Closer Examination

As we saw before, the 1STPLAYER Black Sir Lite K7 keyboard comes in a thin foam wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is on the cleaner side of design choices in the market with its monochrome color scheme. Physical dimensions are average throughout, although the slanted edge at the bottom does produce the impression of a larger keyboard than it is. This particular version is an 87-key TKL form-factor keyboard and has indicator LEDs above the arrow-key cluster instead of the usual top-right corner.

The secondary legends are next to the primary ones at the top in the alphanumeric section, and there are also some keyboard-specific secondary legends on the Fn key row, which are located underneath the primary ones. Single legend placement is top and center, which should work well on the backlit versions. The legend typeface is very clean even accounting for the doubleshot injected legends with seams in looped legends, such as D, R and so on, and the keyboard as a whole will fit into a variety of environments nicely.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle at the top, along with company and product branding on the sticker. There are three rubber pads on the bottom, and, weirdly enough, none at the top to help keep the keyboard from sliding around on the desk, and two feet at the top open up sideways to optionally elevate the keyboard. These feet have rubber pads on the bottom to help mitigate scratches at the top, so you would ideally want to have the feet propped up. There is also a cutout at the top which houses the USB dongle for the 2.4 GHz in a magnetic enclosure, and another smaller one for the power switch.


As suspected based on the removable cable we saw before, the keyboard has a micro-USB port on the left of the side facing away from the user, which would be the ideal location for the cable to go to the PC on your right. This port is inset to allow for a lower profile of the connector on the keyboard side. The cable needs a Type-A USB port on your motherboard, and USB 2.0 will suffice here for power and data alike. I would have preferred to see USB Type-C in use here, but this is another budget constraint I am not surprised by. Things will tally up, however, so let's hold off until the end to see how it all turns out. The keyboard name is also seen here, which is the only visible branding when in use, and another case of unnecessary branding in my opinion.


The keycaps have an OEM profile, and the various rows are thus sculpted accordingly. They do not have a floating design due to the two-piece plastic case construction employed here, and the white border on the top surface does add some flair. The keycaps themselves are better than average with thick ABS plastic (average wall thickness 1.36 mm) and doubleshot injected legends for most of them. It is not a perfect solution as far as stock keycaps go, however, with ABS plastic still developing a shine with use and some of the keyboard-specific legends effectively pad printed in an opaque white that will not let light through—not that it matters on this particular version. The sides of the keycaps can scratch if you use the included keycap puller, so be gentle here when removing them for cleaning the keyboard.


Outemu Blue RGB mechanical switches are the only switch option here. These are different in form than the older style in that there is a box around the switch stem to add dust and spill resistance to the keyboard. We can also see how this version has no LEDs for backlighting, whereas the RGB backlit version would have an LED peeking through the gap in the housing.


The larger keycaps use Cherry-style stabilizers, which makes those keycaps easier to remove and install as well, but at the expense of a somewhat mushy and unsatisfying feeling when depressed normally. But here is where things go all wonky. For one, the space bar key uses a different switch, at least on my review sample. It is not only colored differently, but the spring used felt heavier as well. 1STPLAYER says there is no reason for the switch to be different, and that this may well be a one-time error at the production factory. But then things got worse as I was not able to use the provided switch puller, or indeed others I have here, to pull out any of the switches. The keyboard is advertised with the same CIY socket for removable switches as a feature throughout, and I applied enough force to where I was afraid I would break something if I went further. The replacement switches provided as accessories did have far thicker contact points than any other switch I have seen to date, so I do not know if this is just a poor implementation of the socket with the thicker contacts needing way more force. But what I do know is that this is the second item the company was not able to address beyond just saying that this should not be the case and that the switches should be removable as intended.