Keyboards come in a multitude of sizes these days. There was once a time when you could either get a full-sized keyboard or a TKL (Tenkeyless) variant. Now, they come in many sizes that also include 75%, 66%, 60%, and more! Offering as many choices as possible is always good for the consumer, but it has also opened the door to many new brands in the peripheral industry.
Royal Kludge may be one of the brands that you have not heard of, but don’t let that put you off. They are offering some pretty impressive mechanical keyboards and affordable prices. Today, I am going to take a look at their RK61 which is a wireless mechanical keyboard with a single color backlight.
Specifications
Closer Look
If the keyboard inside doesn’t catch your eye, the box sure will. With a bright orange color covering a little bit more than half of the box, it will be hard to miss.
Inside the box, the keyboard is wrapped in some extra protective film to help make sure it doesn’t get any scratches or smudges on it should it move around in the box a bit. The accessories and cable are also packed away in a separate little compartment away from the RK61 keyboard.
Getting everything out of the box and we have the RK61 keyboard, the user manual, USB cable keycap/switch puller, and four extra switches. The extra switches are a nice touch as sometimes just one will break on the keyboard and this way you can repair it in minutes and not have to wait around after ordering one.
The RK61 features a USB-C input so Royal Kludge has included a USB-C to USB-C/A cable so anyone can use this with their computer, even if they don’t have a USB-C port.
The RK61 features Royal Kuldge’s own RK Red Switches. It’s nice to see companies with their own variations of switches. The RK Red switches are linear with a 40g operating force and a 2.0mm actuation point with a total travel distance of 4.0mm. They are also rated for 50 million clicks so should last for a while.
The RK61 looks very clean and for a 60% keyboard, it seems to have found a way to sneak in most of the extra keys one would need. Using the function (FN) key you can use the secondary function on any key that has one. This is quite a clever way to make sure you are not missing out on any functionality due to the reduced size of the keyboard.
Royal Kuldge has gone with ABS double-shot keycaps to offer a premium feel, even though the RK61 is more on the budget side of things. Just because they want it to offer a better value does not mean they have to cheap out on the components. When using this keyboard, it doesn’t feel cheap at all and seems like it will last a good length of time even if being abused while gaming.
One thing I missed seeing on the bottom of the keyboard was the feet. With most keyboards, there are feet so you can raise it a bit to help with ergonomics while typing. However, the RK61 seems to be missing this feature which is a bit upsetting.
On the underneath of the keyboard, you will find a pair of switches. One of these switches is simply the on/off switch for when using it wirelessly and the other switch is going to allow you to change between Bluetooth and wireless modes.
When using it in wireless mode, there is a small dongle you will need to connect to your PC or laptop. Once this is plugged in, you should be able to switch the keyboard to wireless mode and start using it after a couple of seconds.
The RK61 features a single-color backlight and lucky for us, it has kind of an ice blue effect. What was nice to see is that the letters on the keys are laser etched so the color comes through the letters as well and not just at the sides of the keycaps. For the price, you really can’t complain about it not being an RGB keyboard.
Final Words
Having used the Royal Kuldge keyboard for both gaming and daily tasks such as writing this review, I am very pleased with the performance it has to offer. It is currently priced at £40 or $51.18 on the Royal Kuldge website at the time of this review. In the UK, it can also be picked up on amazing in various colors, and switch types and there is even an RGB version. Prices on Amazon UK start at £46.73 and get a bit more expensive depending on the exact model you chose.
Typing on the RK61 is enjoyable and coming from a full-sized keyboard, there wasn’t much of a break-in period. A lot of times on the smaller keyboards, especially 60% the keys may seem spaced closer together and it can take some time to get used to them. However, I didn’t have this issue with the RK61.
It features a 1450mAh batter and while it may not be the biggest or last the longest, it should be more than fine for normal use. Of course, if it starts to run out you can always plug it in to charge and use it while charging.
In games, it held up just fine. I play a mix of fast-paced FPS games and didn’t have any issue switching over to the RK61. The extra mouse room it offered me over my normal full-sized keyboard was very useful and and well-needed addition I didn’t know I needed.
Don’t let the cheaper price of the RK61 fool you, if you don’t need all the extra features and just want a standard 60% keyboard, it will do the job.
