I made a forum account especially for this - Razer is my favorite "gaming" company, I want them to win the heart of every keyboard enthusiast out there.
I've been a member of many tech and hardware communities in the past year, took a part in many discussions, and most important - learned a lot!
I'll do my best to suggest a product that will help Razer claim the throne as the best keyboard provider.
Most of the people say that SteelSeries is the owner of the best keyboard in the market - their Apex Pro if I recall correctly.
I think it is overrated, overpriced and gimmicky - no offense to SteelSeries, I think they're a great company, but their marketing is just so good, that they will never need to put something innovative or high quality to sell their products.
Suggestion :
At first, I suggest teaming up with Drop, if possible, they make great products and could provide a great variety of upgrades and uniqueness to the keyboard.
My main focus here is to design a keyboard that looks good, functions well, and cuts costs without sacrificing too much quality.
Keycaps:
You'd want to use full PBT keycaps - lets cut the gimmicks and invest in the thing which is responsible for a huge chunk of the user experience for the keyboard.
You've got a huge advantage there - you've already got a PBT keycap set, use it as the standard set.
If you can team up with Drop, GMK Mods should add a lot of what every enthusiast loves.
One last very important note in the keycaps area - DO NOT pull a Corsair, use standard profile keycaps and switches, upgradability is a must in the enthusiasm area - you are not gonna make someone throw out a GMK keycap set which was bought for more than one hundred dollars because some keycaps won't fit the switches or collied with others.
That said - you now know our next topic.
Switches:
I'm once again going back to the topic of teaming up with Drop, They have got a great option :
Holy Pandas - the holy grail of mechanical switches, these tactile switches are known and talked everywhere in the enthusiast communities, they are very expensive, an OEM of the panda would be great, as long as you, somehow, manage to keep it affordable.
Keep in mind, there are very split opinions on these, I would not recommend using these.
Retail Price: 1$/switch
Another option would be the ZealPc Zealios V2:
these are also very popular enthusiast switches, coming in four different variants of actuation force (62g, 65g, 67g, 72g), these tactile switches will surely beat any "laser switch" in their feel.
Retail Price: 1$/Switch
One less expensive suggestion would be the Kalih Box Switches:
Insanely common among budget custom keyboard builders, these great switches are priced nicely and come in four different variants:
Kalih Box Red and Black are the linear switches in the product line, while the difference between these is the force required to press them, the black being the heavier switch.
The Kalih Box Brown switch is the tactile one among their switches line.
To finish off the line, we have the Kalih Box White, a great, very popular clicky switch.
One thing you might have noticed is the similarity to the very popular cherry switches in their naming scheme - the only difference is Cherry Blues are parallel to Box Whites.
The Kalih Box line is my favorite since it would not confuse the average customer too much!
Retail Price 3$/10 Switches (0.33$/Switch) (@NovelKeys)
Honorable Mentions:
Tealios v2 (1$/Switch) (@ZealPC)
Gateron Yellows (2.4$/10 Switches) (@NovelKeys)
Outemu Silent Skys (0.6$-0.55$/Switch) (@1UpKeyboards)
Although these are my suggestions, there are still many switches to explore, and ideas to improve, my suggestion is you look at other options in different sites I will list below, so you can be sure you pick the right switch, or switches, for this keyboard, as that is something you don't wanna mess up!
@NovelKeys @Drop @KBDFans @ZealPC @MechanicalKeyboards
PCB:
This should not be complicated, a 61 key PCB would do the job, I'll list everything that should make it great :
- Universal 60% layout
- Detachable USB-C cable
- Can't go wrong with a hot-swap PCB
- RGB (Razer Chroma compatible, of course)
- Cherry stabilizers
I think community users can provide some more suggestions here.
Plate :
Aluminum or Brass plate should do the job. Any plate should.
Just make sure there is a plate.
Case :
Although I don't think it is possible for reasons I probably don't know, I suggest shipping the keyboard in four different cases.
The Expensive Pick:
Frosted acrylic keyboard cases have been around for a very long time and are a very popular pick - they combine RGB bling and specialty in a great way, although might be over the top for some, this is your greatest bet against SteelSeries's OLED Display.
The Unique Pick:
The wooden themed case would be great for many people, it will match with a theme of many gaming setups in my opinion, and you will be the first to make a keyboard with a case of this kind - everyone who has a wooden themed setup and is hesitating on building a custom keyboard will consider this heavily.
The Simple Pick:
No RGB, no cheap materials too, a good, heavily built, quality aluminum case, for the simple guys among your customers.
The Budget Pick:
Yes, it would be low quality, but some people just want to save, and this is a great case for it, a 15$ case can cut costs a lot, even though I would have invested in a better case, it is budget dependent.
Other Ideas That Come To Mind:
- A good idea might be to add lubricant as an add-on for those willing to pay a premium.
- Wrist rests are great but aren't a necessity, I honestly think the keyboard should ship without them to cut costs, but you should make official ones for it, in case some do want them. (Maybe even ones that will match the cases!)
Conclusions:
This keyboard should be a better Ducky One 2 Mini, with the razer marketing and branding, combined with the fact it will be appealing for most enthusiasts, should break the market. It won't fail.
Keep in mind I'm a person, with opinions, so any advice to improve my suggestion would be embraced!
When it comes to pricing, the keyboard should cost less than the Apex Pro TKL (currently 179$).
To get a more accurate value, let's see how much this keyboard would cost to custom build:
30$ (Keycaps) + 21$ (70 Kalih Box Switches) + 15$ (Plastic Case) + 55$ (PCB - used the Dz60rgb v2 for reference) + 18$ (Plate) = 139$.
The keyboard with the cheapest options SHOULD NOT go above 139$.
Now for the expensive pick:
30$ (Keycaps) + 70$ (70 Zealios Switches) + 88$ (Frosted Acrylic Case) + 55$ (PCB - used the Dz60rgb v2 for reference) + 18$ (Plate) = 261$.
This seems too expensive, but we're talking about an insanely premium case and zealios switches - most people would call it a day for the rest of their life buying a keyboard like this.
although, it still seems too expensive, so, let's make some changes:
30$ (Keycaps) + 39$ (Outemu Silent Sky 68g Switches) + 45$ (Colored Aluminum Case) + 55$ (Dz60rgb v2) + 18$ (Plate) = 187$.
Yes, this is it, a keyboard with great, unique switches, a quality, yet
simplistic case, PBT keycaps, a great PCB and a plate.
Though I still think the keyboard should ship with different cases and switches varieties, this is the right way to look, this is what people in the enthusiast market actually want.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with your business, keep listening to customers like in the past few months!
