Once again the people at Epomaker have very kindly sent me some of their products to try out. This time though, it was something I had to build myself.
The Epomaker GK108S Kit is a 108 key mechanical keyboard Kit. It comes without switches, key-caps, or anything else. It is available in black or white. I got white.
The GK108S comes ready and waiting for you to add your favourite hot-swappable switches to (AKKO, Cherry, Gateron, and many other switches are compatible). The GK108S can be connected to wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.1 (three different Bluetooth devices can be remembered by the board, and easily switched between), or wired via USB C cable. Fn + Space switches Bluetooth on and off, and Fn + 1, 2, or 3 toggles between the saved devices. Simple. A wired only version is also available. It also comes with RGB SMD backlights, with a possible 16.8M light effects. The product page adds the following technical (slightly over my head) info: “GK108S kit comes with our super hardware architecture. The chipset is 32 Bit MCU + 8M Flash on-board memory, and 3 pieces independent 256*256*256 RGB color management chip“.
The lovely people at Epomaker didn’t just send me a board, however. I also received 135 (three boxes of 45) AKKO CS Lavender Purple switches, and an absolutely beautiful AKKO Red & Blue Samurai Keycaps Set.
So this afternoon, I finally sat down and put the whole thing together. You can see a highly speeded up version of the build in the video above. Clicking the switches into place was really easy. I was expecting to have messed something up when I tested the board but every switch worked perfectly. I did, however, somehow get my Menu, Ctrl, and Fn key-caps mixed up at some point… which was my own stupid mistake. I knew I’d get something wrong.
A 108 key keyboard is HUGE compared to what I’m used to working on (typically a 68 key board), but the GK108S is undeniably great. I was worried that, because it was a kit build, the GK108S might feel a little flimsy or light but actually its a really, really robust feeling desktop keyboard. It is heavy, in the best way possible; a really solid board, which feels ideal for absolutely pounding away on, whether that’s for typing or for gaming. And, of course, you can choose from a wide ranges of switches to make sure that your own GK108S build suits your own specific needs and preferences.
The AKKO CS Lavender Switches are responsive, tactile, and clicky, but not overly loud. They’re actually really, really nice. The Red & Blue Samurai key-caps are lovely, although I didn’t actually use any of the reds , opting instead of a grey, blue, and yellow/golden scheme (you can see in the video that I added more yellow at the end). The ASA profile of the keys is really conformable, and the added Japanese characters add a really nice little extra aesthetic touch.
The GK108S kit is available now in the Epomaker store for $99 USD ($89 USD for the wired only kit)
AKKO CS Lavender Switches are available for $13.99 USD (per 45 switches)
The AKKO Red & Blue Samurai Keycaps set is available for $59.99 USD.