Akko MOD 004 Kit

Akko introduced its "Akko Designer Studio" line of products in late 2021 with the goal being to address the needs of the burgeoning enthusiast keyboard community that wants premium keyboard kits and the freedom to pair them with different switches and keycaps. Typically such kits are sold on the group buy model with prices exceeding $1000 at times and getting worse on the second-hand market owing to the scarcity of the products. Chinese keyboard brands saw the potential to mass produce premium kits and sell at at a lower cost while also offering in-stock items for all, and the MOD 004 from Akko is one such example. It ships in a heavy-duty cardboard box that is a far cry from the more inexpensive Akko pre-built keyboards. It's a two-piece box using a monochrome color scheme that does not have a lot going on the front or back, allowing for the same box to be used for multiple products. A sticker on the side confirms the exact unit inside and lifting off the top lid reveals a thick foam sheet on top of the contents for added protection.


There is an even thicker foam body with two cut-out compartments for the keyboard kit inside another foam wrap, and the cable off to the side. Akko also has the product user manual (online copy here) underneath the kit and it goes over the pre-programmed functions and customization options for the MOD 003 and 004 in both English and Mandarin; the former is the gasket mount version we saw before. The cable is quite generic, however. I would have liked a color-matched cable similar to what Akko did with the ACR series. It's otherwise a black Type-C to Type-A cable with a standard PU sleeve and no fabric sleeving—completely functional, possibly more so than others in that it isn't very thick and is easy to manage, but still basic. Missing are a keycap puller and switch remover, with the former provided with many keycap sets from Akko, Epomaker, and the likes.


The MOD 004 kit from Akko is a 96% form factor unit, with the US ANSI layout resulting in a total of 98 keys similar to the MOD 003 and Akko's 3098/5098 series of pre-built keyboards. The difference between the kit version and the pre-builts is pretty obvious in that the MOD 004 swaps out the ABS plastic case for thick CNC-machined aluminium. It comes anodized in seven color options ranging from a tamer gray to a dashing pink, and I picked the Ocean Blue finish that is quite stunning in person. When light hits it, you can see the metallic sparkle coming off the chamfered edges that are neatly done with no errors in manufacturing or finish. This is also a hefty kit at over 1.5 kg by itself that will easily weigh ~2 kg with the switches and keycaps installed. Note the various cordoned off sections similar to some old-school designs, which I would have rather seen omitted because installing and removing switches is harder this way. This is a medium-profile case, and the bottom is still tall enough for a wrist rest if you are not used to touch typing with your hands hovering over the keys. It is otherwise a plug-and-play kit using 5-pin hot-swap switch sockets compatible with your favorite Cherry MX-style cross-point stem switches and you do not need to clip plastic pins off 5-pin switches compared to 3-pin sockets. Each socket has a north-facing SMD RGB LED for backlighting, but the plate-mounted stabilizers are one of the drawbacks of this otherwise impressive case design. The stabilizer stems are lightly pre-lubed, though, which does help, and I don't see native support for screw-in stabilizers.

A look from the back shows more of the two-piece aluminium construction used here with screws securing it in place. There's a badge in the middle for branding and certification alike, making the kit clean in use on the front. We also see the MOD 004 loses the fancier plate insert the more expensive MOD 003 got, and four long rubber pads on the corners lift the kit off the desk to prevent scratches to the aluminium and keep it from moving around, although it is massive. There are no add-on feet, which I wasn't surprised by on this all-metal chassis, so the integrated elevation is all you get. In the middle on the side facing away from the user is a relatively large cutout providing access to the USB Type-C connector, and the accompanying cable fits easily. In fact, there is enough room for most aftermarket cables if you wanted to jazz things up further. The cable is the usual 6' long and requires an available Type-A port on your PC, where USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) is recommended, although USB 2.0 will still suffice for power.


The Akko MOD 004 kit employs a more typical tray mount design with disassembly being extremely simple to allow for further mods and improvements as desired. Eight socket head screws on the back have to be removed to take out the top panel that has a single insert for the indicator LEDs to be lightly diffused through. We also see the machining and anodization are well executed throughout. Three more screws hold the plate and PCB in place on the bottom mount panel and now we get a closer look at the white powdercoated steel plate as well as the pre-lubed stabilizers. You could potentially go for a replacement plate of different materials at this point. There is a thick EVA foam sheet between the plate and the PCB and another underneath the PCB itself which in turn has an internal cable going from the Type-C connector to the board itself. The foam sheets will help dampen keystrokes and reverberations while also potentially supporting heavier typists even in the absence of a gasket mount design such as in the MOD 003.

The PCB is black and quite similar to the older Akko 96% keyboards, which makes sense given the MOD 004 released before the company refreshed its keyboard line to add more modern features. Solder quality is quite good, including for the TTC hot-swap sockets I was expecting since the company has a history with TTC. Akko is clearly banking on using this platform for at least a couple of years, so much so it has partnered with a USB microcontroller manufacturer to have its own branding on the chipset. This is a good way of hiding what is used, and the same continues with the (presumably) dedicated hardware LED drivers that also have no identification on them. Unfortunately, we don't get hybrid wireless connectivity despite there being room on the PCB, so this is a wired-only kit. All the components, including the switch sockets, SMD RGB LEDs, and capacitors, are soldered to a multi-layered PCB.