Mechanical keyboards are nice. But they’re additionally expensive, not less than most of the time. The common retail value of the final 5 keyboards I reviewed is 200 freakin’ {dollars}, which might elicit justified scoffs from anybody who’s by no means heard the phrase “N-key rollover.”
So I bought the Havit KB487L, the least expensive board I may discover on Amazon from a model I truly acknowledged, for just below 40 bucks. I needed to see if I may discover a keyboard that anybody on a price range would recognize, and with out having to sacrifice an excessive amount of.
And I discovered it! Sort of. The Havit board is technically sound, with strong building and some stunning goodies, like actual PBT keycaps. But it makes just a few structure selections which can be simply baffling. If you possibly can dwell with just a few of its quirks—and also you don’t really need the 10-key space it gives—it’s price range choice.
At a look
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Excellent value
- PBT keycaps
- Good typing expertise
Cons
- Super-weird structure
- No alternate programming
- Fixed cable
Our Verdict
This keyboard is a fully wonderful worth due to upgraded PBT keycaps and typing expertise, however its unusual structure will drive many customers away.
Price When Reviewed
$38.99
Best Prices Today: Havit KB487L keyboard
42.29
$42.99
Havit KB487L: Design
At first look, this appears to be like like some other tenkeyless (TKL) board, with a coloration scheme that’s a bit retro and impressed by the widespread Carbon keycap set. But look just a little nearer at the proper facet of the board, and also you’ll spot a wierd inclusion. This design crams a 10-key space into simply three columns of keys. It’s form of like a “1800” structure, as seen on keyboards like Keychron’s Q5, however much more compacted.
Michael Crider/IDG
We’ll get to that odd structure later (as a result of there’s so much to say about it). The different distinctive characteristic of the Havit board is the inclusion of PBT keycaps. PBT stands for polybutylene terephthalate, a extra premium sort of plastic than you normally get on price range keyboards. For instance, Razer asks 30 bucks—most of the value of this complete board!—simply to improve from fundamental ABS keycaps to PBT. These are additionally doubleshot, which implies that the legends are separate items of plastic and can by no means put on out.
Other than the distinctive structure and the stunning inclusion of high-end keycaps, that is your fundamental price range mechanical board. The solely decisions are Red linear switches, from an organization known as Jixian that I’ve by no means heard of. All elements are plastic, together with the PCB deck, and the braided cable is mounted in place. The plastic case contains toes with only one alternate typing angle.
Michael Crider/IDG
The keyboard technically contains backlighting, however just for the 10-key space, Num Lock, and Caps Lock keys. This will come into play whenever you’re utilizing (or disabling) Num Lock. Otherwise, it’s a easy, efficient design. Those premium, high-profile keycaps give it a barely retro look, with a coloration scheme that’s distinctive, if not solely authentic. If you desire a keyboard that stands out with out spending any extra cash, this may do.
Havit KB487L: Typing expertise
One of the extra subjective benefits of PBT keycaps is a greater, “rougher” texture to typing. These keycaps do get a little bit of that, although they’re extra clean and slippery than some premium units. With a super-tall profile—formed like Cherry or OEM, however nearly as tall as SA—typing on these linear switches with lengthy key journey feels sort of old school, like a keyboard you’d get with a Dell desktop in 1995.
Michael Crider/IDG
It is, for need of a extra definitive phrase, good. You’re not going to get the identical “clonk” or springiness you’d really feel from a extra premium typing-focused board, or the smoothness and relative quiet you’d discover from a gaming board. But despite the fact that it has slightly cheap stabilizers and loads of “ping” in its physique, it achieves the satisfying typing that first-timers and price range consumers are most likely searching for.
The PBT keycaps assist make up for an absence of different goodies. There aren’t hot-swap switches, no RGB lighting, no programming choices. And at this value level, that’s superb…although I might have appreciated a non-fixed cable only for the sake of simpler routing on a desktop setup.
And you then begin with the structure. Oof.
Havit KB487L: Layout woes
Okay, so presumably the unusual structure was designed with the thought of protecting a 10-key space obtainable to the consumer in a a lot smaller dimension—once more, paying homage to the 1800 structure from a long time in the past. The downside is that this: It’s pretty clear that whoever designed and authorized this structure doesn’t truly use the 10-key space, which is so widespread in accounting, information entry, and related fields.
Because the 10-key is proscribed to only three columns, it omits the -, +, and Enter keys on the proper facet. And as a result of it’s crammed into the area of a TKL board, it additionally chops off / and * keys, and sticks the Num Lock in the Function layer, together with the Scroll Lock, Pause, and Print Screen keys. This goes to create fairly big usability issues for anybody who’s used to devoted 10-key enter, which instantly undermines the operational premise. (I requested a number of 10-key customers, they usually agree, they’d slightly simply use a separate gadget than attempt to enter information on this board.)
Michael Crider/IDG
But right here’s the kicker. Because the superfluous 10-key is taking on the area the place Detele, Page Up, and Page Down can be, it additionally has to share area with these keys. So with Num Lock disabled, all six of these keys at the moment are in the high layer…however with the exception of Page Down, they’ve all moved round. The Delete key particularly is 2 keys over and one down from the place it ought to be, which performs hell with my muscle reminiscence.
If it looks as if I’m piling on, contemplate the following: In the identify of including performance, this structure messes up each the usability of a full-sized board and that of a TKL board. It’s a baffling design determination that I can’t consider was examined very a lot in any respect.
Should you purchase the Havit KB487L?
The Havit KB487L is an undeniably good worth. It can be so even with out the upgraded keycaps, however with them it’s completely improbable when you’re on a shoestring price range. The typing expertise, whereas removed from premium, is punching means above its price ticket. Without some other frills, it’s an ideal and cheap entry into the mechanical keyboard area.
Michael Crider/IDG
That’s assuming you possibly can take care of the extremely bizarre and unintuitive structure, in fact. Anyone all for the 10-key space for its personal sake can be turned off anyway, however those that can’t make changes for less-often-used keys like Delete or Print Screen can even discover it onerous to make use of.
If you may get over that quirk, and also you’re on the hunt for an ideal worth, you’ve discovered it.
…. to be continued
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