Introduction

Those who have read my keyboard reviews will know I generally have a soft spot for themed keyboards, offering a taste of that fully custom design for a lot lower cost. Asian brands tend to dominate here, with the likes of Akko and Varmilo coming to mind first. I visited both of them at Computex 2024 and saw a few neat things from each, resulting in two reviews coming up—one from each brand—starting with Akko today. Representatives from Akko were primarily showing off its wooden case keyboards at the show, with at least three themes planned, two of which are already available. The MU01 Autumn, for example, uses darker color keycaps to showcase the fall season. Interestingly, it also uses different switches from the other MU01 wooden case keyboard and the subject of today's review—the Akko MU01 Mountain Seclusion.


Akko mentioned at Computex how it was likely going to prioritize this version for marketing given the more positive feedback received thus far. A quick glimpse at the keyboard shows why—the keycaps are more intricate and match the wooden theme better in my opinion. It is arguably also going to be more divisive than the other version with simpler, yet colored, keycaps though. The use of extra non-English legends on the keycaps is purely an aesthetic choice, and doesn't really mean much in practice. This is usually the case with such themed keyboards, you either like it or you do not. The MU01 base keyboard is a 65% form factor unit that is otherwise feature rich, including with hybrid wireless connectivity, hot-swappable sockets, first-party switch options, RGB lighting, and plenty of dampening materials inside. Let's take a closer look at the keyboard in our review today, which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below. Thanks to Akko for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp!

Specifications