RK ROYAL KLUDGE RK98 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard, 3750mAh, 96% Layout

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.

My job requires lots and LOTS of typing. So a nice keyboard with good sound is important to me, as sometimes I need to obtain things for my job that make it more satisfying. It’s the little things that get us through the work day right? Here is what I like about it: 1. It seems to be very sturdy and well made. I was very surprised at how much this keyboard weighs. I consider it to be very heavy and solid. 2. It makes nice clicky and typing noises. The keys seem to be heavy duty, so you can angry type if needed. They are also very responsive to touch. I was worried about having to deep press each key, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue. The space bar is responsive as well, which can be an issue with a mechanical keyboard, but not this one. 3. Setting up was plug and play for me. I just plugged in the dongle and turned it on, it worked instantly. I prefer a Bluetooth set up. I also like that you can hard plug it in to your computer and keep it wired, I’d that is your style. It comes with a switchable USB and USB-C cord, too. The keyboard is chargeable if you like to keep it wireless. 4. It’s pretty. The lights are mesmerizing and have a nice glow. They definitely put some thought into the RGB and didn’t cheap out. There are different settings for the lights or you can turn them off altogether. Overall, it’s good bang for your buck and probably my favorite keyboard.

When I received this package in the mail, I was super excited to open it. But when I did end up opening it, I found that 3 keys were popped off. the F2 key had a red spot on the back of it like it was scraped against a brick other than those few things got the red switches and it sounds amazing and the led look great behind the keyboard. it's heavier than expect but it's a great keyboard for the price it's at is very good for this style of keyboard. the royal blue color was very nice besides the part where on a few keys it showed the red on a few keys especially the F2 key with a full-on blotch which I had to scratch off I'm not returning it because it's not like it major you could probably be able to fix it. overall, with everything you see and everything that was wrong the responsiveness of the keyboard was clean and fast . I love the keyboard matching it with the blue theme of my room

I got the version with red switches, and I really like it! I think the switches are perfect for me, providing tactile feedback with each press without being obnoxious. Being able to hot swap the switches/keys and basic RGB for a nearly full-sized keyboard is amazing at this price point. I originally got this keyboard for its multiple connection options so I could easily switch between a work laptop and a desktop PC. It has worked wonderfully for this purpose and I would 100% recommend it. The battery life has been great so far, and it works while charging, so if you pay attention, you shouldn't have any downtime. I will admit, I don't keep the RGB on the brightest setting all the time, so I assume that helps with battery life. It also auto shuts off the lights when not in use after a specific amount of time. Overall, it's a great buy and a wonderful option if you are looking for a fully customizable keyboard with almost all the bells and whistles for a fraction of what many other companies charge for a fraction of the overall size. And all of that without any compromises in quality or functionality. Would recommend.

Great keyboard. Nice sound. Nice feel. This is my second one. Works perfectly with Ubunutu Linux

I bought two of these since I like them so much. The key action on the red switches is just what I like. Not too soft but also not obnoxiously clickly. And they took great care to make the keyboard as compact as possible while still having the layout of a nearly full-sized keyboard including the numeric pad. I like that it supports USB-C. I've tried to eliminate USB-micro from my life because it's the worst. And it's great that it supports wired, dongle, and Bluetooth connections. The only thing I hate about it is that the "End" key is a secondary function on the "PgDn" key. I'm a software developer who uses "Home", "End", "PgUp", and "PgDn" keys constantly. Those should be primary keys! Navigation keys should always take priority over modal keys (with the exception of "CapsLock"). Instead, they have "Ins" as one of the primary keys. The only time I use that is when I accidentally press it and notice my typing is overwriting instead of inserting so then I press it again to immediately go back to the normal mode. It baffles me why they decided to make "Ins" a primary key instead of "End". Am I crazy? Does anyone out there ever use "Ins" key on purpose? Please, RK. Fix this. Make a marginally better variant of this same keyboard and I will probably buy it.

1. You get almost all keys for much smaller footprint. So, this layout was perfect to switch from full size key board. 2. RGBs are cool with so many options available-fully loaded full marks! 3. Super sturdy- good build quality. 4. Multiple connectivity options- spoilt for choices! 5. Hot swappable- future protected to try out different options 6. Battery- more than enough! Still going on with one month of light usage. Cool battery indicator! Quite innovative! 7. Keycaps- good quality just not transparent enough to light up the letters(gray and blue option) 8. Typing experience- Best for me, better than rubber dome even better than laptop keyboards (I've used ThinkPad, hp, and dell pro series) 9. Sound: Best deep sound no rattles no loose button at all. (Better than any entry level mechanical keyboard and basic rubber domes, scissor type, or laptop ones) 10. Good quality charging cable with USB A and USB c adapter!! 11. Even well made feets for height adjustment. Very sturdy, rock solid! 12. Only gripe is the switches for on off and Bluetooth to 2.4GHz change is small and on the base. I just keep it on it switches off automatically. RK is just the Best as I had read and heard!

I've had many keyboards over the years. My favourite was a Corsair K70. It was huge, made of aluminium and I had it for a very long time before a 3rd cup of coffee killed it. Since then, I have had various chinese branded keyboards that have done the job. I decided to splash out on an RK98. Oh boy, am I glad I did. I went for the red switches because I'm sick of clicky stuff. The noise is becoming obnoxious to me. Also, my wife sits in the same room as me when I'm using my pc, so she gets sick of clicky sounds too. This RK98 is the most beautiful keyboard for typing. It's so smooth and quiet. It's also a very heavy thing. Really heavy, and I'm ok with that, but if you need something portable, look elsewhere because this keyboard will need a trailer. The RBG lighting is nice, but does not come through letters on each key, just the base of each key. That's fine. There are a lot of different lighting modes and they all look cool, but be warned; if you're going to use this keyboard in wireless mode, you will not get very much out of the battery life. This keyboard boasts of 168hrs battery life with the lights off which is incredible, but that drops to 32hrs with the lights on, which is incredibly bad. For me, I use it in wired mode and have the lights on. Weirdly, even in wired mode, the keyboard still goes to sleep after a short period of no use. I simply cannot believe how nice this keyboard is to use, the keys feel so good with the red switches, I don't want to stop typing on it. They keys don't bottom out with a loud "clack". It's so quiet. I love it very much. The Royal Kludge RK98 is my no.1 keyboard I have ever owned. I mean, "Kludge". What a name.

Love!

Ich bin mit der RK ROYAL KLUDGE RK98 wirklich sehr zufrieden. Die Tastatur fühlt sich beim Tippen und Spielen sehr angenehm an und macht insgesamt einen hochwertigen Eindruck. Besonders die Red Switches gefallen mir gut. Sie lassen sich angenehm leicht drücken und hören sich dabei für meinen Geschmack sehr gut an – nicht zu laut, aber trotzdem mit dem typischen mechanischen Tastaturgefühl. Auch die kabellose Verbindung funktioniert bei mir einwandfrei. Sowohl über 2,4 GHz als auch per Bluetooth hatte ich bisher keinerlei Verbindungsprobleme oder Aussetzer. Gerade beim Gaming ist die zuverlässige Verbindung natürlich wichtig, und hier gibt es für mich nichts zu bemängeln. Die Tastatur ist außerdem sehr angenehm zu bedienen und eignet sich sowohl zum Schreiben als auch zum Spielen. Die Tasten fühlen sich gut an und insgesamt macht das Tippen einfach Spaß. Ein kleiner Kritikpunkt ist die Software. Die passende Software zu finden ist meiner Meinung nach etwas umständlich und nicht ganz so offensichtlich, wie ich es mir wünschen würde. Wenn man sie aber einmal gefunden und eingerichtet hat, ist das für mich kein großes Problem. Insgesamt bekommt man hier meiner Meinung nach eine wirklich starke mechanische Tastatur zu einem sehr guten Preis. Gute Switches, zuverlässige Funkverbindung, angenehmes Tippgefühl und eine insgesamt hochwertige Verarbeitung. Für mich ein sehr gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis und daher klare 5 Sterne.

This is my second mechanical keyboard, the first being a red dragon I've used for about 5 years. This is definitely a step up from that. I am an armature in the world of mechanical keyboards so take my review with a grain of salt but It has all I wanted from a Mechanical keyboard. Sounds great to me out of the box, wireless works great. I don't play competitive games so the 2.5 GHz dongle has low enough latency for me to game in wireless mode plus the silver speed switches help. Backlight is great. Only thing I customized was put a different keycap set on with a shine through legend. Typing on it is great too.

I'll go directly to the point.. This is a good mechanical KB Pros: - Good built quality - Stable on the desk thanks to the weight and the 2 steps feet - Changeable keys and switches - Wired and wireless with good battery life and good connection - Interesting backlight effects Overall, I recommend it