RK ROYAL KLUDGE RK98 Gaming Keyboard, Wireless Mechanical Keyboard 100 Keys Tri-Mode BT5.1/2.4G/USB-C Full Size Hot Swappable Custom Keyboard with Numpad RGB Backlit, Massive Battery, Silver Switch

I ordered this keyboard as a replacement to a RedThunder keyboard that had quit working after 4 days. I received this keyboard in the mail around the second week of April and have used it almost daily. If you don’t feel like reading everything, here is the short. Buy it, it’s worth it, but if you want more details, please see below. First Impressions: The first thing I noticed was the weight. It is pretty hefty and feels rock solid. It feels like a quality product. The clicking sounds is very satisfying (I turned off the sound in the video, since there was music playing). I really like the fact that you can change the color modes, and what the keyboard itself does. I chose this effect, which I thought was really cool. Set Up: I decided to use it with the USB dongle, since I use docking station, and constantly swap between my personal laptop and my work laptop. It was as simple as plug and play. The fact that it worked out of the box, with both Mac (my personal laptop) and PC (my company laptop) without any additional drivers is/was a huge win for me. Battery Life: The battery life on it is incredible, I maybe charge it once every other week. I work from home for most of the week, so this thing sees a lot of use, I would say at minimum it see’s 24 hours of continuous use (8 hours a day, over 3 days) along with however long i’m on it for my personal projects. Checking the battery level is as simple as holding down two keys, and is easily done on the fly. *The battery life may vary based on which color mode you select, so be mindful of that, but with the one I have selected, it seems to last a very long time on a charge, which is another win. The brightness is also perfect, it isn’t too overpowering but also not too dim. Downside(s): My only gripe about it is that for me, having the keys so close together can be a bit of a headache. I am constantly having to retype things from accidentally hitting the wrong key, as the keys are very sensitive (which makes sense, since it is made for gaming). This is more of user error and not a fault of the keyboard/manufacturing though, so I don’t hold that against it. Final Thoughts: All in all, for the price point, functionality, and the quality, you can’t beat this. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a gaming keyboard, or someone who just wants that mechanical feel. It is a great product, and does exactly what you want it to do. I know that gaming/mechanical keyboards come in all shapes/sizes/features/price points, but for me, this checks every box. I actually plan on purchasing a second keyboard from RK Royal Kludge, but the quieter version while i’m in the office. Whenever I get around to that, be on the lookout for another review. Great work, RK Royal Kludge, this is an amazing product.

For the last several years I've been using a Corsair keyboard I bought when I had a different desk and there was much more room for the keyboard and mouse. During the pandemic I upgraded to a larger desk but the keyboard tray is smaller and I sacrificed space to move my mouse. It was a minor inconvenience until recently. During the recent Xmas in July sale I was in Best Buy and decided to play with some of the keyboards that were on sale. Another Corsair caught my attention with the action of the keys and it was $50 off. I decided I didn't really need it and left. Recently I had rotator cuff surgery so I'm stuck at home with nothing to do and I've been testing my setup for working with weak hand. The limited space for the mouse became much more significant. I looked around and discovered a whole new world of custom mechanical keyboards and was blown away. I can't tell you how glad I was that I didn't purchase the other keyboard a month ago. I was looking for a keyboard with a num pad because I do a decent amount of numbers and I never really learned to use the top row number keys very well. I saw good reviews for The Royal Kudge keyboards and then found this one on sale. It was less than the Corsair I bought 4 years ago. It arrived in the mail today. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos the last few days about the qualities of keyboards like these but nothing compares to getting one in hand. The weight of the box was the initial wow moment. Then taking the keyboard out was the second. Then pressing the keys to feel the action. This keyboard is 4 inches narrower then the old one which freed up all the space I need to use my mouse and move the keyboard close the edge. Now I'm 5 days out from my surgery and I'm able to type comfortably with my arm in the sling. I'm blown away. Some things truly do work out for the best. I bought the black with silver switches. It's a bit soft but I'll adjust. I would recommend one of these to anyone. Do it for yourself and for the people that make these wonderful keyboards. Once you try one you'll never want to use anything else. The only thing that might be a negative for some people is the noise of the keys. I think it's great. It's not too loud for me. I think it kind of reminds of the old days hearing the clack of a typewriter. From what I've seen they make models that perform great but make much less noise. <8/22/24> Update: After using the keyboard more, with silver switches, I have found that the springs in the switches are too light and the distance to actuation is too short for my fat fingers. I have errors regularly because I'll graze another switch or sometimes actuate one while I'm just pausing to look at something or think. If you have a light touch these will probably be fine for you but I ordered a set of black switches which I'm hoping will be better suited to my style.

This keyboard is very good I am satisfied with my purchase and it sounds amazing

The keyboard works great. It has a nice solid feel to it. It is heavy which for me is a good thing. I would not call it portable and packing it with a laptop would not be good. I have one negative, one annoyance and a positive. -- Negative: The software needs work. It is great if you want to control the pretty lights. That is not my thing. It is not so great for assigning keys. It only allows direct key assignments. By that I mean you can reassign the PrtSc key but you cannot assign Ctrl + PrtSc, Shift + PrtSc, Alt + PrtSc or Win + PrtSc. That significantly reduces the usefulness of assigning keys and macros. PrtSc and Ins are the two keys that I rarely ever use. Everything else on the keyboard has a prime function. I could give up the number pad for macros and special key binds but I feel cheated if I do since that is a big reason I bought they keyboard. I use the numpad. Also, the Fn + keys cannot be rebound. -- Annoyance: They have the Ins key next to the Home key. The end key is selected using Fn + PgDn. I never use the Ins. I do use the end key all the time editing text. The first thing I did when I opened the software was to remap the Ins key to End. -- Positive: The good news is that the key binds in the software are saved in the keyboard. The app does not have to be open all the time. This came in very handy when I configured the keyboard in Windows and then switch to using it in Linux. Overall a great keyboard for home use. I hope they keep improving the software.

Overall, I like this keyboard a lot due to the quality you get for the price. It has definitely got a good weight to it, and the housing is, for the most part, sturdy. However, the sound coming from each key press isn't as premium as some others with dampening layers. The speed silver switches are a joy to type with and having a number pad fit in this small form factor is great. Wired, 2.4GHz, and Bluetooth options for whatever your needs are. A couple of cons: Due to the smaller form factor, the number 0 on the number pad is a standard keycap size, not a double-width key, as in a standard full-size keyboard. Even while using this keyboard as wired, the RGB lighting times out and shuts off.

Coming from a keyboard snob, this keyboard could be better. But overall, it's pretty great. The switches it comes with are alright I suppose and the keycaps are pretty good. It doesn't take much to get this keyboard looking and sounding great. I believe this keyboard looks great with pudding keycaps. The LEDs are wonderful out of the box, I can't tell if they've dimmed or if my eyes have just adjusted to the brightness. Overall, GREAT budget keyboard if you put effort into it, probably wouldn't recommend it over some other budget keyboards. I wouldn't say it's the budget keyboard holy grail, but it's great for any beginner keyboard snob. NOTE: Has North-facing LEDs.

I had to double check to make sure I hadn’t accidentally purchased a used for parts product before I wrote this review. Upon unboxing, I noticed the E key wasn’t functional, and spent a bit of time troubleshooting it to find it was in fact a broken switch. This evening, I decided to inspect it further, and have discovered at least 5 more broken switches. Out of the box. Unused. typically, I tend to buy cars expecting the tires to be inflated, or clothes with the seams stitched. I genuinely want to know what the purpose of this keyboard is? Was this a training model for elementary students to trial typing on? Perhaps it’s an energy conservation effort, in hopes that my keystrokes don’t obliterate the O-zone layer? In reality, I’ve purchased $4 keyboards from Amazon that at the very minimum functioned out of the box. As of now, I strongly recommend you find the nearest Morse code box as an alternative to the RK keyboard until they can find the capability to push 2 prongs into a slot consistently.

Great keyboard, at first I was sad that the very distinctive mechanical clicking sound was quiet, but then I realized, it was quiet, so what was I complaining about? It’s actually kinda nice. As for why I mentioned the weight, I hook my computer to the living room tv and use a wireless keyboard and mouse to play more casual games so this thing is HEAVY when ya wanna move it, but overall still a GREAT keyboard. Charged it the day I bought it a week or so back and haven’t done so since and still good battery as well.