It’s attainable I’m the flawed individual to assessment the OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro. Sure, reviewing keyboards is a part of my job, however a part of what makes mechanical keyboards so interesting can also be what makes them so onerous to assessment. Tastes and preferences fluctuate so broadly, and yow will discover (or construct) a board completely tailor-made to you. That additionally means it’s attainable to construct a board that is every part you do not need in a keyboard. This could be mine.
The OnePlus Keyboard 81 Professional is the product of the corporate’s collaboration with Keychron, one of many largest names in mechanical keyboards for fans. Even in the event you’re acquainted with Keychron’s keyboards—we have examined a number of in our Home Office Gear guide—this 75 % keyboard nonetheless manages to tell apart itself.
Heavy Metallic
The OnePlus Keyboard 81 Professional is heavy. I imply heavy. At a bit of greater than 4 kilos, its weight will really feel acquainted to anybody who has used a Keychron board however shockingly bricklike to anybody else. The load retains the keyboard from sliding round your desk, which is a kind of private preferences that doesn’t mesh with my behavior of shifting round at my desk rather a lot. However for these with good, static posture, it may be a boon.
On the underside, a thick kickstand bar that stays firmly in place. On the rear edge are two bodily toggles and a USB-C port. One toggle allows you to change between Home windows and Mac keyboard layouts and the opposite swaps between wired and wi-fi connections. It connects wirelessly by way of Bluetooth 5.1, however you should use the included USB-C–to–USB-C cable to tether it. (There’s additionally a USB-C–to–USB-A adapter within the field.)
The keyboard comes with individual-key RGB backlighting, although the included keycaps have opaque lettering. In a darkish room, you may see the form of the keyboard, which ought to be roughly sufficient to reposition your fingers, nevertheless it’s not tremendous straightforward to see the important thing labels. This isn’t an enormous dealbreaker (particularly since you may customise the keycaps), nevertheless it’s a little bit of a bummer for me.
OnePlus sells two variations of this keyboard: Winter Bonfire and Summer time Breeze. The previous makes use of pink, tactile switches, whereas the latter (which is the mannequin I examined) has blue, linear switches. Moreover, solely the Summer time Breeze mannequin comes with what OnePlus is asking its Marble-mallow keycaps, whereas the Winter Bonfire mannequin makes use of normal polybutylene terephthalate plastic.
It’s onerous to parse what makes the Marble-mallow keycaps so particular. OnePlus describes it as derived from the identical form of supplies utilized in “wristbands and charging cables,” that are usually mushy however sturdy. Regardless of the distinction within the manufacturing course of, the keys do really feel noticeably softer than these on different keyboards.
Typing on a Cloud
{Photograph}: OnePlus
Mixed with the linear switches, these Marble-mallow keycaps give the keyboard a distinctly squishy typing expertise. It nearly appears like typing on a cloud. Which is one other of these issues which can be both nice or horrible relying in your desire. For my cash, if I’m going to kind on an enormous, heavy keyboard, I want some satisfying click on, so the Winter Bonfire would possibly’ve been extra up my alley. However for many who like softer, quieter keyboards, this feels onerous to high.
There are 81 keys on this keyboard (therefore the title), and the 75 % keyboard format saves area by dropping the numpad and keys like Insert or Finish. You do get keys like Web page Up, Web page Down, and Residence alongside the precise. In contrast to plenty of compact keyboards although, the keys listed below are barely separated on an island of their very own, which I respect.
The quantity knob on the highest proper additionally sits barely aside and stands out like an ornamental jewel. The knob’s clear plastic gives the look that it might mild up, nevertheless it doesn’t, which is nearly a aid. One vivid mild can be distracting, nevertheless it does make the knob really feel a bit of misplaced. Each different key has a mushy, matte grey vibe with solely a splash of muted pink. So a transparent, gemlike knob feels incongruous.
