Introduction

There was a time not too long ago when the typewriter-style keycaps and block keyboard design were the rage, with many companies trying to go the route. Datamancer arguably started the trend, and continues to sell expensive keyboards that blur the line between a USB peripheral and showcase piece, whereas others have mostly given up. AZIO, on the other hand, has run with it in the form of the MK Retro first up and the use of high-end materials, including genuine leather and even wood with the Retro Classic later. Indeed, they have carved out a niche to themselves with their Retro lineup, which has since expanded beyond keyboards to where they can bring out different form factors as well. Today, we take a look at their Retro Compact Keyboard, and thanks again to AZIO for sending a review sample to TechPowerUp!


The AZIO Retro Compact keyboard, or RCK as they refer to it themselves, is a ~75% form factor keyboard with a truncated arrow key cluster and no numpad. There is no standard layout to this form factor, but in general, we tend to see the arrow keys as well as some of the Ins-Pg Dn keys. These are all usually found in a single bank of keys, but AZIO has chosen to keep the Fn key row fairly separate as seen above. Also note that the RCK comes in four versions—Gunmetal, Posh, Artisan, and Elwood—which define the material and color scheme used for the top plate (leather or wood) and the frame. It otherwise retains the design philosophy of the rest of the AZIO Retro series of keyboards, and we will examine the RCK in detail, beginning with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications

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.