AZIO Retro Compact Keyboard Review 4

AZIO Retro Compact Keyboard Review

Closer Examination »

Packaging and Accessories


If first impressions are all you get, the AZIO RCK does a fantastic job with the packaging. A thick, hefty cardboard box with a plastic wrap all over greets us, with the company and product name on the front and a colored render of the keyboard in action. Specifications and marketing features in multiple languages are seen on the back, and a contents inside list is on the side. It is at this point that we notice the packaging covered thus far is simply a cover with the actual box underneath.


This inner box is monochromatic, with the product name again printed on the front, but in a shiny silver color. Magnets fold the clasped side of the box, which can be opened to reveal the contents inside. This is most definitely a luxurious unboxing experience with layers being the name of the game. The keyboard is seen first up, albeit inside a waxy paper cover and underneath another plastic cover for further protection during transit. It is also placed within another plastic piece which has a compartment cut out to fit the keyboard well, and the accessories are all found underneath. It begins with a booklet that contains the product manual, again in multiple languages, and a warranty card. You will then have to remove the top plastic layer to access the rest of the contents.


The second layer has a similar plastic sheet with compartments to fit more accessories, which includes a drawstring cloth bag for the keyboard, a fancy brush to help clean the keyboard, two different keyboard feet, and the removable USB cable to connect the keyboard in USB mode as well as charge the internal battery. This cable is the standard 6' in length and terminates in a male USB Type-C connector on one end, which hints towards the use of Type-C connectivity on the keyboard itself.


The RCK comes with a palm rest included out of the box, which matches the version you have. This particular Elwood version thus has a wooden palm rest, which comes in a similar wax paper cover in the box. The palm rest has a thick piece of open pore wood with a smooth finish and an AZIO Retro logo on the side similar to the design of the keycaps, as well as a plastic base with rubber pads to prevent scratches and add friction against the resting surface.


There is yet another layer, just to emphasize exactly what kind of product the AZIO RCK is. This layer contains spare keycaps that come in another plastic sheet with cutouts to hold the keycaps, and another plastic blister inlay cover to keep them in place. These keycaps are for Windows users, which presumably indicates the keyboard has MacOS keycaps out of the box based on the product page and marketing done by the company. These keycaps are fundamentally identically to those we saw before on the AZIO Retro Classic and MK Retro, as well as a few other such typewriter-style keyboards, with a circular/oval top surface that is not contoured and instead has a light concave surface to rest the fingers on. The keycaps are made of thin ABS plastic with laser etched legends for backlight compatibility.
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Aug 21st, 2024 14:12 EDT change timezone

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