GoKawiilThe screen is definitely a gimmick, but otherwise the RT82 is a quiet, hot-swappable keyboard that feels good, can handle gaming, and costs less than $90.
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Remember when all electronics came in the same general color scheme of off-white / beige / slightly gray? While Epomaker's RT82 isn't quite as gimmicky as 8BitDo's NES-inspired retro keyboards , it's still a little gimmicky. It features an off-white all-plastic case with light gray accent keys, and in the upper-right corner, you'll find a magnetic detachable mini color LCD screen designed to look like an old-school computer monitor. The screen displays whatever you want it to: the date/time, a custom picture or gif, or your keypresses in real time.
But we're not looking at the RT82 for its screen (which is detachable, anyway). This 75-percent wireless mechanical keyboard is extremely quiet, with hot-swappable switches, lower-profile dye-sub PBT keycaps, and five layers of sound dampening in the case. It also features a 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-key rollover, so you can use it for work or play. It comes in one color (with two switch options) and normally retails for $85.99 but is currently on sale for $77.39 at Amazon . While it's not the absolute cheapest keyboard we've seen, its current sale price puts it right within the price range of our best budget mechanical keyboards .
Design and Construction of the RT82
The RT82 is a retro-inspired wireless mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent layout — that means it has alphanumeric keys, arrow keys, and a full function row, as well as a single column of navigation keys (Home, Delete, PgUp, and PgDn). In the top right corner, where many 75-percent boards have rotary knobs or a couple of extra navigation keys, the RT82 has a mini LCD screen designed to look like a retro monitor. The screen attaches magnetically via pogo pins (which is probably a good thing, as it means you can store the keyboard without worrying about snapping the screen off).
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The keyboard is fairly compact, measuring 12.86 inches (326.7mm) wide by 5.64 inches (143.2mm) deep, and is about 1.57 inches (39.8mm) high (at its thickest point but not counting the detachable "monitor"). The front of the keyboard is 0.86 inches (21.8mm) high — not so high that you need a wrist rest to be comfortable, but you might still want one. It weighs just under 2 pounds (1.94lbs / 879g).
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Unlike a lot of mechanical keyboards on the not-quite-gaming side, the RT82 features an all-plastic build with a matte plastic ivory case and dye-sublimated PBT keycaps in the same color, with light gray accent keys (plus three one-off accent keys in salmon, sage green, and dark gray). The keycaps have printed legends — not shine-through, though the keyboard does have per-key RGB backlighting that shines fairly brightly through the keys.
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