To see Nic and Phil having a tiny bit of space on the channel? A small win in my book, hopefuly they will have their own topics to cover on the channel ❤
I agree. Hope they won't get discouraged, I would expect the videos won't have maximal viewership simply because the are dipping their toes in sub topics which have a more limited audience, which also have really dialed-in, established RUclips channels focusing completely on keyboards for example.
Thumbs Up for the crew (Phil and Nick) for stepping up while Jay’s AFK. God bless them for it. Trying to make an introvert(s) at ease in front a camera is no easy feat!
I love seeing vids like these on truly more budget oriented keyboards because after having built a couple of different ones it gets harder and harder to justify $300+ on vs $80-$150 by going with brands like these since they get you 80-90% of the way there in terslms of sound and feel
Reason why I have yet to move from my NK65 Entry, been a solid entry board and I like the 65% layout as it fits all my needs and I can rotate through layers with zero issues (also have a macro pad for other things if I need to be quicker). But alot of the entry budget options are becoming more solid selections, and allow newcomers to just have a platform to tryout switches (if they don't like them, reselling is easy in most cases).
I picked up the iKBC CD108 V2 off of Amazon last year, MX Clears(lovem'; can't gettem' in this board anymore though lol) for $85. It's a solid mechanical keyboard for the money, available right now between $60 & $82 depending on the switches, all Cherrys. Also has volume keys and a calculator key above the num pad, the latter being both very handy and very annoying(the calc key is to the right of the volume up key lol). With that said, it doesn't have the dampening, hot swap, knob, & RGB of this Montech, pretty sweet deal to be honest. I may end up picking one of these up and giving the iKBC to my mom since she has a typical office job(with a typical garbage tier OEM office keyboard). Zero complaints though considering the price, this Montech just offers a lil more - hot swap would be nice, as would be a volume knob. Now just give us a $10 cheaper non-RGB variant...
I would like to see Phil and Nick branch to their own segments withing the J2C channel. Nick loves keebs, and Phil is a magician with editing. Would love to see them both do a vid a week (for example) showcasing their respective loves. Keep it up guys, you're killing it, and I look forward to seeing you both on screen more often.
I'm really happy there are more tech content creators getting into the custom keyboard hobby. Those may be expensive, but my god do they sound and feel amazing.
JayzTwoCents team is so lucky to have Nick and Phil. Both are so knowledgeable, and have wonderful sense(s) of humor. Thanks, Guys....and get well soon, Jay! Love you guys
As someone who has 5 or 6 fully custom keyboards and a few high-end prebuilts, this is amazing to see such affordable & quality prebuilt keyboards! Great video too Nic!
and basically pointless as a purely aesthetic upgrade with 0 benefit outside the look on peoples face when you tell them how much you spent on just the keyboard😂
I have the Freedom (blue-greenish) full size, with linear reds. It's fantastic to use, super quiet... the dampening is amazing. The typing experience is just superb. And it looks stunning - no need to mod... it's gotta be one of the best looking boards on the pre-built market! Has nice clear keys, better than having shine through, IMO.
You guys rock! I'm not too much into custom keyboards but the presentation is so on point. I got a better understanding of custom keyboards and what to look for. I've been rocking the Logitech keyboards for years and my current one is the G915 which is okay but I found some small issues I am trying to work out. Anyways guys you both are doing a heck of a job with Jay out on the mend. Keep up the great work and I'm looking forward to more videos. 👍👍👍👍
You don't have to be into custom stuff to try something other than logitech. There's a ton of great mechanical keyboards available these days for well under $100 that give you everything a "gamer" keyboard would, but with the addition of a much nicer typing experience and options to change out your switches to something else should you feel the desire to experiment a bit. Womier, Epomaker, CIY, Redragon, Royal Kludge, even Keychron have inexpensive keyboards that offer a pretty nice out of the box experience. I have to warn against Glorious though, their cheaper stuff is absolute dogshit.
I rushed into buying a G915 to replace my dead keyboard. But a week later I bought a keychron Q6 and now my G915 sits on my desk as a very expensive audio visualiser. Would highly recommend a custom keyboard. For about the same price, the build quality difference is pretty insane.
We need more of Nick hosting. Not to throw shade at Phil or Jay, but he's so relaxed and personable, his delivery just sort of feels more honest. I can tell he's excited about what he's talking about, but he's not inflating it. Nick, you are great.
The lack of passthrough lighting on the keycaps is a bit of a dealbreaker for me. I never thought I’d ever “require” backlit keys until I actually used one. It’s such a game changer, all the keyboards in my house are backlit (some RGB, some not).
Although I also like some backlight and RGB, most of the higher end custom keyboard enthusiast actually eschew any sort of lighting, as they find it rather gauche and obnoxious. This means you'll not have many options at the mid to high end that has backlight.
@@matasa7463 That makes sense. Enthusiast are generally going to go more toward performance and reliability, and lighting just adds extra cost when that money could go toward something else. However, the keyboard in the video does have RGB lighting, but they keycaps aren’t lit.
These keyboards look really interesting, but I'm only familiar with the Cherry switches. It would be cool to have a comparison between those and the switches available with this board.
I was the same way until I purchased the Redragon K580 VATA RGB from Amazon. It had the option of blue or brown switches and I took the chance on the brown. Coming from my red cherry switches on my older keyboard, I can honestly say I will never go back. It's a fantastic keyboard with the option to not use any software, and was a huge upgrade and very affordable. In fact, I found that keyboard after the last episode that they made on the other keyboards and it gave me some new energy to go looking for a decent mechanical keyboard again. Thanks guys for these great vids. You doing an awesome job : )
Gateron switches are mostly just clones of the Cherry MX line. Some are slightly better or a bit different, while others are definitely worse...but, Gaterons are cheap, which is why so many companies choose them for entey-level keebs. A step up (especially for clickies) is Kailh. Their Box series of switches are NICE, and not too pricey.
There are tons of different switches out there. Red, blue and brown are just the tip of the iceberg. I prefer AKKO switches, with led lenses. Great quality, and they're brighter.
Can we get even more videos by Nick on the mechanical keyboard hobby? It is so very education and informative for those of us either just getting into it or keeping up with the interesting industry/community of it. Will we get any videos by Phill about other stuff too? we love the team and want more from the entire team :D
I got a Whirlwind FX Element II mechanical keyboard with red switches. Love the feel/performance in game and swapped the clear top keys onto it for the full rgb goodness.
Bought a Tecware Phantom (104 key) with blue switches for US$60 about 4 years ago and I still use it daily at the home office. At work, I switched out the company keyboard for a Red Dragon ($65) as the Phantom-104 was no longer available at that time on AliExpress. Both have been exceptional performers and much better, for me, than the standard/default Microsoft BT keyboard with the mushroom switches. I really like the Phantom because it is well built (metal top plate) and understated (not "overly" branded), with decent software for RGB configuration, etc. The Red Dragon is another winner, IMHO, and has that extra barrel knob for volume control. With quality:price offerings like the above, I see no reason to "upgrade" to something "custom".
Shine through on a PBT keycap is super difficult to do and get right due to the material and cost of manufacturing unfortunately, but there are a handful of options for them if you look hard enough.
Loving these Phil reviews & Nick Keyboard vids!! Keep em coming. Also, Nick, take a look at the KeyChron K2. Ita for intermediates but you CAN get a barebones and build it yourself. Wpuld love to hear your thoughts.
For me the whole point of led keyboards is the key glow through so that you can see the keys and what you are pressing in the dark. Not that I need that much, as I can wirte with my eyes closed just fine, but it's just easier in certain situation to have glow trhough keys, so that is a must.
Absolutely solid review!! I’ve been wondering about these keyboards just recently! Really appreciated chill down vibe you bring as a host, it worked quit Nicky to listen to in the background as I was putting my pc together 😄
It's great that they made a numpad variant. I could never get used to the shrunken keyboard. It's a "must" for productivity and a nice-to-have for gaming.
Honestly seems like a great starter board. Similar to a cheap hotswap TKL I started with to try different switches. If you dont know what you like yet, these seem worth it.
my SteelSeries Apex 9 TKL has those textured PBT keycaps, too, and i absolutely prefer them over the usual smooth ones. it's a subtle difference, but you can definitely feel it and it feels that extra little bit more premium
I'd say shine-through keycaps are almost a must have these days. I'm generally a touch typist, once I find my home keys. When you're looking for that specific key, in a darkened room, having light around the key doesn't help much, it has to go through so you can see the function.
Awesomesauce video, guys! This definitely feels like a video for the common person about keyboards. Just a bit of information about each area and why people may like it. And that dampening!!! Kudos to Phil for jumping in to show a different level of typing sound profile! 😂😂😂
This is a great video. More. More of this guy doing peripheral reviews. Don't see many reviews of keyboards and mouses and I would love to see more. On a side note, I agree volume knob is a must on a keyboard. I personally would love to also see a monitor brightness knob on a keyboard. A customizable knob sounds great. It may be niche but everyone has their own preferences and situations.
I was nervous so i started out soft....i went with the corsair 60% mech keyboard. I will customize the keys a bit with some pudding caps. This is giving me the confidence and slight experience with mechanic boards to take the next step later on. Just like building a pc, my current build is my first build and it has taught me so much and given me enough confidence my next pc down the road i know i want to try out custom loops at the beginner level :) edit/side note: buying a 60% taught me quickly i rely on the arrow keys so much when editing words while i type and stuff that i will moooost definately go with a mech with arrow keys...but i do already view 60% as verrrry asthetically pleasing.
I like these type of boards because they at least give you a starting point without having to invest a ton of money, and unlike some of the premium ones, these are in stock and not some group buy bullshit, where you might waits months or even years before you get what you ordered. Of course, for me, even these are out of my budget, but the good news is that there are a lot more options for pretty cheap mechanical boards these days, and you can even find ones that are hot swap for $30 or less. Pretty good for just starting out, especially if you want to do some modding anyway, since you'll be taking things apart, adding foam, doing tap mods, lubing switches, etc (even factory lubed switches tend to benefit from being lubed).
Nick recognizing playing fighting games on a keyboard. It may not be recommended, but it actually works nice when you got NKRO. I mean, it did lead to the Mixbox controller at least! Great review man!
Love the dark color way (wave/waze?) Peripherals videos are always great. Things that can really improve your PC experience or its performance that aren't a $1400 GPU are a really nice. Would love you to continue doing a series on stuff like this.
I wonder what the thoughts would be on Keychron keyboards/switches? Pricing hasn't been too bad for pre-built and the USB-C connector is easily accessable.
A tip for Nick and Phil, or anyone new or starting out making vids like these: Speak like you're talking to someone 5 feet behind the camera. It's better to lower audio than to boost it and get more background noise. Love the content guys. Glad to see Montech expanding, and love they have full size keyboards. I use the numpad for discord and OBS keybinds.
You guys are doing a good job holding down the fort. Tell Jay to get well soon! I ran into his surgeon at the liquor store. It’s a good thing. You don’t want him shaky.
The cable port issue is actually something that Wendell at Level1Techs pointed out with other much more expensive keyboards, where the included type C cable is fine because it has a small plastic molding around the plug, but other cables you might want to use might not fit very well.
I agree, the shine through is kind of a big deal especially in low light scenarios where lighting is found behind the monitors. Hard to see RBG in well lit areas. Awesome product and review!
Montech is really starting to impress me. When I purchased the Montech X1 case in 2021 for one of my kids, he picked it out, I was rather impressed with the case for it coming from a company I've never heard of before and the under $60 price point at the time. The fans the case came with were meh, but I've seen their newer ARGB fans and I'm tempted to try them. I like the look of these keyboards and I'm hoping they'll get some other color combinations down the line. Excellent job Nick and Phil.
This is content that I really like. This in fact is an option not just for myself but my mom who's well into her '90s but used to be a typist. So she actually prefers the feel of mechanical keyboards, go figure
You guys should look at Royal Kludge next. I have quite a few of their boards and love them. My main right now is an RK89 with Gateron Milky Yellow switches. My Fiancée stole my 60% RK board with Gateron Browns to take to work.
These keyboards look dope. Specifically the full size looks like exactly what i'm looking for to upgrade from my TADA-68 and Novelkeys burnt orange switches. Loving Phil and Nic on screen as presenters.
What an awesome video! I've always been curious about the keyboard hobby and there is some great information here. The price of these boards seems like a great deal as well. Great job guys and Nic is doing a fantastic job with the presentation, it feels like he has been doing this for years. I greatly enjoyed it!
Interesting change of pace from build after build or components. I agree that Phil and Nick are doing well while Jay is recovering. As for the mod question, although I haven't done any custom boards, I like the floating keys of my Roccat keyboard. The concept of having a finished yet open chassis appeals to me, and I like how it's a bit easier to clean. I can see the mess and remove it, where as the traditional style hides a lot inside.
Hey JayzTwoCents and crew, I've rememebered that there's a keyboard you might want to review. It's my #1 pick for the ideal keyboard. And if you want durability, look no further. It's an IBM Model M. Well, to be specific, there's a company (Unicomp) making replicas of many of the "OG Classic" keyboards, including the IBM Model M among a few others. I have my eyes set on the "New Model M" with the "ANSI 104-key small spacebar" layout and the "USB + Buckling Spring" interface. Do you want durable? If the USB interface sticks around for as long as I hope it does, I could theoretically give this keyboard to my grandson, and they'd be able to pass it on to THEIR grandson, maybe. Buckling spring switches are just EXTREMELY durable, and you just can't get a more pleasant tactile typing experience than with buckling spring key-switches. Yes, the buckling spring switches are extremely noisy. They're also a level above even a Cherry MX Blue as far as "clicky". IMO there's nothing better for pure typing, and I'm sure that my dad knew at least a few people that were using IBM model M keyboards to play things like Quake and Doom back in the DOS/W95/56k Dial-Up era. And in this case, your dad had it right. The buckling spring key-switch is an old idea, but the only reason that they don't use it in literally every keyboard to this day is because we've come up with CHEAPER options, not BETTER options. EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this is also a "Minimalist" keyboard, as it doesn't have things like multimedia keys, macro keys, RGB, or custom software to go with it (the only LEDs on it are to indicate that one of the (caps lock, num lock, scroll lock) keys is engaged). Personally, that's an ideal situation for me. I don't WANT any of that other distracting stuff, ESPECIALLY the RGB. I can touch type at around 40WPM or so, I don't NEED to look at my keyboard to know what keys I'm hitting, and I keep my computer on all the time in my bedroom so I would much rather that I don't have to pay for RGB LEDs that I personally have no use for. Some multimedia keys are nice, but even tho my current keyboard has them, I usually hit one by accident and go "Why is my computer doing something I didn't tell it to do", I don't really use multimedia keys. Same with macro keys, I don't use them (I have a mouse that has buttons I can assign macros to, that's much more useful to me). As far as the interface goes, you can get it with either a USB interface (default) or a PS/2 DIN connector (the "extremely old school" keyboard connector, I think my motherboard still has a port for it, and if yours doesn't, adapters are readily available)
Great video! Would you do any video about keyboard modding? I know there is a lot of this content on RUclips,but i would love to see it with your vibe guys!
Great video, sweet keyboard. Though when I try to look it up and buy it, it looks like it isn't out yet. Some sites say it released on the 17th of may, while newegg shows are a pre-order for next month. No listing on amazon yet, too bad since I need a new keyboard asap for coding. Current one at home is on its last legs, annoyingly giving me double spaces or not at all when I press space while working.
![Gucci Mane & Sexyy Red - You Don't Love Me [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/j7IBqyFKT4c/mqdefault.jpg)
Phil and Nick are killing it! How Phil wasn't cracking up a mile a minute, impressive. I love these guys a ton. 🙂
All JTC team members are great, But Linus has a zoo of monkeys.
Nic sent Phil to the next room
To see Nic and Phil having a tiny bit of space on the channel? A small win in my book, hopefuly they will have their own topics to cover on the channel ❤
Agreed. They are doing an excellent job.
I agree. Hope they won't get discouraged, I would expect the videos won't have maximal viewership simply because the are dipping their toes in sub topics which have a more limited audience, which also have really dialed-in, established RUclips channels focusing completely on keyboards for example.
This is awesome, now both Nick and Phil have their own reviews! More vids like this please!
Thumbs Up for the crew (Phil and Nick) for stepping up while Jay’s AFK. God bless them for it. Trying to make an introvert(s) at ease in front a camera is no easy feat!
Yayyyyy Nick gets to go down the keyboard rabbit hole!! Keep up the great work guys, you got this!
I got one of my colleagues into it. It’s like a virus. I anticipate it working it’s way through the office.
I love seeing vids like these on truly more budget oriented keyboards because after having built a couple of different ones it gets harder and harder to justify $300+ on vs $80-$150 by going with brands like these since they get you 80-90% of the way there in terslms of sound and feel
Reason why I have yet to move from my NK65 Entry, been a solid entry board and I like the 65% layout as it fits all my needs and I can rotate through layers with zero issues (also have a macro pad for other things if I need to be quicker). But alot of the entry budget options are becoming more solid selections, and allow newcomers to just have a platform to tryout switches (if they don't like them, reselling is easy in most cases).
I picked up the iKBC CD108 V2 off of Amazon last year, MX Clears(lovem'; can't gettem' in this board anymore though lol) for $85. It's a solid mechanical keyboard for the money, available right now between $60 & $82 depending on the switches, all Cherrys. Also has volume keys and a calculator key above the num pad, the latter being both very handy and very annoying(the calc key is to the right of the volume up key lol).
With that said, it doesn't have the dampening, hot swap, knob, & RGB of this Montech, pretty sweet deal to be honest. I may end up picking one of these up and giving the iKBC to my mom since she has a typical office job(with a typical garbage tier OEM office keyboard). Zero complaints though considering the price, this Montech just offers a lil more - hot swap would be nice, as would be a volume knob. Now just give us a $10 cheaper non-RGB variant...
I would like to see Phil and Nick branch to their own segments withing the J2C channel. Nick loves keebs, and Phil is a magician with editing. Would love to see them both do a vid a week (for example) showcasing their respective loves. Keep it up guys, you're killing it, and I look forward to seeing you both on screen more often.
😂😂😂
Call it JayzTwoEmployees
I'm really happy there are more tech content creators getting into the custom keyboard hobby.
Those may be expensive, but my god do they sound and feel amazing.
I regret it haha ;D
Last year I dipped my toes into keyboards (by buying a prebuilt). They do feel really nice
@@TheNobody1324 I agree, building your own is more fun though. You get to customize everything.
Average r/mechanicalkeyboard fan
HipyoTech does a bunch of vids around budget boards and how to make them sound and feel great. You don't have to spend $200+ for a good keeb
JayzTwoCents team is so lucky to have Nick and Phil. Both are so knowledgeable, and have wonderful sense(s) of humor. Thanks, Guys....and get well soon, Jay! Love you guys
As someone who has 5 or 6 fully custom keyboards and a few high-end prebuilts, this is amazing to see such affordable & quality prebuilt keyboards! Great video too Nic!
Yup!
As someone who has been heavily into custom keyboards for a few years, my advice is to not get too into it. The rabbit hole is deep and pricey.
Agree....
and basically pointless as a purely aesthetic upgrade with 0 benefit outside the look on peoples face when you tell them how much you spent on just the keyboard😂
@@accelement3499 good stuff also feels better to type on. But agree, it's pretty much just a flex hobby.
I already did help me please
@@Gamingtechgg there is no help. Only the bottom of the hole with other keyboard enjoyers.
You guys are killing it holding down the fort! Really enjoying these videos.
Great presentation by Nick and camera work by Phil. Who needs Jay anyway?
I have the Freedom (blue-greenish) full size, with linear reds. It's fantastic to use, super quiet... the dampening is amazing. The typing experience is just superb.
And it looks stunning - no need to mod... it's gotta be one of the best looking boards on the pre-built market! Has nice clear keys, better than having shine through, IMO.
You guys rock! I'm not too much into custom keyboards but the presentation is so on point. I got a better understanding of custom keyboards and what to look for. I've been rocking the Logitech keyboards for years and my current one is the G915 which is okay but I found some small issues I am trying to work out. Anyways guys you both are doing a heck of a job with Jay out on the mend. Keep up the great work and I'm looking forward to more videos. 👍👍👍👍
You don't have to be into custom stuff to try something other than logitech. There's a ton of great mechanical keyboards available these days for well under $100 that give you everything a "gamer" keyboard would, but with the addition of a much nicer typing experience and options to change out your switches to something else should you feel the desire to experiment a bit. Womier, Epomaker, CIY, Redragon, Royal Kludge, even Keychron have inexpensive keyboards that offer a pretty nice out of the box experience. I have to warn against Glorious though, their cheaper stuff is absolute dogshit.
I rushed into buying a G915 to replace my dead keyboard. But a week later I bought a keychron Q6 and now my G915 sits on my desk as a very expensive audio visualiser.
Would highly recommend a custom keyboard. For about the same price, the build quality difference is pretty insane.
I am very impressed that one man has so much knowledge and understanding of a keyboard, Excellent review bud
I'm not a custom keyboard head, but I really enjoyed this video! Very well done; this is a solid review format.
We need more of Nick hosting. Not to throw shade at Phil or Jay, but he's so relaxed and personable, his delivery just sort of feels more honest. I can tell he's excited about what he's talking about, but he's not inflating it. Nick, you are great.
Dude you guys are doing great brings back the old vibe when Jay started. Keep going guys!
Aaaand thank you Phil for demonstrating for us loud typers. That is much more useful information lol
This is a good KB video, would love to see a teardown of the board and maybe some modding.
The lack of passthrough lighting on the keycaps is a bit of a dealbreaker for me. I never thought I’d ever “require” backlit keys until I actually used one. It’s such a game changer, all the keyboards in my house are backlit (some RGB, some not).
Although I also like some backlight and RGB, most of the higher end custom keyboard enthusiast actually eschew any sort of lighting, as they find it rather gauche and obnoxious. This means you'll not have many options at the mid to high end that has backlight.
@@matasa7463 That makes sense. Enthusiast are generally going to go more toward performance and reliability, and lighting just adds extra cost when that money could go toward something else.
However, the keyboard in the video does have RGB lighting, but they keycaps aren’t lit.
These keyboards look really interesting, but I'm only familiar with the Cherry switches. It would be cool to have a comparison between those and the switches available with this board.
I was the same way until I purchased the Redragon K580 VATA RGB from Amazon. It had the option of blue or brown switches and I took the chance on the brown. Coming from my red cherry switches on my older keyboard, I can honestly say I will never go back. It's a fantastic keyboard with the option to not use any software, and was a huge upgrade and very affordable. In fact, I found that keyboard after the last episode that they made on the other keyboards and it gave me some new energy to go looking for a decent mechanical keyboard again. Thanks guys for these great vids. You doing an awesome job : )
Gateron switches are mostly just clones of the Cherry MX line. Some are slightly better or a bit different, while others are definitely worse...but, Gaterons are cheap, which is why so many companies choose them for entey-level keebs. A step up (especially for clickies) is Kailh. Their Box series of switches are NICE, and not too pricey.
There are tons of different switches out there. Red, blue and brown are just the tip of the iceberg. I prefer AKKO switches, with led lenses. Great quality, and they're brighter.
Love seeing Nick and Phil! You guys are killin it!
right on time! wanted to buy some hot swappable KB for long time and was eyeing few for this month. will wait for Mkey
Can we get even more videos by Nick on the mechanical keyboard hobby? It is so very education and informative for those of us either just getting into it or keeping up with the interesting industry/community of it. Will we get any videos by Phill about other stuff too? we love the team and want more from the entire team :D
great video please keep this series going.... I love the recent keyboard reviews.
I got a Whirlwind FX Element II mechanical keyboard with red switches. Love the feel/performance in game and swapped the clear top keys onto it for the full rgb goodness.
The TKL you got goes so good with their blue Sky Two case!
Bought a Tecware Phantom (104 key) with blue switches for US$60 about 4 years ago and I still use it daily at the home office. At work, I switched out the company keyboard for a Red Dragon ($65) as the Phantom-104 was no longer available at that time on AliExpress. Both have been exceptional performers and much better, for me, than the standard/default Microsoft BT keyboard with the mushroom switches. I really like the Phantom because it is well built (metal top plate) and understated (not "overly" branded), with decent software for RGB configuration, etc. The Red Dragon is another winner, IMHO, and has that extra barrel knob for volume control.
With quality:price offerings like the above, I see no reason to "upgrade" to something "custom".
It's really cool seeing Nick and Phil on the other side of the camera.
Keep up the good work guys !
The full size keyboard looks like a naval vessel with the copper anti fouling paint. It's looks pretty good.
Shine through on a PBT keycap is super difficult to do and get right due to the material and cost of manufacturing unfortunately, but there are a handful of options for them if you look hard enough.
Loving these Phil reviews & Nick Keyboard vids!! Keep em coming. Also, Nick, take a look at the KeyChron K2. Ita for intermediates but you CAN get a barebones and build it yourself. Wpuld love to hear your thoughts.
I met Nick at CES a few years ago. Super nice guy. Glad to see him on camera more.
I enjoyed the color on the TKL MKey, even as my desk is filled with only black stuff
I see a full keyboard, I upvote
For me the whole point of led keyboards is the key glow through so that you can see the keys and what you are pressing in the dark. Not that I need that much, as I can wirte with my eyes closed just fine, but it's just easier in certain situation to have glow trhough keys, so that is a must.
I agree the shine through is a must but not really a deal breaker
Keep the Nic and Phil videos coming, Jay needs some time to rest and you are killing it gents.
When the cat's away the mice will play 😊
Phil and Nick should definitely get more videos to present in 😉
Yooo...love this dude. Most I heard him talk ever and I'm here for it.
Absolutely solid review!!
I’ve been wondering about these keyboards just recently!
Really appreciated chill down vibe you bring as a host, it worked quit Nicky to listen to in the background as I was putting my pc together 😄
No mod needed, these look and sound fantastic
It's great that they made a numpad variant. I could never get used to the shrunken keyboard. It's a "must" for productivity and a nice-to-have for gaming.
Honestly seems like a great starter board. Similar to a cheap hotswap TKL I started with to try different switches. If you dont know what you like yet, these seem worth it.
This is enough to get me into a custom keyboard. I'll def consider this as an option.
Thanks, Nick.
my SteelSeries Apex 9 TKL has those textured PBT keycaps, too, and i absolutely prefer them over the usual smooth ones. it's a subtle difference, but you can definitely feel it and it feels that extra little bit more premium
I'd say shine-through keycaps are almost a must have these days. I'm generally a touch typist, once I find my home keys. When you're looking for that specific key, in a darkened room, having light around the key doesn't help much, it has to go through so you can see the function.
Awesomesauce video, guys! This definitely feels like a video for the common person about keyboards. Just a bit of information about each area and why people may like it. And that dampening!!!
Kudos to Phil for jumping in to show a different level of typing sound profile! 😂😂😂
Good to see nick in the spotlight! Jay may be the face but the body and soul keep it movin, love all y’all.
Nick and Phil, you guys are doing a great job. Jay, rest easy and heal up, your boys are up to task.
Great job, Nick. First video I've seen you do as main host, hopefully more to come.
The volume /zoom knob is awesome idea wish i had one
This is a great video. More. More of this guy doing peripheral reviews. Don't see many reviews of keyboards and mouses and I would love to see more. On a side note, I agree volume knob is a must on a keyboard. I personally would love to also see a monitor brightness knob on a keyboard. A customizable knob sounds great. It may be niche but everyone has their own preferences and situations.
hope jay is doing okay after his op get well soon J m8 all the best
LOL the title tho: "When a case company makes a *KEYBAORD* " 🤣👍🤟
Scrolling through the comments to finally find someone mention this. Though, I kinda wanted to be the one to point this out.
Thanks Nick. You're getting much better at hosting! 👍 And Phil is the comedic relief, with a valid addition to the presentation. Good job guys.
I was nervous so i started out soft....i went with the corsair 60% mech keyboard. I will customize the keys a bit with some pudding caps. This is giving me the confidence and slight experience with mechanic boards to take the next step later on. Just like building a pc, my current build is my first build and it has taught me so much and given me enough confidence my next pc down the road i know i want to try out custom loops at the beginner level :)
edit/side note: buying a 60% taught me quickly i rely on the arrow keys so much when editing words while i type and stuff that i will moooost definately go with a mech with arrow keys...but i do already view 60% as verrrry asthetically pleasing.
I like these type of boards because they at least give you a starting point without having to invest a ton of money, and unlike some of the premium ones, these are in stock and not some group buy bullshit, where you might waits months or even years before you get what you ordered.
Of course, for me, even these are out of my budget, but the good news is that there are a lot more options for pretty cheap mechanical boards these days, and you can even find ones that are hot swap for $30 or less. Pretty good for just starting out, especially if you want to do some modding anyway, since you'll be taking things apart, adding foam, doing tap mods, lubing switches, etc (even factory lubed switches tend to benefit from being lubed).
Nic and Phil are Awesome! Great Video!! I want the MKEY!
Great to see Nick get some onscreen time! Only tip I would add is to watch the "so"s used.
Jay would probably love the gray/red color scheme. It reminds me of Jay's battleship.
Love how Phil and nick are picking up the slack while jay recovers. These guys are fun to watch.
Nick recognizing playing fighting games on a keyboard. It may not be recommended, but it actually works nice when you got NKRO.
I mean, it did lead to the Mixbox controller at least! Great review man!
The first one the TKL one looks so nice.
Love the dark color way (wave/waze?) Peripherals videos are always great. Things that can really improve your PC experience or its performance that aren't a $1400 GPU are a really nice. Would love you to continue doing a series on stuff like this.
I wonder what the thoughts would be on Keychron keyboards/switches? Pricing hasn't been too bad for pre-built and the USB-C connector is easily accessable.
A tip for Nick and Phil, or anyone new or starting out making vids like these: Speak like you're talking to someone 5 feet behind the camera. It's better to lower audio than to boost it and get more background noise. Love the content guys. Glad to see Montech expanding, and love they have full size keyboards. I use the numpad for discord and OBS keybinds.
You guys are doing a good job holding down the fort. Tell Jay to get well soon! I ran into his surgeon at the liquor store. It’s a good thing. You don’t want him shaky.
I had this exact keyboard on my Commodore64 as a kid.. AWESOME!!!
Great job guys! Glad to know the shop is in good hands whenever Jay is away.
Phil and Nick are just awesome!
Also Nick, any views on Keychron?
The cable port issue is actually something that Wendell at Level1Techs pointed out with other much more expensive keyboards, where the included type C cable is fine because it has a small plastic molding around the plug, but other cables you might want to use might not fit very well.
I agree, the shine through is kind of a big deal especially in low light scenarios where lighting is found behind the monitors. Hard to see RBG in well lit areas. Awesome product and review!
Nick and Phil did well on this video! Cool! Do more and give Jay some time off.
I bought a Mountain Everest 60 + numblock with linear speed silver and linear 45 switches and i am damn happy
Awesome looking and sounding boards! Great job Nick and Phil! 🤘🤘
Montech is really starting to impress me. When I purchased the Montech X1 case in 2021 for one of my kids, he picked it out, I was rather impressed with the case for it coming from a company I've never heard of before and the under $60 price point at the time. The fans the case came with were meh, but I've seen their newer ARGB fans and I'm tempted to try them. I like the look of these keyboards and I'm hoping they'll get some other color combinations down the line. Excellent job Nick and Phil.
Im all for browns... I need to look into this. Love this video
Remind me of the Keychron ones I have. They are an aluminum frame and are heavy AF. Could use it as a weapon for protection lol.
All red, or all black keyboard housing would be my preference followed by swapping the keycaps for RGB shine through.
5:10 He knows the REAL purpose of it 😏
Great video! I have the Hyper X 60% keyboard. Love my keyboard. Only cost me 80$ at the time.
Ok Jay, These guys need more screen time. We miss ya bud but they are doing a great job on the subjects so far in your absence. You guys rock🤘🤘🤘🤘
I currently us a Logitech MX Mechanical because it works with multiple Operating Systems. If a custom keyboard can do the same I will look into it.
great video man id like to see more of these from you!!
This is content that I really like. This in fact is an option not just for myself but my mom who's well into her '90s but used to be a typist. So she actually prefers the feel of mechanical keyboards, go figure
You guys should look at Royal Kludge next. I have quite a few of their boards and love them. My main right now is an RK89 with Gateron Milky Yellow switches. My Fiancée stole my 60% RK board with Gateron Browns to take to work.
These keyboards look dope. Specifically the full size looks like exactly what i'm looking for to upgrade from my TADA-68 and Novelkeys burnt orange switches.
Loving Phil and Nic on screen as presenters.
Good job Nick and Phil !!! Keep the Mech keyboard stuff coming ! Awesome content !
another great vid guys, loving the content
Damn Jay you got a good crew here! Give Phil and Nick more screen time!
What an awesome video! I've always been curious about the keyboard hobby and there is some great information here. The price of these boards seems like a great deal as well. Great job guys and Nic is doing a fantastic job with the presentation, it feels like he has been doing this for years. I greatly enjoyed it!
Currently on my toilet rn
Same
Me 2 😂
That's some good shit.
For real
Update: I just finished
Interesting change of pace from build after build or components. I agree that Phil and Nick are doing well while Jay is recovering.
As for the mod question, although I haven't done any custom boards, I like the floating keys of my Roccat keyboard. The concept of having a finished yet open chassis appeals to me, and I like how it's a bit easier to clean. I can see the mess and remove it, where as the traditional style hides a lot inside.
Hey JayzTwoCents and crew, I've rememebered that there's a keyboard you might want to review.
It's my #1 pick for the ideal keyboard. And if you want durability, look no further.
It's an IBM Model M.
Well, to be specific, there's a company (Unicomp) making replicas of many of the "OG Classic" keyboards, including the IBM Model M among a few others.
I have my eyes set on the "New Model M" with the "ANSI 104-key small spacebar" layout and the "USB + Buckling Spring" interface.
Do you want durable? If the USB interface sticks around for as long as I hope it does, I could theoretically give this keyboard to my grandson, and they'd be able to pass it on to THEIR grandson, maybe. Buckling spring switches are just EXTREMELY durable, and you just can't get a more pleasant tactile typing experience than with buckling spring key-switches.
Yes, the buckling spring switches are extremely noisy. They're also a level above even a Cherry MX Blue as far as "clicky".
IMO there's nothing better for pure typing, and I'm sure that my dad knew at least a few people that were using IBM model M keyboards to play things like Quake and Doom back in the DOS/W95/56k Dial-Up era.
And in this case, your dad had it right. The buckling spring key-switch is an old idea, but the only reason that they don't use it in literally every keyboard to this day is because we've come up with CHEAPER options, not BETTER options.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this is also a "Minimalist" keyboard, as it doesn't have things like multimedia keys, macro keys, RGB, or custom software to go with it (the only LEDs on it are to indicate that one of the (caps lock, num lock, scroll lock) keys is engaged).
Personally, that's an ideal situation for me. I don't WANT any of that other distracting stuff, ESPECIALLY the RGB. I can touch type at around 40WPM or so, I don't NEED to look at my keyboard to know what keys I'm hitting, and I keep my computer on all the time in my bedroom so I would much rather that I don't have to pay for RGB LEDs that I personally have no use for.
Some multimedia keys are nice, but even tho my current keyboard has them, I usually hit one by accident and go "Why is my computer doing something I didn't tell it to do", I don't really use multimedia keys. Same with macro keys, I don't use them (I have a mouse that has buttons I can assign macros to, that's much more useful to me).
As far as the interface goes, you can get it with either a USB interface (default) or a PS/2 DIN connector (the "extremely old school" keyboard connector, I think my motherboard still has a port for it, and if yours doesn't, adapters are readily available)
Great video! Would you do any video about keyboard modding? I know there is a lot of this content on RUclips,but i would love to see it with your vibe guys!
Gateron Yellows are delicious. I love mine. Put them in a split Dactyl keyboard I made. No regrets.
Where was this video last week when I was going through turmoil on what keyboard I wanted @@@@
great video ;)
Great video, sweet keyboard. Though when I try to look it up and buy it, it looks like it isn't out yet. Some sites say it released on the 17th of may, while newegg shows are a pre-order for next month. No listing on amazon yet, too bad since I need a new keyboard asap for coding. Current one at home is on its last legs, annoyingly giving me double spaces or not at all when I press space while working.