RK ROYAL KLUDGE RK84 RGB 75 Triple Mode BT5 0 2 4G USB-C Hot Swappable Mechanical Keyboard 84

Update 7/27/25: spilled something into the keyboard at some point which sat in the foam backing and did not evaporate, several keys got corroded pins and pin sockets and the color backlights went crazy. Completely disassembled and cleaned everything including using tiny wire brushes to remove corrosion. Nothing helped until I probed around with a continuity buzzer and suddenly the backlights were ok. However after reassembling now the bottom row of keys has a different color than the rest - when blue backlighting the bottom row is red, etc, etc. Ordered a new one but with brown switches instead of red. Update 5/3/25: after using it a while I find I do not like the short stroke red keys. I just can’t break the old muscle memory from using tons of long-stroke keyboards all of my career and I get false keystrokes due to my own fault. Update 7/23/24: replacement keyboard arrived today, charging as it should. I had to revert to my old Keychron K2A1 with the brown switches for the interval and now this feels like the stroke is shorter. Same quiet operation, silky feel, just a shorter stroke similar to the rkh81 that I liked so much. Update ~ 7/15/24: after a couple of days using it I realize it’s not charging. The battery capacity started out at 60% and I plugged it in and left it but never checked the charge current with a usb power meter. I did not notice the battery kept dropping until tonight when it hit 10%. When I plug it into a power meter the space bar blinks 3 times indicating it’s charging but it’s only taking enough power to light the backlights which work as expected. When I turn those off the power drops to 0ma. When I unplug it the backlights go out and the Fn+Enter doesn’t even light the 1 key indicating 10% charge remaining, I think that’s an energy conserving mode but the bluetooth connection works and the keyboard functions, at least for now. The charger in it must be defective, the battery certainly works, the wired power connection works, just no charging is going on and never has.. It’s being powered by a charging hub that has no problem supplying power to other devices, the power meter shows the supply voltage is 5.1v and zero amps. original ~ 7/10/24: With Red switches this is the second best keyboard I’ve ever used. The best keyboard is the RK-H81 with silver switches, it’s layout is slightly different and more exact to my muscle memory and the shorter throw of the silver switches I liked a lot but it has south facing leds which make shine-through keycaps unusable. Seems like a very stupid design decision and it wasn’t expressed anywhere in the listing. So an RK84 it had to be. I’m a retired programmer, I took typing in the 1960’s because it seemed like an easy class. Turned out to the be most important one I ever took. I became a teletype operator and then a programmer. The HP2621 terminal from the 80’s is my reference point, its keyboard is my ideal - the perfect reach, travel and spring pressure. And the RK-H81 came sooo close to improving on it, if not for the leds….. The RK84 layout is fine, I guess, but the keys are packed in for space’ sake rather than for the typist like the H81. I doubt the H81 designers were thinking of fast typists though, its south facing leds produce slightly nicer colored wave patterns so if that’s important then maximizing typing comfort probably isn’t. This RK84 is a solid, very useable keyboard. The RK-H81 is a mystery. Read more

The media could not be loaded. I am going to start by saying that I am typing out this whole review with this keyboard (but the keyboard is fully modded, but I will get to that detail later). Let's start with the basic features of this keyboard. I mainly use all of my keyboards with the USB-C cable connected (for competitive gaming reasons) but the wireless connectivity options are a plus. Tested the 2.4 GHz USB Reciever mode. The mode does not have the best low latency input but it is a minor latency. The range for the USB Reciever Dongle is not usable at a long distance. Definitely must use close-range for optimal usage. The Bluetooth connectivity is a bit better than the USB Reciever for sure. But basically for everyday usage and single-player gaming is fine, but I would not use this keyboard in its wireless modes for fast First-Person-Shooter game though. As for its built quality, I would say the RK84 is decently fine. Every stock components about it (as in its plastic build, its switches, its stabilizers, and its keycaps) are roughly the same in feel and sound as any other basic mechanical keyboard out there. So the switches are relatively audible and scratchy when typing and the stabilizer in the large keys (as in the Spacebar key, Left Shift key, Back key, and Enter key) can rattle quite a bit. But for most regular consumers, that might not be too noticeable or become a problem in everyday usage. Other than that, the stock RK84 itself is great for everyday consumers and the stock keyboard is sturdy and surprisingly a bit heavy for a plastic build (which is good as the keyboard won't move around as much). Everything about the keyboard works as intended. Now for the "fully modded" part that I mentioned at the beginning of this review. I recently started getting into the world of custom mechanical keyboards but I am by no means a pro keyboard enthusiast (yet). However, I do mod and upgrade all of my keyboards to make them feel smoother and sound better (it is not recommended to disassemble a keyboard if you don't know what you're doing without watching some videos first). I have 2 other keyboards that are also fully modded as well; my secondary budget keyboard: Redragon K530 and my daily driver high-end keyboard: Glorious GMMK Pro. I got this keyboard because of the "budget" recommendation from a few pro keyboard enthusiasts on YouTube. I say "budget" but $80 is still relatively high for a keyboard to regular consumers. I guess it is "budget" when compared to other custom mechanical keyboards that are $100+ for just being a barebone kit like my Glorious GMMK Pro. Anyway, I digress. I would highly recommend this keyboard over any other "budget" keyboard because it has the correct hot-swappable feature for anyone looking to dip their toes a bit into the world of custom mechanical keyboards and modding them in the future. I say "correct hot-swappable" because this keyboard's PCB actually can support numerous brands of switches like: - Gateron switches - Cherry switches - Durock switches - Novelkeys switches - Kailh switches - and etc. Unlike other budget keyboards that only support one type of hot-swappable switches. An example would be my Redragon keyboard that is technically hot-swappable but only hot-swappable with the same brand of Outemu Switches or something similar like Akko Switches. Some of the modifications I ended up doing to the RK84 were: - Adding 2 layers of PE Foam (roughly 1.5-1.6 mm or 1/16 inches thick each layer) to the bottom inside of the plastic case. - Adding 2 layers of Masking Tape to the bottom of the PCB (as shown in the picture). - Adding a Keyboard Switch Sound Dampener Foam (84 key layouts) between the PCB and the metal plate (as shown in the picture). - Taped down a single layer of PE Foam (roughly 1.5-1.6 mm or 1/16 inches thick) between the PCB and where the stabilizer would hit the PCB to dampen the sound of impact. - Switched the stock stabilizers with Durock Plate Mount Stabilizers (Clipped and Lubed with Krytox 205g0). - Hot-swapped out the stock TTC Red Switches with Gateron Ink V2 Black Switches (Lubed with Krytox 205g0 + added Deskeys Switch Film)(as shown in the picture). - Switching out the stock keycaps with Glorious Aura V2 Keycaps. After hours of modding the keyboard to its fullest potential, I managed to make this keyboard feel smoother and sound thockier than it ever has before (as shown in the video). The mods I made to this keyboard made it so much better that I replace my budget Redragon K530 (which is also similarly modded) with this fully modded RK84 to be my secondary keyboard. Couple of minor things to note: - The advertisement for the keyboard stated that it is an 80% keyboard. This is not true. Although 75% and 80% are similar, the key layout of the RK84 is that of a 75% keyboard. For a more detailed difference between what a 75% or 80% keyboard is, you can Google search that for yourself. - While it is no major deal-breaker, I wish the keyboard has brighter RGB lighting. I have a Glorious GMMK Pro keyboard with the same switches and keycaps and it is a lot brighter than the RK84. - The RGB LED on this keyboard is north-facing so there might be some keycap interference (depending on what kind of keycaps you're using. The Glorious Aura V2 Keycaps that I use for this build has no interference issue at all.) - I know the RK84 Pro has it but I wish this regular RK84 comes with the aluminum frame as well. It would have made this board feel even more high quality. (I would get the RK84 Pro but I like the 2 USB pass-through ports that this regular RK84 has). - To fully mod this board, as I did with mine, would cost you an additional $100-150. Read more