Got my new Leo today, will do a review comparing it with the HHKB Type-S. Will finish write up laterz. Feel free tol lask questions now and I can include it in my write up.
So I got my new Leo today, the Leopold FC660C, a 66key Electrostatic Capacitive Mini Keyboard. If you are not familiar, Leopold recently came out with their 660 line, the 660R and the 660C. The 660R uses Cherry MX switches and the 660C uses topre switches. What I got today is the topre version and I will compare this with my HHKB Type-S. I am excited to do this review because this is the first topre keyboard under the Leopold line, and also because of this never before seen 66key layout.
I was lucky enough to get help from a friend's friend from Korean to obtain this keyboard. The Leopold FC660C comes with the keyboard, gold plated USB cable, extra 1.5 ctrl key and 1.25 capslock keycaps to swap out. In addition I believe they were doing some promotions so I got some free lavender wasd, arrow keys, and a red esc. This whole package cost me $200 including shipping (split between some other dudes getting stuff from Korea). I believe the retail price is $179, there was a promotion that bumped the price down to around $167 or so retail. My guess for when this sells outside of Korea it will probably be around the $200 ballpark.
One of the most unique features about this keyboard is the 66key layout. It's similar to a 60% layout like the poker but this layout had dedicated arrow keys (awesome) and a dedicated del key (awesome) and insert key (meh). Red LED's are on the capslock and insert key. The dedicated insert key is probably there because this was intended for programmers. The 660 also has a fn layer so you can access keys outside from the 66 in the normal. The fn key is located on the right side of the RCtrl. I won't go over all of them but I do want to mention that fn+Q swaps out your esc for the ~ key and lights up the insert LED. There are also 4 dip switch settings that you can configure your LCtrl/CapsLock, Win/LAlt, win/fn, and win/off.
On the back there are standoff feet available if you're like me and prefer to type on an higher incline. Unlike the HHKB, the Leo feet are rubberized for better grip on the desk. This makes the board feel more solid overall since the HHKB's weight can be too light for some people. Also unlike the HHKB, the Leo only has 1 height option and it's somewhat steep for normal standards. The incline feels roughly the same as the HHKB.
Now as far as feel goes, there are surprisingly some noticeable differences, for me at least. Both the Leo and type s are 45g uniform, however the topre on the Leo feels more crisp and pronounced. This may be due to the fact that I just got it today and so everything is nice and fresh. I also noticed that the Leo feels more forgiving when you bottom out. Bottom out with the Leo gives a softer feedback, almost as if you're supposed to bottom out. On the HHKB bottom out feels a tad harsher. It still feels nicer than bottom out on Cherry MX switches, but for me the Leopold gave the softest feedback. In addition, the throws on the type s also feels shorter than the 660C. I think I prefer the longer throw feel better, but I'm not sure if this will wear off over time or not.
With regards to layout I really love that the 66 layout has dedicated arrow keys. Although I've gotten used to the HHKB arrow keys, the dedicated arrow cluster is definitely a great feature. The delete key is good but I pretty much never use the insert key. It'd be great if they could be remapped within the keyboard itself. One downside from my personal preference is that the \ and backspace key cannot bot swapped within the keyboard. After using the HHKB the backspace on \ for ansi boards just feels right. Another thing that I'm not a huge fan of is the fn key being on the bottom row. But then again, these are things that probably can be adjusted.
Size differences are minimal
Overall I am pretty impressed by this keyboard especially at its price. However I think I still prefer the HHKB due to my preference in layout. The fn key on the Leo makes it so that I will have to move my right hand a lot when I want to access fn keys such as home/end/pg up/pg down. However this is the cheapest topre board to date and it does not lack in quality whatsoever. My only reasons in picking HHKB is personal preference and not because I believe this is an inferior product, especially at this price. If I like this layout better you will probably see me putting my type s up for sale hah. I would recommend this board to topre-virgins as well as topre-enthusiasts. For the topre-virgins this offers a cheaper way of obtaining a topre board. And for the veterans, this will be a great keyboard to get if you are not a fan of the fn layer on the HHKB. If you ever have the chance to try this board, please do consider picking it up. This board has great quality, unique layout/size, and is priced at a good place. And Dedicated arrow keys, I can't stress this enough.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask in thread. It's past my bed time so I'll answer tomorrow. Peace out.