ABKONCORE AR87 Mechanical Keyboard, CNC Full Aluminum Wired Gaming Keyboard with Cherry MX Silent Red Switches with Zipper Point, Dye Sublimated Keycaps, 100% Anti Ghosting, Side RGB LED Light, 6.8lbs

An outstanding value. This thing is Sah-Lid. Its a tank. Weighs about 7 lbs, does not budge at all when typing. Angle is about 7/8 degrees I believe, which I find pleasant. I did have three issues: 1) my unit had marks on the aluminum (lighter spots) on edges where you could see it had been cut. Seller jumped on my email and generously refunded a sizable amount to compensate. More than happy with that. 2) The rubber feet that come with the keyboard came off. I ended up replacing them with rubber bumpers I found elsewhere on amazon. Doesnt really matter which. It was a $6 fix. Really not a big deal. 3) One screw underneath the arrow keys became lose, so case rattled a little bit. I tightened it and had no further issues. You will not find a better value, IMO. It comes with a case, a keycap puller, a very respectable, white-sleeved USB C cable, and the keycaps are PBT -- albeit sorta cheap. Very pleased. I installed Drop Retro Beige DSA keycaps and it is a dream to type on. I purchased the silver MX Blue version. I would liked to have seen rgb backlighting -- and not *just* the side lighting, but not a huge deal. An equivalent custom mechanical keyboard would cost you at least $100 more. This is an outstanding pseudo-custom replacement. Abkoncore, if you are listening -- I would request that going forwards, a couple of additions be made to the keyboard. It would elevate it from a budget pseudo-custom to full custom territiory, IMO. 1) I would *love* for a hotswap version to be produced. I'd have paid extra for that. 2) RGB lighting would be outstanding. Not a huge deal, but your products seem to be gamer-oriented, and well.. that's where the market is going. Not a huge deal, but would be a great addition. 3) *perhaps* even make it QMK compatible. I want to stress that you have a wonderful keyboard here. Why it isn't more purchased is beyond me. If you can somehow integrate these features -- you will reach the custom mechanical keyboard market. That's my belief, anyways. In case it isn't clear to anybody reading this review, I recommend this keyboard wholeheartedly.

Pros: Solid aluminum case that weighs about 7lbs. With good consistent anodization. Red Switches sounds very smooth and solid with the black switch housing and dampening pad inside the case. Side-lit RGB on the case looks awesome and very subtle. Thick 1.5mm PBT Dyed Subliminated keycaps in cherry profile. The legends are sharp and consistent. So much so, I would've mistaken it for GMK double shot keycaps. Type C USB is up to today's standards for high end mechanical keyboards. The minimal spacing between the F-row and number row is very nice and ergo. The LEDs for cap lock and scroll lock are nicely placed. Cons: Stabilizers rattles a lot! Needs lube to reduce most if not all rattles. Note: I was able to reduce most of the rattle from the stabs so I will not deduct a star. No hot swappable switches. I would have to desolder to lube the switches...which sucks. No RGB LEDs for the switches. Would go well with the side-lit RGB lights. Always a nice option to have in 2019. Only offers silver color for case. Other colour options would be nice. Ex. Black, grey... Other Thoughts: If AR87 have "Ducky quality" stabs, RGB SMD LEDs for the switches and hot swap for the switches. It would be an perfect pre-built mechanical keyboard.

Pros: Very heavy, sturdy feeling board, exactly what I was looking for. The side lights are a great touch but wish the light could come through the keys as well (even if they aren't individually lit). I personally enjoy lighting even if not using shine-through keycaps. Comes with a shell carrying case!! The PBT keys feel and look decent. Shipped and arrived quickly. Cons: The usb connector feels VERY loose. This feels very bad on an otherwise sturdy feeling (and little pricey) board. The space bar is very loud compared to the rest of the keys. It has a significant rattle. Will need to research how I can fix this. (Space bar on new board is very quiet and good) I personally think the 8 degree typing angle is too much. Hurts my wrists after a little. Main reason I am returning. It was shipped in the box it comes in. Prefer unmarked box. Neutral: I wish board height was slightly lower while retaining weight. The board sits 2cm above the ground and feels slightly high. The included usb cable seems like decent quality. Fairly long and braided white cable. Immediate issues: They sent me the wrong switches. I paid extra for silent reds and they sent regular reds. There was a screw out in the box that I had to screw into the frame. While doing so I found that 7 of 8 screws were loose. This alarmed me so i checked the smaller screws on the board (not frame) they were a tiny bit loose as well. How does this happen?? Conclusion: Looks not bad. Chunk of aluminum. Feels sturdy and nice. Wish typing angle wasn’t so steep, need more rgb, want hot swappable switches, and stiffer usb port. It would be my perfect board if it had more rgb (so I can see at night) and I could change the switches. I love the weight! **UPDATE: I received a quick replacement for the correct silent reds. This board is MUCH better than my previous board... it came in an amazon box and was in plastic (in case water damage). The screws were all very tight. The keys felt much better too. The previous board's spacebar was very loud and rattley... this one is very quiet... feels lubed. The only major CON is the shaky usb port... really wish it was firm.

When I finally got this after the horrible shipping and tracking provided by Amazon I thought someone replaced the keyboard in here with a brick, but upon further inspection I found out that this keyboard lives up to the reviews and is actually 6.9 POUNDS. It is 5x heavier than my old keyboard and feels amazing. However due to all the heavy built CNC case of the keyboard there is a alot of case pinging and it is kind of annoying. I'd love to see this keyboard with hotswap in the future and with multiple plate types. The MX black option sounds great once lubed with 205g0 and the stabilzers out of the box are great, (real cherry stabilzers) this keyboard is worth the money and rivals any keyboard at this price point if you do a little work. Some flaws of it are, the case ping, the customer support and the RGB. The RGB on this thing is one of the selling points but you can only control the modes and if it turns off or on. There is no custom configs, or any brightness control. Which annoys me a lot since I can't set the rgb any brighter, it barely shows when my lights are on. On a scale of 1-10 this keyboard is a solid 8.5 or 9.