I didn’t know anything about keyboard 3 months ago but kept trying new boards until I landed with this one. Kudos to the forum for all the great advice.

Or Wallhack but Bigly?

A bit of a silly fun one here.

A while back someone asked about the existance of a board that had a similar look to the Wallhack K0001 and whilst I couldn't think of one I did suggest sticking the Wallhack switches on something and since it had north facing LEDS I thought the Mix87 might work.

Of course that got my brain ticking over so I decided to just go ahead and try myself.

The results are mixed: It's close but there is some light spillage, most of which actually seems to be reflection from the underside of the keycaps and getting the Mix87 to give a more white light is an issue, even at 0,0,0 RGB its LEDs are very blue.

The KS-TR light switches are nice with a creamy pop and a bit quieter than the Mount Tais but they do have a bit more stem wobble. On reflection I think I should have gone with the KS-TR mediums but the light still does the job.

Sound tests:

As factory with Mount Tais:

https://youtu.be/J4qWNcQA5Ck

With the KS-TR lights fitted:

https://youtu.be/yBQt50PoLps

This keyboard is for gaming “cs2, valorant, fps games”

Heard some people talking about everglide having issues with the usb c port.

Which one would be best regarding software, performance, build quality, reliability?

Would get yaoguang for the ever glide and for the ev63 id get x ultra switches I assume

Personal/gaming/work setup at home for a bit now, originally with KC Super Brown and decided to switch over to the Gateron's. Also my first TKL, for my use very enjoyable.

My wooting 80he+ comes today in the mail, I got it in the plastic frost white. I see a lot of people disliking wooting here and it makes me question if I made the right choice, I plan on having this keyboard for the next 5-7 years so I want to make the right decision with my keyboard purchase, I have a 30 day return policy with wooting so I can get a refund and order something else.

Keyboards on my radar besides the 80HE+ are SU75 pro v2, su66max and the iqunix ev63.

I strictly only play competitive FPS Games like cs2, Valorant, cod, battle royals and other first person shooters.

I’m not particularly a fan of having a plastic case with wooting, of course a metal case would be better. I could in theory upgrade my 80he+ to something else more premium but spend another 80-120$.

Sound wise and feel wise, are the other keyboard much better sounding and feeling when playing / typing over the wooting 80he+? A good typing sound is always nice

Performance wise wooting probably is a step behind the Everglides and ev63 on paper but from my knowledge it’s something a human wouldn’t be able to perceive. Has anyone actually noticed the better specs between them, does it even make a difference with counter strafing or in game feel?

Wooting does seem to have solid software in comparison to the other brands and a great warranty / support system which is a bonus.

Not sure what I should do, I’d like to keep my keyboard spending under 260$, I spent about 220$ after taxes for the 80he+.

I’m sure I’d be very happy with the 80he+, I mean it’s literally the most popular keyboard being used currently by pros in cs2 and other games at the moment so they’re doing something right. But of course I want the best for my money, would like opinions! Thanks

Hey everyone! Pretty new to the sub and looking to buy my very first mechanical keyboard.

I wfh 5 days a week and do some light gaming on the side. I’ve personally tested the NuPhy Halo75 and absolutely loved the premium, heavy build quality and how it sounded and felt (raspberry switches).

However, on this sub, I've noticed NuPhy and Keychron get a fair bit of criticism, which has me second-guessing myself.

I’m looking for alternative recommendations that fit this criteria:

Layout: 75% normal profile, prebuilt. Gasket mounted.

Sound/Feel: Thocky or deeper sound profile with smooth, pre-lubed switches (definitely want to avoid anything overly loud, harsh or clacky).

Build Quality: Premium, hefty, and solid feel (similar to or better than the Halo75).

Quality of life and common sense features are a must. For example, I want to avoid quirks like the Rainy75's power switch hidden underneath the keycaps. I also don't care whether it has a knob or not.

Would love to hear your suggestions! Thanks in advance!!

Edit: forgot to mention preferably linear switches.

I’ve had 2 wooting keyboards in the last week, both with qc issues. A 60he v2 with a comma key posting multiple times and my new 80he+ with a spacebar stabilizer qc issue.

Kinda done with wooting at this point especially when people say there’s better cheaper options.

Out of these 3 what would you say is best for gaming, reliability, sound, feel, performance, software, aesthetic ect.

Mostly care about gaming performance

Willing to spend up to 260$ after tax and shipping.

SU75 pro v2

SU66 max

Flash 75he extreme

IQUNIX EV63

Need help with switches.

I liked the default medium lekken wooting switches on the 80he+ and 60hev2 and my previous keyboard had cherry mx reds so something similar ideally.

Also I’m the USA, what website is best?

Hello All,

I've noticed a bit of a discrepancy in reviews of Keychron products on Amazon and subs on reddit versus "professional" reviews. Rtings, NYT Wirecutter, and Keeb-finder- to name a few- give these boards glowing reviews and high scores. Whereas when I look at Amazon reviews and ones on here, it's far more mixed.

Is the discrepancy based on initial thoughts versus longer-term use?

TIA!

Hi guys, as the title says my logitech g915 is out of the door, and i need a replacement. I really like watching these custom keyboard videos and hearing the sound tests, and as you called it "thocky".

Budget: 100$, i want something clean but that sounds thocky, and creamy.

Style: Preferably black with white/pink accents.

Size: 80%, i require the arrow keys.

Please leave you recommendations down below as i am desperate.

I currently have irok nd63 pro. I've had it for around 2 years. It's a pretty good keyboard, but I miss my function keys so I want to buy a 75% keyboard.

My budget is 80€
Here are the keyboards I have found so far:
Akko Tac75 HE Glare Switches - 54€ (from amazon)
Akko Tac75 Pro HE Hakutaku Switches - 63€ (from aliexpress)
Aula F75 HE Black King/Emperor Switches - 70€ (+2 year warranty)
MCHOSE Jet75 HE Kailh Magnetic God Switches - 80€ (+2 year warranty)

You can also recommend me a keyboard that's in budget and has free delivery to Europe

Hello, i want a new keyboard and I've got a bunch of options, my most important trait that i want is longevity.

The keyboards are:

1- keychron k10 he standard used for 65$

2- ajazz ak820 v2 he for 55$ - 60$

3- VGN a75 he for 65$

4- attack shark r85 he for 62$

5- Irok mars75 pro for 65$ (but its from shein and it might take a while to be delivered or even sometimes rejected but it can be delivered)

6- madlions mad 68 R for 54$

There is also a mchose mix 87 for 70$ but it has an rgb issue where the rgb flickers randomly

Looking for a reliable keyboard that is in the $100-$150 range, is cute/aesthetically pleasing, bluetooth, and will last more than 2 years minimum.

I had the epomaker TH80X wired/wireless and it was horrible, would disconnect all the time, couldn’t get bluetooth working after and wouldn’t get recognized on my laptop.

Been in the custom mechanical scene for a while but never really sought out a HE keyboard. However, I'm back into competitive FPS games so I thought why not?

The things I care about most are aesthetics and acoustics, I know it's hard to make a magnetic keyboard sound great but I've heard a few that actually sound decent.

So far I have my eyes on the Lofree Hyzen and the Wallhack k001 but I prefer having an F key row.

Any suggestions for premium HE or TMR keyboards would be helpful.

- Full Aluminum

- Knob preferably

- 75% or TKL (will consider a 65% if the board really wows me)

- Obtainable in the US

- Barebones kits are okay as well.

Budget: $400

I've been into custom keyboards for a while and own a few ATK boards. I work on SuperWEIRD, and we decided to see what its art would look like on a keyboard I'd want on my desk.

We used an Attack Shark X85 model from BlenderKit as the base. The white and mint keys have bits of our game's map on them, with socket eyes on the arrows and the Corruption skull on Esc. The little pig became a keychain.

These are Blender renders. We haven't made a physical keyboard, and there isn't a product planned for sale. I like how the red Esc and spacebar sit against the mint keys, but I'm less sure about where we've placed the map textures. I'd be interested in what you'd change about that layout.

I just recently got the rainy75 so here is my thoughts:

As someone who has been in the keyboard community since 2015 it still blows my mind that something that is of this quality is available for only 170ish dollars canadian!

I know this keyboard has already been talked about alot so I will talk about who this keyboard is for.

I think if you are someone looking for a no hassle experience that not only sounds great but also is premium (without breaking the bank) this is for you.

I personally love the weight of the keyboard. It heavy enough that it won't move around my desk and I prefer that. However if you are the type of person that tends to move your keyboard around alot on your desk or tend to travel with your keyboard you may find it to be a bit more uncomfortable.

Overall this is a keyboard that I think most people would enjoy and not regret purchasing.

A community-discovered workaround using the local SteelSeries GG Engine API

The problem

I lost the 2.4 GHz USB dongle for my SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless keyboard.

Unfortunately, SteelSeries GG wouldn't allow me to update the keyboard's firmware without the dongle.

My keyboard also had serious issues:

• Bluetooth connected for approximately one second, then disconnected and returned to pairing mode.
• The keyboard sometimes failed to respond after starting Windows or reconnecting its USB cable.
• The keyboard's RGB and OLED could be working while the keyboard itself was unresponsive.

SteelSeries support couldn't provide a replacement dongle or an alternative update procedure.

With ChatGPT's help, I investigated the local SteelSeries GG Engine API and successfully updated the keyboard firmware directly over USB.

My firmware before: 3.3.4/2.1.5

My firmware after: 3.24.1/3.24.1

After the update, Bluetooth started working again!

Important warnings

This is an unofficial and undocumented procedure.

• Tested on one SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless keyboard.
• Requires Windows, SteelSeries GG, and a working USB connection.
• Firmware updates can fail and potentially leave the keyboard unusable.
• Do not attempt this during unstable USB connectivity.
• Do not unplug the keyboard, close GG, or restart Windows while an update is active.
• Do not blindly reuse the device IDs or API port shown in this guide.
• Do not use this procedure for other SteelSeries models without verifying their firmware and device identifiers.

This updates the keyboard firmware, not the missing dongle firmware.

Proceed at your own risk.

Step 1 — Prepare the keyboard

1. Install and open SteelSeries GG.
2. Connect the keyboard directly to the PC using a USB cable.
3. Make sure Windows recognizes the keyboard.
4. Keep the keyboard connected throughout the process.
5. Have a spare keyboard available in case the main keyboard stops responding.

In my case, the keyboard was connected in wired mode.

Step 2 — Identify the SteelSeries Engine API port

SteelSeries GG runs a local HTTPS service.

In my installation, the API was available at:

https://127.0.0.1:59516

The port may be different on your computer or after restarting GG.

The following examples use my port. Replace it with the port used by your own Engine instance.

Step 3 — Retrieve connected devices

Open PowerShell and run:

curl.exe -k -s "https://127.0.0.1:59516/devices"

For easier inspection:

$r = curl.exe -k -s "https://127.0.0.1:59516/devices" |
    ConvertFrom-Json

$r.devices | Format-List

Find your keyboard's logical device ID and physical device information.

My keyboard had:

Logical device ID: 243
Keyboard physical product ID: 272111154

The missing wireless dongle had a different product ID:

Dongle physical product ID: 272111152

Do not confuse the keyboard with the dongle.

The logical device ID may change between installations or sessions.

Step 4 — Check the keyboard firmware

SteelSeries Engine exposes a function for querying firmware information.

My successful request was:

curl.exe -k -i --max-time 10 `
  -X POST `
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" `
  -d "{}" `
  "https://127.0.0.1:59516/device/243/physicalDevice/272111154/function/get_fw_version/checkBootloader"

Before updating, my response was:

{"function_data":"3.3.4/2.1.5"}

This confirmed the firmware installed on the keyboard.

Step 5 — Check the available firmware

My installation contained the keyboard firmware files in:

C:\Program Files\SteelSeries\GG\apps\engine\firmware\272111154\

The files included:

firmware-apex-pro-tkl-wireless-nordic-3.24.1.bin
firmware-apex-pro-tkl-wireless-stm-3.24.1.bin
version.json

The keyboard's version.json reported:

{
  "firmware_version": "3.24.1/3.24.1",
  "device_name": "apex_pro_tkl_wireless"
}

Make sure the firmware belongs to your exact device.

Do not rename firmware files or substitute files from another keyboard model.

Step 6 — Save a diagnostic snapshot

Before updating, save the current device information.

$backup = "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\ApexFirmwareBackup"

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $backup -Force |
    Out-Null

curl.exe -k -s "https://127.0.0.1:59516/devices" |
    Out-File "$backup\devices-before.json" -Encoding utf8

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly |
    Where-Object { $_.InstanceId -match "VID_1038" } |
    Format-List * |
    Out-File "$backup\usb-before.txt"

This is a diagnostic backup, not a backup of the firmware itself.

It cannot restore a failed firmware update.

Step 7 — Initiate the firmware update

WARNING: This is the potentially dangerous step.

Do not execute this command until you have confirmed the correct keyboard device ID, physical product ID, available firmware files, and stable USB connection.

This is the request that worked on my keyboard:

curl.exe -k -i --max-time 120 `
  -X PUT `
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" `
  -d "{}" `
  "https://127.0.0.1:59516/device/243/physicalDevice/272111154/firmware"

The Engine responded:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{}

HTTP 200 alone does not prove that the firmware update has completed.

It only confirms that the API accepted and responded to the request.

Do not repeat the request just because the firmware version hasn't changed immediately.

Step 8 — Monitor the update

Use this PowerShell command to check the update status:

$r = curl.exe -k -s "https://127.0.0.1:59516/devices" |
    ConvertFrom-Json

$d = $r.devices |
    Where-Object { $_.id -eq 243 }

$p = $d.physical_devices |
    Where-Object { $_.product_id -eq 272111154 }

[PSCustomObject]@{
    Connected        = $d.connected
    Firmware         = $p.firmware.version
    ShouldUpdate     = $p.firmware.should_update
    UpdateInProgress = $p.firmware.update_in_progress
    BootloaderMode   = $p.bootloader_mode
} | Format-List

Initially, my keyboard reported:

Connected        : 1
Firmware         : 3.3.4/2.1.5
ShouldUpdate     : True
UpdateInProgress : True
BootloaderMode   : False

The firmware version remained unchanged for several checks.

Then the keyboard suddenly powered off and turned back on.

Do not immediately unplug or restart a keyboard if this happens during an update.

A temporary disconnect or restart may be part of the firmware update process.

Step 9 — Verify the result

After the keyboard restarted, I checked its status again.

The result was:

Connected        : 1
Firmware         : 3.24.1/3.24.1
ShouldUpdate     : False
UpdateInProgress : False
BootloaderMode   : False

SteelSeries GG also displayed:

APEX PRO TKL WIRELESS
Firmware Version: 3.24.1/3.24.1
Connection: WIRED

The keyboard firmware update had completed successfully.

Step 10 — Test the keyboard

After updating, test:

• All keyboard keys
• OLED display
• RGB lighting
• Wired USB operation
• Bluetooth pairing and connection stability
• Keyboard behavior after a normal Windows restart

In my case, Bluetooth was previously unusable.

Before updating, it would connect briefly, disconnect, and return to pairing mode.

After the firmware update, Bluetooth started working again.

I cannot prove which specific firmware change fixed it, but the improvement happened immediately after updating.

Troubleshooting notes

The API port does not respond

Confirm SteelSeries GG and its Engine process are running. The local port may differ from the one in this guide.

The device ID doesn't match

Find your own device ID using the /devices endpoint. Do not assume 243 is universal.

UpdateInProgress remains True

Do not repeatedly send firmware update requests. Check SteelSeries Engine logs and allow the current operation to finish or report an error.

The keyboard disconnects

Do not immediately disconnect the USB cable or restart Windows. Determine whether the keyboard is temporarily rebooting or entering firmware update mode.

The firmware version hasn't changed

This does not automatically mean the update failed. Verify the current update status and inspect logs before taking further action.

Conclusion

I nearly gave up on my Apex Pro TKL Wireless because I couldn't update it without the missing dongle.

By using SteelSeries GG's local Engine API, I successfully updated the keyboard firmware over USB.

The update also coincided with my previously broken Bluetooth functionality starting to work again.

This procedure is not officially supported, and it has only been tested on my own device.

I'm sharing it because it may help other people facing the same problem.

Hopefully, SteelSeries will eventually provide an official way to update keyboard firmware without requiring a wireless dongle.

Suggest me a good Mechanical Keyboard for Macbook which should last minimum 2 - 3 years

Preferably 75% or TKL (Can consider FullSize)

Purpose -Video Editing (Davinci Resolve and FCP) and Coding

Budget - 10K.

Should Have - Not Too Loud, Sturdy Build and Good Customer Support

Must Haves - QMK/VIA, Long Battery Life

Currently Considering -

URX Core75 (Don't like the small 4000 mAh battery and translucent design)

NUT65 (Too small and Seeing lots of battery issues)

OPEN TO OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS !!

I am looking to buy a thocky/creamy 60% prebuilt. My budget is around $150 preferably on the lower side of that. Maybe an aluminum case. Anyone have any suggestions?

Why there is not keyboard with the stream controller on the left side? am i the only one will prefer it like that? its always placed on the right side in all the models i find.

I’m looking for a low profile HE keyboard and I’m currently stuck between the two.

I’m currently using the Keychron K1 SE and wanna try out a HE keyboard for the first time but also need one that’s still low profile and has its function keys.

Alternatives for other keyboards are also appreciated.

I don’t want a clicky/loud sounding keyboard because I don’t want to bother my roommates.

I play some non-competitive games but also touch some shooter games when my friends decide to hop on it.

I’m curious what most enthusiasts consider the ideal spring weight for linear switches, especially for long typing sessions.

I’m currently looking at Keygeek Y2X switches, available in 32gf, 40gf, 48gf, and 53gf actuation variants, and I’m leaning toward 48gf.

Is there a generally accepted sweet spot for linears, or does it really come down to personal preference?

Also, how much does spring weight actually affect sound? Do lighter or heavier springs tend to produce a deeper, more “thocky” sound versus something sharper and more “clacky”? I know those terms are pretty subjective, but you get the idea.

Curious what weights you’ve settled on after experimenting and whether you noticed any meaningful differences in sound or typing feel.

I'd be looking for a keyboard and mouse set preferable wireless that lights up when you type

I would be using it for work and on my Xbox

I have had a Razer Huntsman Elite for about 6 years at this point, and it has slowly fallen apart over the last year, so recently I have been thinking about getting something nicer with all the fancy bells and whistles, if that's possible.

I have looked into Wooting, since that's really the only big name keyboard company I am familiar with, but I am sure there are plenty of other options out there that I don't know about.

I don't really have much of a budget as long as it's not $1,000. I honestly have no idea how expensive high-end keyboards can get, so I am open to pretty much anything within that range.

I don't know much about keyboards, so I apologize for my lack of knowledge, but my main requirements are that the keyboard is black or a darker color to match my black/dark-themed setup. I would also like some RGB if possible, and if you have any recommendations for a wrist rest, I would gladly appreciate that as well!

The only place I can find HMX Mango Pudding switches is on LumeKeebs' website. Im aware they're sold out but if i calculate shipping costs for other available switches, it comes to about £20-25, which is a bit too much for me. I'm just wondering if there's any EU/UK suppliers of these switches anywhere. It's fine if not, I understand that these switches are unique and popular and rarely available. Thank you

Hello guys, I have a good deal for these two keyboards, in your personal opinion which one would be a better choice?