Disassembly

Given the hot-swappable nature of the switches, it only made sense that I take one of the Akko CS Crystal switches apart. This 3-pin mechanical switch employs the Cherry MX stem design, so we have the usual construction with the top, a crosspoint stem/slider, spring, and housing as seen above. The stem and springs come lightly lubed to further add value to the keyboard offering, although there is certainly scope for improvement should you desire to clean and re-lube them yourself. This is clearly a linear switch, with no bumps or protrusions along the path of the stem as it meets the metal contacts to initiate switch actuation.


Akko is using a typical two-piece plastic case construction, so only take this keyboard apart if you have no other recourse, since you may well scratch or further damage the case. This process requires carefully prying apart the interlocking tabs; start at the bottom and work your way around the sides, after which it will get easier on the fourth side. Note that now the plastic insert used in the top panel for the indicator LEDs might come loose and placing it back together for re-assembly can be a pain if not done correctly.


To remove the bottom panel, you need to remove some specific keycaps to access three Phillips head screws as seen above. This allows for enough leeway to access and dislodge the internal USB cable going from the Type-C port embedded in the bottom plastic panel to the keyboard PCB itself. There's nothing else of note on the bottom panel, not even a foam sheet to help dampen reverberations in typing as we've seen in other recent Akko keyboards. Thus, enterprising modders can certainly add their own dampening materials! The PCB can be separated from the steel plate by removing every single switch if you wish to do further modifications, re-lube/replace the stabilizers, or even change the plate itself. This is not likely to be of interest to most people, however, so we move on.


The keyboard uses a black PCB with purple-colored CIY-branded hot-swap sockets. There is a thick foam sheet between the plate and the PCB to dampen downstrokes, so I suppose this will not be as pingy a typing experience as I thought. Akko is clearly banking on using this new platform for at least a couple of years, so much so that it has partnered with a USB microcontroller manufacturer to get its own branding on the chipset. This is a good way of hiding what's used, I suppose, and there are two other chips here that I suspect are hardware LED drivers which get all marking scrubbed off too. All the components, including the switch sockets, SMD RGB LEDs, and capacitors are soldered to a multi-layered PCB.

Before we move on, be advised that disassembly may void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decide to go ahead and do so anyway.