Peripherals Show Article 110: This is the first customized keyboard in my life. The cheap ass A3 sunset orange customized kit experience

When it comes to customization, everyone thinks of mechanical keyboards. In fact, customization is a service that is specially customized according to customer needs. Customized production equipment and software for enterprises, or tailor-made birthday cakes for customers can all be called customization.

The word "customization" in the peripheral circle represents the high level, and non-hardcore players will not toss about it. Moreover, customization requires a certain amount of knowledge and hands-on ability, such as material selection, shaft lubrication, shaft welding, lighting, etc., are not easy. Nowadays, the maturity of hot-swapping technology makes customization gradually easier, so major peripheral manufacturers have launched customized kits with built-in drivers. Players only need to insert the shaft and install the keycaps to use it. , very convenient.

The RS2 launched by the cheap donkey some time ago has a good reputation, Gasket Pro structure, three-mode connection, and hot-swappable design. In the later period, the cheap donkey also launched the RS2 customized kit, which is also very popular. Recently, Jianlu launched a new customized kit: A3, which is divided into two types: Yuanzu Gray and Sunset Orange, starting at 229 yuan. The former is monochromatic white light, suitable for matching with light-colored keycaps, and the latter is RGB backlit, suitable for matching with dark-colored keycaps , Let me share with you the A3 Sunset Orange Kit.

The package is black on a white background, the front is the outline of the kit, the model A3 is marked in the upper right corner, and the characteristics of the three-mode kit and Gasket Pro structure are marked below.

A3 kit family portrait, A3 customized kit, Type-C data cable, cross screwdriver, hexagon screw wrench, spare I-shaped pad, wire key puller, shaft puller, 2.4G adapter, product manual.

The upper cover and bottom case of the A3 are made of plastic, the surface is finely frosted, and the upper part is black and the lower part is orange. A3 adopts 81-key arrangement, retaining some nine-square buttons, and the volume knob in the upper right corner, which is a bit of the visual sense of Keychron Q1.

The A3 uses a transparent PC material positioning board, which has good light transmission and certain flexibility, and the key characters are subscripted to facilitate the installation of key caps.

Black volume knob, the shell is made of alloy, and the inside is made of plastic. The damping of the knob is moderate, and the scale is obvious. Clockwise increases the volume, counterclockwise decreases the volume, and pressing down mutes the sound.

The keyboard adopts wired, 2.4G, and Bluetooth three-mode connection, and the switch is designed on the left side of the front of the keyboard, which can be identified according to the label. Type-C data interface, the opening is very shallow, compatible with most customized data lines.

The bottom of the keyboard is flat, with a notch on the top edge. There are non-slip foot pads on the four corners of the bottom, and the keyboard bracket adopts two-stage type, which can realize three heights: flat, low and high. The keyboard is fixed with 8 hexagonal screws, and there is no buckle design. You don’t have to worry about scratching the shell when you disassemble the keyboard. If you design a 2.4G wireless adapter storage compartment, it will be perfect.

A3 customized package comes with an EVA shaft pad, if you want to further adjust the feel, you can install it yourself.

This is the structure diagram of the Gasket Pro on the A3 official website. From top to bottom, it is the upper cover, the PC shock absorber positioning plate, the EVA sound-absorbing cotton, the PCB board, the bottom silicone pad, and the bottom case.

After removing the 8 hexagonal screws at the bottom, you can easily open the upper cover, and you can see that there are 8 I-shaped pads around the positioning plate, and the positioning plate and PCB board are not in contact with the upper cover and the bottom case.

From this angle, you can clearly see the three-layer structure of transparent PC positioning board, EVA sound-absorbing cotton, and white PCB board.

There is a rechargeable battery installed on the back of the PCB board, with a capacity of 3000 mAh, and the battery life is about 3-4 weeks when the lights are turned off. However, due to the existence of this battery case, the feel of the buttons in this area will be relatively hard. A3 adopts Kaihua shaft seat, hot-swappable design, compatible with 3-pin and 5-pin shaft body.

The bottom of the A3 uses a molded silicone pad to remove the early middle column, and reserves a groove for the battery compartment. On the basis of noise reduction, a certain amount of elastic space is left for the PCB board.

It is not a small project to install the attached EVA shaft underlayment. It is necessary to remove the PCB board and the satellite shaft before installing it.

The pad under the shaft is designed without glue, just align it with the hole and put it on. When installing the satellite shaft, you should pay attention to the direction, don't install it backwards.

After installation, fix the PCB board, EVA sandwich cotton, PC transparent positioning board, then install 8 I-shaped pads, and finally put it into the bottom case, install the upper cover and the work is completed.

The switch body is made of Jiadalong G Silver Pro, and the keycap is prepared to be the Capturer Carbon that I bought many years ago. It is made of PBT and OEM height. The black and orange color match is very good with the A3 Sunset Orange.

As a result, halfway through the installation, it was found that the keycap arrangement was insufficient, and the short Shift key and 1 times Alt, Fn, and Ctrl keys were missing, and the Caps key was not a standard cross hole, and it was not compatible with the shaft body with a fence.

Therefore, the Caps key is replaced with C silver without a fence, and the other keys are replaced with Gaussian ten brocades. I will show you the installation effect. Does this set of keycap color match well with Sunset Orange?

Forget it, change it. Directly replace it with DOMIKEY's Dolch orange SA ball cap, made of ABS, which is also the theme color of black and orange, but the letters and number keys are gray, not as eye-catching as big carbon.

The SA keycap is tall, and the volume knob of the A3 looks a bit short after installation, but the black-orange keycap echoes the black cover and orange shell of the keyboard.

The height of the SA ball cap can be seen from the side, the height of R1~R4, the appearance of the ball cap is still quite high, and the curve is quite beautiful.

Good-looking is good-looking. The frame of A3 itself is relatively high, and after adding the SA ball cap, it will be even higher, so it must be used with a hand rest. The original 60% matching hand rest can be used, and the two sides are only half a key short, and it does not violate the harmony when paired together.

The cheap donkey A3 customization kit is equipped with a driver, which can be directly downloaded and installed from the official website. The driver interface is relatively clear. On the left is the function section. From top to bottom, they are button settings, macro editing, lighting settings, custom lighting colors, custom lighting effects, and rhythm lighting effects. Key setting, you can change the key for each key, set the system, multimedia, macro and other functions, and you can also set the FN combination key.

Lighting settings, built-in 19 kinds of lighting effects such as static constant brightness, starry, colorful vertical and horizontal, drifting with the flow, and triggering at a touch, and the lights can also be turned off. The color of the light can be set to 16.8 million colors, or a random color can be set, and the brightness, speed and direction of the light can also be set.

Rhythm lighting effects, you can set the rhythm mode, background mode, amplitude and backlight brightness. If you have time, it is worth studying. It is cool to listen to songs and watch movies.

For the backlight effect, first look at the lighting effect of the switch. Since the A3 is an inverted switch with the lamp beads facing down and facing the user, it is easier to see the light from the front.

With the transparent top cover of Jiadalong G Silver Pro and the transparent positioning plate, the brightness is still acceptable.

This is a drifting lighting effect. Since the SA ball cap is very high, the overflow effect will be better when viewed vertically.

This is a starry light effect, which is static when not typing, and will change with the user when typing. Personally, I think this is more suitable for typing, not fancy.

Because the shaft body of A3 is not buried deep, although the SA keycap is very high, there is still a gap at the bottom, and part of the overflow effect can be seen from the side view. Of course, if you want to play with lights, it is still recommended to use transparent keycaps. It is best to choose ABS transparent keycaps for better results, or directly choose transparent keycaps.

A3 wired and 2.4G wireless mode support full key without punching, whether it is typing or gaming, there is no worry about key interference. Although the SA ball cap is very high, it is not a big problem when it is equipped with a hand rest. I typed for a few days, and I didn't feel that my fingers were too counted. The main reason is the linear feel of Jiadalong G Silver Pro, coupled with the Gasket Pro structure of A3, the writing is quite smooth, and the ABS keycaps are not so hard. Ordinary keys and ordinary long keys feel good, the sound is very small, there is no noise, the space bar is a bit boring, try another switch another day.

Try playing CSGO again. I thought that the SA ball cap is very high, which will affect the operation of the game. In fact, I thought too much. After playing the game for a few days, the combination of cheap donkey A3 + Jiadalong G silver Pro + SA ball cap is playable, and the walking, bouncing, and weapon switching can all be operated normally, and it is quite handy. The only thing that worries me is this set of ABS ball caps. After all, it is not as resistant to oil as PBT. The price of a full set of 159 keys is 499 yuan. It is a bit reluctant to play games for a long time.

In recent years, with the popularity of e-sports games, domestic switches have risen one after another, surpassing cherry switches. Domestic peripheral manufacturers are also blooming and contending, and their appearance, quality and reputation are also blooming steadily. When the product is well done, players are willing to pay the bill, and the profits of peripheral manufacturers will also increase, and they are also willing to invest in research and development, thus forming a virtuous circle. The introduction of customized kits allows ordinary players to play customized keyboards with a low budget.

The cheap donkey A3 customized kit, priced at just over 200 yuan, Gasket Pro structure, supports three-mode connection and hot-swap, mature configuration scheme and driver software, players only need to purchase additional key shafts and keycaps to form a Customize the mechanical keyboard that suits you. A3 Yuanzu gray was only 229 yuan when it was the lowest, Jiadalong G silver Pro was about 1.5 yuan per piece, 81 keys were about 120 yuan, and it cost about 50 yuan to buy a set of PBT engraved large carbon, and the overall cost was less than 400 yuan. Compared with the previous customization, the price/performance ratio is still very high. You must know that a three-mode Gasket mechanical keyboard now costs four to five hundred, and the shaft and keycap may not be suitable for you. It is really like choosing a customized kit. Finally, briefly summarize the characteristics of the cheap donkey A3 customized kit, and put forward some suggestions for your reference.

【Features】

-Two styles of Yuanzu gray and sunset orange, with 81 keys

-Gasket Pro structure, positioning board with key labels

- Alloy volume knob, hot-swappable shaft seat design

-Support wired, 2.4G, Bluetooth three-mode connection

-RGB backlight (gray and white light), driver adjustable

-3000mAh rechargeable battery, 3-4 weeks of battery life

【suggestion】

- It is recommended to replace the shaft puller in the accessory with a SUS304 long shaft puller

- It is recommended to set a magnetic suction 2.4G adapter storage compartment at the bottom

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