Once again the lovely people, at Epomaker sent me one of their new keyboards to try out. This time it’s the AK84S.
The AK84S is an 84-key wired/wireless 80% compact layout (meaning that all the keys, including the arrow keys, Home, etc are all spaced the same), hot-swappable mechanical keyboard, optimized for MacOS compatibility. Now, I don’t work on a Mac but we do have a MacBook which our eldest used for his lockdown schoolwork (and which he now mostly watches YouTube on). So, in the interest of fairness, I’ve tried the AK84S out with that as well and my desktop PC, an Android tablet, and an iPad.
Wireless mode is activated via a little red power button on the underside of the keyboard, and I had no problem connecting via Bluetooth (5.1) to the iPad, or even my Android tablet. You can save three devices to the keyboard’s onboard memory and switch between them using Fn + 1, 2, or 3.
So, one of the first things to say about the AK84S is that there are lots of options: the case comes in full aluminium, transparent acrylic (like the HS84), black plastic with a CNC machined aluminium plate, or white plastic with CNC machined aluminium plate. I got the white plastic with the matte silver aluminium plate.
If you want Mechanical Switches then you get to choose from two different GK1 keycap sets: Black, white, and Green, or White, Black, and Red. I got White, Black, and Red. If you want Optical Switches you get to choose between all black or all white ABS keycaps.
Then you get a GK2 Silicon keycap set thrown in, chosen randomly from one of three sets: Green, Gray, Orange, or Olive, Pink, and Blue, or Red, Gray, and Black. I got Red, Gray, and Black. [edit: this deal was part of the Kickstarter campaign which has now ended. These keycaps do not yet appear to be on sale seprateley].
Here’s a little before and after of my AK84S with the silicon keycap set.
Hang on though, what’s all this GK1, GK2, and ABS business all about? It just means that each keycap set has a different profile, as you can see from the image on the right →
Your switch options are as follows: Gateron Optical Blue, Brown, Black, Red, or Gateron Mechanical Switches Blue, Brown, Black, Red, or Epomaker’s own Optical Chocolate Red, Brown, Blue, Silver, or Mechanical Chocolate Red, Brown, Blue or Silver. That’s a lot of options. What does all that mean? See the image on the left ←
I got Chocolate Optical Silver switches, which are tactile, but not too loud and clicky. Enough feedback on them so that they don’t feel flat and lifeless. Very easy to type on, especially with the soft, rubbery, silicon keycaps in place.
The AK84S is hot-swappable, so you can easily change your switches with no need for soldering, swapping them for any other 5 pin switches.
The AK84S is backlit with RGB lighting with “16 million LED colours”, apparently. Nine different default lighting effects with more available online. You can, of course, also create your own by using the Epomaker lighting suite software. You know me and backlights though; I find it useful to help me see my keys but, because I’m writing scripts rather than gaming, I nearly always opt for the simplest, plainest option. Again though, the AK84S is all about the options and the potential for further personalisation and customisation.
One thing I haven’t really had a chance to try out is the battery life of the AK84S. The 4000mAh battery has a surprisingly long charging time: 8 – 10 hours. However, that’s supposed to last between 20 and 80 hours using the backlight, and 2 to 5 weeks(!) without.
All in all the AK84S is a really nice and useable keyboard, although I will admit that, even with the Win keycaps on there rather than the Mac ones, I was still a bit confused by where my Del key was for a little while. With the Red, Gray, and Black silicon caps on, the AK84S feels like a very professional, desktop, office keyboard but it’s easily small and solid enough to be comfortably carried around in your backpack or laptop bag. If you’re a Macbook user, then the AK84S is definitely a great option for making working away from your office or desk feel more comfortable and “official”.