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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: mattics on Fri, 18 October 2013, 17:03:06

Title: Keycool 87II
Post by: mattics on Fri, 18 October 2013, 17:03:06
I just stumbled across these on banggood (http://www.banggood.com/buy/Keycool-87II.html) (I know, I know) and taobao (http://s.taobao.com/search?q=keycool+87ii+led&rsclick=12), I have not seen them mentioned here before and a Google search doesn't show up much, looks like they are very new.

I know backlighting isn't to everyone's tastes but the board itself look's ok for the price. Judging from this (http://imgmgr.banggood.com/images/upload/2012/jiangjunchao/honghong%20(1).jpg) picture here it has cherry stabilisers and looks like standard spacebar stabiliser spacing - though I could be wrong.

Anyway, not sure why I posted this, but it might help someone in search of a purple backlit board!
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Pacifist on Fri, 18 October 2013, 17:05:39
Wow its cheaper than the 87 (I guess I)
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Aliwia on Fri, 18 October 2013, 18:31:15
Cherry? Ew
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: genkidama on Fri, 18 October 2013, 18:58:07
How can you see which stabilizers are used?

This keyboard has a decent price, especially for a backlit where this is a thing to bump up the price for a keyboard. I might need to look more into Keycool, didn't know much about them but sure looks very interesting. :)
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Pacifist on Fri, 18 October 2013, 19:15:36
How can you see which stabilizers are used?

This keyboard has a decent price, especially for a backlit where this is a thing to bump up the price for a keyboard. I might need to look more into Keycool, didn't know much about them but sure looks very interesting. :)



Judging from this (http://imgmgr.banggood.com/images/upload/2012/jiangjunchao/honghong%20(1).jpg) picture here it has cherry stabilisers and looks like standard spacebar stabiliser spacing - though I could be wrong.

Anyway, not sure why I posted this, but it might help someone in search of a purple backlit board!

Its a bit dark, but those look like cherrys
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Nakapfao on Fri, 18 October 2013, 20:21:16
They are indeed brand new, having come out on the 5th of October, and quite rare. The first run was five boards, second was two. Both went fast.

Here are some more pictures: http://imgur.com/a/7F30T
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: minho on Fri, 18 October 2013, 21:58:52
Is that white on white keyboard a Keycool 87II or 87? I looked on Banggood, and all the Keycool 87II's had black casings.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 19 October 2013, 01:10:43
If that white/white one was also white backlit, it could give Code a run for its money.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Melvang on Sat, 19 October 2013, 03:08:10
How can you see which stabilizers are used?

This keyboard has a decent price, especially for a backlit where this is a thing to bump up the price for a keyboard. I might need to look more into Keycool, didn't know much about them but sure looks very interesting. :)



Judging from this (http://imgmgr.banggood.com/images/upload/2012/jiangjunchao/honghong%20(1).jpg) picture here it has cherry stabilisers and looks like standard spacebar stabiliser spacing - though I could be wrong.

Anyway, not sure why I posted this, but it might help someone in search of a purple backlit board!

Its a bit dark, but those look like cherrys

I would say cherry stabs as well.  If they were costar the wire would have to be on the top of the switch to not have interference issues with the LED at the bottom of the switch.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: genkidama on Sat, 19 October 2013, 07:26:40
How can you see which stabilizers are used?

This keyboard has a decent price, especially for a backlit where this is a thing to bump up the price for a keyboard. I might need to look more into Keycool, didn't know much about them but sure looks very interesting. :)



Judging from this (http://imgmgr.banggood.com/images/upload/2012/jiangjunchao/honghong%20(1).jpg) picture here it has cherry stabilisers and looks like standard spacebar stabiliser spacing - though I could be wrong.

Anyway, not sure why I posted this, but it might help someone in search of a purple backlit board!

Its a bit dark, but those look like cherrys

I would say cherry stabs as well.  If they were costar the wire would have to be on the top of the switch to not have interference issues with the LED at the bottom of the switch.

Right, thanks :)

Keycool looks sexi.
Is there a full-sized version of this Keycool? I only find TKL or "older" full-sized.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sat, 19 October 2013, 07:38:38
How can you see which stabilizers are used?

This keyboard has a decent price, especially for a backlit where this is a thing to bump up the price for a keyboard. I might need to look more into Keycool, didn't know much about them but sure looks very interesting. :)



Judging from this (http://imgmgr.banggood.com/images/upload/2012/jiangjunchao/honghong%20(1).jpg) picture here it has cherry stabilisers and looks like standard spacebar stabiliser spacing - though I could be wrong.

Anyway, not sure why I posted this, but it might help someone in search of a purple backlit board!

Its a bit dark, but those look like cherrys

I would say cherry stabs as well.  If they were costar the wire would have to be on the top of the switch to not have interference issues with the LED at the bottom of the switch.

Right, thanks :)

Keycool looks sexi.
Is there a full-sized version of this Keycool? I only find TKL or "older" full-sized.

http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=16330470534&&spm=2014.12642556.0.0&mt=2
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: genkidama on Sat, 19 October 2013, 12:34:47
How can you see which stabilizers are used?

This keyboard has a decent price, especially for a backlit where this is a thing to bump up the price for a keyboard. I might need to look more into Keycool, didn't know much about them but sure looks very interesting. :)



Judging from this (http://imgmgr.banggood.com/images/upload/2012/jiangjunchao/honghong%20(1).jpg) picture here it has cherry stabilisers and looks like standard spacebar stabiliser spacing - though I could be wrong.

Anyway, not sure why I posted this, but it might help someone in search of a purple backlit board!

Its a bit dark, but those look like cherrys

I would say cherry stabs as well.  If they were costar the wire would have to be on the top of the switch to not have interference issues with the LED at the bottom of the switch.

Right, thanks :)

Keycool looks sexi.
Is there a full-sized version of this Keycool? I only find TKL or "older" full-sized.

http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=16330470534&&spm=2014.12642556.0.0&mt=2

Nice mate, thanks!  :thumb:
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: mattics on Thu, 24 October 2013, 04:14:06
I bought one of these on Saturday and I am typing on it right now as it just arrived.

No customs sticker on the parcel so must have been sent from a UK warehouse, especially since I got it this quickly. Spacebar is standard layout and as expected it has Cherry stabilisers. I will probably do a full review later on.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Melvang on Thu, 24 October 2013, 04:33:03
Looking forward to the review.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: bMind on Thu, 24 October 2013, 05:19:23
Yes, I wonder are there some significant changes to first Keycool. The second generation boards look sexy..for some reason I love the magenta leds lately ;) I've read jdcarpe and Fragil1ty reviews, but still I wonder how the new version (or Keycool in general) compares to QFRs for example.
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: Aliwia on Thu, 24 October 2013, 12:10:20
I bought one of these on Saturday and I am typing on it right now as it just arrived.

No customs sticker on the parcel so must have been sent from a UK warehouse, especially since I got it this quickly. Spacebar is standard layout and as expected it has Cherry stabilisers. I will probably do a full review later on.

You can check what warehouse it got sent from on the bg website methinks
Title: Re: Keycool 87II
Post by: mattics on Thu, 24 October 2013, 13:44:04
I took a few pictures but my camera wasn't playing ball, battery being a bit funky and as a consequence it was having a hard time autofocusing any lens so I just left it. Will report back in a week or so after I have had some decent use out of it, but will highlight a few main points here before a proper review.

Aliwia, when I purchased it there was no warehouse option other than China and looking now, there still is only China. I think this might be one of the issues with BG, and a lot of why people are getting annoying and making accusations about practices - their stock system on the website is terrible! I would guess that most of the time when things read as being in stock, they genuinely believe them to be or just aren't aware the website is wrong. Anyway...


The board. It feels solid, there is minimal twisting and I have big burly bear hands  :)) The case design is quite nice, it has rounder edges than a Filco but not quite as round as the FC200, as it has a small flat 45 degree section on the edges instead of a smooth curve from side to top. The front edge has an additional slant which is quite nice for your thumbs! I believe the case design is unchanged from the 'original' Keycool 87.

The stock caps are junk, as most backlit specific caps are. They are fingerprint magnets and some of the legends don't look centered, also some of the caps look like they have a different typeface, in reality the height and width are just skewed.

As previously mentioned the space bar uses standard spacing and all larger keys use cherry stabilisers. The included spacebar is similar to SP's universal bar but with only one center stem, so this should work on older Keycools, Leopolds and anything which uses standard spacing.

There are some horrifically tacky novelty super hero replacement caps.

The keycap puller is nice, one end is the small clippy plastic type and the other is wire. The wires are not parallel and as standard bend out away from each other a little, I don't know if this is just bad manufacturing or intentional, either way it actually proved quite helpful getting it over larger keys.

There is a nice little plastic clip which goes over the recess where the cable attaches, this holds the cable in place a little more securely and is a nice, thoughtful inclusion.

The back-lighting is nice and even throughout and has a lot of steps in terms of brightness, the different modes are quite nice;
You can adjust the brightness and pulse level while selecting any of these modes. I think it also remembers the last mode between unplugs, will have to check this.

All the switches are in nice and snug and the stems all seem to be straight, the LEDs are all consistent in both placement and lighting. None of the switches stick or have any other issues, the logos are all nice and clean and the stabilisers all move freely, or as freely as cherry stabs do.

Anyway as I said I will do a proper indepth review with pictures next week but overall it is a decent board for the price. It certainly isn't half the board a Filco is, but it is half the price.