Basic Info-Electrostatic Capacitive Keyboard aimed to be a Topre clone
-35g (45g is also offered, but I have the 35g with me)
-PBT keycaps, ? profile, decently thick
-Standard full size ANSI layout, made in China
I added a partial RGB set made by KBC.
foreword/preface thing
At GH, I think the general consensus is that we don’t like clones. But at the same time, with stuff like Gateron coming out proving us wrong (dat smoothness), I think that we should all reconsider judging products based on the fact that they’re trying to copy another product. While they’re usually not as good as the real things, clones are usually considerably cheaper and can come close to the real product, and have their place in the market. When I first tried Gateron switches last month, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth they were. Trying the Gateron linears effectively changed my perspective on clones, and made me curious about the quality of other clones. One of the things I really wanted to try was the Noppoo Topre clone, so that brings us here.
PricingA important part of any clone is competitive pricing. This keyboard sells for $130 at massdrop. I don’t follow the Type Heaven pricing closely, but I think they are around $150. The Novatouch is ~$170, the Leopold FC660c is $200 (and very hard to find right now), Realforces are $200 or so and the HHKB is around $250. While it’s not ridiculously cheap, it does a great job at beating out the price of even the budget Topre keyboards. Keep in mind that both the Novatouch and Type Heaven don’t use PBT keycaps like the Noppoo keyboard.
KeycapsThe keycaps are nice for stock keycaps. They’re a PBT/POM mix supposedly, but they mostly remind me of PBT keycaps. The keycaps are pointy, kinda like Cherry keycaps from an old Cherry keyboard or GMK, which is nice. They’re also decently thick. They’re not the thickest I’ve seen, but I can safely call them thick keycaps.
However, I’m not a fan of the printing method that they went with. I know it’s hard to complain, since these are stock keycaps, meaning that I should be happy with any sort of printing method that doesn’t wear off in a few months of use, but the printing reminds me of the Cherry lasered keycaps, probably because it’s lasered. I wish the printing could’ve been darker and closer to black to create a nicer contrast with the white/beige color of the keyboard. The profile is also a bit wonky. You can tell that the keycaps have a profile, but it’s not as aggressive as profiles usually are. I compared them to a Realforce, which you can see in the pictures. Lastly, I can agree with the font that they chose. It reminds me of the Realforce keycaps, especially with the Enter key. It’s just a no-frills font that’s not the 1337 gamer stuff that you get on QFRs or keycap sets that look kind of like this.
(the Noppoo is the white one of course)
Feel of the Keyboardtl;dr It does in fact feel like Topre, and PBT keycaps are always a welcome addition
This keyboard feels very similar to Topre. The weighting of the switch is new to me. I’ve tried 45g, 55g and variable, but I haven’t tried 30g before. I think that the 35g switch in this keyboard feels a lot like how the 30g is described to be like. It’s definitely less tactile than the 45g Topre keyboards, but I’m quite sure that that’s because of the lighter domes. There’s a very slight amount of friction that I can feel in the switch. It’s way better than the “whistle” of the HHKB, which was purely due to friction, but I can feel some very slight scratchiness in the Noppoo keyboard. Nevertheless, I think that the feel of this keyboard matches that of a regular Topre keyboard closely. If Topre made a 35g keyboard, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between this Noppoo and this fictional 35g keyboard. Topre uses super secret patented rubber in their domes, but I think that Noppoo has done a great job in creating a keyboard that matches the Topre feel.
SoundWe’re going to talk about one thing and one thing only
The “thock” is arguably the most characteristic sound of a Topre keyboard. I think we can all agree that we like the thock. This keyboard, fortunately, has plenty of it. For some reason, I think this keyboard sounds louder than a Realforce keyboard, but there’s plenty of “thock”, so I’m not complaining. The keyboard isn’t silenced, but the upstroke sound isn’t obnoxious. I really didn’t like the upstroke sound of the stabilized keys on the Leopold FC660C (the backspace drove me crazy), but the Noppoo keyboard seems to do a better job with its Costar-style stabilizers.
Of course, I can only describe a sound to a certain extent, so here’s a video of me typing on the keyboard. I’m including the video that I have of my HHKB Type-S for comparison (both videos were done at the same angle with the same camera)
Build Quality and AestheticsThere’s no feeling of flex while I’m typing on the keyboard, which is the most important thing for me. I can produce some flex when bending the keyboard from either side, but that’s normal for a full size keyboard and doesn’t mean much anyways.
The white combo is nice. I’d like to see a blank keycap option for this keyboard, but I understand that blank keycaps aren’t from everyone, and only appeal to a certain portion of buyers. I like how they tried to go with an all white theme. I dig the white cable and white case, which goes along well with the biege two-tone keycaps.
The case is a bit too rounded for my liking, but that’s personal preference. It doesn’t look bad with white though, since everything about the keyboard has a “soft” feel to it anyways. Most people who buy keyboards like this aren’t adolescent gamers anyway, so aggressive g4m3r styling wasn’t necessary. The result is a keyboard with a classic, standard look, which is suitable for home office or working environments.
Miscellaneous CommentsI like the cable routing option included in the back of the keyboard. I’m always open to more choices, so this is a welcome addition to the back of the keyboard.
Detachable cable is a good feature when you need to bring the keyboard on the go. I wish that the Realforce had one, and I’m not sure why they don’t.
I also like how the feet of the keyboard have rubber, so that the keyboard doesn’t slip around as much while the feet are up.
The white cable is nice to have. I know I would’ve been a lot less happy with a standard black cable, since the whole keyboard is white.
I feel like the switches wobble more than the normal Topre switches do.
The stabilizers are Costar style
I’ve only tried fitting on a couple of MX keycaps, but the MX stems seem to work fine. They fit on somewhat tight like with MX clears, but that’s a non-issue. The MX compatibility is cool to have to swap a couple of keycaps like Esc or the four useless keys above the numpad. Beyond that, I think it wouldn’t be cost effective to have keycaps that cost more than $20 on a $120 keyboard, but that’s just me.
The plate is plain silver, and I can justify this because of the color scheme of the keyboard, but I still don’t like the silver color. It’s a slightly too reflective for my taste, but this is a small nitpick again.
I was able to achieve a new high score on 10fastfingers with this keyboard. This is my first time over 123wpm.
http://puu.sh/fkYkt/0d16a2a3f1.png (must be the devil)
ConclusionI have some small gripes with this keyboard, but at the same time, it’s hard to ask for more out of a keyboard of this price. It feels identical to Topre, or very close to it, it has good keycaps that don’t wear down, and it’s cheaper than the Type Heaven. There’s not too much room to complain here, and while I understand that this keyboard is more expensive than a normal keyboard, I love the feel of Topre in general, and I think that this extra cost over a regular keyboard like the QFR is worth it. This keyboard is not distracting, and let’s you focus on what you’re doing while being able to enjoy nice switches, rather than being distracted by breathing LED’s and lighting modes.
I would recommend this keyboard for:
-People that are on a budget
-People who want to try a Topre keyboard but don’t want to spend $200+ doing so
-People who need a quiet keyboard that isn’t distracting
