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[IC] KeyBoy Advance | Childhood Has Returned

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PromoType:
KeyBoy Advance



Intro
Greetings, this is PromoType, I'm Galo.Today I would like to introduce our first project — KeyBoy Advance
It is inspired by GBA while bringing refined elements to a 50% keyboard and ensuring good typing feel, typing sound, and visual experience.
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Inspiration
The KeyBoy Advance is inspired by the Game Boy Advance, one of Nintendo's best-selling handheld consoles.

To capture the compact, portable essence of the GBA, I started with a small keyboard size.
GBA's wide aspect ratio, together with the inclusion of a number row, makes small keyboard more approachable for enthusiasts.
Ultimately, I settled on a 50% layout keyboard."
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Design Concept
The GBA's bold, irregular design makes direct copying unwise—it would break design principles and look odd.
So the focus is on capturing its spirit, not its shape, while keeping a keyboard's basic form.
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Top View

The front uses deconstructed design elements to evoke a handheld console, with an incised line extending to the back to mimic a battery cover.
The upper right retains the iconic power indicator LED; the upper left features an asymmetric light strip to balance the visual composition.
The lower right preserves the basic shape of the speaker module, with a recessed split design to create color separation and layered texture.
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Back & Side View

The bottom deconstructs and reshapes the GBA's complex form, creating distinctive upward-curving sides,
 which together with the upward micro-curve of the front bottom edge create a floating feel for the case.
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Structure
The KeyBoy Advance uses a Top mounting system with small Oring
And a pillar with Poron raised from the bottom case to eliminate resonance of the stepped spacebar.For the shoulder buttons, we use micro switches to replicate the feel and function, with full customization via Vial.

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Layout
The 1.6mm black core PCB supports up to Tri-mode.
Available options:
• MX Wired Soldered• MX Wired Hot-swap• MX Dual-mode Hot-swap• MX Tri-mode Hot-swap

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Color Options
Anodized Silver
Anodized Pale Gold
Anodized Teal
Coated Classic
Coated Purple
Coated Orange
PC Pure
PC Purple
PC Cyan
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Specifications
• Name: KeyBoy Advance• Layout: 50% HHKB• Typing Angle: 7°• Front Height: 19mm• EKH: 22.9mm• Mounting: Top Oring• Price: TBA
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Vendor Lists
• Canada: Unikeys• Korea: GEON• Singapore: iLumkb• Vietnam：The Keebs Store
• More TBA
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Community
Join our Discord for updates and discussion:
Join the Discord

MartinThePolarBear:
Do you have a US vendor in mind?

tavapataor:
This is a really cool project. I don't see an IC form link--am I just missing it? Hopefully you'll land a US vendor.

Meeks33:
Bump. Love the concept and the board itself. Looking forward to an IC!

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