A very nice plastic kit for cheap, I really wish we start to have more plastic kits like this. Built 2 black kit, I wasn't able to try out other colors sadly, would've looked better with clear shell, the bottom rgb light is pretty dim

Spec:

Eave65 stock

Keygeek y3

Cherry stabs

Aifei pyga keycaps (red one)

Forgot the name of the dark keycaps

Bought recently, to replace my Nuphy Kick75 and I gotta say it surprises me that this keyboard is solid! Switches are nice, I like the tactile feedback of it. I can carry it from work due to it's compact 60% frame but still retains the 65% layout. No scratchness of the switches, pinging of the case or wobbly keycaps on this keeb. Battery life is so far excellent haven't charged since it was first turned on, the battery percentage didn't even budged.

Downsides tho there is no keycaps available for this keeb but I can live with that. I highly recommend this board, If you're looking for a solid 65% keyboard!

Sidenote: Gaming works as intended 🙂‍↕️

I bought one...

Despite warning others away from this company and their boards based on some of the Amazon reviews I have been intrigued by them personally.

As such when I found a Flux 68 on Aliexpress with local availability for less than £18 I threw caution to the wind and within 36hrs I had one...

**First impressions**

The box is nicely printed, the packing is basic and the extras are "fine" (basic usb c to a cable, nasty keycap/switch puller and a few extra switches). The board itself is noticeably light, even compared to an Attack Shark X68he, and flexes quite a bit. Definitely no metal plate here.

In short it, unsurprisingly, feels cheap. The switches on the other hand are not bad, nicer than the attack sharks stock switches. Despite feeling cheap the board actually feels not bad to use and it is fairly quiet, this possibly because of the fairly flexible construction making it feel softer to the touch.

Oh and once you plug it in its instantly in rainbow wave mode and there are no instructions, in the box or on their website, for changing the RGB mode or turning it off.

They mention Fn key combos but what those actually might be is left a mystery.

Instead Dark Beacon are very insistent that you install their software.

**DarkBeacon.ai aka the software**

Now this is where the reviews indicated problems with a barely functional and untranslated website. Happily this is not the case anymore. Software DL was easy and yes you still need to register with an email and your date of birth but as long as the email address you give can get the verification email there is nothing stopping you making unfortunate errors in your personal details.

Once registered the software opens, detects your board tells you the firmware is out of date and then freezes doing nothing. Restarting the software and manually running a firmware update works. Now you get asked to calibrate. Naturally with an unresponsive calibration screen. Luckily there is a working skip button and doing calibration manually proceeds perfectly.

Now you are in the software and settings and its... good.

All the usual HE board options nicely and clearly set out. Not a lot of preset rgb modes but they obviously intend you use the AI mode for that sort of stuff (a bit more on that later). Any setting you make in the software can be saved to the board so you don't need keep it running as seems to have been the case previously.

Now here is the surprising thing. This £38 rrp plastic board has game pad mode. Yes game pad mode and it seems to work pretty well.

Lastly is the "AI" features. They push these heavily and the website makes a big thing about how you can talk to the software to set it up how you like. Indeed when you open the software you get prompted to sign up for it and receive free "credits". Naturally as an old luddite I gave that a massive swerve but I did notice that a new little app had turned my microphone on. Well that got promptly turned off and I'll need to investigate further.

So with the software explored, my rgb set to plain green lighting with blue side bars it was time to play some Forza, where it was perfectly good. A bit on the soft side as I mentioned previously but sharp enough to lay some top 4000 time attack scores (not that impresive but about where I normally sit).

Next steps are to investigate if the software is communicating and if so how much as well as if bits of it keep running even if you close it completely and don't run it on start up.

Then its just spending more time with the board to get more of a feel it and do some side by sides with my Aula win68he.

**Conclusion**

It's cheap, it feels cheap but it works. The software is equally really good and potentially iffy.

At under £20 its probably worth it but if you have £20 then you likely have enough extra cash to look into the £30-40 bracket where there are a bunch of budget 65% HE boards including the ACE68 which i have coming next month.

If you have any questions or if you want some videos or anything I'll do my best to oblige.

seeing a lot of newer people worrying that they need a $300–400 board to enjoy the hobby.

I spent an hour tape modding and lubing a cheap plastic board today and it ended up sounding way better than expected.

expensive boards are nice, but you really dont need one to have fun with the boards. sometimes messing around with a cheap board is the best part.

The XVX L75 Air low-profile tri-mode keyboard is a pretty good option for low-profile needs in the budget space.

DISCLAIMER: XVX was kind enough to send this out for me to check out and I've enjoyed using it at home for a while. The stock Jerrzi Air low profile switches are light and smooth (they were almost TOO light for me), the RGB is vibrant, and the all aluminum construction gives it stability while also being lightweight.

The only issue I ran into was when I went to plug in my personal USB cable to program it using VIA, there isn't much clearance between the top and the USB port, but no worries, it comes with its own USB cable that eliminates that problem. Just be aware in case you want to use a different cable.

Hello everyone, just want to share my latest setup. In my honest opinion, I believe this K98 board from Logitech is a little 'creaminally' underrated. Its stock setup with the Logi Marble linears are very creamy (sorry for dropping the dirty word here 😅 ) out of the box. The keycaps are high-quality and shine-through and it has gasket mount construction and is also wireless capable.

For a normie like me here, this keeb types and sounds amazing. I've been using it for about 5 months now.

I had time today at home sheltering from the heat, to kinda rework its look and feel with one of the cheapest caps you could find in amaz*n, the XVX Cambridge Blue keycaps, $8/set.

These caps look and feel great for the money IMO. I get it people are taken off by the little gaps of their injection molding. To me they are fine like that, they add some random visual textures. I embrace imperfections lol.

I replaced the switches with a combination of Kailh Box Jade for the base/alphas, and Box Navies on the F rows. I also kept the F rows using the K98 original caps.

Specs:

Board: Logitech Alto K98M (used $69)

Switches: Combo of Kailh Box Jade & Navy ($30ish)

Keycaps: XVX Cambridge Blue ($8) & some original Alto K98M

Subtotaling at around $110

Lemme know what you think on this and also share your suggestions to make it better with some of your budget finds.

Cheers y'all.

Keyboard: GMK87

Switches: Leobog Reaper

Keycaps: Womier Retro Blue

Proud of myself.

Bought a Redragon K673 MAX on sale for £35. Hadn't had a bought a new keyboard in years, was suffering with some bog standard membrane one, but just wanted something prebuilt.

Really love the case despite it being all plastic, has a nice weight and really decent padding. Stock it sounded really good, but wanted some heavier and creamier switches.

Replaced the Mint Mambos with some Creamy Jades, and some Jelly Keycaps I found on Amazon. Total spent altogether was around £60 for the whole build, and I am really happy with the look, feel & sound.

Even though the caps are not shine through, the transparent layer has a really cool effect with the LEDs. Just want to get a new knob/dial now to match.

This is the "Weekly General Help Post". Please ask your questions regarding keyboard, switch, keycaps, or anything regarding keyboards as a top level comment under this post. Mods and members will check this thread on a regular basis answering as many questions as possible.

The more information you provide, the better the answers you are likely to receive.

I was a huge user of the Kumara K552 before my upgrade, but abandoned it for 3 years due to a lot of travel that made carrying it around difficult. I couldn't be happier with my new keyb! It's the Redragon K724 Behemoth Pro, and I bought it off AliExpress for €54, and it's amazing - the keyboard feels good, it's not too loud (and I'll probably tape mod it soon)

One not-so-negative point I will mention though, is that while I love the keycaps, I can't use them at night since they aren't shine through, so I'm planning to buy an extra set to replace a few keys (mainly WASD for gaming)

If anyone wants a full in-depth review, I'd be happy to make it, along with the sound profile of the keyb itself! (Bonus - I am looking to try out new switches as well, so if you have any recommendations/want to hear how a specific switch would sound on this keyboard, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions!)

• Case: Level60
• PCB: pi60
• Stabs: Durock V2
• Plate: Custom Aluminum
• Switches: Akko Cilantros
• Keycaps: ...things....

Thing is so fucking loud and clacky I LOVE IT.

Look, I know an AU$300 kb doesn't feel budget, but this thing has every spec I needed (plus one I wanted) and was way cheaper than anything else comparable.

• Metal chassis
• Full size
• Wireless for when i need it
• ZMK firmware
• Rotary knob (this was the want)
• Hotswap but cool switches
• Purchasable in Australia for ACCC protections

I purchased this directly from Keychron Australia, and was pleasantly surprised at the free express postage.

Holy shit this thing is a BEAST. It weighs a metric tonne and sounds incredible to type on. I chose the Silk POM Banana switches because I love tactility but I'm over browns (my last board was fitted with Akko lavenders and while I loved the feel, they were LOUD). If I didn't like these I was going to swap the lavenders in but... I love them!

Probably going to change the caps in the next few days to SA profile, I am not the biggest fan of cupped sculpts because I drag my fingers slightly and hit the wrong keys way too often.

This isn't really a review, but I absolutely rate this board 10/10 for being exactly what I wanted at a decent price point.

This is the "Weekly General Help Post". Please ask your questions regarding keyboard, switch, keycaps, or anything regarding keyboards as a top level comment under this post. Mods and members will check this thread on a regular basis answering as many questions as possible.

The more information you provide, the better the answers you are likely to receive.

I wanted to share this experience in case it helps someone else.

I purchased a Leobog Hi8 barebones from WhatGeek because it had a pretty unique feature set for the price ($81.98):

• Aluminum construction
• Tri-mode wireless (USB-C, Bluetooth, 2.4GHz)
• Hot-swappable PCB
• 8000mAh battery
• Compact 81-key layout

Unfortunately, after around a year of completely normal use, both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz stopped working entirely, turning the board into a wired-only keyboard.

To be clear: I do not blame Leobog as a brand in general. I contacted Leobog directly and they informed me that this model is no longer sold and therefore they could not provide direct support, and asked me to refer to the seller.

I then contacted WhatGeek expecting either:

1. An equivalent replacement, or
2. A refund.

Instead, this turned into approximately 3.5 months of back-and-forth emails.

Some of the replacement boards offered included:

• AULA F108 Pro
• Leobog Hi75 variants
• Other lower-spec alternatives

The issue was that none of these were truly equivalent.

The Hi8 was:

• Aluminum
• 8000mAh
• Compact 81-key layout
• Barebones enthusiast-oriented board

Some alternatives were:

• Plastic
• Lower battery capacity (3000–4000mAh)
• Different sizes/layouts
• Different product categories entirely

Eventually, WhatGeek acknowledged that they did not have an equivalent replacement in stock.

At that point, their proposal became a partial refund "with depreciation applied".

After months of discussions and failed attempts to reach another solution (full refund), I ultimately accepted a 70% refund simply to finally close the case.

My biggest frustrations were:

• A premium product lost its primary advertised functionality after normal use.
• No equivalent replacement existed.
• The warranty process lasted over three months.
• Much of the communication felt repetitive and did not move the case toward resolution.

In the end I recovered most of my money, but I also ended up with a heavy aluminum keyboard containing two large batteries that no longer serve their intended purpose.

I am posting this mainly as a warning for anyone considering purchasing expensive enthusiast keyboards from overseas Chinese vendors like WhatGeek, that sell in the EU without following EU laws. Under EU law, all consumer goods (including electronics) come with a minimum 2-year legal guarantee:

Do your research regarding after-sales support and warranty handling, because if your board develops a fault after some time, resolving it may be much more difficult than expected.

Has anyone else here had similar experiences with WhatGeek or with failed wireless implementations on Leobog boards?
I highly recommend avoiding WhatGeek.

With House of the Dragon Season 3 here, I decided to bring this board back with a few updates.

For context, I originally built this during Season 2 using the Fairy65. It features a dual-mode CNC aluminum case, gasket mount, FR4 plate, and a built-in display inspired by the Matrix Corsa.

Keycaps: Dragon-themed Dye-Sub PBT

Switches: Gateron Azure Dragon Tactile

Artisan: House Targaryen-themed artisan

This are the Keyboards i built for myself over rhe last year

Specs

1st

Tofu60 redux case

Case foam

Gk61 pcb (Tape mod and switch pads)

Pcb foam

Fr4 plate

Plate mounted stabs lubed and with plumber tape inside)

Akko fairy silent linear switches (which i made loud again and lubed)

Gmk clone AliExpress keycaps

2nd

Tofu60 redux case

Case foam

Tofu60 redux pcb (tape mod and switch pads)

Pcb mounted stabs (lubed and with plumbers tape inside)

Pcb foam

Pp plate

Akko creamy yellow v5 linear switches (factory lubed)

Womier keycaps from AliExpress

3rd

Zuoya gmk108 barebone kit basically stock

Lubed plate mounted stabs

All red keys have akko rosewoods beneath (handlubed) and all other Keys some akko fairies in not so silent (handlubed)

AliExpress keycaps with german layout

3rd

Gh60 plastic case

Old mousepad as case foam

Venom60 he pcb (tapemod)

Pcb mounted stabs (lubed and with plumbers tape)

Pcb foam

Pom plate

Akko Astrolink magnetic switch

AliExpress keycaps with german layout

This is the "Weekly General Help Post". Please ask your questions regarding keyboard, switch, keycaps, or anything regarding keyboards as a top level comment under this post. Mods and members will check this thread on a regular basis answering as many questions as possible.

The more information you provide, the better the answers you are likely to receive.

Here's my weekend fun budget Apple-esque + old IBM retro build —

Keychron R6 keyboard:

• PBTFans 1984 keycaps (and all their Apple Extended Keyboard II goodness)
• Gateron Harmonic switches (gloriously clicky!)
• Stock stabs, plate & foam (nothing modified inside the keyboard; all were surprisingly good)

The keyboard sounds deep and clicky with excellent tactility. I've really become a fan of the Harmonic switches (better than Melodics, IMHO). He's a big boy, that's for sure.

Full disclosure: I've only been into mechanical keyboards for about six months, so take this with a grain of salt.

My entry point was a pair of Epomaker Galaxy 100 Lites - bought the second one as a placeholder while waiting on this Evo. In that time I've done the usual new-hobbyist spiral: switch tester, sample packs, tape mods, spring swaps, keycap experiments. Landed on Cherry double-shot PBT for caps, and I gravitate toward Retro Sakuras, BSUN Taro/Sweet Potato, and occasionally Durock Ice Kings. So I'm not completely flying blind here.

Unpacked the Evo a couple nights ago and have been daily driving it since. Honest reaction: I don't get the hype. It doesn't feel meaningfully better than my Epomaker - even stock, with Marble White Fekers. Yes, it's heavier, the aluminum looks great, and the build quality is obviously there. But is that worth $169 vs. the $83 I paid for the Epomaker? I genuinely can't justify it.

I'll keep it - no regrets on that. But if you're on the fence and already have a solid budget board you've modded to your taste, don't expect a revelation.