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Mechanical keyboards

What are mechanical keyboards?

The exact definition seems to vary depending on who you ask, but the common characteristic seems to be that these keyboards do not use a membrane under the keys, but individual mechanisms called switches, which are what tell the computer when a key has been pressed.

But why would you bother with that when your computer already has a perfectly usable keyboard?

I didn't quite see the point of this for the longest time either. But once I started researching and learning more about them, it looked to me as if you were asking what was the point of fountain pens when we already have perfectly functional ballpens available to us? and yes, we're comparing things with similar main functionality, but potentially wildly different looks and feels.

There are multiple variables that you can consider when it comes to buying a mechanical keyboard, just as you'd encounter when buying a fountain pen. There are lots of sites explaining all of this, but the aspects I found more relevant in my case where:

  • the layout: I'm used to UK layouts (i.e. with a big RETURN key); it seems like most of the market for mechanical keyboards is focused on US layouts, which feature a horizontal, long return key which I tend to press instead of the right shift key. There's less choice if you wish to get a UK layout.
  • the aesthetics: grossly there's...
    • the boring office looking keyboards (grey and looking like they could be found in any 80s cubicle),
    • the keyboards you expect gamers to use (lots of very bright leds and aggressive decals with war and conflict themes); I suppose they offer special mechanical super fast response times and all those things you care about when playing games
    • the minimalist: as few keys as possible and as similar to each other as possible
    • the default, but pumped up: a revision of what you'd expect from an average keyboard, only you can configure things, and typing on that keyboard provides a lot of satisfaction
  • the feeling. This can mostly be put to a few factors:
    • the switches: does it make a clicky noise? does it make a keyboardy sound? does it make a sound at all? These things are defined by the type of switch. These are somewhat standardised and you might hear a lot about brands like Cherry MX, and their colours like blue, brown, to denote the behaviour of the switch (loud, quiet, clicky, soft, bumpy...), for example.
    • the tactile sensations: does it feel like your fingers are moving a long distance to get keys to be pressed? is there physical feedback as to what's happening and where your fingers are? how much force do you have to apply for things to happen? how satisfactory is it to press ENTER? and how heavy and robust is the whole keyboard overall? does it feel robust and sturdy or flimsy and plasticky?
  • interfacing: does it use USB A? USB C? Wireless? Both? Can you replace the batteries? The cables?

So what was I looking for?

I think my answer (and I still haven't been able to find the keyboard of my dreams) is:

  • something quite clicky and that feels profoundly mechanical—akin to the IBM keyboards of yore
  • a retro aesthetic frankly (think pre 1990s computer keyboards)
  • backlit keyboard, preferrably with configurable colour per key
  • configurable with ease
  • maybe wireless if possible

What I've tried out so far

Durgod Taurus K320 with Cherry MX blue switches

The first thing I did was to replace its bland office looking keycaps with a somewhat retro keycap set that has a vaguely space astronautical theme to it. Except that the RETURN key didn't fit, so I kept the old key in, but the height was slightly shorter than the new keycap's height. Some keys were in the wrong place for a Mac so I moved them around, but they were contoured so they felt like they were a slightly wrong height or shape... and thus it ended up being a bit of a Frankenkeyboard...

These aesthetic pains aside...

It's quite robust as a keyboard and it has resisted furious typing for two years without complaining (I just recently noticed one of the keys isn't as clicky as it used to be, but that's it). The whole piece feels heavy and sturdy. Solid! I like it.

The clickiness is fabulous, and it's quite satisfactory to type in it. That said, I was expecting even MORE clickiness.

Annoyingly it has no backlight whatsoever. So it's a bit of a boring keyboard, once the enthusiasm for clickiness fades away...

ZSA Moonlander

I just got this one a week ago and I'm still trying to get to grips with it.

When you receive it, there are no instructions or starters manual or anything... quite unusual for a keyboard this weird.

The default layout is bonkers, I'm sorry to say. Fortunately you can configure it somewhat easily online and then download the compiled layout file to flash the keyboard firmware with it.

The editor is a bit tedious, and I wonder if some of the things I want are even possible at all, but you sort of get most of it done. A cool thing is that you can share and view other people's shared layouts so you can learn from them. My work in progress is here: https://configure.zsa.io/moonlander/layouts/n6omG/latest/1

It has backlights, yay!! I think it's a little easy to go a bit overboard and adorn everything with custom lights; my keyboard resembles a bit of a Christmas tree right now, but I's sure I'll sober up and streamline at some point.

Because it's a split keyboard and also the keys are vertically stacked rather than the typical layout, it takes a while to get used to typing here. I keep pressing c instead of v and b instead of v, for example. I also find it confusing that tab, caps, shift... almost every key is the same shape and size. Inexplicably, keys such as ' or \ aren't labelled as such. Why??? Also, since it's got less keys you have to do some mapping to access common functions such as F1 etc. I'd say this keyboard requires a considerable investment in time.

I also think it feels quite hollow and plasticky. I guess that's good for travelling, but I prefer sturdier hardware.