Lao Zhang’s Brief Commentary Article 26: A New Choice for Double Eleven – Black Canyon E2 Mechanical Keyboard Unboxing

Probably not long ago, Black Canyon added the latest Ice Cream Pro, Yelan Pro and Deep Sea Pro to its Y series, so that consumers have more choices. As Double Eleven approaches, Black Canyon took advantage of the heat and launched the Gasket-structured E-series mechanical keyboards. As a lover of 75% keys, let us take a look at the Black Canyon E2 mechanical keyboard this time.

Personally, I think the packaging style has a sense of design. The various features are clear at a glance, simple and simple. Although it is not recognizable at a glance, it can be regarded as allowing users to know whether the keyboard is suitable for them at a glance.

Black Canyon’s E-series this time has two color schemes according to the official renderings, midnight blue and starlight white. Among them, the midnight blue color scheme is relatively rare in mechanical keyboards at present. Compared with the monotonous black and white, this gray-blue color is both attractive and low-key.

The accessories of Black Canyon E2 are still compared to Black Canyon: the best-looking independent shaft puller, wire key puller and a very soft rubber data cable in mass production.

I have never used the Y series, but the biggest change compared to the X1 Pro at hand is that the upper cover has been changed from traditional textured plastic to a spray paint with a baking varnish texture, which looks very glossy, and there should be no second one. Manufacturers have used this process.

In order to match this soft paint surface design, the four corners of the keyboard are chamfered to make the whole more coordinated, so that the style is not so tough. Personally, I think this kind of piano lacquer surface may be different from the beholder: is it good-looking? Good looking indeed, but fingerprint collection is also true. But as mentioned before, the appearance of midnight blue is obviously higher when the lights are not turned on.

In terms of arrangement, E2 adopts 75% arrangement, which is relatively compact. The overall layout is actually almost the same as the traditional 84-key position, and there are gaps between each partition, so it will not be possible to switch from full-size or 87-key position to this arrangement. If you are not used to blind operation, do not touch it by mistake. However, it is a pity that there is no knob for 75% of the configuration.

Personally, I can’t understand the smiling face indicator light. I can’t understand the status of the indicator light at a glance. Personally, I think it would be more concise to change three points, but after all, this is also a major feature of the Black Canyon keyboard. Readers will know that it is their keyboard.

The damping of the keyboard power switch is quite good, but it is a bit loose. It should be that there is a tolerance between the switch and the components, and it is not tight enough. Although the storage of the 2.4G receiver on the right also has magnetic suction, the storage compartment is a bit large, so it cannot be stored with confidence. I hope that the details of these two sides will be improved in the future.

The 2.4G receiver is still two-in-one, which is a good point.

The bare back of the E2 is a blackboard, and there are triangular anti-skid pads at the four corners of the keyboard. The E2 does not use the conventional two-stage snap-on feet, but uses magnetic suction feet to adjust the slope.

After using the magnetic heightening foot support, the height is still comfortable. Even if it is too high, don’t worry, Black Canyon’s reserved hand rest can help you share it, so that you can still use it comfortably. However, the E2 palm rest adopts a buckle design, which does not inherit the magnetic design of the X1 Pro. Although it can be used, the card is not tight enough, and I have driven it several times with sweaty hands.

The shaft body adopts the Kaihua BOX landscape shaft series. I chose the linear Danxia axis. Looking at the label, it seems to be an upgraded version of the BOX axis V2. I have not personally experienced the BOX axis V2, but I feel that it has improved a lot compared with the BOX red axis V1. Needless to say, the stability of the axis center is rebound. It is quite satisfactory, mainly because the smoothness has improved significantly. Thanks to the light-transmitting mirror, the light-transmitting performance of the Danxia axis is also very good.

Black Canyon E2 is the most obvious keycap, except that the keycap is opaque, and the height of the keycap has also changed. It should be regarded as an optimized and improved SA-like height. This height is compared with the original SA height input. The experience is better, the gray-blue background color of the keycap is matched with white characters, and the two buttons used for positioning of the FJ are more concave than the conventional buttons.

Another obvious change is that the edge of the space is also chamfered with a circular arc, without cutting the hand, so that each tap feels better.

The structure of Black Canyon E2 adopts the popular Gasket structure, but the Gasket experience is a bit hard, and it does not have the amazing feeling of soft and elastic structure. You can obviously feel the overall deformation of E2 is very slight when you press hard. But in general, although the structure is hard, the feel and stability are not affected at all, and it is still very stable.

The large keys of the Black Canyon E2 really amazed me. From the Black Canyon GK715 to the Black Canyon X1 Pro and then to this Black Canyon E2, the feel of the large keys has improved every time. It may be that the key ring is too rolled now. Yes, the feel of the large keys directly determines the positioning of the keyboard. The large key position adopts the design of the satellite axis. It is surprising that the satellite axis can have such a stable performance without lubrication. The satellite axis Black Canyon E2 in the empty position also adds a bottom pad to strengthen the stability of the satellite axis.

Since I struggled for a long time and couldn't disassemble the keyboard, as a keyboard lover, I don't want to dismantle it violently. Here I will analyze the structure based on visual inspection and understanding of the keyboard. Remove the keycap and you can see that the Black Canyon E2 uses a transparent positioning board, and there is a layer of silicone pad between the positioning board and the ancestral green PCB. The material is really solid and thick enough to be seen by the naked eye. As Kaihua's own son, the shaft seat is undoubtedly Kaihua's shaft seat, which is compatible with the five-legged shaft body. After testing with a screwdriver, it was found that there is a thick bottom silicone pad at the bottom of the keyboard (because the keyboard is still quite heavy).

The transparent positioning plate and the milky white silicone pad set off the RGB backlight very softly, and the brightness is also very high under the blessing of the condenser.

The official website has also updated the drivers of the Black Canyon E series in time.

Surprisingly, the driver of the Black Canyon E2 is not only powerful, but also can be used in the 2.4G state, whether it is changing the key or adjusting the lighting effect, it can be operated. Most of the mass production can only be realized in the wired mode. The adjustment, this point bonus points. The driver also integrates scheme sharing. If you are not satisfied with the preset lighting effects, you can choose the scheme uploaded by other players, and even the macro configuration can be downloaded and used.

So to sum up, Black Canyon’s new E2 is indeed a new choice for you to buy keyboards on Double Eleven: it not only provides 3-mode wireless connection, Gasket structure design, PC positioning board, EVA sound-absorbing cotton interlayer, silicone filling, full key Hot-swappable bits, 75% configuration design, although the appearance is relatively mediocre, it is attractive and should have all the arrangements. It is a very pragmatic and easy-to-use keyboard that returns to the original intention.