I was born and raised around computers only to become the family’s personal IT department. Fast forward a few years and now only two things spark my interest—filmmaking and keyboards. One day you might just see me at the Oscars, but till then stick to my sick custom builds.
Position at Tech4Gamers
Being a keyboard enthusiast, I specialize in reviewing, modding, and critiquing them for the people. If you’re a Razer fanboy, my only goal is to convert you to the dark side 😈.
Tech Journey
My first tech love was the PSP, a gift that sparked my passion for all things tech. Since then, my curiosity has turned me into a snob, always ready to argue that with enough thought, anything can be upgraded.
Current PC setup
This is what I’m rocking:
CPU: Ryzen 7 7700X (undervolted -40mv)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M Aorus Elite AX
GPU: AMD RX 6700XT Sapphire Nitro+
RAM: 32GB T-Force Delta RGB 6000MTs CL30
Cooler: Deepcool LT520 WH 240mm AIO
SSD: XPG S70 Blade 2TB Gen4 NVMe
PSU: XPG Core Reactor 750W 80+ Gold
Case: Corsair Crystal 280X
Monitor: MSI MAG321UP 4K 32″ QD-OLED
Keyboard: TKD Cycle7 with HMX Xinhai & GMK Metropolis
The Aula M75 is a fantastic aluminum keyboard with virtually no flaws, not even in price. It’s got all the essential components for a flawless typing experience, but its wireless performance falls short. The battery life, on the other hand, is truly the best in the game. As long as you don’t mind its simplicity, the M75, with its excellent build quality and packaging, stands as a top-tier keyboard.
The Aula F75 Max delivers a surprisingly satisfying typing experience for its price, thanks to well-lubed switches and impressive stock stabilizers. The sleek design compliments the side-lit keycaps well, but the illusion quickly falters when you look at its highlight feature. The screen is poorly implemented with little functionality, and it ends up worsening the volume knob along with it. Ultimately, you end up with solid fundamentals but a clear lack of polish around everything else.
The Tecware Spectre 75 is a fantastic budget keyboard with no apparent flaws, as long as you’re willing to pay for it. The build quality matches well with the simple design, but the inclusion of a screen and volume knob diversify the package nicely. Not only does the company nail the basics, but the superb implementation of the screen transforms it from a gimmick to a genuine feature. This is the best budget plastic prebuilt out right now.
The Ajazz AK820 Max is a good budget keyboard let down by its frugality. It offers a competent overall package with satisfying sound and feel, along with strong build quality but it fails to extend its appeal beyond that. With boards like the Aula F75 still thriving, the AK820 Max, despite being a robust keyboard, can only live in its shadow as a substitute. It serves as a good replacement rather than a good first choice.
The Epomaker RT80 is an ambitious keyboard that features dual screens and a unique layout, aiming to stand out in the crowded budget mechanical keyboard market. While it excels in certain areas like build quality and wireless performance, it falls short in others, particularly in the practicality of its features. The touchscreen is tricky to use and, in turn, makes typing on what’s an otherwise excellent stock experience harder than it needs to be.
The Epomaker Galaxy70 is a good keyboard that excels in many departments. Its construction is clearly the highlight with an unconventional design that really suits the package. The sound, feel, and value are all there but instability in the wireless performance makes this a hard sell. If you can live with that compromise, the Galaxy70 is a worthy purchase.
Epomaker P75 is an excellent keyboard with best-in-class build quality that speaks to its premium nature. The acoustics are heavenly, the typing experience is refined, and the design is mature enough to look good on any desk. With a decent software experience and solid wireless performance, there is nothing this keyboard can’t do. For the price, it doesn’t get any better.
The Corsair K70 Core TKL Wireless is a competent gaming keyboard with plenty of features to back up its solid fundamentals. Unfortunately, it’s priced too high to make sense when you can find better boards in the market for less. The lack of a hot swap PCB coupled with misinput issues I faced on both wired and wireless connections makes this hard to recommend.
The Corsair K70 Pro TKL is a great gaming keyboard that excels where it matters for pros. The hall-effect switches provide bleeding-edge performance backed up by robust build quality. While the sound and feel are nothing extraordinary, Corsair’s extensive support somewhat makes up for being priced higher than the competition while lacking wireless support.
While the RGB lighting and customizable top cover offer some appeal, the Phantom+ Elite is ultimately hampered by its subpar typing feel and outdated features, with the stock stabilizers being the biggest let-down. Competitors in the same price range provide significantly better sound, feel and even design.
Unlike its more expensive older sibling, the Phantom+ fares even worse across all our tests. It has an okay-ish typing experience for a modern prebuilt and skips on features, like wireless support, that would have been great to have, especially considering the price. The design is only for those who prefer the aggressive gamer aesthetic, as the build quality around it is not the best either.