AJAZZ AK510 RETRO-FUTURISTIC KEYBOARD REVIEW

As a lawyer, the tool that I will be spending the most time fondling will arguably be the computer keyboard.  Thousands of words will flow from a lawyer’s keyboard every working day: emails, letters, memoranda, motions and pleadings.  Thus, an investment in this tool is definitely well spent.

I have used a lot of rubber dome keyboards in this profession.  I used an A4tech Ergonomic layout keyboard, which worked adequately.  It was soft and didn’t really fatigue my fingers.  I also used an office-issued Logitech wireless keyboard which really felt bad as it didn’t really have enough key travel and the keys would often bind if you struck it on the edges instead of in the center.  That was a terrible keyboard and my fingers hurt using it.  I eventually had to replace it with the Rakk Mua (later on that).

  The Logitech   One of the worst keyboards I had ever used thanks to its low travel and terrible binding

I have also used a number of laptop keyboards.  None of which were really pleasing, but could get the job done.  Nothing would beat a full-sized keyboard with a number pad.  Especially for Filipino lawyers who need a numpad specifically to type alt+164 or alt+165 for those pesky Ñs and ñs.

For personal use and as an introduction to the “tactile” and backlit side of the keyboard market, I bought the Rakk Mua in orange.  This was basically a rubber dome with slider design.  I intended to bring and use this keyboard at the law firm because I craved having a keyboard with backlight and which seemed strong enough to withstand my heavy typing fingers.

The Rakk Mua, a rubber dome with slider design, the keys are a bit too stiff and loud to be a typist’s keyboard.

There was no doubt that I liked the Rakk Mua a lot and I keep it as a spare, but unlike the other rubber dome keyboards that I used, the Rakk Mua needed a lot of force to activate the keys.  It was also very loud—you can avoid making noise on bottom out by typing softly, but there is an inevitable clack on the upstroke thanks to the slider design.  Based on the design of the slider, the keyboard actually produced loud sounds both on bottom out and on return.  This was totally unexpected from a rubber dome keyboard.  On the other hand, the backlight feature of the Rakk Mua was very liberating.  While, I have no problem touch typing, there are really some instances where you really just need to look down at the keyboard for some symbol or function key.

Considering that the Rakk Mua was not quite up to my demands for an office keyboard, I kept looking around for one that would fit my needs.  What I wanted was a keyboard that is mechanical, backlit and tastefully designed.  I had decided (without actually trying one) that the keyboard should have a tactile and non-clicky keyswitch.  Personally, I would have wanted a tactile and clicky keyswitch (which would have been the best for typists overall), but it was intended to be used in the office, hence, a loud keyboard would have been unacceptable.

My shortlist of keyboards included:

1. Unicomp/vintage IBM Model M (true this isn’t a backlit keyboard and was clicky, but why not?);

2. Rakk Ilis;

3. Ajazz AK33; and

4. Ajazz AK510.

Naturally the Model M was difficult to get since I couldn’t find brand new Unicomps on Philippine online shopping stores, and I didn’t have the time to meet up with anyone selling a vintage Model M.  I considered the Rakk Ilis because I loved the space-saving design which still incorporated the numpad, but I had a hard time looking for a vendor selling a tactile-only version.  The Ajazz AK33 was very affordable and quite compact, but didn’t include a numpad.  Both the RAKK Ilis and the Ajazz AK33 were non-standard layouts, which meant that I was also going to have a hard time finding replacement keycap sets for them.  Then there was the Ajazz AK510, and I was quite in love with the retro-design and those spherical profile (SA profile) keycaps looked so comfortable to type on.  I also realized that since this was just a very ordinary keyboard layout, I could easily swap out the keycaps on it if I ended up not liking the SA profile keys.  So, in the first week of March, I pulled the trigger and within three (3) days I took delivery of the item in my office.

To be absolutely clear, I had no intention of writing a review of this keyboard.  I had fully expected to be too busy for any writing outside of what was needed for work.  Hence, I took no pictures of the unboxing, the packaging.  I simply excitedly took it out of the box, in full view of my co-workers and plugged it into my computer and I was happily clacking away.  I had typed out a number of pleadings and memoranda in no-time.

As it turns out, I would be forced to take a very long break from work because on March 13, 2020, the government had declared that the Philippines was under a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 virus.  So, for a few days, I had left the keyboard in my office unused while I tried to make do with my laptop’s keyboard at home as I tried to work from home.

One day, during the first week of quarantine, I went back to the office during the first week of the quarantine to haul some case folders back home, so that I would have something to work on while on quarantine. 

The office I worked in was practically empty.  There were also a few office professionals that I saw carrying office equipment—computers, monitors and various other peripherals.  The sight made me miss my new keyboard.  My fingers pined for the soft keys, the tactile bump, the full sized layout and the inviting spherical keycaps. It was then that I decided that I would take my Ajazz AK510 keyboard and take it home with me in preparation for the quarantine.  I would thereafter do all of my work from home using this full-sized keyboard in order to boost my productivity.

The Ajazz AK510 sitting at my desk before being evacuated.

That said, the following is my observations of this keyboard as a typist:

Packaging

The keyboard came in a sturdy cardboard box secured in foam and wrapped in plastic.  Aside from the keyboard, there was a wire keycap puller and a user manual.  The keyboard came in one piece, with nothing falling off and nothing to assemble.

I have seen unboxings of this keyboard by other reviewers and many of them included a transparent keyboard cover.  Sadly, mine didn’t come included with any of that.

Overall, the keyboard was well packaged and came complete with everything that you need to just plug in the keyboard and start typing.

Build

Right off the bat, one will be impressed by the weight of the keyboard.  It just exudes quality and reliability.  I am convinced that inside this keyboard is a metal mounting plate or weight.

The case is also very rigid and does not flex.  One problem I have with some keyboards is that if you will extend its flip out feet, the keyboard plastic will flex and bend inwards creating a permanent deformation.  This will not be noticeable while the flip out feet are extended, but when the feet are closed, the keyboard will no longer lay totally flat since the edges now curve upwards.  This may be a problem that most would never anticipate, but having experienced this problem first hard, I can say that this is extremely annoying. Credit should be given to AJAZZ for coming up with such a solid feeling design. 

One area where the keyboard could have improved on is its cable.  While it has a gold plated cable, it is still fairly ordinary.  It isn’t braided or coiled and it doesn’t include any built in cable management or cable gutters.

Design

I arguably just purchased this keyboard for the design aesthetic alone, and I really wasn’t disappointed.  It just has an interesting, unique and yet classy and professional look.  This means that it will look right at home on an office desk.

The keyboard was marketed as a “retro” keyboard.  Of course, they meant that it has a retro-look, as this is a thoroughly modern keyboard that doesn’t need any compromises to live with day-to-day.

As for its design, it doesn’t seem like it was trying to emulate any specific keyboard or design family.  It has an ‘80s-‘90s beige color scheme, but it also has SA profile keycaps, which belong in to the ‘70s.  It also has futuristic side accents with RGB.  Thus, this is keyboard is pure anachronism stew.

Funky side-glow lighting.  A retro-futuristic design(?)  Personally, I like this

One thing I’m sure of though, is that this keyboard is a modern keyboard built sometime in 2018.

At the end of the day, I am unabashedly a fan of its design.

Keycaps, Keyswitches and Lighting

The AJazz AK510 comes with SA Profile doubleshot PBT keycaps.  The keycaps alone, in my opinion, make the entire keyboard worth it.  SA Profile keycaps are normally quite expensive to get and sometimes exceed the cost of this keyboard, so getting it a full set of them at under PHP4,000.00 is definitely a bargain, especially since these keycaps are of a respectable thickness.

Keycaps next to a AA battery for comparison

As mentioned, SA Profile keycaps were quite popular in the ‘70s, and were phased out in favor of the modern cylindrical profile which dominates to this day.  This profile is taller than more modern profiles and the keys are shaped inwards which can make it feel comfortable for the typist.

SA Profile keycaps

The keycaps also have a nice font and the legends are still visible even without the backlight turned on.  With legends that look dark gray without the backlight, the keyboard arguably looks like it was made without backlighting in mind.

Keycap legends without and with backlighting

They keyboard uses some kind of Cherry MX clone keyswitches and are available with either “blue” (clicky tactile), “red” (linear), “black” (heavy linear) and “brown” (tactile) switches.  I selected the brown version since I was going to use this primarily for typing and the relatively quiet tactile feedback would be very much appreciated.

The keyswitches themselves are Ajazz branded, so there is really no way to be sure which company made these keyswitches.

A tactile “brown” keyswitch with Ajazz branding on the bottom corner.

They key feel is very good though, the tactile bump is noticeable but unobtrusive and the keys feel very soft.  I can literally type on this all day without getting tired since I don’t have to bottom out each time.  The keyboard is also fairly quiet unless you really smash your fingers on the keys like you are typing on a typewriter.

And the most joyful thing however is that the keys don’t bind!  Not that you will strike the keys off-center because the spherical keycaps will help guide your finger to the dead center of the key.

The downside is that the larger stabilized keys are very loud, the worst offender being the spacebar.  A knowledgeable keyboard enthusiast will know how to lubricate this properly to make it quieter.

This keyboard also has full RGB backlighting, as well as sidelighting through the design element on both sides (see picture above in the “Design” section).  The keyboard has about 13 preset lighting effects and 5 preset game modes (FPS, CF, COD, LOL and QQ) accessed by entering FN+F1 to F5.  The lighting is bright and the keys are all lit up, except for sublegends.  Aside from the colors of red, green and blue, the other colors are unfortunately, lacklustre. Especically yellow which shows up as a very obvious combination of red and green.

All in all, the tactile variant of this keyboard provides a very enjoyable and [relatively] quiet typing experience.  Your needs and/or preferences may dictate a different keyswitch however.

Software

At its heart, this is still a gaming keyboard, hence, it is almost a requirement for it to have some software to control its lighting effects and macros.  The software for this is fairly obscure and you won’t find it in the manual, but I was able to follow the instructions in this Reddit post about where to find the software/drivers (for Windows users). 

I felt that the software is a little limited though.  I wanted to use this program to assign different colors to the character keys and the function keys, but there was no way to do that.

However, using this software, I was able to create solid colors which were not among the pre-set colors of this keyboard.  Specifically, I was able to program a white color and a warm orange.  With this software, therefore, your color options are practically limitless.

creating custom colors for your keyboard

Unfortunately though, you can’t program your own effects or bind specific colors to specific keys.  At least, I couldn’t figure out how to do that.

The software also has the ability to program macros. Unfortunately, it is not a function which I have any use for and thus, I never tried it.

Verdict

This is a nice-looking keyboard for its price.  It looks well-built and you will surely grow to like the keycaps if you type for long periods. I recommend it if you like something that looks interesting on your desk and you aren’t snobbish about the kind of keyswitches you have in your keyboard, although, I’m sure that someone who is technically proficient can install different switches in it.

Definitely a recommended buy.