The lovely people at Whatgeek have very generously sent me a Leobog HI98 pro keyboard to try out, and it’s a pretty special board.
The HI98 pro is a 101-key / 100% keyboard. It has a compact ANSI layout, is compatible with Android (Fn+Q), Windows (Fn+W), and Mac (Fn+E). It connects wired via USB-C or wirelessly via Bluetooth or 2.4G wireless (a three-position switch and dongle at the rear of the board). It also has a cool little magnetic plate (between PgDn and ->) featuring an astronaut engraving, just for fun.
The HI98 is available in Pink, White, Blue, and Black colourways. I chose the Pink option because that’s what I do if there’s a pink option (see also: the HE75, the RT65, the Shadow S, and the Akko Tokyo). The keycaps are Cherry profile double shot PBT. White characters on the deep pink keys, and pink characters on the powder pink and white ones.
The HI98 comes loaded with Leobog Barbie linear switches (this is the only direct link I could find to them, and even they’re mystified as to why they’re called that). These are extremely smooth, soft, responsive switches with a sound that many will absolutely love (video with sound demo below). My wife and office-mate really doesn’t like it however, so it’s not for everyone. The HI98‘s switches fully hot-swappable though, so if you wanted to switch the Barbies for any other 3 or 5-pin switches, you’d have no problem doing so.
The HI98 has an impressive 8000 mAh onboard battery, which will last about 40 hours of “lights on” use, and about 500(!) hours of “lights off” use. That said, the HI98‘s case is made from aluminium, top and bottom (no plastic here), which means that it is getting on for 2 kg in weight. So, it’s definitely one for the office, rather than a keyboard that you’re likely to be carrying around as part of a mobile set-up.
The HI98 features a gasket mounting to reduce vibrations and noise and enhance responsiveness. It also features five layers of sound-dampening including Poron sandwich foam, an IXPE switch pad, PET sound-improving film, Poron bottom foam, and PET insulator film. There is absolutely zero noise transference through the board onto the desk.
The HI98 has south-facing RGB backlights, with 16+ preset patterns and loads of on-board tweaks possible (adjusting the colour, speed, brightness, etc). Additional customisation is available via the free-to-use software. Yes, I went for a solid colour – white in this instance – as soon as I possibly could, but the multi-coloured patterns do genuinely look great with the candy-esque keys.
Is there anything about the HI98 that I didn’t like? There are no flip-feet, so you can’t adjust the typing angle of the board but, to be honest, the default angle feels fine to me. That is literally the only vaguely critical thing I can think of to say about it.
The Leobog HI98 Pro Aluminum Wireless Mechanical Keyboard is a very, very nice desktop keyboard. It’s full-sized, but with a compact layout, so it’s giving you everything it possibly could, and that you could possibly want, in the smallest footprint it could. Solid is an understatement when it comes to the heft and stability of the HI98, but typing on it feels fast, light, and responsive. There are plenty of bog-standard, boring 100% keyboards out there, and equally, there are more than a few overpriced “luxury” boards promising the earth. The HI98 sits head and shoulders above the former, and eye to eye with many of the later, despite its price tag.
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