Neo65 by qwertykeys
The King of Budget Keyboards… for now
Quality Design
First off, the price is the talk of the town. The cheapest configuration, at under US$100, comes in an all-aluminum construction. There are nine colors to choose from and all of them are done with perfect anodization. At least, I haven’t seen anyone talk about poor anodization anywhere and for its price, it’s already a big win. The board itself is very minimal in its design and has fairly thin bezels all around. I’d figure that anything more will require more material and hence bringing up the price maybe a few cents. I’m kidding.
If you are willing to part with a couple more dollars, the bottom has optional weights that come either in copper, brass, mirror PVD variants. Mind you, even having the option to choose from used to only exist in the premium tier keyboards. Having too many options means the designer is essentially driving himself into a corner by spreading out the order volume for what may be a high MOQ.
Beyond the exterior, it offers two mounting styles – o-ring and gasket. For the o-ring to work, it is necessary to use clip-in stabilizers. I didn’t think I need them and boy was I wrong. The case basically holds the PCB through friction fit. So if non-clipins were used, there will be a sizing issue. A fact I found out personally, meaning that I had to go for the gasket mount instead. And fun little gasket nipples were used to wedge the PCB in the case. A very easy installation, much like silicone or gasket socks used in higher end boards.
The daughterboard though, was a little tricky to install but following the build guide’s instructions made it much easier. (Read the manual kids.) The PCB is also VIA and QMK compatible and come with several layout options for the soldered variant. Throwing more cash at it gives you Bluetooth connectivity, if that’s what you like. (So many options, I’m truly amazed.)
Acoustics and Typing
This board is a clack monster. I expected it somewhat but I never thought it would be THIS clack-able. Similar sized boards would be like that of the Iron165 or Fjell. Basically, the smaller you go, the easier it is for the board to clack. More so, when building with stiffer plates like the aluminum that I chose. The Iron165 had a rounded, high pitched signature with a carbon fiber plate, but this Neo65 is definitely on-par with that of the Fjell with its sharpness. And I wasn’t even using a tactile switch in my build. I would recommend staying away from tactiles and long poles if you wanted something less lively.
Overall, there was no resonance nor muddiness in the acoustics, and the typing feel was pretty even throughout the rows. There was no need for any mods for it to sound great out of the box, which is a rarity for boards of this price range. It definitely punches way above its class.
The Future of Budget
The big question now is, will this price war and race to the bottom amongst designers continue into the days ahead? Will you come back a year later and find a similar keyboard for under $50? My answer is no. Because, the fact is, that there is a limit to how cheap keyboards can be.
On average, raw aluminum costs $3 per kilogram (2023). Including the overhead costs of operating a CNC machine, fabricating PCBs, having to feed workers and cost of shipping containers of hefty metallic keyboards, I see $70-80 as the absolute lowest that a custom keyboard can be priced at today, without incurring significant losses. And I mean like TODAY. Because inflation will naturally push prices up in future. If you manage to find a board with even lower prices 5 years from now, I would instead be very concerned about the quality of the keyboard that I am getting.
At the time of writing, there exist an Interest Check for a Kyubi Keeb Set comprising of an Alice, numpad and 75%, which cost $229. That’s the total price for all three. Yep. It remains to be seen about the quality that will come out of these boards that are most likely made using cast aluminum. But still, this still means my estimate of $70-80 still holds true. It will nonetheless be a decent surprise if this price can be achieved today. Then again, if not now, when?
