GMMk TKL
I ordered a bare model as a switch tester and honestly, it was surprising how nice it was. The surface anodizing is pretty tough and well done, it’s pretty stiff as well.
I'm not a fan of low profile cases but I do like how slim the body is, note that it has north facing switches which is good for your eyes as the LEDs won't blind you but bad if you like Cherry profile caps. I immediately tossed the stabs and got some Cherry/GMK stabs which I did a full workup on them lubing, clipping and taping/bandaging. Between that and the switches this thing is nice and quiet with a good but quiet thock. It may be inexpensive but seems to be pretty well designed (sort of).
I do have a few qualms.
The riser feet don’t really give it much elevation, this may not be a big deal for some but I like a LOT of rise. It’s almost comical how low this is compared to the Almost-a-Filco with its custom feet. I measured the difference and these feet only give you a little over 1/4in (10mm or 5/16in) of rise and you can barely notice it visually, the only reason I can tell when using it is the board is that I can't really use it at all when flat. The lifts really should be at least double what they are, in fact the whole thing could stand to be up a bit more. I’ll be making a 3d printer extensions for the feet to give it at least another 1/4in.
With risers compared to the Almost-a-Filco
Laying flat it almost slides under it, it would if I removed the switches.
Another thing, and this is a major issue, the cable connector.
No, not because it’s Micro B, I would have the same problem with Type-C, my problem is that the cable hangs out there completely unsuported in any way just begging to be destroyed. On many boards there are channels to run the cable through, this destresses the connector, on this, not only is there nothing de-stressing the connector, GMMK includes a 90 degree adapter which is only going to make things worse by adding more leverage (don’t use it!).
This needs to be addressed, it’s only a matter of time before you trash this port if you use this daily, be smart, get a magnetic USB connector, it will save you some headaches later.
Here's how the cable sticks out.
Magnetic cable
Lastly,
On a soldered board this isn’t an issue but on a hot swap where alignment is critical and you plan to do switch swapping why in the heck did they not include holes for PCB mount switches? These would provide secondary alignment for the hot swaps and better still, prevent you from bending pins or even worse, pushing/breaking the hot swap socket off the back of the pcb. I’m sorry, but this is just plain f-ing stupid. I get it may not be something obvious but this is rev 3(?) of this board and they haven’t considered it yet?
Not to mention, I’m sorry but I really dislike having to cut the pegs off my switches that
cost twice what the keyboard itself does (Zilencios). If it was a soldered board I wouldn’t care, the solder helps hold the switch in place and it tends to be permanent but here, here it matters, I want to be able to move my switches later. That was a stupid cost cutting decision that really should to be reconsidered.
Again, I like it, especially for the money.
I really only plan on using it now and again for switch testing, but some of those flaws are pretty bad, some of them can be forgiven (the lifts), some can be mitigated (the cable) but you shouldn't have to. The switch pegs though, wow that was just a dumb decision on their part and I'm not sure really how to mitigate that issue. The one idea I keep coming back to is a drill press, but that would only work if there's no traces right there, not to mention the amount of work to actually do it.
Kailh Pro Purples
Switches like these are why people like Chryros says tactile Cherry MX is pretty much all linear. While slightly more tactile than a Brown, I’d be hard pressed to say they were more tactile than a Cherry Clear.
Of all the switches I’ve used, I have never seen a switch so absolutely DESPERATE for lube. Between this and the stiffer springs I caught myself thinking they were binding more than once. I’ve used rubber domes that were better. These were only meant to be a temporary switch until my Box Jades arrived (on a hand paddled raft from China, really slow) but there was almost no way I could use these as they came out of the box they were so bad.
I'm used to 40 gram switches, but I've used 60g Gateron Blues without issue, when I tried going back to a Model M my fingers would hurt by days end but those were 70 or 80g and it took hours to happen. These, I'm not kidding, my fingers hurt within minutes due to the binding. They didn't bind hard or completely just enough to feel like you had a very stiff spring in it (100g?) with lots of scratchy friction, and it happened very, very easily and often. Horrible, horrible switch.
With lube it became a Jekyl and Hyde situation with them becoming a pretty nice switch.
Tactility improved with the smoothness (a less jarring Cherry Clear), the stiffness also decreased and it eliminated the binding. If you like browns or Clears and you don’t mind lubing the switches these are actually pretty darn nice, just keep in mind they’re still a tad stiffer than browns. Novelkeys says these are 50g at activation but they feel like dead ringers to my 60g (at activation) Gaterons, maybe after lube they're 50, but not out of the box, no way.
So are they good? If you're on a budget and building a board and you have time and lube they aren't a bad deal. At the same time though if you're buying a board with these soldered in I'd avoid it like the plague.
