A little while back, the people at KiiBOOM very generously offered to send me one of their keyboards to try out. I had a bit of a review backlog going on at the tail-end of 2022, and then it was Christmas, and then it was the New Year catch-up with work post-Christmas… so, regrettably, I didn’t actually get around to opening the package KiiBOOM sent me until February this year (2023). When I finally did, I instantly wished I’d opened that box as soon as it had arrived.
The KiiBOOM Phantom 81 is, without a doubt, the fanciest, glitziest, most chic, stylish, and high-class-looking keyboard I have ever laid my grubby, biro-ink-stained hands upon. If Chanel No. 5 was a keyboard, it would be the Phantom 81. It’s a board that looks like it belongs in a jewellery shop window, draped in diamond necklaces and gold watches. It is, in short, a very, very posh keyboard. But, of course, looks aren’t everything. Is it a good keyboard? Let’s find out.
The Phantom 81 is an 81-key, 75% layout mechanical keyboard. It has a volume knob/dial, which you should know by now, I’m always pleased and impressed with. It’s Windows and Mac compatible (a two-way switch on the rear, next to the USB port, selects the mode). The Phantom 81 is ANSI layout only. I haven’t used an ISO layout board since I was typing on the TH96 a few months back, and I’m very used to ANSI now anyway, so that’s not a problem for me. 81 keys mean you get all your Function keys, your arrow keys, and, yes, a Del key (which is something I prefer not to do without when typing).
You can connect to the Phantom 81 one of three ways: via Bluetooth 5.0, 2.4Ghz wireless (USB dongle stashed in a nice little niche under the board), and via standard USB Type-C. A three-way switch at the rear of the board allows you to switch between modes. If you’re using the Phantom 81 wirelessly, the onboard 4000mAh battery is going to last around 60 hours of continuous use with the RGB lights on, and 100 hours with them off.
The Phantom 81 comes in a choice of three colourways: Clear Black, Clear Yellow, and Clear. I got Clear, and it really is clear. Transparently clear. The Crystal Keycaps are fully transparent with bold, yet elegant, black characters. The base is made of transparent acrylic through which you can see the gold-coloured plate which sits below the transparent switches. Oh, did I forget to mention that the volume knob is gold-coloured aluminium too? The little plate at the rear of the board which houses the USB port and switches is also gold-coloured, as is the KiiBOOM logo plate on the underside of the board. As I said, the Phantom 81 is pretty classy.
The Phantom 81 comes loaded with KiiBOOM’s own Crystal Switches, which are Linear switches that feel a lot (to me) like Cherry MX Silent Reds. They are, however, not silent, but pleasantly clicky. Exactly clicky enough, I’d say. They are also completely transparent. The Phantom 81 is a hot-swappable keyboard, meaning that you can easily exchange the out-of-the-box switches for those of your own choosing with no need for any soldering or unnecessary messing. But the Crystal Switches feel lovely to me. Perfect typing switches.
Like the MC66 which I tried out recently (which feels a bit like a Junior version of the Phantom 81 in many ways), the Phantom 81 has two separate, independently controlled sets of lights: south-facing RGB LEDs behind the keys, and a rectangle of RGB LEDs in its transparent base. There are an absolute tonne of presets for both sets of lights, and they’re further customisable using KiiBOOM’s own software.
If you’ve read my reviews before, you’ll know I usually end up switching to a solid colour rather than a flashing light show, no matter how impressive the lights are. The Phantom 81‘s lights are really, really impressive. However, the transparent keys and base of the Phantom 81 made the lights extra distracting for me. So much so, that I was actually finding it hard to type with some of the more flamboyant presets. For me, where the Phantom 81 really shines (if you’ll pardon the pun) is with the solid colour settings. White light really emphasises the jewel-like look of the keyboard, but you can easily set the Phantom 81 to whatever colour scheme you fancy to perfectly match your desk or workspace.
The Phantom 81 weighs just shy of 1.5 kg on my kitchen scales, so it’s a real heavyweight keyboard. It’s a Gasket Mounted board, with additional poron foam layers, to strengthen and “acoustically enhance” your typing experience. What does any of that actually mean? It means that pretty much none of your typing force is transferred through the keyboard into the desktop or whatever surface you’re typing on. The Phantom 81 adsorbs and deadens the force of even the heaviest keystrokes, emitting nothing but the pleasant click of the shining Crystal Switches.
The Phantom 81 is a really, really good keyboard. It’s lovely. It’s perfect, really. My only problem with it – and this is definitely a me problem – is that it actually feels too high-class for me. Metaphorically, I feel like I’m driving some bin-bags to the city dump in a Lamborghini, or badly playing Iron Man over and over on Prince’s own custom-made purple Jerry Auerswald guitar.
Technically, the Phantom 81 is perfect. Could not be better. An absolute pleasure to work on. Aesthetically, it is absolutely beautiful. A gorgeous, bejewelled, slab of glittering loveliness. If you feel worthy of having something which radiates glamour and sophistication on your desktop, then this is the keyboard for you.
The Phantom 81 is available to order direct from KiiBOOM for $159 USD / £132 GBP