Maozhaichat Peripherals Part 14: Probably the most affordable Alice keyboard kit, AKKO ACR PRO ALICE PLUS to get started

As an elderly coder, the average time spent in front of the computer may be more than ten hours a day, so in order to write code more comfortably, I will try some ergonomically designed peripherals, such as the Master series mouse, the company I have one each at home. As for the keyboard, I used to prefer Microsoft’s Surface ergonomic keyboard, but because it was a thin-film keyboard, I didn’t get it in the end. Until recently, I saw a lot of Alice’s keyboard experience sharing on major platforms, and decided to buy one without hesitation. But after all, I chose the more affordable AKKO ACR Pro Alice Plus kit for the first time.

The packaging of ACR Pro Alice Plus is pretty good-looking. The main body is an irregular colored texture, which is more comfortable to look at than the regular design. In addition, this colorful design may be to highlight the lighting effect of the keyboard. On the front is the AKKO logo, a large product name, and the metal logo of "GASKET MOUNT" in the lower right corner, and the back is mainly an outline image of the keyboard.

*The main body of the kit is protected by thicker black foam material, and the packaging is also very careful

There are a lot of accessories in the package, which take up a lot of space on the table. In addition to the kit, there is a metal positioning plate, white foam, and a bunch of accessories.

The shaft puller, key puller, and data cable are standard configurations. In addition, there are two separate foot supports, a simple six-in-one screw, a small circuit board, and a pile of silicone cushions of different lengths.

The foot support is adhered with 3M double-sided adhesive. The two-stage foot support design can provide multiple options for inclination angles, adapting to the choices of different users. The rest of the accessories will be used later.

The kit was originally equipped with a matte semi-permeable positioning plate, but the metal positioning plate that comes with it will be tried later, and a white sound-absorbing pad is also included.

When I first saw the name "Alice Plus", I was a little confused. Later, compared with the standard Alice keyboard, I found that Alice Plus has more arrow keys. Although the design of Alice Plus is not completely symmetrical, after adding the arrow keys, I think it can promote the user base, because there are not a few users who are accustomed to using the arrow keys.

Alice Plus uses the two-color satellite switch (white and pink) launched by AKKO. However, because the space bar is a separate design, there is no too long satellite switch on the keyboard. The sound is not obvious either.

The bottom design of Alice Plus is very interesting. The weight block in the middle is printed with interesting patterns. The AKKO LOGO doll and AKKO shaft are at the front. The background is the sky, mountains, pine trees, and the Great Wall. There are also hemispherical rubber pads all around, the upper one is larger, and the lower one is smaller. The inclination angle of the default keyboard is not too large. In the lower right corner is the hot stamping pattern of AKKO LOGO and product model.

The included hexagonal socket head screws are still inconvenient to use, so it is more convenient to take out your usual tools.

The upper and lower covers are fixed by a total of 12 golden screws, and are made of two-layer CNC processing, and the upper and lower covers are tightly combined.

In addition, when disassembling the bottom case, you need to pay attention to the eight separate interface cables. Only then did I know what the TYPE-C interface board in the accessory is for. If the interface is damaged because it cannot be removed during disassembly, it is still ok. replace.

Alice Plus uses a TTC shaft seat. The workmanship on the back of the PCB is quite meticulous. The PCB and the positioning plate are fixed with screws, and the four screws on both sides need to be removed to separate.

After separating, you can clearly see the frosted and semi-transparent positioning plate. The protruding part of the positioning plate is the current fixing method of the Gasket structure keyboard, but Alice Plus is not the kind of foam with glue, but a silicone cover, so don’t worry about sticking it. It is also convenient to disassemble crookedly. The protrusion fits snugly into the groove of the case, while the PCB is almost suspended, resulting in a soft springy feel when pressed.

As mentioned earlier, there are some small things in the accessories. In addition to the replacement parts of a few long silicone sleeves, there are also some very short silicone sleeves that can be put on the bracket from both ends, which reduces the distance between the positioning plate and the shell. The contact area, I don’t know if the hand feel will be softer,

There is also a layer of black Poron sandwich cotton between the PCB and the positioning board. This is a common design, and its function is to reduce the vibration and noise of pressing.

Don’t look at the recovery process, just look at the lamp bead before installing the shaft body, Alice Plus adopts the upper lamp position design, the SMD lamp bead is almost flush with the top of the PCB, you need to pay attention to this when choosing the shaft body.

The shaft adopts TTC ice static shaft V1, the upper cover of the shaft body is made of fully transparent material, and the bottom shell is made of semi-transparent material, but usually the lower half of the shaft body is not visible at all, so it doesn’t matter. As for why this switch is chosen, the main reason is that the keyboard shell is a semi-transparent design, so I want to experience what the ultimate lighting effect is like.

First install half of the shaft body and compare what it looks like without the shaft body installed. After the diffusion of the transparent upper cover of the shaft body and the shaft center, the perception of the color of the light effect is much stronger than that of the side without the shaft body installed. Of course The brightness of the lamp bead is not low under daily lighting conditions.

The Alice Plus PCB is also surrounded by RGB lamp beads. After the keyboard is powered on, there is a carousel effect by default. Because the shell is worn, the light is a bit hazy.

The effect of the shaft installation is as follows, the effect of shooting after turning on the overhead light and a desk lamp at night.

Since the shaft body is fully transparent, the keycap is no exception. It just so happens that AKKO also launched a transparent keycap. After the selection, I finally chose the white transparent model. The keycap ASA height is 155 keys.

The Alice Plus button layout is approximately 68 keys in a row. Because the left and right hands are separated, the space bar is divided into two sections. In addition, the distance between the button B and the left and right hands is almost the same in the standard layout, so there are two buttons B. Adapt to users with different habits. The bottom of the B key on the left is the WIN key by default, but because I am connected to a Mac, I use the CMD keycap instead.

Next look at the details

Although the AKKO ACR PRO ALICE PLUS is ergonomically designed, I have been using a standard keyboard for more than 20 years. It is not so easy to change my habits. The typing speed can’t catch up with the usual, but the two wrists are obviously much more comfortable. In addition, the CNC-processed acrylic appearance and frosted lighting effect are really beautiful, but the only regret is that there is no wireless version, otherwise it should be very good to take out on business trips.