Mechanical Keyboards

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Is it normal that cheap mechanical keyboards break so easily? (self.mechanicalkeyboards)

submitted 2 days ago by Wispy2891 to c/[email protected]

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My sister wanted to get a mechanical keyboard. I bought her the cheapest from aliexpress, a "Philips" one with "blue" switches.

After 6 months she comes again, "you need to buy me a new one, the numpad is weird"

When pressing 9, it types "9+", press 6, and it types "6+", press 0 and it types "0."

I take apart the keyboard, i test the solder points under the switch and i see that somehow there's a short on + when i press 9

Switches are soldered, can't be easily swapped, i order another keyboard (different brand, with "brown" switches, still ultracheap nobrand).

After six months, the same, when pressing "right arrow" it types "right arrow 0"

Is that possible? Coincidence that is always in the same spot? Those are so shitty that break so easily? I noticed that my sister always has a water bottle nearby the numpad, might it be that she's accidentally pouring water and then blame "low quality" for this?

Also: I saw the the RGB LED under the faulty switches are dead or dimmed. It might cause the issue?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If you want cheap just get a Royal Kludge. Buying random brand creates random results.

[–] Wispy2891 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

ah, that's a known brand? By pure chance, for myself i got a royal kludge RK932 (still from aliexpress, paid just a little over the other keyboards) and it looks fine, except the battery died after a few months of use and now lasts only 2-3 hours on wireless (using it wired and i'm ok with that)

[–] wjrii 1 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I had a "Philips" branded board for a couple of days. I have some pretty cheap tastes, but that's the only one I sent back simply because I hated it so much. I believe they're Aula boards, but a very, very cheap production run.

RK have had some battery issues, so that's unsurprising, and the software is clunky and bloated, but for wired use they should work reasonably well. Redragon potentially as well. I have an "E-Yooso"/Huo Ji that seems fine too. One of the issues some of us in the hobby run into with advice like this is that I haven't exclusively used one keyboard for more than a few weeks at a time before rotating it out for another, but like others here, I'm generally of the opinion that cheap is fine, but cheapest is sketchy.

Keychron, even their less expensive offerings, should get you to the point where you can reasonably hope for a certain amount of QC.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

That sounds about right. You can get a lot of bang for your buck, including swappable switches. But the battery is meh.