The Epomaker B21 is a 68 key, compact wired and wireless (Bluetooth 5.0) keyboard with a fantastic retro look. The B21 is currently available to pre-order (expected to ship in July 2021), but the lovely people at Epomaker sent me one of the very first units last month to try out. I’ve typed on nothing else since.
Firstly, I’ll admit that I already have a love of retro-looking 68 key keyboards. The Durgod Fusion was, prior to getting my hands on the B21, probably my favourite keyboard of all time, and certainly the one I used the most, not least because of its size, connectivity, and how nice it is to work on. The B21 definitely rivals the Fusion in all those categories, but it also has a few extra features which might just nudge it into the lead for certain users.
The key caps on the B21 are SA profile – which stands for Spherical All. Spherical keycaps were particularly popular through the 1970s and into the early 1980s, with beloved home computers like the Acorn BBC Micro (1981) and Commodore 64 (1982) famously using them. They have that look and feel somewhere between a portable typewriter keyboard and a NASA control panel of the day. They look great, and they feel great to type on, not least because of the Cherry MX switches underneath them. The B21 comes with a choice of Brown, Red, or Blue Cherry MXs. I went for the Reds, which feel perfect for me; not too loud, but still lovely and chunky.
In addition to its 68 keys, the B21 also has: a Bluetooth/wired switch next to the rear USB port, Previous track, Play/Pause, and Next track media buttons, a Calculator button (which has actually been a lot handier than I imagined it would be, mostly because we did our end of year taxes last week), three numbered buttons to switch between stored Bluetooth pairings (so, set 1 to your iPad, 2 to your PC, etc), and a Mac/Win button, which switches between Apple and PC keyboard commands. On the left you have a volume dial with a click to mute/unmute function (like the one on the K620T and the K620T 2.0). On the right, you have a dial that controls the brightness of your backlight with a click to cycle through the light effects function. As usual, I ended up just opting for a solid backlight to work with, but as the B21‘s LEDs are all white, even the most elaborate sequences aren’t too eye-watering or distracting.
Fully charged, battery life using the backlight is supposed to be 36 hours, and without 240(!) hours. The 4000mAh battery also charges super-quick in just 3 hours.
With its chunky, curvy, retro design, simple, rounded light-up buttons, and aged-plastic look, I can see that the B21 isn’t going to be for everyone. It’s getting towards the quirkier, “softer”, Lofree kind of side of things in terms of its aesthetics, away from the hard-edged, black and neon, powerhouse gaming machine mech boards of the likes of Razer. For me personally, though, I think the B21‘s connectivity, portability, and useability make it one of the best all round keyboards I’ve tried.
The Epomaker B21 is available to pre-order now for $149 US / £105 GBP / €122 EU