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Review on ๐ŸŽฎ Redragon K552 Gaming Keyboard 60% Compact 87 Key Kumara Mechanical with Cherry MX Blue Switches for Windows PC Gamers - RGB Backlit White by Tony Wilson

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Clacky Boi can be tamed

we will be Clacky Boi and Clacky Boi clicks er.Tl;dr? This little growling dragon is a fun eye-catcher and can be tamed with little effort. O-rings and a towel did the trick. Little Kumara is like an excited little brother compared to the other mechanical keyboards I have. It's bright and loud, it demands attention and I like it. COLOR/LIGHT: It has so many RGB presets that I don't think it even remembers what they all are: Swipe left/right, Waves, Flicker, Fade, Ripples, Solid Color, Touch Light - those list goes on. (You can switch between them mechanically with FN+INS through PgDn and change the fixed color or pulse direction with the arrow keys.) The white case/keys let the RGB glow. And I have something to say while you write. SWITCHES: These blue switch buttons have a bright, springy feel that I can't put down, along with their satisfying click. SOUND: It's not just blue. Switches that make it loud. Three noises make this little snake the loudest in its grasp: (1) they have clicks coming from the switches themselves; (2) They have clicking sounds coming from the plastic caps hitting the case as they hit the ground; and (3) you have the ping swinging through the metal case when the keys are slid back into place. Take it all and put it on a metal/plastic combo that stiffens like a drum and you have a keyboard that sounds like a room full of angry little old reporters living in it. But no fear. under the roar of Kumara. He can be tamed! Don't get me wrong, this will never be a silent keyboard, but don't look at blue switches if you want silence anyway (switches vary in color; blue ones are meant to click!). CHANGE: Here's how I tamed this snake: 1. O-rings, specifically rubber O-rings on Cherry MX Blue switches. Blue blocks noise better than cherry red. You can buy unbranded or try to make your own and you might be fine, but I went with cherries so I know what I'm getting. The Kumara came with a key puller so all I had to provide were rings and modeling tweezers to tighten. The rings prevent the keys from flexing and rattling against the keyboard body, which was the source of the really loud rattling.2. I ripped up some cotton balls and stuffed them into large keycaps to reduce the open spaces that resonate. The difference is barely noticeable, so my only concern was the large buttons. But it's something if you want to go a little further. One of the other reviewers took the case apart and installed foam speakers, which would probably do even more.3. I have a nice scarf that I never wear that I put under my keyboard. This is nice and prevents the table from amplifying the noise any further. You can also use a small towel or one of those extra large gaming mouse pads (like this one if you want something thinner than a patterned scarf. With these really simple mods, Kumara roars as loud as I want while watching it in all its facets enjoy lively exuberance ADDITIONAL NOTES: 1) My use case is typing long documents and programming. I can't speak to its performance as a gaming keyboard, although I've heard that a switch type other than blue might be better. Google mechanical switch types to find the right one for you if you are a serious gamer. 2) I am using this with a Mac (Macbook Pro) with no problems. I haven't tested the media control functions of the function keys extensively, so I can only say that both volume up/down functions work. I had to tell the computer what the keyboard was when I first plugged it in, but it hasn't asked since, even after I unplugged and plugged it back in. And the auto-detection process took about 30 seconds, so no big deal. 3) The keycaps are easy to remove and look like regular hot swappable keycaps and the switches are not soldered in so I assume they can be swapped out too. (Note that I'm not sure how owning them affects whether they can be reused or how it affects board decisions.) Finally? The keyboard isn't perfect, but for the price I'm quite happy with it. Worth a try if you're into mechanical keyboards, don't care about noise, don't mind a few very simple mods, or just want to fix something.

Pros
  • nice packaging
Cons
  • I don't remember