I like mechanical keyboards. I’m one of those weird people who has more keyboards in their house than they do computers to use them on. I’m actually trying to make space and get rid of a few of them. To make it even worse, my favorite mechanical switch is probably the most expensive to buy: Topre switches. Topre are different from regular mechanical switches in that they’re not really designed to be a mechanism with as many moving parts like the mainstream Cherry mechanical switches are. They also don’t feel like any other mechanical switch out there. Topre have this kinda odd reverence about them because they’re so expensive and kind of hard to find outside of east Asian regions because they’re made solely by a Japanese company, also called Topre (short for Tokyo Press). Topre keyboards start at $200 and can go for well over $300 depending on the model. This is my addiction. Recently I felt like I was running out of desk space using my full-size (also Topre) keyboard so I wanted to buy a tenkeyless, one that doesn’t have a numpad. I’ve been using the Realforce 87U “EK Edition” for a solid two months now and, while having tons of experience using Topre switches, I was hesitant to give up my precious numpad. Turns out Topre has my back with this one and did something very clever with their tenkeyless line so you’ll barely miss it.
Picture courtesy of EliteKeyboards, because mine suck (as usual).
The keyboard itself is very plain. I think it looks cool with the grey-on-black keycaps, but it’s not flashy. It’s not a Razer keyboard. These things are originally meant for stuff like banking work and data entry (something people tend to forget with mechanical keyboards) so Realforce keyboards will never look very eye catching outside of a few premium models. The grey-on-black keys can be a little troublesome if you’re in a room with low light; the print on them can become hard to see. The stock keycaps are PBT which means they’ll pretty much never shine over, which is good because replacing Topre keycaps is near impossible at this point, something I’ll elaborate on later. The bottom of the keyboard isn’t any more fetching with a couple of landing pads, a pair of flip out legs, some DIP switches and a way to route the cable either to the left, right or center. The DIP switches are for things like disabling the Windows key, swapping left Ctrl and Caps Lock (for “true Vim users”) and disabling the keypad function (!). A metal backplate adds some good weight to the keyboard and some solid feeling when you bottom out a key. The thing is built like a rock and it damn well should feel like it for what I paid for it. If it was anything less than quality, I’d be pissed.
My single favorite feature of this keyboard is that, as mentioned a moment ago, it has a built in numpad function. Above the cluster of keys with Insert, Home, etc., they added a Num Lock button in place of Scroll Lock. You know, that function everyone leaves on but no one knows what it does? When you toggle Num Lock on it turns on a layer of the keyboard which you can use like a traditional numpad. You can check out the picture below to see how they laid this out, but I think it’s really intuitive. Even if you’re using the num layer and can’t quite see the side printing, they all line up with the regular 7, 8, and 9 keys like a traditional numpad would. If you regularly use one, you’ll have no trouble adjusting to this. This is my favorite thing about this keyboard as traditional tenkeyless’ don’t come with this kind of function. I don’t think I’d enjoy this keyboard nearly as much if it didn’t have this kinda thing going for it. I think it’s a smart way of keeping everything about a full-size keyboard in the tenkeyless format and I wish more companies did it.
The numpad layer
So what about the switches themselves? Topre have this odd status as one of the most premium switches you can get for a mechanical keyboard. There are even debates on if people should even call it a mechanical switch (NERDS!). A better description of it, as adopted by keyboard people, is a “hybrid capacitive switch”. It’s mechanism is a combination of a traditional rubber dome over a conical spring. The rubber dome is what gives the tactile feedback when you press it, but a spring inside of the dome is what causes the switch to trigger. When the spring is compressed to a certain point, the PCB will know and send the key command before you need to bottom it out. On the other hand, Topre are difficult not to bottom out, unlike Cherry MX switches which are designed to have the tactile feedback and trigger about halfway into the key press and give you enough space to not have to depress the key to the bottom. Also unlike Cherry MX switches, the tactile feedback of a Topre key is near the very top of the press as oppose to the middle. This means that after the initial key press, the travel to the bottom is very smooth. Bottoming out a Topre key is also quieter and has more of a *thunk* sound than a *clack* of a normal mechanical switch. There is also a special Type-S Topre switches for an even quieter bottom out but those get much more expensive. All of this comes together in what is considered one of the best typing experiences you can have. I’d know, I’m using it right now. I’m actually just dragging this statement out just so I can type more on it. This whole blog is just an excuse for me to use my keyboard more than I already am.
Inside of a Topre switch.
A lot of Cherry MX switches are used by gaming companies now to market mechanical keyboards. That’s one reason why mechanicals have had this surge of popularity over the past two or three years. Razer, SteelSeries, Corsair, Cooler Master, they all have their own line of mechanical keyboards. A lot of people call Cherry MX Brown and Red switches “gaming switches” because of the light weight and little to no tactility. Personally, Cherry MX Blues are my favorite Cherry switch and I’ve lived by the idea that you don’t need a “gaming” switch, you just use whatever is comfortable. The Realforce 87U “EK Edition” is uniformly weighted at 45g, the same weight as Cherry MX Brown and Red switches. For playing whatever game, from Diablo 3 to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, from World of Warcraft to Dota 2, I feel comfortable on this thing. You might see people saying that Topre isn’t for gaming, but I disagree. Cooler Master does too, as they just came out with their own Topre keyboard for their CM Storm gaming line called the NovaTouch.
The Realforce 87U “EK Edition” is a great keyboard but it’s not perfect. Like I said, its got no frills which means you’re never going to find one with backlighting, media keys or macro layers. The flip feet on it make it ride really high on the desk. If you like customizing your mechanicals with fancy new keycaps, you’re SOL with Topre. Topre switches use their own kind of keycap stem so Cherry MX keycaps are not compatible with them. There used to be keycaps of a variety of colors for Realforce keyboards but they’ve stopped production of them and there have been no whispers of their return. Topre is also expensive. The Realforce 87U “EK Edition” is $200. A full-size but variably weighted keyboard is $210. A Type-S tenkeyless is starts at $235. These are not cheap, which is one reason why people are so hesitant to try one. If you don’t like it, you’re pretty much stuck with it although the secondhand market for Topre keyboards is pretty good. There are some alternatives. The Topre Type Heaven is a 45g, full-size Topre keyboard available for a much more reasonable $150, although it’s made in China and not Japan like the Realforce line so the quality is lower in several areas. It’s what keeps it cheaper. I mentioned the Cooler Master NovaTouch. That is a 45g tenkeyless Topre keyboard made in cooperation with Topre themselves. Cooler Master has done a really cool thing and created a Topre keyboard that is compatible with Cherry MX keycaps so, if you still want your customization, you should check that out. It doesn’t come with the awesome stock PBT keycaps of the Realforce or the built in numpad functionality but it does have media keys and a couple of other gamer-centric features without looking tacky. It’s priced at a premium of $200 however.
At the end of the day, if you want a premium, no frill keyboard which can give possibly the best typing experience you’ll have, better than what Cherry MX can give you, a Topre keyboard could be for you. As someone who has has a couple of Topre keyboards before buying the Realforce 87U “EK Edition”, I knew what I wanted out of it and I got it. The people on the fence just kinda have to know what they want out of their keyboard and go for it if they’re interested in Topre. Some people will probably call me an idiot for spending $200 on a keyboard, but I’m enjoying myself so…like, whatever man.
You can pick up the Realforce 87U “EK Edition”, along with several other Topre keyboards, from EliteKeyboards.com.
Because "Wires" Was Taken 