Key Words Chapter 51: Backstabbing your own flagship? Gasket bucket mechanical keyboard within 500 yuan, Black Canyon E4, E2 experience.

In September, Black Canyon just added the latest Ice Cream Pro, Yelan Pro and Deep Sea Pro to its flagship keyboard Y series. As Double Eleven approached, two new gasket mechanical keyboards, E2 and E4, were released.

It is worth noting that the 99-key E4 is a configuration that Black Canyon has never launched before, and the 75% and 98-like configurations are also the two most popular configurations of domestic mechanical keyboards in the past year. The most important thing is that the 75% E2 is priced at 439 yuan, and the 99-key E4 is priced at 499 yuan, both within the price range of 500 yuan, which is also the most popular price in the market.

Next, let's take a look at how these two keyboards perform.

This time the E series has a total of two colors, namely midnight blue and starlight white. Among them, the midnight blue color scheme is a relatively rare gray-blue arrangement in mechanical keyboards at present, and the non-transparent keycaps with SA height are used.

Starlight White looks very similar to the Y series at first glance. After all, he used the two-color SA highly transparent keycap that is very similar to the Y series, while retaining the smiley indicator light, but the position was changed to the ESC in the upper left corner (same as the Y2). The overall appearance looks like a continuation of the style and design of the Y series. Of course, there are actually many differences in details, which we will introduce in detail later.

First of all, the accessories part is still the same as the Black Canyon, but there are no constellation and zodiac cards, not because it is an unofficial version or because only high-end series are given. The brand's iconic large hand rest (snap-on type), the best independent shaft puller and key puller among mass-produced gifts.

The biggest change between the E series of Black Canyon and the Y series is that the upper cover has been changed from traditional textured plastic to a glossy spray paint, which looks a little like piano paint, but it is not made into a pure finish under the paint surface. The flat polished surface still looks like the original grained plastic surface.

So from a personal aesthetic point of view, the dark midnight blue looks better than the starlight white. As far as the actual effect is concerned, this kind of surface technology is relatively rare in mechanical keyboards. It may be the first time that Black Canyon has done it. Coupled with the reason of rushing to the construction period, there are many defects in the paint surface of these two keyboards. flaw.

When the blue version is used, there are obvious watermarks on the lower part of the upper cover on the side facing the computer. The white version has a large area of ​​watermarks on the palm rest, and the edge of the side below the space has rough touch. , Obviously caused by insufficient paint thickness. Fortunately, these do not involve structural problems, which should be resolved when the official version is launched.

In order to match this paint design, the four corners of the upper cover are chamfered with relatively large arcs, and the texture and style are more unified.

The blackboard is bare on the back, except for the non-slip mat, which is a magnetic foot support. As a series that focuses on cost performance, the E series has made appropriate simplifications in this regard.

What remains unchanged is that the E series is still very textured after using the PC positioning board, and it feels very heavy when picked up. When using a non-metallic positioning board, the weight still reaches 1238g, which is probably due to the thick silicone sandwich pad inside. and bottom pad. It's a pity that the E series is as difficult to dismantle as the Y series, and I decided to give up without any tools at hand.

First of all, the first difference from the Y series is that the keycaps of the E series have been slightly improved compared to the Y series. Take the white version as an example. It is still optimized and changed to a slightly shorter SA-like height. It is still a white and blue two-color design. It is still the two-color keycap with almost the best light transmittance among mass-produced keyboards, and it still turns white light into light. blu ray. In particular, the feel of the two FJ positioning buttons is more concave than the conventional buttons.

The more obvious change comes from ①A circular chamfer is added to the edge of the space, which makes the hand feel better when tapping the space without cutting the hand. ②The matte feeling is slightly enhanced.

Although the keycaps of the midnight blue color scheme are opaque, the overall craftsmanship and feel are the same as those of the white version. It should be said that I like this set of keycaps very much. It feels much better to use than the traditional SA height. The keycaps are solid in workmanship, and the touch feeling is further improved after improvement. That said, purely in terms of feel, this set of keycaps is at the T0 level within 500 yuan.

In terms of structure, I said that I can’t disassemble it without hand tools to see what’s going on. It’s a pity. It is also a Gasket structure, and the positioning plate is the same, but the positioning plate of the Y series is slotted, and the E series is not slotted. Therefore, although they are all hard Gaskets, the Y series feels more soft and elastic, and the overall deformation felt by pressing the E series is also smaller. And after comparing the two keyboards, I think there is also a gap between E4 and E2, and the feel of E4 is slightly better than that of E2. There is also a certain difference in the sound of the two arrangements.

To sum up: Although the E series retains the feel of the Y series Q bullets, it is still slightly weaker than the Y series in terms of Q. After all, the price difference is more than 100 yuan.

In terms of configuration, both E2 and E4 are relatively compact, there is no space for the knobs, and there is no more space on the surface. However, there is enough space between the ESC and the F area. The F area adopts the design of 1 (ESC), 6, and 7 (F6-12 plus a right button). In view of the general F area, the key that needs blind operation is mainly F1. -5 and F11, F12, so this arrangement in the F area after getting used to it can be done blindly without accidentally touching it.

As for the axis body, the landscape axis series is adopted like the previous Y series. I finally understand why the Y series hastily updated the switch body a month ago. On the one hand, the quality of the scenery switch itself really cannot support the price of the Y series and the status of the flagship Black Canyon keyboard. On the other hand, it is also to avoid being caught by the E A series of backstabs widens the gap on the shaft.

Speaking of the scenery axis itself, it is nicknamed the color-changing axis by players, and it has a mediocre reputation. It is a BOX V2 axis. But how to put it, in fact, compared with the basic version of the BOX switch on the previous low-end X series, the texture of all three switches has been significantly improved. The main reason for the bad reputation before is that the price/performance ratio in the shaft retail market is average.

Taking the linear Danxia axis as an example, the rebound is completely sufficient, but it is not as good as the TTC or even the top hand. The smoothness is not so good but there is no obvious sense of astringency. It belongs to the kind of axis body that has no obvious advantages and can't find any faults.

In fact, although I currently have nearly 60 keyboards in my hand, I still use the Y5 of the previous Danxia switch in my work unit. I really like that keyboard more and more. This switch is placed on a keyboard with a price of 700 yuan. It will make people feel that it will become a short board, but it is very suitable for a keyboard within 500 yuan.

The smiling face indicator light has been tested in Y2. The rendering looks awkward, but it feels pretty good when you get it, even a little cute. The wireless switch is still pushed back to open, the push button is the same as the Y series, but the E series feels a bit loose, not as tight as the Y series.

Needless to say, the large key part has completely continued the performance of the Y series. It should be said that now more and more major manufacturers have recognized a problem, that is, the large key greatly affects the user experience of a product. Opening a set A good mold, using good raw materials, is a method that can almost once and for all, and a low-cost solution to the problem after a one-time investment. black gorge

So at present, the key to seeing multiple brands is that you don’t even look at them, and you don’t have to worry about them at all, and Black Canyon is one of them.

After using the magnetic height-increasing feet, the height is the same as that of the Y-series two-stage open feet, which is the height I personally prefer to use without a palm rest.

The light performance and the keycaps have been mentioned many times before, so there is no need to elaborate. There is also a structure similar to a condenser on the view axis, so whether the keycaps are transparent or not, the brightness of the entire backlight is very good.

Like the Y series and BOX series, the E series will also have drivers, which will be uploaded in the near future.

Finally came Double Eleven, we might as well talk about the prospects of the two keyboards of the E series at the end.

First of all, their cost performance is definitely higher than that of the Y series in 618. Many of the ingenious designs of the Y series are partly retained in the E series, and some are simplified. Among them, the cost performance of E4 is obviously higher, relatively speaking, the competition faced by the same price is not so fierce. The more successful Gasket design of the Y series is retained. Although the Q-elasticity is discounted, it is also the one with the better hand feeling among Gaskets at the same price.

At the same time, I am not sure whether consumers will buy this piano-like lacquer finish, and it also has the function of a fingerprint collector. But as mentioned before, the appearance of midnight blue is obviously higher when the lights are not turned on. Moreover, the 99-key E4 should be very suitable for office use, calm, low-key, and attractive.

E2 is facing the hottest 499 yuan 75% keyboard this year. In the second half of the year, two pairs of king-level keyboards will be strangled. Compared with competitors, the appearance is relatively mediocre but good-looking, the axis body is inferior, the sound is inferior, the structure is flat, the texture is superior, and the keycap The hand feel is superior, and the overall hand feel is considered to be flat. The main reason is that the price advantage of 60 yuan is very attractive at this price.

If it is compared with the 399 yuan file, there is no TTC hot-selling switch to compete with, and the texture and keycap of the E2 package can be said to be comprehensively superior.

So in general, the E series is a series that lacks a sufficiently attractive selling point, and it is difficult to cause players to consume impulsively, but after weighing the pros and cons for a long time, it is very likely that you will finally choose it. As I said in the title, apart from the paint surface design, the E series is a bucket machine with not outstanding features but no obvious shortcomings, and the price/performance ratio at this stage is also relatively good.

After communicating with Black Canyon, they said that the paint problem will be solved on the large version, and the E series will start pre-sale on October 24.

The author declares that there is interest in this article, please respect the author and the content shared, communicate friendly, and make rational decisions~