- Today, we're going to figure out the best 65% mechanical
keyboards for typing. We have a ton of them. And from the get-go some of them just really didn't make the cut. We narrowed it down to
five of our hand picked best prebuilts, along with
three custom keyboards. Then we'll wrap this all
up with a typing test on the keyboard that
wins this competition. To the table.
(trumpet blows) Ah, it's just behind me. We're just turning around. We're not going anywhere. To the table.
(trumpet blows) First criteria we'll be looking at, number one is being mod-able. By being moddable, what I really mean is being hotswappable. and hotswappable means that you can pull out
and replace the switches on the board without needing
to solder or desolder. The second factor are the keycaps. Now, because most mechanical
keyboards let you change out the keycaps without
really any trouble at all, it's not a huge factor, but
the height and the keycaps work together to determine
whether the keyboard is a suitable height for
typing for long periods or not. The third thing that we
looked at was key chatter, and key chatter refers to,
if you press something once does it type two things or just one, just like how it's intended to. Now, most mechanical keyboards
do end up key chattering at one point or another. Now the last criteria is ergonomics. With mechanical keyboards,
a lot of people tend to complain that, oh, they're too tall. Now you could just slide
a palm rest in there, or ideally you would hover
while you're typing, well see. This is the Keychron K6. It'll be the first keyboard
that we'll be looking at. Some benefits on this keyboard include that it is hotswappable. It's got RGB, it's got Bluetooth, but does it stand up
to the test of typing. Now, inside this keyboard right now we've got silent red,
Gateron Silent Red switches. Now some people really
complain that the height of the K6 is too tall. Stock keycap here is OEM, which is a tad tall for some people but you can always change
it to something else. Two kickstands on the back
can definitely meet your needs as far as typing angle goes. Wow, RGB in this thing is weak. (keyboard clicking) We've got really high mod-ability here. The stock keyboard, however, just doesn't
sound amazing though. You're going to be
experiencing some key chat or maybe a little bit of
double space here and there. And it's quite unpleasant because you have to press backspace a ton. Ergonomics is this thing's weak point. A huge weak point here. The front of the case
is quite tall compared to many of the other keyboards. This is a perfect time to
introduce our second contender or most budget contender out of this list, the LTC Nimbleback. This is an even more budget friendly highly moddable keyboard as well. So K6, move on aside. Looking at the case, I'm already thinking, "this
is wider RK71", pretty much. It looks really similar with the keycaps. We've got a variety of
RGB effects here as well and you can actually see the RGB effects unlike the K6. And whoa, look at that. We've got two USB ports here. I did test them while
unboxing, they do work. The backside, it even looks good. You got kickup feet here. Good for ergonomics. The angle itself, isn't too bad... Ah, it's not amazing. Perfect variety of keys here, specifically for typing long essays. I've never used LTC before,
so I'm a little bit hesitant to rave about it, but so far so good. Inside of this is the huano red switch. So some a very, very, very,
very unknown, pretty much (beep) knockoff company of red switches. (keyboard clicking) It's got dedicated delete button. The K6 didn't have that. The layout of this is superior. Yes, it is a little bit of wider. It's a little bit of
wider by maybe two rows. Be careful putting your dongles here because I had my dongle get stuck and it was really hard getting it out. In terms of key chatter, I haven't really had enough experience with this board to even tell. You know what, you know what, K6, you're just out of this competition. No software, no dedicated
insert, delete key. And you're really high, too. Mmm. K6 has forfeited this competition. K6 will not be in it anymore. It sounds really nice. It's not bad. And for $50, maybe even
40, it's an absolute steal. Probably being the best
65% keyboard of this year. And I may be speaking too soon. I don't know, we'll see. But yeah, the LTC
Nimbleback is kicking butt, absolutely. Next keyboard. This is the raved about
Epomaker Niz Plum 68. It's got extremely lightweight
electrical capacity of switches and they are
a rubber dome switches with a very consistent feel. So if you're used to typing
on a membrane keyboard, this could actually be a
really good first option for a switch. One of the things I absolutely
love about this board is there's absolutely
no key chatter at all. And that's because of
the way that it actuates. It's a tad high. It's definitely a tad high. It's not too bad though. These keycaps are empty through profile and they make it even higher. (keyboard clicking) Wonderfully tactile, two kickup feet. You can type for really, really,
really, really long periods of time and still not be fatigued. The Niz, pretty much comes
in this kind of switch only where it's the top rate clone switch. And it does come in a variety of weights. Despite being so lightweight
because there's a bump there, it just feels perfect. Now is that jumping to conclusions? We'll move on to the next one. And that is the Ducky Mecha SF. Compared to those previous boards, this one is the only one
with an aluminum case. Check that out. It's super pretty, depending on the angle
that you rotated it. It can look from anywhere
from blue to teal to purple. (keyboard clicking) It probably is not as
low as we think it is. Mmm, okay, it's pretty low. It's actually pretty low. Okay, it's the lowest one of all. Get cherry profile keycaps. It's really good. It's expensive though. It's expensive, but it's really good. Next, we've got the
Ducky X Varmilo Miya Pro. It's just perfect. Review right here if you
want to check it out, Typing test on it is amazing. The stabilizers are probably the best stock stabilizers I've ever felt. Cherry profile keycaps. You've got also a great cluster here similar to the nimbleback delete, insert, page up, page down. The height is the most ergonomic that we've looked at so far. Very low. You've got single angle
adjustable kickstands on the back. (keyboard clicking) Now, because this is MX silver, We can't compare it to
the Mecha SF as well which has MX silvers and really compare. Although it doesn't look it, just because of the floating
key cap style design you've got going on here. But the keycaps on the Miya Pro actually do make it
lower than the Mecha SF. (keyboard clicking) Between the two, the Varmilo one beats out the SF. Unless you're looking for RGB, but that's not what we're looking at here because we're typing. We're typing, we're not RGB-ing here. We're not doing that. Typing wise, Miya Pro takes a spot. So Mecha SF, we can say goodbye to you. So we've got really great considerations for the three prebuilt keyboards. For now, we got to jump into custom. This is an NK65 Entry Edition in the fire color wave. It's actually orange
reminds me of Charizard. It's orange here and in it, I've got Boba U4, which
are silent tactiles, very office appropriate, very silent. However, they are a little bit heavy. And then I did mod all the stabilizers. So this is hotswap. It's a hundred dollars and it comes without switches or keycaps. So you're off spending, you know, a little bit more money
on something like this to get it built completely. It does come with its own silicone
sound dampening material inside the case. It's got RGB via-compatible. You can remap this to whatever you want. Easily on the fly on your computer. (keyboard clicking) It's a little high. Of course it does remind me a lot of some of these other keyboards. It's a little high, but
these cherry profile keycaps keep it a little bit lower. The space bar coming out of the box, it was not good. The second custom... Second custom is different. Very heavy, one of the
heavier ones on here. This is the KBD Fans Tofu65 with a drop holy pandas soldered in an MT3 profile keycaps. It does come with a
soldered PCB or a hotswap. So these switches are
soldered in, you know, I would have to desolder it to change it. Drop holy pandas are super tactile. They're a little bit heavy as well. Keycaps make it very high. But personally, I like to hover. And these keycap profiles are like magnets attracting
your fingers to the tops. Also, via compatible. We'll see how it sounds though because it is on the louder side. (keyboard clicking) I don't know if it should be here. It's expensive. It's $175 for the kit alone. Super duper, duper, duper high. You need a palm wrist for
this, unless, I don't know. You just need one. You just need one, just get one. It's so high that I just think it's not gonna make it
through this competition, or we're just gonna say
bye-bye to it right now. Last is a super special one. This is my personal
(trumpet blows) KBD Fans X Vulcans Maja, I don't know, whatever. And it's got NK cream switches in here which are linear switches. They're on the heavier side. Cherry profile keycaps with via as well. There was a hotswap version. I opted not to go that route. This is an Arisu layout. And what that means is
it's basically a 65% Alice, which is this, this, without the arrow keys
or any of this stuff. And it is sort of split. It's got a nice layout
here for that wrist angle. So you're not doing this weird thing instead you're doing more of that. So, a nice straight angle right there, less discomfort this way, or that way. And let me tell you, let me tell you. Switching to this layout took some time, and it definitely
requires you to touch type because your Y and your
T's are right there, your G and your H. So you can't just be like, oh, well, let me cross
this river here to press Y. No, none of that. Customizing and ease of use, this is definitely at
the top there for sure. (keyboard clicking) It's just a very unique build. However, this group
buy ended, but I'm sure if you check geekhack
and you check Group Buys you can probably find
another Arisu layout. I really like this board. However, there are some downsides. Also, quite high as well. Moldability of it, in the sense that when you build it, you make it for yourself
is what I mean by moddable now that it's all soldered
in there and everything. And that's it. Out of all of this,
which one is the winner? And you know, I can't tell you that because first I think we
need to address something. I know a lot of you are gonna ask, but Betty what about blah, blah, blah. And you know, that's fine. If you like it, you like it. Stick to it. I'm not telling you to
throw away your keyboard, buy one of these and you'll
be a super great typist or anything. So out of all of these, who is the winner? Who is the winner? Well, it depends. If you like something that you can mod, maybe go for a hotswap
keyboard, like the NK65, the K6, or the LTC Nimbleback. If you're on the budget, the LTC Nimbleback is a great option. If you want a switch that really isn't gonna
key chatter ever, Niz Plum. You can go custom, you can go pre-built. And now, if I had to pick one, just one, it would be this. This would be the one. It's quiet, it's not annoying anybody, it feels wonderful. You can change it to
whatever keycaps you want. You know, I'm just doing
this so you guys don't think I'm lying or click
baiting in the thumbnail. (keyboard clicking) Wow, this video was a hot
mess, just a hot mess. What am I doing? And see you next time. And click on one of these videos here to help you pick your next keyboard. You might really like it. Bye.
