Zoom TKL

My Search for the Perfect Office Mechanical Keyboard

I have been using the QK65 at my office for the past 6 months or so. I got this keyboard off of a trade and built it with lubed Poseidons and ePBT Grayscale. It has a gorgeous backweight, which never sees the light of day - overall, a very minimalistic looking board all around.

However, find the QK65 a little lacking in terms of its functionality since, well, it is a 65% layout. I often find myself trying to recall a layer map for things like Page Up or Down, using FN more often than I like to access the F row keys. All these little 500 millisecond breaks are all it takes to take me out of a zone that I am in during creative work or just, regular work. I needed a larger layout for productivity like a tenkeyless or TKL for short. Sure I can go for a 75%, but I never really liked how 75% boards looked. Personal preference, nothing more, nothing less. I am pretty used to using the keys on my laptop so I definitely don’t miss the numpad and that’s how I figured that I can probably make do with a TKL.

Another feature I find myself constantly looking for is wireless connectivity. Unlike my home setup where I have plenty of space to spruce things up, I don’t have much on my work desk. I’m an engineer so there’s lots of electrical boards, wires, components sitting at my desk so adding another wire is not conducive. The ability to move things about on my desk, so that I can do some prototyping work is very useful. And having a wired keyboard, is anything but. Budget wise, I’m not that concerned because the good news is that there are only a few choices to look at that fits the bill and one of it is the Zoom TKL - Essential Edition.

What is the Zoom TKL?

Zoom TKL, like its name suggests, is a TKL keyboard made by the people at Meletrix. For beginners in this hobby, there is also the Assembled Edition aside from the Essential Edition that I bought. The difference between the two is that the Assembled Edition is basically a prebuilt keyboard complete with keycaps, switches and stabilizers. I do not own an Assembled Edition so I cannot comment on the quality of it right out of the factory, but I am almost certain that there are some reviews floating out there for those of you who are interested.

The groupbuy for the Zoom TKL ran from the 15th to the 29th of November in 2022. 3 months later on the 6th of February 2023, I received my order. 3 months for a groupbuy is pretty good by today’s standards. And definitely a reasonable time to buy today since it is readily in-stock or out on the secondhand market. For SGD$277, my battery powered Zoom TKL comes complete with Bluetooth functionality.

Other key aspects include its gasket mount design, a PCB thickness of 1.2mm i.e. we should expect more bounce and flex compared to the standard 1.6mm and a 5 degree typing angle. And instead of the default glass composite backweight that, to me, spells a glorified plastic, I went for a carbon fiber back for a complete stealth look. (Like c’mon, for less than SGD$300, there’s never gonna be any heavy glasswork involved.)

So the thing about the gasket mount, it uses gasket slips, unlike the usual poron foams in contemporary gasket mounted PCBs. And this rendition feels, meh. It doesn’t feel that much of a difference really. If this were poron foam, I don’t think I can tell the two apart. I must say though, what I appreciate is the ease of installation. No more lining up the gasket to the indents in the case with my fat fingers. I wish more designers will do this just because it makes it much easier.

Coming to my build, I ordered the kit with an aluminium plate. As for the switches - I will be using these semi-silent linear ones from Jwick because well, I am trying to shed the noisy guy tag in the office. These come great stock; I literally can’t hear any scratch and housing is perfectly tight so, no lubing and filming needed. Perfect. I just wish more switches will come great out of the box. I am also using Staebies because these are very easier to tune and easiest to get right. Finally, to complete the office-themed look, I am going with cliché GMK Thinkcaps, with a novelty R1 artisan in the F13 slot.

The entire build looks stealthy, if not for the subtle RGB peeping out the bottom and sides. Head on over to my Youtube channel if you wish to hear the sound sample of this keyboard. 

Final thoughts of my build

“…it is very hard not to recommend the Zoom TKL, especially at the price tag it comes at.”

First off, the keyboard feels awfully… “cheap”. On paper, it’s made of aluminium, sure. The surface finish is also very matte-like given the nanocoating technique that Meletrix advertises. But I still can’t help but feel that it’s cheaply made.

For one, the weight of the board feels awfully light. I didn’t give it a measure but for an aluminium TKL, it feels a lot like my QK65, if not lighter. There are different grades of aluminium that a keyboard can be built with because afterall, aluminium is not pure aluminium, it is an alloy comprising of small amounts of other materials like copper, magnesium, silicon, nickel and many others. There’s 3003 which is more for kitchen use, 6061 for things like boat with high wear and tear or 2024 and 7075 for aircraft grade aluminium.

The point is, there is a wide range of aluminium choices. While it may not be cheap to fabricate this keyboard case, unfortunately, often times we correlate the feeling of being premium with how hefty it feels in the hands. Without knowing what material the Zoom TKL is made of, I can’t be confident that it is not made from cheap materials.

But I can’t complain because the price tag of this keyboard kit is very reasonable, given the many functionalities built into it. Not a lot of keyboards come with so many useful features for such low price. As for Bluetooth connectivity, latency during gaming is not tested since I’m not a gamer, but what I can tell you is that it has been great for decluttering. For those wanting RGB, the glass composite may make some sense but for a stealthy build like mine, I’d rather the RGB be non-existent. But when it’s on, it reminds me of the GMMK Pro keyboard that I once owned.

These switches though, feel great. After using it for a couple of weeks now, the loud pitch clack is gone but the bassy bottom out remains. It feels abit jarring at first but I got used to it pretty quickly and appreciate the subtle acoustics coming from it.

Overall, if you aren’t going for an eye-popping enthusiast brand, or if you are looking for a keyboard packed full of features, or if you are looking for a TKL, it is very hard not to recommend the Zoom TKL, especially at the price tag it comes at. They even sought out LTT and publishers like Tom’s Hardware for sponsored reviews. You can tell that they are trying to appeal to the mass consumer market and less targeted at enthusiasts who are mainly all about the brand and premium materials. Those boards surprisingly comes with much less practicality.

I just hope Meletrix will stick around long enough to let an average consumer gauge its integrity and customer service. It would suck if they disappear off the market in like 5 years without any spare parts for this great keyboard.