I just got this keyboard last month and can say that this is my new favorite keyboard for budget builds. Despite what amazon description says, mine came with 5 pin hotswap instead of 3 pin which is a huge plus. The stabs came surprisingly well tuned with the exception of the spacebar which is pretty rattly. I got mine with black switches which are pretty scratchy but with lube could probably be a decent switch. I swapped mine out for some Gateron Cap Gold V2's. The board itself is surprisingly sturdy with some weight to it. Everything is fairly tight with no hollowness. I currently use this keyboard as my daily driver and have only modified it slightly, swapping out the switches and keycaps as well as applying some masking tape to the pcb.
The plate is steel, which is nice because it gives it a little weight. I just got one with the black switches. The stock switches were slightly squeaky, but usable. However, I got this to use as a gaming keyboard, so the black switches had to go. I swapped the stock switches for AKKO Rose Reds. I replaced the stock OEM profile keycaps with the most masculine keycaps I could find: cherry profile Gamakay PBT Olivia keycaps. I did some padding inside and I definitely intend to add o-rings to the keys to quiet them more. I'm definitely happy with this board.
I just did that silicone treatment today to an SK61 I have that uses Gateron optical switches. Ping is so bad on that board. Also bought precut plate foam. Hopefully these mods will fix the ping. If it works out I will spring for better silicone to use on my RK61 Pro. Cool video dude. Thumbs up.
@@ImSquint I ended up using 2 full tubes on a 60% board lol but there was a lot of space underneath since there are no pads on the back of the pcb. Really easy to tape mod optical boards. Sounds great after. Added a nice amount of weight to the board. I would definitely do this again to a budget board. The precut plate foam I got off Amazon made the most difference. Just ordered the CIY X77, 87 key plate foam and 3 tubes of silicone. Should be a nice project for next weekend. Peace.
I got this keyboard put some double sided foam tape 3.5 mm thick on the bottoms of the case, Akko samurai key caps, switch pads, Akko cs silver switches. Lubed and filmed, and a foam plate pad. It is so thocky!! And the stabilizers on mine came very lubed and we’re solid there was no way I was gonna fit a band aid mod or tape mod. Absolutely no wobble!! And the best sounding keys on the board are the stabilizer keys lol. You can almost not here the shift and enter key those were the most lubed stabilizers.
Dude, how do you not have more subs? Just ordered this keyboard today thanks to your video. Was eyeballing it for quite a while now but too afraid of being disappointed. I've had mechanical keyboards for over 12 years now but this will be my first hot swap. Planning to use Akko Starfish or Radiant Reds in this and still looking for an affordable set of caps but it's so damn hard to find like any ISO / German at all. Anyways, just wanted to say thank you and keep up the good work!
@@ImSquint Alright guys, real talk. Got mine the other day and it's a bit sus. The upper frame was slightly scratched. The keyboard doesn't stand flat (the middle plastic foot is too high compared to the rubber feet in the bottom left and right, so it wobbles from left to right when pressing in the respective corners) aaaaaaand the right-most middle screw was missing (under the return key). So here's the key question: Did yours come with lubed stabs? Because mine did. Having a strong feeling somebody already "messed" with this keyboard but then decided to return it because he messed up.
@@Lonestar_GER I would return the keyboard. Mine didn't come with any problems. It was wel balanced out of the box. Stabs are factory lubed. And they use a lot of lube.
Excellent review! Been looking for a ~$50 budget 65-75% board and saw this new one this week. Been trying to decide between the LTC Nimbleback or the RK68 but then I saw this new one. I just bought another new one the Tezarre TK61 and I was surprised to find out of the box it bad foam in the board, between plate and PCB and also space bar dampener foam and copious amounts of lube on the stabilizers which seemed better than any of the other boards I've seen. Only drawback I'm sad about is the Gateron Optical switches instead of standard mechanical :/ so it's probably going back in favor of one of the above
@@ImSquint I ended up going with the RK68 and love having a dedicated arrow keys, del and tilde. I’ve done full foam, tape and stab mods on it along with getting Jwick yellows, lubing them and xda caps. Sounds and feels amazing!
Yeah, I've put bobas in mine, SA PBT caps, and am about to aquarium filter mod the case. The plastic foam wrapping doubling as plate-PCB foam is pretty good too.
lmao that intro was great. im not planning to buy this board, but after looking on what kinda stuff amazon has nowadays i found this and thought it was a little too good to be true...
@@ImSquint actually coming back here to ask you a quick question, how was typing on the keyboard stock? I know you got blue switches, but I'm curious how the stabilizers felt as I'm not planning on upgrading them at least for a little while.
@@rebeltugFPS i would disassemble the stabs and apply with thicker lubes little more. stock stabs do come with lubed though. stock keyboard is just hollow and pings, it's about what you expect from this price range. After all that though, It's still a great keyboard. You can put foams in the bottom case to kinda remove that reverb pretty easily.
I am buying this because it comes in iso standard with German keycaps which is a huge plus because it is hard to find cheap hotswap keyboards that are iso and TKL cheapest option would be 100€
Hey nice video! Planing on buying and modding this keyboard too, but in fullsize (ciy x35) Since I am new to all this I wanted to ask you what screwdriver(s) are required. Do you know of any problems with the akko switches and mx style keycaps of other manufacturers in regards of the north facing leds? As an iso-de user it's very hard to get your hands on some nice keycaps. Keep up the nice work!
I tried to look up the switches that they put in it, but I couldn't find any information about them. I believe they are just one of the knock off switches.
As long as they are mx cherry style switches, they will fit! most of the Gateron products are mx cherry styles. You shouldn't have problem swapping them.
hmm i do have a question, how bright is the backlight? i got mine yesterday and, atleast compared to my former keyboard, it appears very dim and i'm not sure if it's my specific device or not
Mine is bright enough. I don't have the rgb to the max brightness though. So, I'm guessing it will get brighter. If yours isn't that bright, I suggest turning on the brightness of your rpg or possibly return for another one.
@@ImSquint Hmm alright, I think it is at max brightness so it might indeed just be a defect bcuz at daytime its barely visible and at nighttime its deff enough but quite dim. about what woulda been say level 1/5 on my former keyboard or so Thanks for your input! But yeah otherwise keyboard gave me a good first impression - rly solid for 50€ (tho my old one i also found for 30€ with a full sized kaihl blue keyboard, metal construction and proper rgb. it wasnt perfect but idk how they sold that for 30€)
I own this keyboard and i tape and foam modded it, also i put switch sound dampeners in today (for in between steelplate and pcb) and i am planning on putting on thicker caps and my problem is they are mx. U used mx profile and it seemed to be fine. I use gamakay phoenix switches and i wanted to know if anyone could tell me if the caps will work without interferring wit the switches
@@rocketval9288 honestly, both are great options. But if you want to go with more familiarity and supports from the community, rk68 is the best option. Although, ever since I built CIY, it's been a pleasure. I wouldn't mind not having community support about CIY because it's a solid build as well.
I just got this keyboard last month and can say that this is my new favorite keyboard for budget builds. Despite what amazon description says, mine came with 5 pin hotswap instead of 3 pin which is a huge plus. The stabs came surprisingly well tuned with the exception of the spacebar which is pretty rattly. I got mine with black switches which are pretty scratchy but with lube could probably be a decent switch. I swapped mine out for some Gateron Cap Gold V2's. The board itself is surprisingly sturdy with some weight to it. Everything is fairly tight with no hollowness. I currently use this keyboard as my daily driver and have only modified it slightly, swapping out the switches and keycaps as well as applying some masking tape to the pcb.
It really is a good budget keyboard. I think it deserves more attention.
I don’t know why but I thought you had like a few hundred thousand subs just because of the quality and effort. Great job man 👍
Appreciate that! Hopefully I will get there soon.
I did this and the result is mindblowing. Thank you very much!
great video man. although the switch is scratchy as hell. and the sound is not thocky at all, its clacky.
The plate is steel, which is nice because it gives it a little weight. I just got one with the black switches. The stock switches were slightly squeaky, but usable. However, I got this to use as a gaming keyboard, so the black switches had to go. I swapped the stock switches for AKKO Rose Reds. I replaced the stock OEM profile keycaps with the most masculine keycaps I could find: cherry profile Gamakay PBT Olivia keycaps. I did some padding inside and I definitely intend to add o-rings to the keys to quiet them more. I'm definitely happy with this board.
Great video! also I love the chick-fil-a sauce in the background of the typing test :)
I just did that silicone treatment today to an SK61 I have that uses Gateron optical switches. Ping is so bad on that board. Also bought precut plate foam. Hopefully these mods will fix the ping.
If it works out I will spring for better silicone to use on my RK61 Pro. Cool video dude. Thumbs up.
Definitely let me know what you think after doing silicone mod!
@@ImSquint I ended up using 2 full tubes on a 60% board lol but there was a lot of space underneath since there are no pads on the back of the pcb. Really easy to tape mod optical boards. Sounds great after. Added a nice amount of weight to the board. I would definitely do this again to a budget board. The precut plate foam I got off Amazon made the most difference. Just ordered the CIY X77, 87 key plate foam and 3 tubes of silicone. Should be a nice project for next weekend. Peace.
@@FriedFinn so glad you enjoyed the mod! I hope you enjoy the x77 as much as I am!
I got this keyboard put some double sided foam tape 3.5 mm thick on the bottoms of the case, Akko samurai key caps, switch pads, Akko cs silver switches. Lubed and filmed, and a foam plate pad. It is so thocky!! And the stabilizers on mine came very lubed and we’re solid there was no way I was gonna fit a band aid mod or tape mod. Absolutely no wobble!! And the best sounding keys on the board are the stabilizer keys lol. You can almost not here the shift and enter key those were the most lubed stabilizers.
Dude, how do you not have more subs?
Just ordered this keyboard today thanks to your video.
Was eyeballing it for quite a while now but too afraid of being disappointed.
I've had mechanical keyboards for over 12 years now but this will be my first hot swap. Planning to use Akko Starfish or Radiant Reds in this and still looking for an affordable set of caps but it's so damn hard to find like any ISO / German at all.
Anyways, just wanted to say thank you and keep up the good work!
I am so glad this video help you with the decision! It's been an awesome keyboard to use. It's been my daily drive ever since I mod this keyboard.
@@ImSquint Alright guys, real talk.
Got mine the other day and it's a bit sus. The upper frame was slightly scratched. The keyboard doesn't stand flat (the middle plastic foot is too high compared to the rubber feet in the bottom left and right, so it wobbles from left to right when pressing in the respective corners) aaaaaaand the right-most middle screw was missing (under the return key).
So here's the key question: Did yours come with lubed stabs? Because mine did.
Having a strong feeling somebody already "messed" with this keyboard but then decided to return it because he messed up.
@@Lonestar_GER I would return the keyboard. Mine didn't come with any problems. It was wel balanced out of the box. Stabs are factory lubed. And they use a lot of lube.
Excellent review! Been looking for a ~$50 budget 65-75% board and saw this new one this week. Been trying to decide between the LTC Nimbleback or the RK68 but then I saw this new one. I just bought another new one the Tezarre TK61 and I was surprised to find out of the box it bad foam in the board, between plate and PCB and also space bar dampener foam and copious amounts of lube on the stabilizers which seemed better than any of the other boards I've seen. Only drawback I'm sad about is the Gateron Optical switches instead of standard mechanical :/ so it's probably going back in favor of one of the above
Those optical switches can be amusing sometimes. Thanks for watching my review!
@@ImSquint I ended up going with the RK68 and love having a dedicated arrow keys, del and tilde. I’ve done full foam, tape and stab mods on it along with getting Jwick yellows, lubing them and xda caps. Sounds and feels amazing!
I got this before watching your video and am loving this so far. If you're looking for a good entry keyboard this is it.
I thought that I was watching some huge keyboard youtuber, I was mistaken. However you will get there! This channel has awesome production quality.
Yeah, I've put bobas in mine, SA PBT caps, and am about to aquarium filter mod the case. The plastic foam wrapping doubling as plate-PCB foam is pretty good too.
lmao that intro was great. im not planning to buy this board, but after looking on what kinda stuff amazon has nowadays i found this and thought it was a little too good to be true...
+1 for Chick-fil-A sauce in background
(2 seconds into blue sound test)
"Alright that's enough"
Just take my sub and like already man!
sold me on the keyboard. Hippyo level production quality.
I really appreciate that! It will be a long long run for me to get to his production quality.
@@ImSquint your intro kind reminded me of him too with the “Heyo!” did do the subscribing
@@rebeltugFPS my videos are definitely inspired by him 😁
@@ImSquint actually coming back here to ask you a quick question, how was typing on the keyboard stock? I know you got blue switches, but I'm curious how the stabilizers felt as I'm not planning on upgrading them at least for a little while.
@@rebeltugFPS i would disassemble the stabs and apply with thicker lubes little more. stock stabs do come with lubed though. stock keyboard is just hollow and pings, it's about what you expect from this price range. After all that though, It's still a great keyboard. You can put foams in the bottom case to kinda remove that reverb pretty easily.
background music's too loud imo while you're talking, other than that this channel has really good potential
Appreciate the feedback! I also thought the first music was loud. But I kept forget to edit that xD I'll be more careful for the next video
when it asks you if you want to activate sticky keys during a sound test: "no I don't want-"
I am buying this because it comes in iso standard with German keycaps which is a huge plus because it is hard to find cheap hotswap keyboards that are iso and TKL cheapest option would be 100€
I know! It's such a great option for a cheap price
fühle ich , die meisten guten sind immer in englischer Aufführung
You should do a video on the royal kludge keyboard you got there! :wink:
That's a great idea
I feel like i just watched a KB review by Taika Waititi😂
Is the end of the cable USB-A?
Is it cherry mx blue compatible?
I'm thinking of buying this so I am look for things that fit my needs.
Hey nice video!
Planing on buying and modding this keyboard too, but in fullsize (ciy x35)
Since I am new to all this I wanted to ask you what screwdriver(s) are required.
Do you know of any problems with the akko switches and mx style keycaps of other manufacturers in regards of the north facing leds? As an iso-de user it's very hard to get your hands on some nice keycaps.
Keep up the nice work!
For the on top of the ocb, how does the rgb light get through?
Where did you get your PE foam from? Amazon just don't do the ones im looking for.
Ayo man , drop a affiliate link to earn something out of it , you deserved
I really appreciate the thought! I am hoping to have affiliate link soon!
It looks awesome, do you know what switches it comes with?
I tried to look up the switches that they put in it, but I couldn't find any information about them. I believe they are just one of the knock off switches.
What brand were the stock switches on yours? I couldn’t find that on the Amazon listing anywhere.
Somebody actually found that these switches are Chinese company called Jixian.
So this will fit gaterons out of the box? great video btw
As long as they are mx cherry style switches, they will fit! most of the Gateron products are mx cherry styles. You shouldn't have problem swapping them.
@@ImSquint cool, thanks
what would happen if i spray painted the magnetic case cuz im worried it will stop being magnetic
whats the link for the software cause the one provided isnt working for me.
does this keyboard have 1000 hz polling rate(i know its late to ask)?
Did you clip the Zeal stabilizers? Or is that not need for them?
There are no need to clip them. They are flat from get go.
@@ImSquint I see, thank you
You said this keyboard has drivers? I can’t seem to find them anywhere though
Unfortunately it looks like they stopped supporting for the driver. That's one thing about buying smaller company's keyboard 😒
Is it compatible on ps5?
Can I put a tecware shroud on here
hmm i do have a question, how bright is the backlight? i got mine yesterday and, atleast compared to my former keyboard, it appears very dim and i'm not sure if it's my specific device or not
Mine is bright enough. I don't have the rgb to the max brightness though. So, I'm guessing it will get brighter. If yours isn't that bright, I suggest turning on the brightness of your rpg or possibly return for another one.
@@ImSquint Hmm alright, I think it is at max brightness so it might indeed just be a defect bcuz at daytime its barely visible and at nighttime its deff enough but quite dim. about what woulda been say level 1/5 on my former keyboard or so
Thanks for your input! But yeah otherwise keyboard gave me a good first impression - rly solid for 50€
(tho my old one i also found for 30€ with a full sized kaihl blue keyboard, metal construction and proper rgb. it wasnt perfect but idk how they sold that for 30€)
@@vladdraghici7237 that sounds crazy! Just from sound of it, that keyboard should have been over $100!
Are you sure that this keyboard also supports 5 pin switches?
You can see the bare PCB at 3:20. It's got 5 holes
I own this keyboard and i tape and foam modded it, also i put switch sound dampeners in today (for in between steelplate and pcb) and i am planning on putting on thicker caps and my problem is they are mx. U used mx profile and it seemed to be fine. I use gamakay phoenix switches and i wanted to know if anyone could tell me if the caps will work without interferring wit the switches
the chick fil a sauce... anyways ur vid was great!
I'm glad you noticed my secret ingredient XD
why does it sound so mushy? perhaps wet even?
It has to do with the keycaps. When you use ASA profile or XDA profile, it sounds more lively if that's what you are looking for.
this is as good as heavy shell barix !
Does anyone know where i can find a software for this keyboard?
How do you have 17 subscribers
Underrated
I'll work hard to gain more. I appreciate your comment!
@@ImSquint Keep up the good work and you will make it to the top
aint no way any of the big creators know about this keyboard💀
What's the official CiY website?
ciy.ltd/ here you go. Actual website doesn't include much informations nor it actually functions as a website
@@ImSquint this or royal kludge rk68 rgb?
@@rocketval9288 honestly, both are great options. But if you want to go with more familiarity and supports from the community, rk68 is the best option. Although, ever since I built CIY, it's been a pleasure. I wouldn't mind not having community support about CIY because it's a solid build as well.
Does anyone have a link to the software for this keyboard? I can't find it anywhere.
ciy.ltd/a/Users_Manuals_Drives/39.html You can check their official website for the driver!
Thank you. I for the life of me couldn't get to it.
Great video by the way & very informative!
Looks like a cartoon keyboard
right? I can't help keep noticing how it looks so cartoony
I like this video but I want to keep the like count at 69. ;)
Sticky keys XD
Does anyone know the polling rate of this keyboard?