Best 65% Mechanical Keyboards of 2020

did you watch best 60 mechanical keyboards of 2020 but you wondered when's the best 65 mechanical keyboards video coming because you really need those arrow keys well i also needed those arrow keys and i've done a ton of research we've reviewed a lot of 65 percent keyboards this year and there's a lot more coming up but in this video we're going to cover some of the best 65 mechanical keyboards right here of this year but first i would like to say it's not an all-inclusive list there are so many more keyboards out there that could be on this list if you have any suggestions feel free to comment them whether it's custom or stock or whatever share your thoughts down below let's jump into it [Music] hey guys this is betty from switching click and i'm back with another really big roundup video now this was a really hard video to put together to get all the keyboards to decide which one and to really organize it in a way where i thought it would be easy to understand or helpful to somebody but i hope with all these different options and some of my knowledge and experience and recommendations you can go out there and find yourself a 65 keyboard of your own we've got in-depth reviews of of most if not all of these mechanical keyboards and if there's not a video about it already then we have an article review on our website at switchingclick.com that you can read through if you want i will compile a playlist of all the in-depth reviews of the keyboards mentioned here and i'll link that right here if you're interested keep in mind that some of them may not be out yet or may not be completed yet but they will be eventually they're in the works but anyways we'll cover two different categories one category will be under a hundred dollars and the other one will be over a hundred dollars and then of course at the end we'll list some custom options too that you can look at or consider but of course finding those items in stock right now can pose some difficulties all right let's begin with the under 100 category and of course we have to start with the row clutch rk68 this is not the cheapest of the entire list but it's one of the better budget 65 keyboards out there this one can be found for about 60 dollars on the internet right now if you're really lucky you can find a coupon somewhere where you can get it for around fifty to fifty two dollars depending on where you are from or where you're looking from but this one is really nice i did an in-depth review recently it's got bluetooth 5.1 it can connect up to five devices you just switch the battery on in the back and then hold fn and q w e r or t to connect to your devices of course being a 65 it's got arrow keys as well it does have rgb a ton of different effects available here the usbc port is in the middle quite convenient there are no kick up feet anywhere though so if you want to change the angle this one probably might not be for you alongside that it's got abs plastic keycaps that might shine over time as for the layout it's a basic 65 layout nothing too special to be seen we do have the tilde delete page up page down on the far right and another feature that it has is that it can record up to three macros on zx and c but of course all that information is in our in-depth video linked in the playlist right here so if you're interested in checking that out to go ahead and do that it also is mac and windows compatible too so it is one of my favorite 65 keyboards and at this price it's really good it's got pre-loop stabilizers these switches are okay that's one of the things i didn't like about these switches is that they're ttc switches and i don't know too much about their longevity what they offer what they even who they're made by and things like that but for 50 to 60 dollars this is a steal now if you're looking for something even cheaper but you don't care about the updated bluetooth 5.1 then you can check out a rk68 look-alike pretty much this is by epo maker and this is the apple maker s68 it's the build is exactly like the rk 68 except it's got bluetooth 3.0 it can still connect up to five devices but it's not as updated and it could be a little bit slower alongside that it's got the automo switches so if you're not interested in using those budget switches then this one might not be for you but this is at 50 right now on amazon and that is the cheapest keyboard on this list so for fifty dollars it's still really good it does come in black or white and it does have rgb lighting as well the sales page says that they're optical switches and so does the box but for some reason i don't believe that i think it's still mechanical since i don't think auto move makes optical switches so this is what you can get for 50 bucks if it were me i would just go for the royal clutch rk 68 because that way i know exactly what i'm getting all right so there's another board that i would really like to mention at around the 70 price range i don't have it with me because we had to sell it while moving across the country and that is the walmier k66 now if you remember this we did an in-depth review i'll link it right here this is probably the best rgb board in this entire list it has an acrylic case top bottom middle it has underglow side glow and of course the glow from the keycaps itself and you can change the underglow separately from the top glow it's got the arrow keys and it's got a really unique layout the right shift is 2u so that's a little bit different than many of these 65 boards that's something to look out for alongside that it is just really cool it's hot swappable or there is a hot swappable version of it at least it's got abs keycaps the legends are really clean a detachable usbc port and all those good things the acrylic case also gives it a deeper sound and it's not as pingy as other boards can be but it is different if you're into rgb definitely check that one out it's really cool looking downside to that one is it's got abs keycaps and the right shift is an odd keycap size so i'll put up a picture or some b-roll or something of it right now and you can look at that all right the next one on this list is packed full features and that is the kikron k6 now this was my main board for several months and i did a ton of mods to it and all that stuff so lots of good things here the price ranges from 69 to 99 depending on what option you are choosing and there's a lot of options so the cheapest option is going to be the white backlight only with no aluminum bezels now we got the one with hot swappable sockets with rgb with aluminum bezels so it was about ninety nine dollars the fully packed keyboard is probably what i would recommend you get if you're interested in getting the k6 so the k6 is mac and windows compatible it's got bluetooth can connect up to three devices and it can also be hot swappable so it's really cool it has a function row dedicated to the mac layout and you can change everything just from the slide toggles on the right some downsides here though is that it's got abs keycaps and the legends are really small low co low contrast doesn't shine the rgb through nicely and it does have two kick up feet here on the back so you can change the angles as you want i really do like the aluminum bezels it's sturdy it makes it heavier it feels good another downside here is no software so you can't reprogram this lighting key and there's no dedicated delete key that's on the second layer so that's why i'm not a huge fan of this board anymore but it was a game changing board back when it came out because hot swap wasn't as common back then but it does look really good with the two-tone keycaps and you can definitely check it out if you want really good board although the next board i would say is what i would recommend for the under 100 price range so this is the echo 3068 9009 retro edition and this is what i would recommend if you're going to buy a keyboard under a hundred dollars unless you really wanted hot swap then this board's not going to provide a free for you if you want a stock built ready to go board this is it the stabilizers are beautifully great no rattle the switches are cherry mx switches which isn't too common at this price range alongside that the keycaps are all pbt they're i sublimated it looks really good it comes with extra keycaps with these special colors all the boards on this list have a detachable usb port whether it's usbc or mini usb so i did a review of this recently and this is a really good board for under a hundred dollars it sounds really good it has a nice deep sound to it a nice great feel but here's the thing it's got no special features it's got no bluetooth it's got no mac function row it's got no like none of this no hot swap no no rgb even but for something that's high quality that's gonna last that feels good right out of the box no mods this is the one to pick this is the one i would recommend there are some downsides though there's no kick of feet there's no backlight rgb or white and it's super simple but that's the benefit here it's simple it looks good and it feels good this is what i would pick but for those of you who need rgb i would go for the royal clutch or the elbow maker gk68 x this one's got a lot of unique things going for it as well you don't get any kick up feet but you do get a space bar module here that you can do a split space bar with it does come with the full space bar as well if you want that it's got rgb but the key caps that come with it are dye sub it's gsa profile so it's uniform but it's got a layout problem here and that's the backspace here is moved back one u not a huge fan but if you use backspace with backslash on another key then it's a pretty good thing this one's hot swap they also sell a version that's bluetooth for a little bit more expensiveness they also sell version with the full aluminum case for a lot more expensiveness but it's got a split space bar it's got rgb the keycaps are pbt they are oil resistant they feel good and they look good you don't need to get the pink version they have other colors as well did i mention it's hot swap it's got five pin hot swap sockets it's pretty convenient when you're testing out switches and trying to do mods the stabilizers on there definitely need some mods of course all the sound tests of each keyboard on this list will be at the end and then they'll also be at the end of the in-depth review videos as well all right so those were all the 65 keyboards on this list that are under 100 if you want the best one that's stock that doesn't need any mods but you don't need rgb i would pick the echo 3068 if you wanted bluetooth then i would either go for the rk 68 or the kikron k6 they're sort of a tie there in that respect but they're all really good boards i recommend you checking them out using the links down below and just making a decision on what you think would be best for you but now for the really good stuff and that's the stuff that's over a hundred dollars it's a really competitive price range got a lot of expensive boards here but we're going to start off with one of my favorites and that is the ducky varmilo mia pro we did get the all white edition but they have a lot of different colorways and everything too it's got kick feet it's got rubber feet it's got a usbc port downside here is that this port is on the right side and i'm used to everything being on the left side so like my cable is crisscross across my desk and i don't like that it does have a completely standard bottom row with a normal right shift as well so that's one of the benefits here is that you don't need to look for special keycap sizes or anything to fit this layout a downside though is that it's a little wider than other 65 boards so it is a little bit wider by about one row even though it has all the same keys then that's because they have a blocker for the arrow keys right here and then you got this for cluster here as well and i really like this layout it looks really good i dig these separate arrow keys and it comes with cherry mx switches variety of different colors pbt dye sub legends really nice really really nice this is a pleasure to type on and a pleasure to use the stabilizers are amazing like on any other varmilo keyboard this one is good actually everything at this price range is good except for one thing another board that gets the basics right is the leopold fc 660m it's got kickoff feet in the back it's got dip switches so you can change the layout without software or anything and it's also got a little bit of space here with that unique layout it is a little bit longer than a regular 65 keyboard as well but i really like it downside though is it's got a mini usb port and it's on the right side so if your cable could be crisscrossing across your desk the best things about this board is that it has a sound dampening material within the board underneath the pcb it's also got sound dampening foam underneath the space bar here and the keycaps are some of the best stock keycaps on a board that i've ever used they are double shot pbt and these legends are never going to fade this is a quality board spacebar is really nice really good sounds coming from this board that mini usb cable though oh i forgot to mention it's got cherry mx switches but for a large amount more you can also get this with top race which is if that's your thing now the next one if you're really into rgb then i would propose this is the best board on this entire list rgb and this one is a winner this is the ducky one two sf and it's a classic it's got a bottom that's white a top that's black for that contrast it's got two kick-off feet it's got dip switches it's got nice pbt keycaps that are double shot and shine through it does come with some different color keycaps and of course the zodiac space bar as well that lets rgb shine through really nicely and all the rgb can be edited on the board alone along with macros everything is firmware no software needed and the manual tells you how to do everything it does take some time to get used to you got a usbc port here it just looks really good i love that this board has all the secondary functions on the caps themselves you don't need to memorize too many things after you get the hang of it and can do mouse movement via the secondary functions it can do media functions it's got a lot going on for it but rgb wise this one is the way to go oh and it comes with cherry mx which is of a variety of different kinds along with i believe kale as well and it does have a 2u right shift so keep that in mind when you're looking for replacement caps for that although i don't recommend replacement caps because all those secondary functions on there are quite nice to have the w12sf looks good and it feels good but it doesn't feel quite as solid as the mia pro or the leopold but rgb wise it's a winner and then we have the most expensive stock board on this list and that is the drop alt coming in at around 180 i believe we did get the bare bones version 440 put in our own keycaps our own switches but these are the original keycaps that comes with the drop control so you can expect something similar that's two-toned that's a pbt double shot with shine through the rgb on this board is really nice it doesn't have kick-up feet in the back but it does have magnetic feet that you can do use to raise the incline alongside that this is the only keyboard on this list with a full aluminum it's got two usb-c ports here so you can connect to your computer with one and then do a low voltage charge on your phone or something like that on the other it is hot swappable it's got three pin hot swappable sockets and plate mounted stabilizers the stabilizers on this thing just are not good you definitely should upgrade them or mod them or do something about them because they sound just really they're clicky and they're just not good at all and for this price really i just wouldn't recommend this board if you're going to pay 180 dollars for a keyboard there are other options out there you can look at the custom options that are out there that are going to be better than this this is qmk compatible though so everything is programmable from the standard layer to the rgb to many many layers to come it does have its benefits but it's really expensive for what it's offering and then let's talk about customs there are so many options so many good options here i'm not going to name all of them but i really do enjoy a heavy nice custom this is the tofu 65 from kbd fans it's got a brass plate on the back no feet though and this jing is chunky it's got a usbc port here i did solder this all so it's you can get a hot swappable version if you get the dz65 pcb you can build it to your desire get the switches you want lube the switches get the stabilizers you want mod the stabilizers add foam it's all up to you you can do whatever you want it's up to you you can have 28 different switches on there if you want to but there are a lot more cheaper options and let's start with the novel keys nk65 entry edition so this starts at 60 this starts at 95 dollars it's got a polycarbonate case an aluminum plate it's got plate mounted stabilizers and it's got five pin hot swappable sockets it is via compatible and there are a ton of different colors available one downside though is that the hundred dollars is the kit only and it doesn't include switches or caps so you're going to have to buy those separately but depending on what you pick it can still be pretty affordable at least way more affordable than the drop alt another good one is the dz65 pcb that's the rgb edition that one is a hot swappable pcb and it's got rgb you can combine it with the tofu 65 case that's this case and there's different colors available or you can get the tata 68 case on kvd fans as well and that's about 185 dollars without switches or key caps so the price is definitely going up right now and then there's the kbd67 this one hasn't been in stock recently from what i know and it is about 240 dollars it looks really good though it's very clean nice design there's also the the d65 on kbd fans that one's 330 dollars it's 65 it's got a really really really nice clean look definitely check that one out and then we have a new one i think the key dot company is doing it and it's called the portico ton of different colors available as well you can check that out at their website the key dot company and alongside that there are so many group buys out there there's a lot of interest checks going on there's group buys going on there's different places where you can check out everything or you can even go to the mech market on reddit of course you'll be paying quite a premium if you go there but there is a lot of convenience when you can just buy everything already built by somebody else all right so we just covered a ton of stuff and i think this one was a little bit more overwhelming than the best 60 video because there are so many options here there's so many different features and there's not a lot of price variation here so which one would i go with if i had to pick one i would go with the ducky varmilo mia pro it's got a standard bottom row so i don't need to look for anything when it comes to key cap replacements it's got kick up feet it's got a function where you can change the places of caps lock and control and it's also got another function where you can replace the number row with the function row i don't really use that but i do like using caps lock as control it's got cherry mx switches and the build just feels so good feels so nice and the stabilizers are really good my second choice would be the leopold fc660m the sound dampening material in the board is a definite bonus and the spacebar seems pretty good yes the usb port is outdated and i don't like the side that it's on but the keycaps are some of the best that i've ever seen for the budget option i would go for the rk 68 at about 60 dollars you can probably find it for 55 somewhere really good board i mean it's 60 and it's got bluetooth 5.1 and rgb and loop stabilizers it's looking like the winner for sure alright so that was the video i hope it was really helpful and not super overwhelming i know there's like so many things to look at and talk about and features but that's why we have in-depth reviews of all these boards playlists will be right here so go check that out and then what are some other 65 keyboards that you would recommend help other people out and put your recommendations down below i'd love to hear it as well and if your recommendation is on in this list i love to hear that too anyways links are down below in the description box as always and the next roundup we're going to do will be the best mechanical keyboards of 2020 coming at the end of this year right before the new year and it's going to be a big one we pretty much have all of our picks ready now it's a matter of acquiring the boards really actually we only need to acquire one more but i hope this was a helpful video i'm pretty much losing my voice it's been a tough morning do so so do so so you

Channel: Switch and Click

Views: 247,081

Rating: 4.9543381 out of 5

Keywords: best 65 keyboard, best 65 keyboard 2020, best 65% keyboard, best 65 percent keyboard, best 65 keyboard budget, best 65 keyboard under 100, best 65 keyboard over 100, best compact mechanical keyboard 2020, best 65 keyboard in 2020, keychron k6, ducky miya pro, royal kludge rk68, epomaker s68, akko 3068, ducky one 2 sf, epomaker gk68x plastic, leopold fc660m, mechanical keyboard, switch and click, switch and click best 65, best 65, best 65 mechanical keyboard

Id: K4yKVljFIyM

Length: 28min 55sec (1735 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 27 2020