What Is the Best Membrane Gaming Keyboard?

Logitech's k275 keyboard has always been a strong contender in the wireless keyboard market, thanks to its remarkable wireless connection technology. Despite being a thin-film keyboard, it holds its own against many other wireless keyboards and mice. Impressed by its performance, I invested in a k275 set. However, fate had other plans when my little one accidentally spilled Fanta on it, followed by the unfortunate incident of it being soaked in condensation from the air conditioner. What a disaster!

The initial problems started with certain keys occasionally malfunctioning. Gradually, a significant portion of the keys stopped working altogether, until finally, pressing any key would cause the keyboard to shut down automatically. The issues seemed random and frustrating.

With no other option, I decided to dismantle the keyboard to assess if the carbonated drink had caused any corrosion. Naturally, the first step was to remove the battery, and then the dismantling process began.

I must admit, Logitech's craftsmanship is impressive. There were a total of 15 screws at the back of the regular membrane keyboard, each tightly secured. Of course, two of them required extra caution due to the Fanta mishap. Despite loosening the upper and lower casings, it seemed that there were some areas that remained stuck. Since the Fanta had rendered the keyboard useless, I decided to take a risk and forcefully pull it apart from the middle towards the sides. Fortunately, the buckles on both sides allowed for some success, and the bayonets proved to be resilient even after multiple disassemblies.

The membrane keyboard consists of three thin transparent plastic sheets known as the film. The top and bottom sheets contain printed circuits, while the middle layer serves to isolate two sets of circuit systems. When a button is pressed, the two layers of circuit board make contact, completing a loop that enables the computer to register the keystroke.

Upon opening the keyboard, I discovered that there was no dirt between the three layers of film. It appeared that only clean condensation from the air conditioner had made its way inside. This served as a testament to the cleanliness of the condensate. Moving forward with the disassembly, I focused on the main control located in the upper right corner. By removing the two fixing screws on both sides, I could access the main control and the circuit on the three-layer film. Interestingly, even the area adjacent to the fixing piece had traces of Fanta.

Clearly visible was the presence of orange-red dirt on the main control. I took care to remove it promptly, wiping away as much as possible. Unfortunately, I forgot to capture a picture of the main control before wiping it, and there were still some minor stains left behind. I cleaned it using a damp paper towel, followed by rubbing alcohol, and then another damp paper towel. With these efforts, the main control appeared to be in better shape.

However, one leg of the capacitor above the main control seemed dangerously thin, suggesting corrosion from the carbonated drink. The color of the left leg was notably different as well. I removed all the parts except the film and washed them thoroughly. Despite my best efforts, there were still some marks left behind. Thankfully, I had the entire weekend for everything to dry completely.

Arriving at work on Monday, I reassembled the keyboard and much to my delight, some keys had returned to normal. However, the backspace key remained unresponsive, and some other buttons were not functioning as well as they should. It seemed unlikely that the keyboard would completely recover, and I anticipated it would gradually worsen in the coming days.

In the end, it became evident that keyboards and carbonated drinks do not mix well.

This keycap is the keycap of AlephKey Studio, and it is also the first set of keycaps for their studio.

The keycap design is inspired by the Commodore 64, an old keyboard from the 1980s.

With retro gray and white as the tone, the characters are in bold and side engraved pixels.

Real shot display:

Le total shooting

Le total shooting

blue sky shooting

This keycap is a cat burkino-themed keycap designed by Yuyuyu, a designer of Key Design Universe, inspired by the gold gradient and coffee in the studio.

Creamy white and two browns are a very common combination.

The personality part is mainly the combination of coffee and cats, and at the same time, it is hoped that more supplementary keys can be added to adapt to more configurations.

This keycap is designed by Chenxian, and it is also the first keycap of this newcomer author. The source of inspiration is the author's sudden brain hole. In the past, spirit deer and flying birds "see the deer when the tree is deep, but don't see the bell at noon in the stream".

Low-saturation blue-purple is the main color, and the color system of the main key area and the mod area are similar, and there is not so much contrast compared with the deep sea.

Simple character composed of deer and bird.

This keycap is a Genshin-themed keycap designed by NextDoorLab's designer Soso soya. The keycap design is inspired by the character in the game-Spark Knight.

Color matching:

Compared with R1, this time it is more red, and white is used as the character color and reverse color.

Personality section:

In addition to the skill attack effects and decorations of the original Keli character, Amber's character personality design has also been added this time.

R1 version rendering

Compared with the visual sense of the red and white machine of the R1, this time the Spark R2 can be regarded as the red color to the end.

This set of keycaps is designed by Ou Zai, a designer who takes a fresh line in rendering and design style. Inspired by Sisyphus' version of Walden

Carmine, lake green and light pink are the main colors, but it feels like chocolate milk for no reason.

Duck is an element that the designer likes very much. In this keycap, there are also many duck image key supplements for selection.

When I was doing keyboard evaluation earlier, I specially commented on the brand of Dujia, which has quality and design, but the biggest shortcoming is that it cannot keep up with the trend. The most obvious example is the arrangement. For so many years, Dujia has been clinging to the traditional design, and will always only make the standard 104, 87 traditional layout. Two years ago, relying on the K330W and FUSION series, it was still a wave of popularity. I thought that after tasting the sweetness, Dujia would focus on the research and development of compact keyboards, but the result was not warm. The subsequent K610 shrank back to the traditional configuration. Although the color matching still maintains a consistent high level, in this era of frequent new keyboards, Dujia's thinking has obviously fallen behind.

Unexpectedly, as the end of the year approached, Dujia began to expand his tactics and launched a brand new Hi series. The Hi series is a brand-new product line based on Dujia, including keyboards, mice, aerospace joint products of the same series or more possibilities in the future. The first release of "Hi Keys" has changed from the rigid impression in the past, taking vividness and fun as the design concept, and the key layout also adopts the most popular compact sequence at present, which is very different from other models under Dujia. As a keyboard enthusiast, Zhaohua also bought it for the first time. Here I would like to share with you my personal opinion on this keyboard. By the way, I will show you the recently purchased ZOMO One Piece keycap.

▼The packaging style of Hi Keys is also different from other models of Dujia. Although the background color is still calm and black, it uses a lot of rich colors, cartoon patterns and cute and playful fonts for embellishment. From this outer packaging, it can be seen that Dujia no longer sticks to the rules, and breaks out of the mentality of seeking change from the shackles of the past.

▼Accessories are a bit stingy this time, only the keyboard body, data cable and instructions for use. Although the keyboard does not support hot-swapping of the shaft body, at least the key puller must be arranged.

▼Hi Keys uses the popular 84-key combination this time. There is no number area, but the F area and a small number of function keys are completely reserved. The space occupation is greatly reduced, but the functions can basically satisfy most users. Personally, I prefer this key arrangement, which is suitable for both text entry and game entertainment.

▼Hi Keys uses a large number of curved elements in the design, and the inner circle of the right-angled frame is also visually expressed with rounded lines. At first glance, it feels sharp and angular. After a while, you will feel that the whole keyboard is round. Quite a strange illusion.

▼Color matching is Dujia's strong point, especially some relatively simple basic colors can always be played by Dujia. Hi Keys are available in dark blue/silver , My model is dark blue, with dark blue and silver gray as the main color, embellished with yellow, interspersed with some stripes and square patterns, the overall look is lively, lovely and full of agility.

▼ The bottom shell adopts a suspension design, and the surface is coated with a skin-like coating , the feel is still very good. But one thing to say, this kind of coating will become sticky after a long time. The best solution is to use it frequently...

▼From the side view, the keyboard has its own inclination angle, which can meet the input needs without putting down the feet for daily use.

▼The top of the keyboard is the mode switch knob and type-c charging port. Hi Keys has a built-in rechargeable lithium battery, and the battery life is particularly good. According to the official information, it can be used for 8 hours a day when fully charged. It can last for 7 to 90 days with the backlight turned on, and it can last for 7 to 90 days with the backlight turned off. Bluetooth (360 days) / 2.4 G (200 days) long battery life, Hi Keys is definitely a first-class echelon in terms of this alone.

▼The mode switching knob is a design with a very brand personality. The dial design used by Dujia Hi Keys is unique in that the knob uses the indium plating process. Indium is a silver-white metal with good light permeability and electrical conductivity, and has good corrosion resistance. This is the first time I have seen it used in the keyboard field, but I must admit that the gloss of this knob is indeed better than stainless steel or metal polishing.

▼The bottom of the keyboard is clean and tidy. On the top is a large non-slip foot pad, a one-piece support foot, and a 2.4G receiver (magnetic storage). The "DURGOD" below is made of a bright surface process, and the surface is also covered with a film. The back is really refreshing, and it feels like a benchmark.

▼The keycap of Hi Keys is also a new design, the same square shell as the keyboard shell + rounded corner design, the keycap contact area is wide, and the corners are wrinkled, which is a bit like a package design. Saying it looks good doesn't count, and it's not ugly. Anyway, I'm used to seeing ordinary keycaps, and Hi Keys gives people a very strange look.

▼I looked at this keycap for a long time after I got it, and there was always a feeling of deja vu. It finally dawned on me that this thing has the same meaning as the Swiss candy I loved when I was a child. The difference is that the surface of the Swiss candy is flat, and the surface of this keycap is slightly raised.

▼The keycap is sprayed with ABS and has an opaque design. The wall thickness is sufficient in terms of craftsmanship, and the spout is also handled very well. After all, it is an old brand, so there is no need to pick such details.

▼Axis body, Hi Keys is equipped with Kaihua Turbo series switches this time, and there are two kinds of switches in silent red and brown. "Turbo" is literally translated as turbocharging, and it also has the meaning of purity, extreme, extreme speed and directness. Using Turbo to name the switch body, it is obvious that the main switch body is fast trigger, light and smooth. The previous Duga K610W is the first mass-produced keyboard equipped with this switch body.

▼My model is Turbo Mute Red. In terms of parameters, the trigger force is 45±10gf, the conduction stroke is 1.9±0.4mm, the total stroke is 3.7±0.3mm, and the knocking life is 500W times (800W times for the tea shaft) . In addition, the shaft of this shaft is also made of high-smooth composite POM material, which will become smoother with use without oiling.

Speaking of keycaps, I'll show off the ones I bought recently. ZOMO One Piece Keycap . This brand is not simple. Everyone likes Aunt Zhang’s metal keycaps, right. The OEM brand of the keycaps is ZOMO. This set of One Piece is The genuine co-branded keycaps jointly launched by ZOMO and Fingertips , the price is not cheap, but after all, it is a genuine license, and the craftsmanship is also unique. The key is that the appearance is really good.

▼The keycap is a complete set of 147 keys, which can adapt to 99% of the keyboard sequences. The red and blue colors correspond to the blue sea/red earth continent respectively. The keycap font is very individual, but one thing to say, it may be difficult to restore the letter area after being disturbed.

▼The personalized keycaps mainly adopt the animation elements of One Piece. Luffy, Sanji, Nami, and the iconic straw hats, anchors, and gold coins all have separate buttons. The printing process of the keycap is very fine, the color is standard, and the font is clear.

▼ Keycap material is PBT , the craftsmanship is worth mentioning. It combines two different materials, three-side transparent + single-side two-color injection molding, the transparent material has a very high light transmittance, and the frosted shell makes the light that shines soft and not dazzling. The keycap is extremely light, and it avoids the situation that the PC material transparent keycap becomes sticky after a long time.

▼The keycap height is Standard OEM height, MX cross-axle , the workmanship is perfect, there are no ribs inside, it should be due to the reason of light transmission.

Generally speaking, I seldom write about the experience of using the keyboard. After all, the keycap of the shaft is the most important factor affecting the feel, but I think it is necessary for me to elaborate on this keyboard, not all of its advantages.

▼The height of the keycaps of most keyboards will show a stepped distribution, and some keyboards even make the F area an oblique angle. The purpose of the input. More obvious examples are the OG80 of the aluminum factory, Xiaoqiao of Luofei, etc.

▼The design of Hi Keys is very different. It is the first time I have seen this kind of high middle and low top and bottom. The advantages are obvious, one is that it conforms to the overall round design concept, and the other is that the input of the letter area is particularly easy.

▼However, the input in the upper and lower areas is not so comfortable. The function keys below are okay, after all, the distance is short, and the user experience has no effect. The most obvious is the F area. The sinking brings more distance, and the experience is not so good. Of course, if you rarely use the upper keys, this problem will not affect much.

Then there is the connection mode. Hi Keys supports 2.4G / Bluetooth two modes . Isn't it strange, generally speaking, a keyboard that supports these two modes should be called a three-mode keyboard. Why is Hi Keys called a dual-mode wireless?

▼Yes, you read that right, Hi Keys does not support wired connections! Connect the data cable and it is a wireless keyboard with a wired connection. Surprised or not? Is it surprising? I was once overwhelmed by the designer's brain hole (not commendatory). Fortunately, the battery life of the keyboard is long enough, which can be regarded as a certain compensation.

▼The last is the lighting. The keyboard inherits Duga’s consistent white light tradition, with adjustable brightness, various lighting effects, and a good atmosphere. However, since Hi Keys is a new series, and its positioning is diversified and youthful, is it more suitable to add RGB lighting effects?

Finally, put a few pictures, showing the keyboard keycaps from all angles.

Recently, Durga’s new products keep coming, just released the gaming model GK 90, and launched Hi Keys in less than two months, and the style has changed a lot, I seriously doubt that they have changed the designer.

Back to Hi Keys. I personally agree with Dujia’s launch of such a new series. Now that the key rings are so hot and new brands are emerging one after another, if Dujia still holds the previous mentality of selling one model for many years and the old-fashioned shape will be passed down, sooner or later it will taste bad results. , the advantage of having a new series can be diversified development, you can constantly try new crafts, new designs, new sequences, etc., and you can better follow the pace of the market.

As for the new Hi Keys keyboard, my personal evaluation is that it is a bit aggressive. Let me talk about what I like first. The size of the keyboard is small, the body is slender, the workmanship is excellent, and the shape design is very characteristic, especially the color matching and keys. The bit layout is to my liking. Not supporting cable is a failure. As for the remote distance of the F area, it is not a big problem. After all, this distance is only relatively speaking, and it is not too far to be exaggerated. Besides, no one will frequently operate in this area.

Step from the K980 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard.

Bluetooth, 2.4G, wired 3 modes and supports windows and macos mode switching

RGB lighting effects can be macro-programmed

Kaihua hot-swappable shaft

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

Three-mode 199, or the keycap with side engraving, and the color is also gradient, this price

The spy's MT87 uses a box with 104 keys, inside is an 87 keyboard, the cable with it is very interesting, a double-headed data cable, a two-in-one usb and a dual-purpose cable of the C port, double-ended key puller,

I also sent a Pikachu keycap, which has five colors: blush/fog blue/extreme day/evergreen/pure white

Needless to say about the appearance, mine is a blush. If you look at it from the top down, it is a very clean white body. The PBT keycap is a transition from white to blush. The concave keycap, the lower light position and the side Translucent, this is also my first side engraved keyboard,

The side and rear are straight plugged into the C port

This is also a three-mode, bluetooth, cable and 2.4 receiver with magnetic suction on the back, with 2-speed feet,

I generally like to use red switches, so I chose the red switches. The commonly used red switches are all within 50. When I first started using this, I found that this is not an ordinary red switch. The bomb is also very powerful. It is a high-speed red axis with a trigger stroke of 2 and a pressure of 60. The black, red and green tea it comes with are all60

It is hot-swappable. Kaihua's shaft seat is compatible with three-to-five-pin shafts. There is no pad under the shaft, with sandwich cotton, and there is a bit of metal resonance.

36cm, less than 2 catties, still relatively light