Keyboards

Feeling nostalgic for the Game Boy’s glossy purple buttons? The Key Boy is a custom wireless keyboard, designed and built by YouTube’s The Lesser The Besser, that swaps traditional keycaps for 3D-printed recreations of the Game Boy’s controls, as spotted by Retro Dodo.

The Classic-GLO is an $89 glow-in-the-dark mechanical keyboard kit from Novelkeys. It’s just as fun to build and nice to type on as the Classic-TKL I tested and really liked last year, and now it glows in the dark. You know, just in case you need a little more joy on your desk. It comes in three colors, and I tried them all. Check it out:

The retrofuturistic computers used by Lumon employees in Severance are loosely based on the Data General Dasher terminals released in the late ‘70s. Signature Plastics, the same company responsible for the SA profile keycaps used on those terminals, is now selling a matching set of keycaps so you can upgrade your mechanical keyboard with Lumon aesthetics. The SA Macrodata Refinement set is available for preorder now for $197, and expected to ship in Q1 2025.

Art Lebedev’s expensive Optimus keyboards seemed like a footnote in tech blogging history until a small German company saw the potential for a new generation of content creators.

Mechanical keyboards were trending toward Hall effect switches, but at CES Epomaker is following recent announcements from Ducky and hyping induction as the next big thing.

Dry Studio’s new mechanical keyboard is much more domesticated than its supercar-inspired one. The Petbrick 65 is a $239 small-format wireless board that comes in two color options: calico and “odd-eye” (like a black cat with heterochromia).

The SA X-Wing keycap set looks like it’s been through hell and patched up with whatever was on hand, just like a Rebel starfighter. It’s the rare Star Wars tie-in that feels like it understands the appeal of the universe.

Angry Miao’s Neon 80 mechanical keyboard has:

Today I learned that after Google stopped doing April Fools’ jokes in 2021 — a change we lauded — its Japan division started revealing zany keyboards on October 1st (because 10/1 = 101 keys) instead. Find the latest below; previous entries include the Gboard Teacup, Gboard Stick and Gboard Cap.

The Apple IIGS (graphics and sound) debuted in 1986 with enhanced multimedia capabilities, but software developer Matt Chesters remembers it best for the sleek mechanical keyboard the computer shipped with.

I believe the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is only the company’s second-ever to let you swap out switches, after last year’s non-Pro version. It’s also got a cool screen, dial, and connects wirelessly. But at $300, I’d wait until the mech keyboard community weighs in!

If you think Apple’s new iPhone lineup needs even more buttons, on October 7th you can preorder iPhone 16 versions of Clicks’ BlackBerry-like keyboard case, with shipping expected in November.

Apple could release a new keyboard accessory for “an entry-level iPad or the new iPad Airs” by mid-2025, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter.

Among Asus’ peripherals announced at Gamescom is a new $199.99 ROG Falchion Ace HFX keyboard. It has Hall effect switches, 8,000Hz polling, and a “Speed Tap mode,” which sounds like the Razer and Wooting features freshly banned in Counter-Strike 2.

I don’t need a lot in a folding Bluetooth keyboard. It just needs to support multiple wireless devices, plus USB-C direct connect, and not get all floppy on my lap! Would you believe there aren’t a lot of keyboards like that?