Closer Examination

The AQIRYS ADARA is a keyboard that follows the space-efficient 1800 form factor. This is similar to the 95/96% keyboards we've seen recently but have fewer overall keys at 95 in total. You end up with most of the keys from a full-size keyboard except the Ins-Pg Dn cluster is effectively gone with only Del making a showing here on the Fn key row. The arrow keys are also separate from the alphanumeric section and the numpad, both of which have shorter keys on either side of the arrow keys, which can help with touch typing if you are not used to having everything in a single bank of keys. You could argue AQIRYS could have easily fit in more keys on the top right corner but instead decided to go with this form factor and an acrylic logo insert that gets lit up to help justify the product name. I did appreciate the indicator LEDs located between the alpha keys and the numpad though, including one for Win lock itself. The stock space bar keycap is the same as what we saw on the Aludra TKL in that it hangs past the edge on the bottom and has a design depicting the brand, with further branding seen on the left side. The keycaps themselves have clean legends this time round while maintaining the two-tone color scheme. Primary legends are placed in the top center of the keycaps with the general secondary legends alongside and keyboard-specific ones below indicating the use of typical north-facing LEDs here for backlighting.


Turning the keyboard around provides a closer look at the ABS plastic case which also goes for two colors—black on the bottom and white on the top. There is a large sticker in the middle which contains the usual certification info as well as a dedicated switch to toggle between Windows and macOS modes thus explaining the dual-OS legends on the modifier keys. Four rubber pads on the corners help prevent the keyboard from sliding around on your desk. We also get two sets of keyboard feet at the top for a total of three elevation options and these feet also have rubber pads at the bottom.


The ADARA only supposed wired connectivity in the form of an inset Type-C port in the middle on the back. There is plenty of room here for aftermarket cables although the stock cable itself is on the fancier side given the coiled section and the split, aviator-style connector. The black-and-white color scheme also matches the rest of the keyboard well enough here. Note that the keyboard has multiple cable routing channels on the back but the coiled section of the cable isn't the easiest to maneuver through the side channels to where I suspect most people will just use the default route coming straight out the middle. The cable itself goes to an available USB Type-A port where USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike.


A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which I would classify as medium-high profile by itself and can benefit from a palm rest here. The provided keycap puller helps remove some of the keycaps for a closer examination, without scratching their sides that the cheaper plastic ring-style cheaper keycap pullers I usually see in the price range of this keyboard are prone to do. AQIRYS is using an OEM profile for the keycaps here with the six rows contoured accordingly. The two-piece case implementation just makes them feel shorter than usual from the side. The keycaps are made of thick PBT plastic (average wall thickness 1.35 mm) with doubleshot injected legends on the top for durability and longevity alike. These are backlighting compatible, unlike the keyboard-specific laser engraved legends below that are not only opaque but can be susceptible to wear out sooner than later based on my experience. AQIRYS claims otherwise on the longevity front though, so time will tell and I am optimistic.


The ADARA comes with a fixed switch type in the form of the HaiMu Linear Pink switches, although it appears to have been customized slightly here given the different colors to the housing and stem alike. As we saw on the previous page, you can replace up to 20 of the switches with the provided HaiMu tactile switches but I am not sure why AQIRYS decided to stick with just 20 since even the alphabet has 26 characters, let alone the various modifiers we typically use. Note also the FR4 plate used here which feels more flexible and I might have preferred a more traditional steel plate instead. The larger keycaps go with factory lubed plate-mounted stabilizers that feel nicer than I expected going in given the excess amount of lube present here.


The switch remover tool is handy to remove the hot-swappable switches off the PCB where we see the use of 5-pin hot-swap sockets allowing you to customize the switches on a per-key basis as needed, should you decide to get a whole keyboard's worth of replacements, while also providing increased compatibility with all such Cherry MX-style mechanical switches. Removing a switch also gives a closer look at the HaiMu Linear Pink switch by itself, which is a linear 5-pin switch that has a translucent blue top housing to aid with RGB lighting, a darker blue opaque bottom housing, and a bright pink cross-point stem that also has columns around it for added dust and spill resistance.