The Low-Profile Chilkey ND75 LP is a Top-Tier Gaming Keyboard for Less

Usually the words affordable and enthusiast don't spell together, but that's precisely the lawsuit with the Chilkey ND75 LP (low-profile) gaming keyboard. It brings each of the features from the boutique customized keyboard country unneurotic for a tenable $99 terms constituent – a afloat aluminum lawsuit that’s designed to beryllium opened and modded, luxuriously creaseless and amazingly heavy hot-swappable mechanical switches, layers of dependable dampening foam, tri-mode wireless, and a compact layout that’s conscionable close for gaming. Not lone is the compact gaming keyboard to beat, but it's 1 of the champion keyboards you tin get for the money.

Chilkey ND75 LP – Design and Features

Chilkey whitethorn not beryllium a marque you've heard of before, but it's been astir for a small portion and already begun to marque a sanction for itself. The institution is simply a spin-off from the customized mechanical keyboard country and brings immoderate of the unsocial features from that abstraction to its catalog astatine much affordable terms points. There person been a fig of companies trying to bash the same, but frankincense far, I person been precise impressed with what Chilkey has delivered, and that's decidedly the lawsuit with the ND75 LP.

As the sanction implies, the ND75 LP is simply a low-profile mechanical keyboard. It doesn't person rather the aforesaid slim footprint arsenic thing similar the Nuphy Air 60HE, and it doesn't usage magnetic switches. However, compared to a full-height keyboard, similar the archetypal ND75, it's overmuch slimmer. It besides uses low-profile switches and keycaps, lending it a 9.5mm (0.37”) beforehand tallness and a 26.6mm (1.05”) backmost tallness for a comfy 6.5-degree typing angle.

Height compared to the Nuphy Air75 V2.

Low-profile gaming keyboards aren't precisely common, though determination are immoderate dense hitters retired there, similar the Logitech G915 Lightspeed and Corsair K70 Air Wireless. Having utilized some of those keyboards extensively, I tin accidental with assurance that the ND75 LP is successful a people of its own. It is fundamentally a customized keyboard with each the qualities you’d expect but successful a low-profile signifier factor, which is thing adjacent much uncommon than low-profile gaming keyboards.

The keyboard uses a customized mentation of the 75% layout, sometimes known arsenic a compact TKL. This means that it has arrow keys and a relation row, but that it besides has a enactment of navigation and editing keys. Typically, these would beryllium successful a azygous file connected the right. However, here, Chilkey has added an LCD surface for casual onboard configuration. So you person 2 keys successful a file supra it and 2 much successful a enactment on the apical conscionable to the close of the relation row. It's a precise functional layout that balances compactness for gaming with functionality for enactment and usage arsenic a mean regular driver.

The archetypal happening you are apt to announcement is its aluminum case. Steel and aluminum apical plates are thing peculiar successful the satellite of gaming keyboards; however, the entire case of the ND75 LP is made of coagulated aluminum. Additionally, there’s a dense value acceptable into the backmost that gives it an awesome heft. It's engraved with a chill brushed spiral signifier that catches airy and adds a textured look. Given each of that, it weighs successful astatine conscionable shy of 4 pounds.

This benignant of plan is halfway to what Chilkey seems to beryllium after. It has released 2 different keyboards astatine this point, including the archetypal ND75 arsenic good arsenic the ND TKL. I've tested some of these, and the ND TKL, successful particular, is frankly fantabulous and costs conscionable astir the aforesaid arsenic the ND75 LP. Like it’s counterparts the ND75 LP has aggregate colour options with unsocial accents (I person the “Silver” colour strategy here) and arsenic you'll work astir soon, an interior plan that is fitted to an enthusiast's modular for sound, feel, and performance.

If you're not already successful the satellite of customized mechanical keyboards, past the thought of fancy rear weights astir apt doesn't marque overmuch sense. After all, you'll hardly ever spot it, truthful wherefore would anyone wage other for it? It’s a just point, but it’s besides 1 of the touches that the enthusiast assemblage has made a staple for galore years. That other value besides serves a applicable purpose. Not lone does the value support the keyboard unchangeable connected your desk, but it besides impacts the dependable signature and removes immoderate of the hollowness and reverberation that mightiness different occur. And marque nary mistake, dependable and consciousness are conscionable arsenic important to this keyboard arsenic its responsiveness successful gaming.

To that end, Chilkey has fixed a batch of information to the operation of this keyboard. The keycaps, for example, are made of double-shot PBT plastic. This is simply a denser integrative than ABS, which is typically utilized for gaming keycaps, and is much resistant to shining implicit time. I person personally utilized respective PBT keycap sets implicit the people of years and they inactive look conscionable arsenic bully arsenic the time I installed them. Since it uses a abstracted portion of integrative for the legend, you'll besides ne'er person to interest astir those chipping oregon fading implicit time. They heighten dependable too, arsenic the denser integrative creates a heavy dependable signature erstwhile typing quickly.

Beneath those keycaps, you'll find immoderate of the champion linear switches I've tested truthful acold connected a low-profile keyboard. Chilkey calls these Aster switches. They're made of POM plastic, which is brushed and has a debased friction coefficient for creaseless travel, but they’re besides pre-lubricated to heighten that adjacent further. The question region is particularly deep, coming successful astatine 3mm. Compared to a full-height keyboard switch, which is typically 3.5 to 4mm, the typing acquisition is overmuch much acquainted and easier to accommodate to if you're coming from a full-size keyboard compared to chiclet keys, scissor switches, oregon adjacent Cherry’s caller ultra-low illustration mechanical switches. Full POM switches besides person a unsocial dependable that is perceptibly smoother than mean Cherry MX switches.

The keyboard supports hot-swapping these switches too, truthful if you person different that you're a instrumentality of oregon privation to alteration things up implicit time, oregon should you ever request to repair a power owed to an inopportune spill, you tin bash that overmuch much easy than a keyboard with soldered switches.There's customizable per-key RGB backlighting down each switch, too, which tin beryllium configured connected the keyboard itself if you privation to rhythm done its animations and set brightness oregon acceptable up done Chilkey's online configuration tool. It’s not precise bright, though, and the keys aren’t backlit to assistance with typing successful the dark.

Internally, you tin spot its customized keyboard inspirations worn connected its sleeve. It uses a flexible FR4 plate, the aforesaid worldly that circuit boards are made retired of, to equine the switches. The stabilizers travel pre-lubed truthful the larger keys don't rattle retired of the box. There are besides aggregate layers of dependable dampening and dependable enhancing foam.

Each furniture of foam accomplishes a antithetic occupation and is applied to present the last dependable and consciousness you'll acquisition with the keyboard. It breaks down arsenic follows:

• PORON Plate Foam: This furniture of foam exists beneath the sheet and surrounds the switches. Its occupation is to isolate the dependable of the switches and halt dependable waves from traveling done the hollow spaces beneath the sheet and into the case. It “cleans” the sound.
• PORON Switch Foam/PET Acoustic Pad: These 2 layers enactment successful tandem and are placed connected apical of the circuit committee beneath the switches. They enactment arsenic an acoustic filter to marque the switches dependable much crisp and allows them to connection a much defined popular erstwhile typing.
• PORON Case Foam: PORON lawsuit foam is utilized to region hollowness from the case. It besides acts arsenic a filter for immoderate dependable that makes its mode done the PCB and cuts retired much precocious frequencies.
• PET Case Pad: Finally, this integrative expanse exists connected the precise bottommost of the case. I’m not wholly definite however effectual it is astatine impacting the sound, but ultimately, its astir important intent is to service arsenic ESD extortion should you region the lawsuit foam.

All of this is attached to the lawsuit utilizing a unsocial signifier of gasket mounting that uses tiny silica gel tabs that slot into the sides of the plate. Rather than person the assembly screw into the apical oregon bottommost of the lawsuit similar astir keyboards, this mounting strategy squeezes these gel tabs betwixt some halves of the case, acting arsenic a last furniture of dependable isolation. With these, precise fewer vibrations volition marque their mode into the aluminum worldly of the lawsuit and besides allows the typing acquisition to consciousness softer nether the fingers.

Designed by enthusiasts, Chilkey expects that you'll unfastened this keyboard and effort it successful antithetic configurations. To that end, it uses an wholly tool-less assembly. The apical lawsuit is held to the bottommost lawsuit by beardown magnets and tin simply beryllium pulled off. However, you don't request to interest astir the apical lawsuit popping disconnected by accident. It's precise strong, and you tin clasp the full keyboard conscionable by the apical lawsuit successful confidence. Just beware erstwhile you bash unfastened it, however, arsenic the surface is attached with a ribbon cablegram and tin get disconnected if pulled excessively roughly.

Screens connected keyboards person been a spot of a fad for the past twelvemonth oregon so. It serves a purpose, however. By default, it shows the date, time, and the existent artillery level of the keyboard, arsenic good arsenic its antithetic indicators for caps lock, fig lock, OS mode, and connectivity mode.You tin besides usage it to entree the paper and alteration the keyboard's lighting or, with the browser-based software, upload your ain customized GIFs.

The online configurator, disposable here, besides allows you to remap keys, grounds and delegate macros, and set the keyboard's backlighting. It works, but it pales successful examination to the likes of Razer Synapse and Corsair iCUE, so, you should little your expectations for polish. Remapping the keyboard's lighting successful peculiar is particularly limited. I person to applaud the information that you don't person to download thing to usage it, however. So galore smaller brands unit you to download tools that often request to link to the internet, whereas this 1 dials close into the keyboard and your changes are saved immediately.

If it wasn't already apparent, customization is halfway to the experience, making this keyboard uniquely your own.. To that end, the institution is offering six antithetic colors, each with unsocial keycap sets. Currently, it tin beryllium ordered successful a creamy beverage beverage color, silver, axenic white, pitchy black, babe blue, and lavender. Milk Tea, Pure White, and Baby Blue are each coated utilizing a durable coating process and travel astatine a somewhat higher cost.

On its website, Chilkey offers these for $105, portion the different colors, utilizing anodized metal, are lone $99. Interestingly, purchasing immoderate of these connected Amazon is much costly and they each outgo the aforesaid astatine $139.99. Typically, this quality would beryllium accounted for with shipping costs. However, here, adjacent if you bid it from Chilkey's website, you tin inactive person it wrong 3 to 5 concern days via Amazon Standard shipping oregon somewhat faster with Amazon Expedited astatine $15 and $18 respectively. Knowing that the institution is based extracurricular of the United States, I had expected this to beryllium importantly longer. As agelong arsenic you don't caput giving up two-day Prime shipping, ordering straight from the website is an casual mode to prevention $20 to $30.

No substance which you choose, you'll beryllium capable to bask tri-mode wireless connectivity. It's capable to link to up to 3 antithetic devices implicit Bluetooth 5.3 oregon 1 instrumentality utilizing its 2.4GHz dongle. It's besides capable to link utilizing a modular USB cable. Over USB and 2.4GHz, the keyboard volition link with a 1000Hz polling complaint for 1ms of input latency. Over Bluetooth, that's importantly little arsenic the protocol limits polling to 125Hz oregon 8ms. It’s perfectly good for productivity, but I would decidedly usage the dongle for thing much than casual gaming.

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It comes with 2 1,800mAh batteries and artillery beingness volition beryllium connected your transportation method and however agleam you support its RGB backlighting. Over Bluetooth with RGB turned off, the keyboard should past astir a period with regular use. With RGB connected afloat brightness and connected implicit 2.4GHz, I recovered that it lasted astir 10 hours earlier needing to beryllium plugged in. I took to plugging it successful overnight, conscionable to beryllium safe.

Overall, it's rather an awesome package. I'll speech much astir the typing and gaming experiences successful the adjacent section, but the physique prime truly is exceptional, adjacent erstwhile compared against flagship keyboards from overmuch bigger brands similar Corsair and Razer. There are trade-offs, specified arsenic with the software, but for astir $100, it's a beauteous slayer worth if you similar low-profile keys.

Chilkey ND75 LP – Performance

Low-profile keyboards person a inclination to blend together, which makes the fewer that don’t truly basal out. The Nuphy Air60 HE was 1 specified keyboard and the Chilkey ND75 Low Profile is different (IQUNIX and Lofree besides person immoderate large options). Each of these keyboards serves a antithetic niche, however, and if you’re looking for the closest acquisition you tin get to a customized keyboard acquisition successful a debased illustration signifier factor, the ND75 LP is the champion prime close now.

It amazed maine retired of the gate. Its lawsuit makes an contiguous content with its metallic case. I was sent the metallic mentation and the anodization was perfect. Flipping it over, I fto retired an audible “wow” erstwhile I saw its rear weight. The engraving truly is striking and elevates the keyboard supra its terms constituent for acceptable and finish. The transportation that Chilkey is making to the customized mechanical keyboard marketplace is overt. The information that you tin simply popular disconnected the apical lawsuit to modify the internals is different large constituent that you conscionable don't spot successful galore different places extracurricular of that community.

If you don't privation to bash immoderate of that, you're successful luck due to the fact that you truly don't request to. In fact, the parts that are easiest to remove, the foams beneath the circuit board, truly don't look to marque a precise large quality to the sound, though it does effect successful a somewhat softer typing feel. I’ve ne'er been connected to fatigue easy erstwhile typing, but generally, softer keystrokes means longer typing sessions if you do.

The Chilkey ND75 LP is the compact keyboard to take if you similar low-profile keys but crave enthusiast features.

With that said, 1 of the astir absorbing qualities close retired of the container with this keyboard is that it does consciousness softer than virtually immoderate different low-profile keyboard I've tested. The silica gel gasket mounting operation and softer materials internally marque each keystroke consciousness somewhat cushioned successful a mode that accepted gaming keyboards bash not. This is noteworthy due to the fact that typically keyboards of this benignant are precise steadfast simply owed to the deficiency of abstraction successful the case. The integration present is precise good done and again draws the ND75 LP person to its full-size customized counterparts.

For gaming, it's excellent. The debased illustration switches person people shorter cardinal question and a higher actuation constituent to match. They're exceptionally creaseless and precise responsive.Using the 2.4GHz dongle, I wasn't capable to comprehend immoderate much latency than erstwhile it was plugged successful with the USB-C cable. For that matter, it doesn't consciousness peculiarly slower than immoderate of the 4,000Hz oregon 8,000Hz gaming keyboards I've tested either, but that's a taxable for different day.

I've agelong believed that a large gaming keyboard is astir much than conscionable responsiveness, however. It’s astir making you privation to spell backmost for 1 much round, getting retired of the mode to fto you absorption connected the game, and making your PC gaming acquisition arsenic satisfying arsenic possible. The ND75 LP accomplishes each of these. Between its heavy yet somewhat textured PBT keycaps, large switches, and pleasing dependable and feel, it offers a typing acquisition that stands isolated from the immense bulk of others that stock its signifier factor.

The biggest drawback is that it's not precise portable. Typically, erstwhile you spot a low-profile keyboard, the thought is that you tin gaffe it into a container and instrumentality it with you connected the go. That is not the lawsuit here, arsenic it easy weighs arsenic overmuch arsenic a tiny gaming laptop each connected its own. That mightiness beryllium a deal-breaker for some, but if you're a instrumentality of low-profile keys, it's an fantabulous mediate crushed betwixt the satellite of boutique customized keyboards, gaming performance, and affordability. You mightiness person to usage it astatine home, but it's inactive a precise compelling enactment astatine a tempting terms point.