back.
On the bottom of this, there is a thin grill pattern, again very reminiscent to the bottom
of old vintage computers.
It ends slightly before the back of the board, where our non recessed centered USB port resides.
Comparing the board design overall to the keyboard of this apple two c, I can definitely
see the similarities and inspirations.
Material quality is solid.
My unit had no scuffs on the interior or exterior, albeit the slightly off tolerances of the
weight and screws which are only an issue on the prototype.
I’m not entirely sure what finish this is, as it looks like electrophoresis, but has
a lot more texture.
It is very reminiscent of the finish of old computers.
It is worth mentioning that the PCBs are still pretty scuffed, with my first PCB having a
few broken sockets, and the second still not having a functional non split backspace.
The backspace is an issue with the design of the PCB and is currently being worked on,
but it is a bit scary to have this many PCB issues so close to a group buy.
So the class65 is pretty eccentric, and definitely not to everyone's taste.
Unfortunately, the design won’t be the only source of uneasiness.
The design studio seems to be surrounded by minor drama after recent events, such as a
proto unit handed out to creator Flurples being sold for cheap before the US group buy
has even started.
Along with the aforementioned PCB issues happening so close to the group buy, it’s a bit difficult
for us to recommend this board, in the same way as we do with others.
But as always, it's your final say in where your money goes.
Despite all this, the class65 is an incredibly unique and pretty budget friendly board, bringing
back the nostalgia of a previous decade in a refreshing new rectangle. 0:06:58.220,1193:02:47.295 And that's all I have for you today.
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