Epomaker are always sending me nice things. This time it’s the incredibly smart-looking Shadow-X keyboard.
The Shadow-X is an ANSI layout 70 key / 70% keyboard. It is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and IOS, and connects via USB-C, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless. The dongle for the 2.4GHz is plugged into the back of the board right under the USB port. Connection mode is selected via a knob at the upper right of the board, and this also allows you to cycle between three saved Bluetooth connections without any awkward keyboard shortcuts. The downside of this is that the knob isn’t a volume knob, and that does make me a little bit sad because, if it had been, the Shadow-X might have been my new favourite keyboard. But don’t let it make you sad, because there’s a lot to be happy about with this very, very cool little keyboard.
The Shadow-X comes in four colourways: Black Silver (with SA style profile keycaps), White Blue, White Green, and White Purple (all with Cherry profile keycaps). I got Black Silver which, with the SA keys, reminds me of a super-mini version of the (super-maxi) TEX Shinobi, or even the good old C64. The keys are double shot PBT, a mix of dark grey and black, with lovely clean white characters.
The Shadow-X comes with a choice of too many switches to list, depending on which colourway you go for. I got Gateron Pro Yellows, which are lovely, but still maybe not quite as nice as the Epomaker Mulans which I recently enjoyed on the Shadow-S. The switches are, of course, hot-swappable and compatible with most 3 or 5-pin switches.
The Shadow-X is a gasket-mount keyboard with Poron PCB foam layer and bottom silicone pad. The Shadow-X weighs 0.8kg, so heavy enough to be stable and solid, but light enough to travel with easily. Triple-position flip-out feet with silicone pads allow for a good range of typing angle adjustments.
The Shadow-X has south-facing RGB backlights (like the previous three Epomaker keyboards I’ve reviewed), and these work really well with the SA keys. All the usual onboard light adjustment options are there, though they’re accessed a little differently. Fn+Menu and the → ← keys cycle through menu options on the 1.06-inch LCD colour screen — oh, sorry, didn’t I mention that the Shadow-X has a mini-screen? Well, yes, it does — the rotary knob then allows you to cycle through lighting effects, adjust brightness, and so on according to what screen you’re on.
The Shadow-X‘s screen displays useful info like time, date, battery charge level, connection, etc. Time/date are set via the standard free Epomaker software, and you can customise all sorts of things – screen and non-screen related – that way.
The Shadow-X has a 3000mAh onboard battery and weighs enough to be sturdy, but not enough to be heavy. It even comes with some additional yellow keys, which can be swapped out to give it a similar look to one of my other all-time favourite all-rounder keyboards: the EK68. I have absolutely loved using it on my desk, and I really want to keep it here. If only it had a volume knob, it would be pretty close to perfect for me. Maybe I should just get used to using Fn and the + and – keys.