HN Explorer

Why mechanical keyboards are so junky?

4 points by Borg3 ↗ HN
Im currently using cheap mechanical keyboard with Gateron Yellow pro switches. Typing/Gaming experience is great.. But, there are problems. First, this keyboard have HW or FW issue, when sometimes it feeds bad scan codes (mostly WinKey). Second, after a year of usage I noticed that it gets worse, and sometimes it doesnt register keypress (mostly A) or there is delay.

So, I was slowly started to looking for replacement and holy moly, its hard. I reading reviews of pretty expensive (for me) keyboards where people complain about input lag or double chatter. They shuffle different firmwares to elimante one or other.

What the HELL is going on? I used cheap membrane keyboards for entire life and it was okey. Yeah, they got used kinda quickly, 1-2 years and you had to replace them (before replacement, you could open up keyboard and shuffle membranes around to buy some life). And it was ok, keyboards were dirty cheap and failure was more like keys become soft, not that it didnt register anything or double chatter.

Im seriously considering going back to cheap keyboards now. Its unbelivable that such a simple product cannot be made solid, even buying pretty expensive keyboards. It seems like a scam, there everywhere super cheap components are used and they just sell brand.

Any comments apreciated. I currently got used to ANSI keyboards, but earlier I used Big Ass Enter keyboards for life. Those are, for some reason much harder to get now. ISO layout is no no for me, I tried it and after 3 weeks I still could NOT get used to it.

13 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 43.8 ms ] thread
treadmill
I have two WASDs (https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/), they are great! No issues whatsoever.
Borg3
When they were bought/made? The problem I see is that stuff made after 2020 has significant lower quality. I read tons of review and later ones seems to confirm this.
solardev
I've had a generic Microsoft ergonomic keyboard for 5-6 years and never had an issue with it. Every key still works and feels the way it did at first. https://www.microsoft.com/en/accessories/products/keyboards/... (I don't like the mouse but the keyboard is perfect. There's a SKU without the mouse on Amazon)

Super comfortable, easy to type fast on it, and thing just works. Battery lasts many months.

Used it across several Windows desktops and Mac laptops and it's worked flawlessly on all of them.

-------

Could it be a matter of typing technique? I grew up on mechanical keyboards but eventually switched to these ergo ones, and now I type both much faster and much more comfortably. I think my keystrokes are much softer now than before since it takes much less force to press a key down. Just kinda feel like I'm floating across the keys and I never really think about it anymore.

Borg3
What do you mean by typing technique? Im very happy with current keyboard if we speak about typing. Those yellow switches sound and work great. They are smooth and about the right with force I need to press keys. No issue at all here.

Actually, if that keyboard was working correctly, it would be ideal buy. I like it design. The problem is, it gives wrong scancodes few times a day, like you press letter, you get WinKey. I bet its firmware related, because keyboard have option to disable winkey (Fn+WinKey) and it works. I mean, you press WinKey and nothing happen, but, when fake scancode is provided, it passes the check!

https://krux.tech/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/krx0110-krux-at...

solardev
I'm not trying to sell any one contact type over another. People have their preferences. By technique I just mean that similar to how you can play piano with different finger techniques (like pushing down on the pad of the finger vs tip), you can use your fingers differently on a keyboard, which may impact their long term durability. Different switches have different required levels of force, different spring configurations, etc., but it's also possible to type "harder" than necessary.

The ergo setups in particular forced me to adjust my palm and wrist positions and as a result I type softer than on a standard qwerty mechanical keyboard. In my case it was to help with finger and wrist pain (which it did wonders for).

Can't help you with the scan code failures there. I never had any issues with mine, sorry.

In the past, on older keyboards, some keys got squishier over time, but a dusting with compressed air would fix that. Another time I spilled water inside and had to retrace the circuits with a pencil. Some keyboards have issues with chording too many keys at once. But none of those situations resemble what you describe.

wara23arish
I and a friend also got these. However months in they became unusable, they would constantly disconnect, and miss keystrokes completely.

Ive been using a used Kinesis Advantage 360 from ebay and its been perfect

cdaringe
This keyboard has a poor rxtx. Used it for years and it would regularly drop keystokes. Wish they made a wired version. I did buy the wired MS ergo version which is very close… but noticeably different form factor.

Really wish i could have wired this easily.

aosaigh
I’m using a Keycron mechanical keyboard for about two years now and haven’t noticed any serious issues.

Only complaint is that the model I have doesn’t warn you when the battery is low and just cuts out. Other than that, typing experience is the same as when I got it.

Borg3
Yeah, Keychron is on my list. I think I remember I found some bad reviews too unfortunately. Im going to reread reviews. Im after Keychron C1 pro. You can buy it with Red switches (I want linears, so Red or Yellow), and it have decent price. I hope quality is good enough.
Borg3
Riiight, Now I checked Keychron webpage and C1 keyboards are gone. These were nice and simpler version with north-faced backlight and shine through keycaps.

Now they have C1 pro, with south-faced backlight and non-shine trough keycaps. WTH? Such backlight is useless now. My current keyboard have nice north-faced backlight and shine through keycaps and looks great at nights. I dont look at keyboard when typing, but when playing some RTS, I like 1-0 keys to be lit so its easier to select proper army group :) Also, it have 5 custom backlight modes!! With is also amazing compared to other most keyboard where they provide just 2. Who the hell like all those junky useless backlight modes like waves radiants etc..

g434qgags
I've had a Topre Realforce for 14 years, never had an issue with it.
olavgg
I am struggling with the current state of BAD keyboards.

I had a Corsair k95, which was mostly fine except that keys broke after 3-6 months use. Especially keys that I used for gaming... Then I switched to Logitech G613, and now I cant do any programming because of key chattering.

My solution has been moving back to older keyboards.