Author Topic: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review  (Read 78880 times)

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Offline 108

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Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« on: Sun, 27 March 2016, 11:53:34 »
I picked up the RK61 during MassDrop's last bazaar. It is the rev2. version, so it offers a arrow key layer, along with an on and off switch. I was given a choice between white case with white LEDS and a black case with unchangeable "RGB" LEDS. I purchased the white one, as the latter was rather silly looking. It uses kailh blue switches, with stem stabilizers for the space, enter and shifts. The most two biggest selling factors for me were it's form factor(60%) and Bluetooth connectivity.

Bluetooth: The keyboard has two modes, bluetooth and wired. It uses a micro usb to usb cable for wired mode, and bluetooth can connect to any device with Bluetooth capability, e.g. iOS devices, android, and any computer whose motherboard has Bluetooth capability. FN + TAB will switch in between modes, and FN + P will start the pairing process for Bluetooth. The keyboard is able to connect up to three bluetooth devices at a time, FN + Q, W , E will switch between the three. There is practically no visible delay between the key press and register.

60% factor and Layers: As previously stated this is the second version of the keyboard, which offers an arrow key layer, which was a big complaint from the first version. The arrow key are clearly labeled on the ALT, Menu key, / and right CTRL. The layer is accessible by using FN.  There is a windows lock key, however from what I have seen it locks ALL keys instead of the windows key. I do not know if this is intended or just a firmware issue.  The LEDS can be brightened by FN + =, and darkened with FN + -.

Overall, It's a great 60% keyboard for the price (65 USD) and I absolutely enjoy typing on it. Thanks for reading! :thumb:






Offline 108

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 02 April 2016, 02:44:54 »
Con #1: The female micro connector is very flimsy. It has broke after 50~ disconnects and connects. I'm not to sure how to remove the case, but I'll try this weekend to solder a new connector on. If anyone has recommendations for removing the case/ soldering the connector.
« Last Edit: Sun, 10 April 2016, 11:13:37 by 108 »






Offline studentben

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 17 April 2016, 21:27:13 »
Just wondering if you've tried to replace the switches on it yet.

Offline 108

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 18 April 2016, 04:52:32 »
Just wondering if you've tried to replace the switches on it yet.
If you're referring it being broken, the problem is the usb part of the pcb. In order to fix I would need two jumper wires connecting it to to the resistor on the board. Fixing it is something I haven't had the time or money to do.






Offline iLLucionist

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 18 April 2016, 04:56:52 »
How do you charge? Just put batteries in it?

And how do you like those switches?
MJT2 Browns o-rings - HHKB White - ES-87 Smoke White Clears - 87UB 55g

Offline MrFex

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 20 April 2016, 13:54:07 »
Good review. I got mine today, ordered last week from Aliexpress. also rev 2. I'm always been a fan of the Poker keyboards but I never got one since I use the function-row a lot. I saw this board on Ali and I just couldn't resist. I got Kailh blue switches and a blue case with white leds.

The board feels pretty solid and the build quality is awesome for the price. I have a KBT Race aswell and that is a lot lighter and plastic. I don't mind it as my carry-on though. The RK61 has a good weight to it. The keycaps that came with it were absolutely horrible but I expected that to be the case. The feel is not that good, they look to shiney and have no texture. Also the font is garbage. Luckily I put on some original Ducky's and I love the feel of the Kailh switches. Nothing wrong with these, this is my first blue switch keyboard so I am still getting used to it.

As for features. It instantly paired with iOS and Windows. It re-pairs after switching on and off and brings my Surface from sleep with I enable the keyboard. USB mode works good too, great value there. The backlights are good and evenly lit. The backplate is white, I like the contrast it gives. All in all this was a bargain and if this thing keeps performing reasonably then I might as well get another one. I got it for 50 euro's.

My sole enthusiasm for this keyboard drove me to this topic. I hope you like my additional review.

IF YOU HESITATE TO BUY THIS KEYBOARD, GET IT!

ps; the only thing I found this far is the following. The arrow keys work good with the function key press. It'll take some time to use too I am sure. The only thing that doesn't work is pressing WINKEY plus and Arrow. This is overruled by the FN+WINKEY combination that activates a WINKEY lock. I happen to use WINKEY+arrows a lot for window management but this minor detail can be easily forgiven.

As for batteries, it charges via USB I'm told.
« Last Edit: Wed, 20 April 2016, 13:56:17 by MrFex »

Offline MrFex

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 21 April 2016, 07:30:28 »
Allright .. so I've been using it some more today. Still no real complaints whatsoever. I have it connected to my Surface and my laptop and the bluetooth profile keys work rather good. I can switch from system with a singe press and it just works. After the press the backlight starts blinking until the re-pairing is done. It usually takes 1 to 2 seconds.

As for the arrow keys, I have some more results. Unfortunately not only the WinKey combination doesn't work with the arrow keys, also the other modifier keys. A couple of things I do a lot:
  • Ctrl + arrow to move the caret to beginning or end of words
  • Ctrl + Shift + arrow to select words
  • Shift + Up/Down to select sentences
  • WinKey + arrows (as mentioned before)

The fact that the arrow keys require the function key to be pressed feels counter productive to me since I use the arrows more often than the right modifiers (CTRL + ALT + APPSKEY) and the forward slash. As a software developer I do use the forward slash quite often but I recon that I won't use it that much on the RK61.

So, I decided to create a AHK script that solves these things. I realize there is probably a 60%/Poker thread somewhere with all kinds of layouts and AHK scripts, but I still wanted to share this.

It does the following:
  • Permanently map right alt, right ctrl, appskey and "/" to the arrow keys
  • Override RShift "/" so that this is still "?" instead of Up
  • Map Fn  + "/" (keyboard sends Up) to  "/"
  • Map Capslock + arrows to Home and End (left and right) and PageUp and PageDown (up and down)
  • Map Capslock + backspace to Delete

Also I use ALT+F4 and CTRL+F4 a lot for closing windows and tabs. That also requires a function key press (and thus my right hand) and ALT+4 and CTRL+4 don't have any functionality.

  • Map ALT+4 to ALT+F4
  • Map CTRL+4 to CTRL+F4

Code: [Select]
RAlt::Left
RCtrl::Right
/::Up
AppsKey::Down

RShift & /::Send {?}
$Up::Send {/}

^4::^F4
!4::!F4

CapsLock & RAlt::Send {Home}
CapsLock & RCtrl::Send {End}
CapsLock & /::Send {PgUp}
CapsLock & AppsKey::Send {PgDn}
CapsLock & Backspace::Send {Delete}
^F5::reload
« Last Edit: Thu, 21 April 2016, 08:18:02 by MrFex »

Offline MrFex

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 21 April 2016, 14:43:11 »
Updates:

Code: [Select]

; Permanently map modifiers and '/' to navigator keys
RAlt::Left
RCtrl::Right
/::Up
AppsKey::Down

; Permanently map navigator keys (fn) to the modifiers and '/'
$Left::RAlt
$Right::RCtrl
$Up::/
$Down::AppsKey

; Override special case for question mark
RShift & /::Send {?}

; Map AltF4 and CtrlF4 to digits
^4::^F4
!4::!F4

; Home, End, PageUp, PageDown and Delete
CapsLock & RAlt::Send {Home}
CapsLock & RCtrl::Send {End}
CapsLock & /::Send {PgUp}
CapsLock & AppsKey::Send {PgDn}
CapsLock & Backspace::Send {Del}

; Media keys
CapsLock & -::Send {Volume_Down}
CapsLock & =::Send {Volume_Up}

I've added some media keys for volume control and I have now also implemented RCtrl, RAlt and AppsKey while using the fn-key. Basically the fn key is now reversed. Not pressing gives you navigator keys, pressing gives '/' and the modifier keys. Imo the AppsKey can be particularly helpful on a tablet without the use of a mouse.


Offline gramic

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 17 May 2017, 02:02:48 »
I have found on my rk61 that pressing Fn+Left Ctrl turns functional keys always on. That means that now Left Ctrl + Arrow works without problems.
However, MrFlex observation for the Windows key + Arrow seams to not work.

Offline dantan

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 20 May 2017, 10:41:46 »
Just looked at this review:

wondering:

1) how are the kailh switches holding up after 1 year?

2) OP said the connector broke after 50 times, but he said that within 6 days of the first post. Did OP deliberately try this to see how keyboard is holding up? I find it hard to think of situations where you connect and disconnect a bluetooth keyboard so many times in such a short period.


Offline MrFex

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 10 August 2017, 04:51:26 »
I have found on my rk61 that pressing Fn+Left Ctrl turns functional keys always on. That means that now Left Ctrl + Arrow works without problems.
However, MrFlex observation for the Windows key + Arrow seams to not work.

Thanks for that, I think you have a newer/better firmware version because my keyboard is definitely not doing that.
Can you tell us more about the keyboard you have? What "rev" is it?

1) how are the kailh switches holding up after 1 year?

Fine :)


Offline gramic

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 10 August 2017, 07:18:41 »
Thanks for that, I think you have a newer/better firmware version because my keyboard is definitely not doing that.
Can you tell us more about the keyboard you have? What "rev" is it?

I bougth it 2 months ago and there is no "rev" or something like that anyware - phisically or digitally. At least I am unable to find it.
Just a week ago I found another "feature", that was uknown to me. If the numlock is turned on (via another keyboard that I have), then the keys
6,7,8
y,u,i
and so on, act almost like a numpad.
That discovery was after I noticed that on one of my Ubuntu user accounts the keyboard stopped working, while on the other all was fine.
The other interesting thing is that Fn + [ is a media shortcut for "volume down" and Fn + ] for "volume up". That was a fantastic discovery that I use often.
However, I am not sure, where that is from my keyboard or the Ubuntu OS does it on his own. I was expecting it to be F11 and F12 (as is written on the keys bottom), but I am glad it is not that way :)

Offline mrkrojo

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 17 November 2017, 10:07:13 »
Hi All, just got RK61. It's my first mechanical keyboard in over a decade :)
I am using it with Mac OS though perhaps that is not recommended.
My keyboard has been reset to factory using the Fn + Left Alt.
However, something is not right.
I expect the arrow key layer to require the Fn key. And I expect, for example, the forward slash to not require the Fn key.
However, on my RK61 with Mac OS, the forward slash key sends "up arrow" and I need the Fn key to type forward slash.
This is maddening!
I've read the booklet and relevant posts online. Can't see how this is possible. Is it because I'm using with Mac OS?
Please help. Thanks!

Offline gramic

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 18 November 2017, 07:53:32 »
Quote
However, on my RK61 with Mac OS, the forward slash key sends "up arrow" and I need the Fn key to type forward slash.

That is a feature. When you press Fn + Left Ctrl, it turns/locks Fn key as pressed. Lets say you need to press the "Up arrow" without holding down Fn key. This is actully a very usful feature.
Also, "unlocking" is again with Fn + Left Ctrl.

Offline MrFex

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #14 on: Sat, 10 February 2018, 10:57:18 »
I've made a few minor changes that I wanted to share.

Code: [Select]
#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.

SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetCapsLockState, AlwaysOff
SetWorkingDir, %A_ScriptDir%

Menu, Tray,  Icon, keyboard_on.ico, 1, 1

CapsLock & Tab::
Suspend, Permit
Suspend
If (A_IsSuspended)
{
  TrayTip,, RK61 script disabled
  Menu, Tray,  Icon, keyboard_off.ico, 1, 1

 
} else {
  TrayTip,, RK61 script enabled
  Menu, Tray,  Icon, keyboard_on.ico, 1, 1

}
Return

; Permanently map modifiers and '/' to navigator keys
RAlt::Left
RCtrl::Right
/::Up
AppsKey::Down

; Permanently map navigator keys (fn) to the modifiers and '/'
$Left::RAlt
$Right::RCtrl
$Up::/
$Down::AppsKey

; Override special case for question mark
RShift & /::Send {?}

; Map AltF4 and CtrlF4 to digits
^4::^F4
!4::!F4

; Home, End, PageUp, PageDown and Delete
CapsLock & RAlt::Send {Home}
CapsLock & RCtrl::Send {End}
CapsLock & /::Send {PgUp}
CapsLock & AppsKey::Send {PgDn}
CapsLock & Backspace::Send {Del}

; Media keys
CapsLock & -::Send {Volume_Down}
CapsLock & =::Send {Volume_Up}

This script can now be easily disabled and re-enabled via CAPS+TAB. It will show a nice notification style popup and toggle a tray icon to display the status. The icons are in the attachment.

Offline isharamet

  • Posts: 1
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 16 February 2018, 14:38:09 »
Quote
However, on my RK61 with Mac OS, the forward slash key sends "up arrow" and I need the Fn key to type forward slash.

That is a feature. When you press Fn + Left Ctrl, it turns/locks Fn key as pressed. Lets say you need to press the "Up arrow" without holding down Fn key. This is actully a very usful feature.
Also, "unlocking" is again with Fn + Left Ctrl.

It's a very strange feature, because to type ? you need to press Fn+Shift+?. And from what I understand currently there is no way to disable arrow keys by default. This makes the keyboard unusable for me.

Offline eriamel

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #16 on: Sat, 17 March 2018, 05:38:32 »
S/N RK830 175172 (mentioned in absence of a rev)

Received my rk61 a few days ago and so far im more then pleased with the little board.
Got the white version with browns switches and blue light.

I think the board might be a rev 2 but i definitely have the same firmware as mrkrojo, and im on windows 10 so this is not a mac thing.
The "manual" it came with was Chinese only and, judging from the images, did not contain all shortcuts mentioned in this thread.
Since there obviously have been different (firmware) versions, I thought Id add my two cents

This version responds to most shortcuts mentioned in the thread (aside from volume up and down)

Also Fn+LeftAlt for reset, and, like mentioned above, to Fn+LeftCtrl for lockin the Fn layer.

The default state of the board is having the arrow keys on, so without locking the Fn layer, or pressing Fn, you will get an arrow up instead of the "/".
I do mostly html/css/javascript myself and i use the arrow keys a lot in combination with left shift and Ctrl so this suits me just perfect.
I'd much rather press Fn for the "/" or "?" when i need those, then miss my arrows.
Plus i personally cant really type , i never use the right Ctrl or Alt so im not missing much there either.

The Fn+LeftAlt lock feature is (now) however in my opinion somewhat useless:

It works like a true Lock (think caps lock) this means that once its in that state, you cant quickly use Fn to toggle back to the normal key function;
you really have to unlock again.
This state locks all real Fn keys (apart from lights up or down, or the pairing function keys)

Someone wanting default "/", right Alt and right Ctrl for normal two handed typing will have a useless board in this locked mode.
Yes these work fine now but keys y,u,i,h,j,k,n,m are now also locked in their Fn version (PrtSC, PgDn, etc) and if that isnt enough also numers 1 to 0 are F1 to F10 and you've swapped all brackets for F11 and F12.
Any normal typing on a board locked in that mode is impossible, and even if the Fn key would toggle to normal state, it would be too much hassle to type on.

So even though I personally couldn't be happier with this "arrows on by default" decision, i can imagine that if you never use arrows and you'd like to do a lot of normal traditional typing on this board, you would miss the forward slash, question mark, and both right Alt and Ctrl probably
« Last Edit: Sat, 17 March 2018, 06:26:26 by eriamel »

Offline tim_in_ak

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Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #17 on: Thu, 10 May 2018, 16:29:15 »
I'm considering getting a unit of this keyboard. Suppose I have this keyboard plugged into my desktop (which is a 2011 Mac Mini with an solid-state drive and Ubuntu as the sole OS).
Will I have connectivity to (as an example) my android smart-phone? OR Does attaching to USB disable bluetooth? I am both a noob to bluetooth and a noob to this forum.
Thanks in advance - tim

Offline jbral

  • Posts: 1
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #18 on: Fri, 11 May 2018, 14:56:27 »
I have had the rk-61 latest edition for about a week now.  I have a sysadmin type job,  work with windows, linux, vms.  I use the / up-arrow , question mark, insert key, etc.  I use autohotkey on Windows and Autokey in linux.  I knew that it would take a little getting used to ,  but it has been a real struggle.  The hardest part for me is the up-arrow/question mark key.  I use all 3 of these functions all the time.  Also cntl alt delete now requires a fn also (right side,  I can get used to that).   I will probably use Autokey to set something up,  but this is a little bit frustrating.  Just thought I would let folks know what they are getting in to.  The keyboard itself is great,  exactly what I was looking for,  but wow, very hard to get used to if you use all keys on the keyboard on a regular basis. 

Offline AugustCanaille

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  • Location: Minneapolis
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #19 on: Wed, 18 July 2018, 11:10:16 »
Mine is way messed up. What does the on-off button do on the back? how do you change the lights? Sometimes mine jumps around and does crazy ****....how do I reset it?>

Offline eriamel

  • Posts: 2
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 01 November 2018, 07:13:38 »
A little update after my previous post and using this board as my main board at work for more then half a year (fe-developer)

I did get used to the awkward way of typing a question mark, even in such a way that i confuse my self at home by pressing Shift + ? + Ctrl all the time on a full layout board when i just want Shift + ?

That is something a can put up with i suppose, but the constant switching of modes by accidentally pressing left-Shift + Fn in the middle of my work led me to go look for another keyboard.
If there was a way of disabling that useless second layer modus, i would put up with it for a longer time because i love the switches, layout, form factor, really just almost everything about it.

I will purchase an Anne Pro 2 soon because that board has all the advantages of this RK61 but also programmable layers and a extra wonderful tab layer to use as arrow keys

Offline BsTyler

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    • https://www.youtube.com/user/Durden391
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #21 on: Sat, 17 August 2019, 02:35:56 »
Someone has video on replacing key/s mine 3 months is dying letter A , sometimes it works needs to be pressed like elephant in game especially can't strafe left :(

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk


Offline guptaji

  • Posts: 14
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #22 on: Sat, 17 August 2019, 02:41:03 »

As for batteries, it charges via USB I'm told.

Brilliant! Was wondering how in the world the batts are charged. Thanks for the clarification

Offline toikhongtinai

  • Posts: 1
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #23 on: Sun, 26 April 2020, 19:28:38 »
I've made a few minor changes that I wanted to share.

Code: [Select]
#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.

SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetCapsLockState, AlwaysOff
SetWorkingDir, %A_ScriptDir%

Menu, Tray,  Icon, keyboard_on.ico, 1, 1

CapsLock & Tab::
Suspend, Permit
Suspend
If (A_IsSuspended)
{
  TrayTip,, RK61 script disabled
  Menu, Tray,  Icon, keyboard_off.ico, 1, 1

 
} else {
  TrayTip,, RK61 script enabled
  Menu, Tray,  Icon, keyboard_on.ico, 1, 1

}
Return

; Permanently map modifiers and '/' to navigator keys
RAlt::Left
RCtrl::Right
/::Up
AppsKey::Down

; Permanently map navigator keys (fn) to the modifiers and '/'
$Left::RAlt
$Right::RCtrl
$Up::/
$Down::AppsKey

; Override special case for question mark
RShift & /::Send {?}

; Map AltF4 and CtrlF4 to digits
^4::^F4
!4::!F4

; Home, End, PageUp, PageDown and Delete
CapsLock & RAlt::Send {Home}
CapsLock & RCtrl::Send {End}
CapsLock & /::Send {PgUp}
CapsLock & AppsKey::Send {PgDn}
CapsLock & Backspace::Send {Del}

; Media keys
CapsLock & -::Send {Volume_Down}
CapsLock & =::Send {Volume_Up}

This script can now be easily disabled and re-enabled via CAPS+TAB. It will show a nice notification style popup and toggle a tray icon to display the status. The icons are in the attachment.

Thank you so much, I follow your guide and now my RK61 is better

Offline miliano

  • Posts: 1
Re: Royal Kludge 61 Bluetooth Keyboard Review
« Reply #24 on: Sat, 28 November 2020, 01:58:49 »
I know this is an old thread & not sure if this kind of helps anyone - Im a developer using vs code and usually use command + / to apply comments .
So the initial config of this board wasn't working for me either I was able to remedy this by doing this..
1. run a virtual box instance of windows10
2. install and launch the RK software (downloaded from their site)
3. remap the RIGHT APP > RIGHT ALT (option)
4. remap the RIGHT ALT > RIGHT WIN (command)

I can now easily make comments which would normally be (COMMAND + /) by using FN + RIGHT WIN + /(?)
« Last Edit: Sat, 28 November 2020, 02:01:30 by miliano »