Review: Epomaker TH68 w/ Gateron Pro Yellow switches

Coming from the Royal Klugde 68 that had Kailh's blue switches, I find this keyboard to be a step above– but not by much. The RK68, of course, is already a great keyboard, but mine was an old model that wasn't hot-swappable, so the TH68 is a better base from which to build a personalized keyboard.

I was planning on buying some Cherry MX Green switches, which are clicky and heavy, but I'm rather surprised by Gateron's Pro Yellow switches; they are linear and supposedly require 50 grams-force to actuate, but actually feel heavier than my previous Kailh switches, which were also supposed to be clicky & a bit heavy, requiring the same actuation force.

I have actually put two of my old Khail switches in my TH68 and can say with certainty that the Pro Yellow switches are just a tad lighter to activate and louder; as someone that enjoys typing with gusto and likes a bit of audible feedback, I'm liking the Pro Yellow switches, though it's my understanding that they should be a bit quieter. What would be ideal for me, of course, would be that they had a clicky feedback to them, but bottoming them out against the case is feedback enough.

Speaking of the case, the TH68 is hefty. It can be put in just one color, and this color can be made to light dimly. I find that switching modes is rather easy and the computer accepts the changes quickly. This keyboard cannot be inclined further, but doesn't lay flat by default: it has a built-in tilt to it already. As someone who cannot type without lifting the back of the board, I do find that the built-in inclination satisfies my inclination for inclining. The key-caps are solid and a bit contoured: they are shallower that most by a few milliliters off the southern edges, giving them another inclination to add to list of angles that help tilt the keyboard towards the user. If you are planning to use some of your old key-caps, to keep in mind that your old (or new) keys might stick out more than expected next to the ones used here.

 All in all, I'm very happy with this purchase. There are other options out there, yes, but this was the only keyboard that had the ALT, FN and CTRL keys to the right of the space bar, something that I find rather useful when typing in Spanish in a Colemak layout. This model also has a volume wheel that when pressed mutes the audio, separated arrows, and the very important DEL key that the TH66 omits, thought the TH68 does forego the [~`] key. I would have preferred to have a print screen key; I understand there is a shortcut for it, but I can't ever remember it!

 

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