RK ROYAL KLUDGE RK61 Wireless 60% Triple Mode BT5.0/2.4G/USB-C Mechanical Keyboard, 61 Keys Bluetooth Mechanical Keyboard, Compact Gaming Keyboard with Software (Hot Swappable Red Switch, White)

I have a problem with having to buy smaller gadgets to be able to fit everything on my desk. This is very good quality. Wonderful sounding blue switches. Tons of options for the light patterns and plenty of easy shortcuts to use for it having less physical keys. I was hesitant to use the Bluetooth at first thinking it would have a little more lag than the USB key but I cant feel a difference between the two. Absolutely love this little keyboard.

Today I am reviewing the Royal Kludge 61. This keyboard seems to have a lot going for it. An entry level price at forty-five dollars, mechanical switches, backlighting, and Bluetooth. Let’s see how it holds up in real world use though. Initial Impressions: Things I noticed right off the bat. First, it is much heavier and more premium feeling than I expected. Second, the leds are brighter than I expected. Third, the switches feel okay for a keyboard of this price. I would say that they are more tactile than my Dell AT101W’s black alps, but not as smooth as my IBM Model F. Something that I noticed, but do not like, are the keycaps. They are really trying to push the “gamer” aesthetic. I would just like some plain keycaps, black with standard font. I also noticed that most of the caps were not fully depressed onto the stem of the switch. It wasn’t an issue to fix and took me only seconds, but that shouldn’t be an issue with a new keyboard. First typing: I would say here is where the keyboard begins to fail. The first thing I noticed was that it wobbles when you type on it. This is unforgivable with a keyboard. The wobble makes me feel less confident with each keystroke. I was able to correct this by putting eight sticky notes underneath one of the offending feet. Secondly, the layout is terrible! If it could be reprogrammed it would be very usable since it is a stock ANSI format. Here are some things that I see wrong with it initially. First, the escape key is the primary key on the top left corner. This makes it very hard to access the ` and ~. To get to these keys, you need to press the function key then it acts like it should. I would prefer to press function to get escape. Speaking of the function keys, F1-10 are in a line. Then it is interrupted by the led brightness buttons. F11 and F12 are in the next row down. I am a combination of confused and disappointed. First, why would your breakup something that has the perfect amount of space to complete? Secondly, why would you put the led control buttons in the function row? It really doesn’t make sense. Another major issue I see is the up arrow, the / key, and the ? key. This key is, by default, the up arrow. This makes typing questions a much more finicky process as you now must press 3 different keys! That’s an inexcusable error. Arrow keys should always take lower priority to main punctuation. Other than the outrageously horrible examples I provided above the rest of the layout is all but standard and is simple to use. Design thoughts: I have already discussed my dislike of the keycaps, that’s personal though. Things I would have like to have seen that wouldn’t have been too expensive to implement. Charge indicator leds! I would love to know when I need to charge my keyboard. The caps lock key not illuminating when it caps lock is not on is a good idea. It sort of takes away from the generally nice lighting though. I like the idea of having higher edges on the case. Many keyboards in this price range are not including a case that comes up to the bottom of the keycaps. Since this is a keyboard that people may carry around, I think that this was a smart move to protect the switches. Since the keycap layout is standard layout getting new keycaps for it would be a breeze. The spacebar is even standard size, something that is often not the case with smaller keyboards. The keycaps are a standard profile, no issues there. A few gripes with the keycaps. First, they don’t really have much texture. I sort of felt like my fingers slid a bit too much. Still very usable though. The keycaps also have glossy black plastic on the sides. This causes them to collect fingerprints and dirt easily. The glossy plastic does create a cool shining effect though. The tops of the caps aren’t glossy so I wouldn’t count this against them, just understand that you might be cleaning your keyboard more than you expected to. Switches: The keyboard comes with blue Jixian switches. They have a satisfying click and tactile bump. The pitch is much higher than my buckling spring keyboard, but also much lighter. I would say that they are smooth enough for general use. If you are an enthusiast you might not be completely happy with them, but if you are coming from rubber domes you will be very satisfied. Comparing them to my Outemu browns they are significantly more tactile, to the point where my browns feel linear. This was very good. I was able to type on this keyboard without bottoming out, something I was unable to do on my Outemu browns. The wobble in the switch is acceptable for the price range. None of the stabilized keys seem to bind or have issues with off center keypresses. Off center keypresses are not an issue with these switches. I think this key switch works great for typing! It felt very similar to my Cherry MX Blues in a Das Keyboard. However, the click sound was higher pitched and the switch didn’t feel quite as stable, but still very usable. I had a few family, friends, and coworkers test this keyboard and tell me their opinions. Some have used mechanical keyboards some haven’t. Generally, they liked it and said it felt and sounded good. Bluetooth: Setting up Bluetooth the first time was a pain. The directions didn’t seem to help. When I contacted the seller, they said to press FN + Tab to enter Bluetooth mode. That would have been nice to see in the manual. After doing so pairing was much easier, but still took a few tries to get it right. I initially paired it with my Samsung S8+ and that was a nightmare. It seemed to send the function layers instead of the actual letters. This made it unusable. Pairing it with my Surface Pro 4 was the same as a wired connection. Summary: For $45 dollars I think this keyboard makes an interesting option. It does a lot right. The case feels solid, the switches sound and feel nice, and Bluetooth is a huge plus. However, the keymapping is the worst I have ever used. I think it is absurd that anyone thinks that I should use a function key, on top of my shift, to type a question mark! If they changed this, or allowed end users to remap the keyboard, I would have very little to complain about. Some nitpicky things that I have to say about it include the use of glossy plastic on the sides of the keycaps and how the manual should be rewritten to better explain the Bluetooth pairing process. In the end, I would recommend this keyboard, if and only if, they change the keymap. That was the part of the keyboard that I could not stand.

I’ve been needing a new keyboard and was on the edge about this one but it is really nice. Changed the switches for personal preference with ease. Smooth keycaps and all. Good purchase.

I’m typing my review on this keyboard. I got the white one with the blue switches (I think they are Kailh Blues) and I’m pretty impressed with this keyboard for the price. Many of the reviews on this products complain about the weird placement of the arrow keys and combined functions of other keys, but in reality that the nature of most 60% keyboards. The wireless connection is solid, although using it without a cord for gaming introduces a good amount of input lag (blues are crap for gaming anyway). There seems to be an older version and an updated one, the updated one has some more ergonomic key combos to activate certain functions, and also have a USB-C cable, which is much preferable to a micro USB. Make sure you guys look at the manual and keep it in case you cant remember some of the unmarked key presses, such as ctrl + enter to disable the arrow keys. Typing on this keyboard is very satisfying, with a nice click and feedback every time you press a key. The keys are well spaced, and they each have enough heft so they can’t be pressed by accident. Someone with larger hands shouldn’t have much trouble using this to type. Also due to its size it is pretty easy to carry around in bag if you are trying to use it as a portable keyboard. I also like the fact that you can pair it to 3 separate devices at once and switch between them very easily. The backlighting is pretty great, especially when typing in the dark. All the other lighting mode other than the standard one are a little too flashy though. I usually just turn it off to save battery, which has been pretty good so far. I’m also using this on a iPad and it paired really easily and has had 0 problems with it so far. Make sure to switch to Mac mode from the Windows mode or vice versa. (Ctrl + A or ctrl + S) The downsides of this keyboard are the key legend which is a little cheesy, as well as how loud it is (that’s the nature of all blue switches though). Also if you listen closely beyond the loud clicking of the keys, there is some metallic pinging that can be heard. It isnt the greatest sounding thing in the world, but is mostly drowned out by the clickiness of the keys. Overall this is a great and rather discrete looking keyboard that is great value. Hopefully reliability is good, will update if anything happens to it. Buy this if you are considering it. EDIT: They are Outemu blues