VELOCIFIRE TKL Mechanical Keyboard, 87 Key Ergonomic TKL02 Wired Brown Switches Mechanical Keyboard,with White LED Backlit for Copywriters, Typists and Programmers

I'm typing this review as a connoisseur of cheap, mostly-plastic mechanical keyboards that I've been purchasing from Amazon and hoarding. I have a collection of sub-$40 mechanical keyboards that would make any sane, rational person's head explode, and this one is so far my favorite to use.My first impressions on this thing, based on appearance, were overall very good. One very, very welcome difference in the keyboard I received from the one pictured on this listing when I purchased it (seems to have been updated since), is that the logo had been moved from just above the arrow keys, to just below them, on the front edge of the keyboard. It's there, but it's subtle enough that you don't really notice it unless you're looking for it. That results in a much cleaner appearance that I would guess a lot of people prefer. Otherwise, it's just a very clean, standard tenkeyless ISO layout.The included keycaps are not of amazing quality. The legends are legible and clean enough. The backlights (a nice cool white) are visible, but some of the translucent white is a little uneven; however, I don't really care about much about th keycaps. Honestly, who among us does not have a small box full of all sorts of keycaps stashed nearby? No one, that's who (Honestly, if you don't like the keycaps, just search "backlit keycaps" here. There are several offerings, including Tai-Hao, which are affordable and of decent quality).There are two small LED indicator lights below the Print Screen/Scroll Lock/Pause keys, also white, unlabelled, one of which indicates if Caps Lock is active, and the other--to my surprise--not if Scroll Lock is active, but if the Windows key is locked (activated by pressing Fn + Window). This seemed out of the ordinary, but also didn't bother me, because I honestly don't have the first clue what Scroll Lock even does.The feel of the keyboard is, in my opinion, very satisfying. The housing is plastic, but is extremely sturdy. I couldn't get the thing to flex if I wanted to. It is also surprisingly heavy. I do not have a scale on hand, but it feels pretty similar to my 87-key WASD v3 keyboard, which is a pretty hefty keyboard (site lists the weight as 2.0 lbs). Whatever that's worth to you, I like the heft of it.What is probably a deal breaker for many of you will be the switches. I was under the impression that this keyboard had Outemu brown switches, which I've used before, and are pretty okay. I discovered the brown switches are actually from a brand called "Content," which I'd never heard of. I can kinda compare these to brown switches from Outemu, Gateron, and Cherry, and in my opinion, these feel much softer than all of those. The tactile bump is much less pronounced, so if you want tons of tactile feedback, you may not enjoy these. To me, they felt "different," but not bad. Overall I've enjoyed using this keyboard both at home while gaming, and at the office while coding and composing sarcastic email replies.One other point I'll make is based on the sound. Obviously, these are not blue switches or similar, there is no auditory feedback, no click, but still there is some sound generated by any mechanical keyboard. The sound from this one, I've found, is very satisfyingly dampened. The keys generate a very relatively soft sound on bottoming out. I also noticed that there was no rattle from the stabilizers, particularly on the space bar. On removing the space bar, and subsequently the shift and other longer keys, I noticed that these stabilizers are already lubricated. This may be just a small thing, but it's one that caught my attention and I was pretty impressed by that.IN CONCLUSION, I'll say if you are here in search of a starting point, wanting to see what mechanical keyboards have to offer, get this one as long as you're ok with the tenkeyless layout. If you're wondering what exactly a mechanical keyboard that costs less than $50 could possibly have to offer, definitely try this one. Are there better keyboards out there? Well, probably, but that's all subjective, and more often than not, in the case of mechanical keyboards, you should probably go ahead and say a prayer for your wallet. Brown switches offer a pretty good starting point, I think, and a lot of folks probably agree, and although the switch maker is a little lesser known, in my limited experience quality is not an issue.

I wanted a new keyboard because I had purchased a new computer desk with a narrower pullout keyboard tray, and my old beige 104 keyboard wouldn't fit. I also wanted backlights so that I could see the keys without turning on a light in my office.I looked at a lot of different models, and chose the Velocifire TKL02. I've been using it for a week and am very satisfied.The ABS keys feel comfortable under my fingers and they are doubleshot, which means the the letters/numbers are molded into the key as a different color plastic (a translucent white), so that they will never rub off or fade. The backlighting is adjustable for different brightness levels, or can be turned off entirely. I find that on the lowest level, the keys are plenty bright enough to see in complete darkness.The keys are mounted on mechanical switches made by a company called "Content". They are copies of Cherry brand "Brown" switches which means that they offer some tactile feedback which typing, i.e. you can FEEL the switch make contact as you depress the key. However there is no loud audible "click" as on the Cherry "Blue" switch. The only sound is that of the keycap itself bottoming out on the metal plate which mounts the switch, and every mechanical keyboard makes that sound, easily fixed (if it bothers you) by installing rubber O-rings under the keycaps. I find that if I think about it, I can type a little more softly and reduce the sound.The Content switches are rated for 16.5 million cycles, not as good as Cherry's 50 million cycle rating, but still acceptable. (If you pressed the same key once each second for 8 hours/day, every day of the year, it would take you approximately 18 months to press the key 16,500,000 times).The outer case is plastic, with a metal plate inside between the printed circuit board and the switches. The keys are slightly recessed into the top of the case, instead of being "floating" keys. This means that, from the side, you cannot see the gap between the keycap and the switch. It's a more modern look, popular in the 80s and still looks good. The overall weight is more than two pounds. The keyboard feels substantial and doesn't move around when typing. The USB cable is permanently attached to the case, and covered with soft rubber/plastic.I actually compared this keyboard side-by-side with an IKBC CD87, which costs more than twice as much. The IKBC is very nice quality, and uses genuine Cherry switches (good), and has keycaps made of PBT plastic (also good) BUT, those keycaps are NOT doubleshot, but merely laser engraved (not good), so eventually, the letters/numbers will wear off. Also, the IKBC CD87 does not feature backlighting (not good). Visually, the two keyboards are very similar as far as their overall styling, both are black with recessed keys, almost exactly the same size and layout of leds. From a tactile standpoint, this Velocifire feels very close to the IKBC, and for me, having backlit keys makes the Velocifire a better choice, even with the cheaper switches and even with ABS keycaps (remember, the keycaps are still doubleshot)....so maybe it only lasts 10 years instead of 20, or 30? We will see.....perhaps someday Velocifire will offer this same board with genuine Cherry switches?.....Until then, I'm very pleased with the TKL02.Update: After slightly more than 6 months, I began having a problem with two of the keys (A and P) failing to register when pressed. I would sometimes (often?) have to press them multiple times to produce the desired character on the screen. After researching the problem online I found that not only Velocifire, but many mechanical keyboards experience this type of problem at times. To fix the problem, I removed both keycaps using the special tool which came with the keyboard, depressed the switch plunger, and sprayed a few shots of CRC electrical contact cleaner into the switch, basically filling the switch body with cleaner. I operated the switch plunger a few times while the cleaner evaporated, then replaced the keycaps. This appears to have resolved the issue. Both keys work as they should once more. The fix was easy and took only a few minutes from beginning to end. I still like the Velocifire keyboard, and still think it was an excellent value. It has exactly the features that are important to me, and I'm glad that this repair was so easy to accomplish.