The always lovely people at Epomaker recently sent me one of their EK68 keyboards to try out.
The EK68 is a 66 key / 65% keyboard, with a discreet volume knob at the top right of the keys (click to mute/unmute). It’s ANSI layout, compatible with Mac and Windows (Win/Mac mode select switch at rear), and connects via USB-C, or wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.0 or 2.4GHz Wireless (dongle stashed in a niche at the rear, next to the connection mode select switch).
The EK68 comes in a choice of Black Purple and Black Gold colourways. I got Black Gold, which my eldest son said reminded him of a JCB, but which I realised actually reminded me of a favourite book cover of mine. The key caps on the EK68 are PBT double shot Cherry Profile. On the Black and Gold keyboard, these are a mix of black, grey, and yellow, with bold yellow characters on all by the yellow keys, which have black characters.
The EK68 comes with a choice of
The switches on the EK68 are hot-swappable, meaning that they can be easily swapped out for any 3 or 5-pin switches of your choosing with no need for soldering or unnecessary messing about.
The plastic body of the EK68 has a nice grey metallic look which I thought was aluminium at first, but isn’t. The EK68 is a steel plate, gasket-mounted keyboard with Sound Absorption Foam incorporated. The EK68 weighs 830 grams on my kitchen scales, so it’s definitely light enough to be a laptop bag carry-around keyboard. A fair of flip-down silicone-footed feet give you a bit of extra angle adjustment and added stability. The Built-in 3000mAh battery is going to last you about a week from fully charged if you’re using backlights, or three times that if you’re using the EK68 without lights.
The EK68 is RGB backlit, with the usual Epomaker array of presets and customisation options. You should know by now that I almost always switch to a solid colour rather than a light effect, but the EK68 is the first keyboard which has ever made me immediately opt for a solid yellow backlight. It looks fantastic.
As a lover of 65% keyboards, the EK68 ticks a lot of boxes for me. It combines many of the elements of two of my favourite smaller boards: the Durgod Fusion and the Epomaker B21. It’s a compact, lightweight, take-anywhere kind of keyboard. It’s got everything I need for a desktop keyboard (yes, even a Del key), but it’s also perfect for on-the-go connection to a laptop or tablet. Maybe, though, you might want to opt for quieter switches if you’re thinking of working in a library, or some other quiet space.