The RC Status mechanical keyboard from Azio has a little bit of a steampunk vibe. Its backlit half-height keycaps — rounded squares with brushed silver edges — float above the faceplate and appear like old school typewriter keys. The ebony model I examined has a black-stained wooden faceplate; an ivory model swaps wooden for white leather-based. The aluminum body matches the colour of the keycap edges and is secured with seen screws across the high.
Regardless of the considerably anachronistic design, the keyboard has numerous the options you’d discover on present mechanical keyboards: hot-swappable Gateron G Professional 3.0 mechanical switches, double-shot keycaps, wired or Bluetooth modes (for as much as three units), MacOS, Home windows, iOS and Android assist, and high-quality supplies in and out.
The form of the keys is good, however the font alternative will not be nice.
The underside case is plastic, however it would not detract from the design. It definitely would not make it lighter: it is a hefty 3.5 kilos. The bottom has massive round ft with rubber on the bottoms so it will not slide round. A twist of the cleverly designed again ft raises the rear of the keyboard for a extra comfy typing angle.
Rotating the ring on the rear ft raises and lowers the typing angle.
The keyboard connects by Bluetooth or USB cable (a pleasant USB-C-to-USB-A braided cable was included); there isn’t any 2.4GHz wi-fi possibility. With Bluetooth, as much as three units can wirelessly connect with the keyboard. The keyboard will fall asleep to preserve battery life when not in use, and it does take a second or two for it to wake and reconnect — not unusual however nonetheless irritating.
Switches on the again allow you to activate and off Bluetooth and alter the keyboard structure for MacOS or Home windows.
Though I examined an early manufacturing pattern of the keyboard, the typing expertise was great. The keyboard Azio despatched me had Gateron G Professional 3.0 Brown tactile mechanical switches, a sensible choice for typing. Azio additionally gives linear Crimson and clicky Blue Gateron G Professional change choices preinstalled. They’re hot-swappable too, so even in case you do not like your preliminary alternative, you may change them later.
The double-shot keycaps are clean and the shine-through legends are more and more a rarity on non-gaming mechanical keyboards. The font Azio selected would not look as good as the remainder of the keyboard; it is not significantly clear or sharp, so a few of the keys are troublesome to learn. The legends on the earlier model of the RC Status are a lot nicer.
The Gateron G Professional switches are prelubed and transfer easily and quietly. The keyboard general is pretty quiet and comfortable, probably due to the inner construction and the usage of Poron foam and a silicone damper. It sounds nice too, with a pleasingly delicate clack that should not disturb your coworkers an excessive amount of. The Kickstarter web page for the RC Status has a sound pattern, however my keyboard has a deeper sound.
Azio gives a alternative of tactile, linear or clicky Gateron G Professional 3.0 switches.
The Azio RC Status keyboard Kickstarter marketing campaign is totally funded and the keyboard is at the moment in manufacturing. A totally assembled keyboard is a pledge of $169 plus delivery, which varies by nation. The marketing campaign ends on March 15 at 9 a.m. ET and keyboards are anticipated to ship in July. That is Azio’s fifth keyboard marketing campaign, and the corporate has shipped each time. Its Tera 75 keyboard it crowdfunded final 12 months, for instance, is now obtainable to buy on its website. Nonetheless, earlier than you contribute to a marketing campaign, learn the insurance policies of the crowdfunding website — on this case, Kickstarter — to seek out out your rights (and refund insurance policies, or lack thereof) earlier than and after a marketing campaign ends.
