Key Words Key Words Part 76: The new configuration of the classic series, the experience of using the Black Canyon X4 mechanical keyboard

Speaking of Black Canyon, the most classic keyboard is undoubtedly GK715, which can be regarded as the earliest mass-produced hot-swappable keyboard, and the X series is another classic series of Black Canyon. It pioneered the use of pudding keycaps in mass-produced keyboards, and when it was launched, it was equipped with Kaihua BOX series switches.

However, at the beginning of 2023, Black Canyon’s X series has added new recruits, and the X4 with 98 configurations will start pre-sale on January 4th. So how does this X4 perform, let's take a look together.

According to my memory, the black canyon I received should be named Black Forest Mousse color matching, that is, the keyboard is mainly white, with a PBT pudding keycap made of white on the top and black on the bottom, because it is non-hot-swappable keyboard, so only equipped with a key puller and data cable, in addition to a dust cover.

It is worth mentioning that the standard data cable is a braided cable, and the steel wire key puller of Black Canyon has always been very easy to use. It has a natural opening angle. When using it, it just fits under the keycap without breaking it. up.

The brand feature of Black Canyon is that it comes with a large hand rest. Black Canyon’s X, E and Y series keyboards are all equipped with hand rests as standard, which is relatively rare in the current keyboard market. It is worth mentioning that the palm rests of the X series were snap-on before, but these X4s have been changed to magnetic suction, which is more convenient to use.

The texture on the surface of the hand rest is consistent with the top cover of the keyboard. It is a slightly thicker grained matte material, and the touch of the wrist on it is very comfortable.

The 98 configuration is the same as the previously launched Black Canyon E4, but it is actually the 99 configuration, and a button is added next to F12 because it wants to avoid a certain brand's patent. The advantage of this arrangement of F1-6 together and F7-12 together is that it is very convenient to find F1 and F2 during the game, but the disadvantage is that it takes a little time to react when finding F5.

The back is still a two-stage foot support. The foot support is very wide, and it is very stable when it is supported. There is an independent 2.4G receiver storage compartment. The receiver is gold-plated to slow down oxidation. The X series that this keyboard belongs to is a dual-mode keycap that supports 2.4G and wired connections, but does not support Bluetooth connections. In addition to supporting hot-swapping and filling the filling structure, the Xpro series also supports Bluetooth connection.

Independent switch, the entire back shell has a slope, which means that the bottom of the slope can leave a slot space for the feet and the receiver, and at the same time accommodate the battery, while the bottom shrinks to ensure a relatively low front height of the keyboard, so that there is no It is also more comfortable to use in the case of hand rest.

The 2.4G receiver is also engraved with brand English. Although the X series looks relatively low-end now, its various designs and foundations can be seen that Black Canyon devoted a lot of money to this keyboard back then. hard work.

The structure of this keyboard is actually very similar to GK715. It is essentially a ship hull with a thin top cover added, and the whole line looks relatively slender.

The keyboard in my hand is equipped with BOX sky blue switches as standard. To put it bluntly, it is the Kaihua BOX white switch with a colored switch. This is the enlightenment axis of many friends who started mechanical keyboards relatively late. Its feel is not like the traditional cherry blue switch, but the sound of the torsion spring used, the passage feeling will be a little weaker than the cherry blue switch, but the sound is also very crisp, and not as scattered as the cherry blue switch, it sounds more like It is the sound we usually press the ballpoint pen.

Black Canyon’s traditional black groove and yellow heart satellite axis, because it is a segment axis, it is not easy to hear if there is any noise. The rough feeling of use is that the entire satellite axis is well adjusted and there is no problem.

The mold of the pudding keycap made of PBT may be relatively old, so the non-closed keycap is not as good-looking as the closed keycap visually. The advantage is that the texture on the surface of each key is very consistent, and there are not many cases where the characters of the two-color keycaps are convex or concave.

In addition, there are shortcut key prompts under all the keys in the entire F area, and various functions can be realized through the Fn key and their combination, which is a very considerate design. Black Canyon knows that we don't like to read instructions.

From this angle, the indicator light seems to leak light, but from the user's point of view, there is no light leakage at all.

The white backlight is actually in line with the overall style of this keyboard, but the characters are opaque and the backlight itself is the upper light position and the brightness is average, so it is basically an ambient light level in an extremely dark environment when actually used. I hope you can rely on it to read the words on the keyboard if you can't touch type.

There is no filling structure inside the X series, so there will be a little cavity sound when you listen carefully when typing, but in fact, the internal space is not too large, and I have a paragraph axis with sound, so the actual situation is not bad.

Why do you want to disassemble such a traditional keyboard? Because I want to tell a story. no……

The process of dismantling the X4 actually requires 2 sets of screws to be removed. First, to remove the cover, 5 small screws need to be unscrewed.

Then use a crowbar to lift the top cover. In other words, without these five screws, you can't easily remove the top cover.

Next, on the steel positioning plate, there are 10 screws densely covered, all of which need to be removed to separate the steel plate from the bottom case.

Pay attention to the black protruding structures of the bottom case. This structure is densely distributed on the top, bottom, left, and right of the keyboard bottom case, so the entire positioning plate is pressed into the bottom case by these small black blocks, and it can still be fixed without screws.

There is no filling structure inside. As mentioned earlier, the battery compartment seems to have ample space, and a larger battery can be replaced. There is a magnet behind the 2.4G receiving slot to ensure that the receiver is magnetically attracted to it.

Compared with hot-swap, the welding structure is obviously cheaper, but the advantage is that if you plan to use a keyboard for a long time, the solder joints are obviously more reliable than the contacts of the hot-swap base, and the quality and lifespan will be much better.

So don't expect this keyboard to have a good mahjong sound, but we can compare its internal structure with the current popular Gasket. The G structure pays attention to indirect contact and cushioning. The traditional keyboard represented by the X series is not only fastened by a lot of screws, but also has a buckle structure to help ensure the stability of the entire keyboard.

So the meaning of my dismantling is to tell friends that traditional keyboards like the X series and the more popular keyboards are actually two completely different ideas in terms of structure.

So the target audience of this keyboard is not mechanical keyboard players who like to toss. Traditional and solid liner design, not hot-swappable but welded shaft body, Kaihua BOX shaft with one of the best longevity on the domestic shaft body, it is aimed at those who do not intend to become mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, ready to buy a For a long time, or the consumer group who is going to put a durable and reliable keyboard in the company. At the same time, it has a PBT pudding shaft body to add a little vitality to the keyboard, and the 98 configuration saves a lot of desktop space compared with the traditional full-size keyboard.

The price of this Black Canyon X4 during the pre-sale period from January 12th to 19th is 309 yuan. Interested friends can pay attention to it.

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