Azio's Retro Traditional Keyboard Appears as Good as It Is to Kind On – CNET

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 to be old style 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 lots of 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 help, and high-quality supplies in and out. 

The underside case is plastic, however it would not detract from the design. It actually would not make it lighter: it is a hefty 3.5 kilos. The bottom has massive round toes with rubber on the bottoms so it will not slide round. A twist of the cleverly designed again toes raises the rear of the keyboard for a extra snug typing angle. 

The keyboard connects by Bluetooth or USB cable (a pleasant USB-C-to-USB-A braided cable was included); there is not any 2.4GHz wi-fi possibility. With Bluetooth, as much as three units can wirelessly hook up 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.

Though I examined an early manufacturing pattern of the keyboard, the typing expertise was fantastic. The keyboard Azio despatched me had Gateron G Professional 3.0 Brown tactile mechanical switches, a good selection for typing. Azio additionally affords linear Pink and clicky Blue Gateron G Professional change choices preinstalled. They’re hot-swappable too, so even in the event you don’t love your preliminary selection, you’ll be able to 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 among 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 total is pretty quiet and soft, possible due to the interior construction and using Poron foam and a silicone damper. It sounds nice too, with a pleasingly mushy 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. 

The Azio RC Status keyboard Kickstarter marketing campaign is absolutely funded and the keyboard is presently in manufacturing. A totally assembled keyboard is a pledge of $169 plus transport, 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 web site. Nonetheless, earlier than you contribute to a marketing campaign, learn the insurance policies of the crowdfunding web site — 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.